EXIT, REX’S EXES
Bills keep Ryan’s old team, the Jets, out of playoffs and let Steelers in
It’s not easy being green. With a playoff berth at their fingertips, the New York Jets stumbled at the finish line Sunday with a 22-17 loss at Buffalo — a defeat all the more excruciating because the Bills are coached by Rex Ryan, dumped by the Jets after last season.
That loss opened the door for Pittsburgh to grab the final AFC berth, which the Steelers did with a 28-12 win at Cleveland.
On a day when New England blew a chance for the AFC’s top seed, and Denver grabbed it — with Peyton Manning replacing the struggling Brock Osweiler — the Jets did the most painful belly flop.
Pittsburgh will play at Cincinnati in a first-round game. Those AFC North rivals split their series this season, with the road team winning each time. In the other AFC wild-card game, Houston will play host to Kansas City, which has the NFL’s longest active winning streak at 10 games.
The Bills had three interceptions against the Jets’ Ryan Fitzpatrick, their former quarterback, and denied a happy homecoming to Jets offensive coordinator Chan Gailey to boot. Gailey was Buffalo’s head coach from 2010-12.
“It’s the hardest and most difficult end to a season I’ve ever had,” said Fitzpatrick, whose exceptional season was tainted by a Bills sweep. “There’s not a whole lot of talking in [the locker room] right now. It’s hard to come up with words.” Hard for some. Not for Ryan. “I’ve got a lot of friends over there, and I want them to be successful,” the colorfully bombastic coach said. “But not at my expense.”
Ryan took the opportunity to jab reporters who questioned his defensive acumen, gloating after his team limited the Jets to 300 yards of offense — 65 fewer than their average.
“You guys know me, I’ve got a horrible resume as a defensive coach,” he said. “You try to point it out all the time. But the facts don’t back you up a whole lot.”
The Bills finished 8-8 under Ryan, whose rallying cry throughout the season was based on revenge and retribution.
Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger wasn’t monitoring Jets-Bills during his game, but he had a strong inkling of the way things were going when he heard a roar from
The Cleveland Browns and San Francisco 49ers didn’t wait for Black Monday. They fired their coaches Sunday night.
The Browns parted ways with Mike Pettine after two seasons, and the 49ers got rid of Jim Tomsula after one.
The Browns, who finished 313, fired Pettine and General Manager Ray Farmer after a 2812 home loss to Pittsburgh.
The 49ers, who closed with a 19-16 overtime victory at home against St. Louis, were 5-11 in Tomsula’s lone season.
“Jimmy has been a valuable member of the 49ers organization for the last nine years,” 49ers Chief Executive Jed York said in a statement. “We all know he is a man of high character, and his contributions on the field and in our community have always been greatly appreciated. This entire organization is proud and grateful to have worked so closely alongside Jimmy. We all wish him and his family great success in the future.”
Pettine was 10-22 in two years, losing 18 of his final 21 games after a 7-4 start to last season. His job security had been in question throughout the fall, even though Browns owner Jimmy Haslam had said at training camp he did not plan to “blow things up” if the season fell short of expectations.
“We greatly appreciate Ray’s and Mike’s dedication and hard work while with the Cleveland Browns,” Haslam said. “We’ve made this decision because we don’t believe our football team was positioned well for the future. We are all disappointed with where we are and we take full responsibility.”
The Browns have had seven head coaches since they rejoined the league as an expansion team in 1999.