Rex Ryan’s job on line as he prepares to face Cardinals

Rex Ryan understands his current predicament, even if the Buffalo Bills coach tried to downplay it on a conference call with Arizona reporters Wednesday.

“Obviously we are extremely disappointed with where we’re at, you know, 0-2,” Ryan said. “It’s two games. We’ve been beat (by) six points in both games. I get it. It’s not where we wanted to be, but there’s a lot of football left to be played, win, lose, or draw.”

There may not be a lot of football left for Ryan to coach in Buffalo though if the Bills lose to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday at New Era Field in Orchard Park, New York. Only five teams in NFL history have ever made the playoffs after an 0-3 start, and it hasn’t happened since 1998.

This is only Ryan’s second season in Buffalo, but the NFL is a notoriously impatient league and for a team that finished 8-8 last season and 9-7 the year before, this start cannot be viewed as progress to owners Terry and Kim Pegula.

Harder still for Ryan is that he is his own worst enemy when it comes to earning latitude. Like his father Buddy, who came to Arizona in 1994 and proclaimed: “You’ve got a winner in town,” Rex Ryan’s approach is bravado-based.

His obscenity laced tirade for a team-produced documentary titled “Rex and Rob Reunited” may be the norm for football teams, but Ryan’s brash talk is misplaced for a coach who hasn’t been to the playoffs in his last five seasons at the helm of the Bills and the New York Jets. Once his honeymoon season ended, it was easy to see right through that façade, and it will become increasingly tiring to endure it.

The optics on that documentary also look bad after Ryan fired offensive coordinator Greg Roman two weeks into the season. Remember that infamous line in the documentary? “And if it doesn’t work, I’ll be the first m—–f—– that goes.”

It’s understandable that Ryan was trying to fire up his team and in the heat of those moments, he might have said some things he didn’t mean or consider, but it doesn’t help his credibility right now, nor does this disingenuous firing.

Roman’s offense had some problems sustaining drives, executing on third down and managing the clock, but Roman was hamstrung by the lack of an elite and experienced quarterback or elite personnel. Ryan has no such excuse. His calling card is defense and the Bills were supposed to have a good one, yet they surrendered 374 passing yards to Ryan Fitzpatrick while Matt Forte rushed for 100 yards and three touchdowns in the Jets’ 37-31 win last Thursday.

Here’s what Ryan said at a press conference when he was hired in January 2015.

“I have one more shot to be head coach and I have to get it done. I understand I won’t have another opportunity and don’t want another opportunity.”

Time’s a wastin’, and as NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reported, the Pegulas have already met with several key offensive players behind Ryan’s back, which doesn’t exactly engender confidence in his ability or future.

“I never concern myself with that,” Ryan said Wednesday. “I just do the best job I can.”

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