Rex Ryan and the Buffalo Bills are coming for the Patriots
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — The Buffalo Bills stadium now goes by the name of New Era Field, a sponsorship deal from the locally owned cap company. Both spiritually and structurally however, it evokes a different era, a relic from the days when these places were built to get as many fans as close to the action as possible, not to cater to rich people in corporate luxury boxes.
Opened in 1973, it remains a rowdy reminder of the past. Its charm is in what it isn’t and how, in many ways, it’s perfect for what Rex Ryan is finally getting done with the Bills via an embrace of classic football.
“It’s what you expect here in Buffalo,” Ryan said. “The crowd’s fantastic. … There’s a butt in every seat. … I mean, it should be tough to come into here. And it is.”
Sunday brought mild temperatures but a perfect storm – strong winds that mocked long pass attempts, loud fans who never quit, a rough and tumble Bills defense and a rebuilt, ground-and-pound offense. The result: a 45-16 trashing of San Francisco.
There’s nothing fancy about what Buffalo is doing following an 0-2 start – other than reeling off four consecutive victories. It’s the franchise’s longest win streak since 2007 and Sunday it followed a familiar pattern: 312 yards rushing to just 179 passing.
“Well, I know it’s boring football, that’s what people say,” Ryan said. “But we just want to win. … Obviously I prefer to run it, there’s no question about that. Maybe that’s the old-school [approach] in me, but I think you run the ball to win games.”
This is Ryan’s second season in Buffalo and the team is finally taking on his preferred image, the one his New York Jets teams embraced en route to consecutive AFC championship game appearances.
It took a while, including battling through a dissent-filled (mainly on the defensive line) 8-8 season last year. Then there was a rough start to this year that had many wondering if he was doomed to be known for more bluster than accomplishment.
There is still plenty of football to play and Buffalo has been fortunate to get plenty of matchups against bad teams and bad quarterbacks. Still, what the Bills unleashed Sunday was impressive, most notably in the renewed brilliance of running back LeSean McCoy, who rolled out 140 yards rushing, three touchdowns and another reminder he should be mentioned as an MVP candidate.
“Dynamic,” quarterback Tyrod Taylor said of McCoy.
That was just part of the ground game though. Taylor went for 68 himself. Mike Gillisee had 60 more. The Bills won time of possession by more than 10 minutes. On the other side of the ball, San Francisco manager just 300 total yards as a crew of brutish, but not big-name, Buffalo defenders – notably Zach Brown, Lorenzo Alexander, Preston Brown, Corey Graham and so on – teed off on the 49ers.
This was vintage football in a vintage stadium, the style some doubted still works in a league that appeared to be trending to spread offenses, up-tempo attacks and multi-billion dollar palaces. At one point the Bills ran a classic pitch out to McCoy, something out the 1970s Big 8 Conference. At different times they used three different guys taking the snap, including McCoy directly, to maximize blocking.
Rex Ryan is the son of the late Buddy Ryan, as unbending and hard nosed of a coach as the NFL has ever seen. That stubbornness didn’t skip a generation.
“Never really altered from the plan at all,” Ryan said.
Ryan entered this season on the hot seat, his head-coaching career hanging in the balance. In the wake of an 8-8 season, he decided he’d double down on what got him this far. He brought his brother Rob in to run the defense – it’s allowed more than 20 points just once this season. He got one of his all-time favorite players, Ed Reed, who he coached as defensive coordinator in Baltimore, to help teach the secondary. He found more players who were willing to buy in, not complain to the media about scheme (yes, you Mario Williams).
And when the offense was stalling out after two weeks, he quickly and decisively fired the offensive coordinator and promoted Anthony Lynn to the spot. Lynn lacked experience but could count on one notable thing: McCoy’s endorsement.
In the NFL, teams and players tend to revert back to the mean. As such, Ryan, for one, isn’t crowing about anything right now, no matter how satisfying it might be to play I-told-you-so to the critics of a month ago.
“No,” Ryan said, “nothing, man. We just won four games.”
That doesn’t mean he’s being shy. He still cracked plenty of jokes at Bill Belichick’s expense a couple weeks ago before and after beating the Patriots (sans-Tom Brady, but still).
And Sunday he didn’t hesitate to take a pick at Niners coach Chip Kelly, who as coach of the Philadelphia Eagles traded McCoy to Buffalo for linebacker Kiko Alonso. Alonso is having a good year (in Miami), but McCoy is on pace for 1,565 yards rushing and 16 touchdowns. The Ryan brothers made a point to remind McCoy of the trade, not that it was needed.
“I think Rob [Ryan] said it best when he was talking to the team last night [and] said, ‘What did we have to give up for LeSean McCoy? What, three first-round draft picks?’ ” Rex Ryan said. “And I go, ‘No, not really.’ ”
It’s easy to laugh when you’re on a win streak and the fans are toasting you postgame at The Big Tree Inn down the street and everything that the Ryan family ever believed in – a powerhouse offense, a big-hitting defense – is still proving to work.
“You feel it building,” guard Richie Incognito said. “We keep pounding the rock.”
This is where Buffalo is right now though, six games into a season, a potential mega-game with New England here in a couple weeks, eyes on the playoffs that have eluded them this century.
“It’s a new era right now,” Preston Brown said.
It’s the New Era Old School. Or the Old School New Era. Whatever. Just run the ball. And tackle someone. Buffalo-style.
More NFL coverage on Yahoo Sports:
