According to NFL.com, the Buffalo Bills have fired head coach Dick Jauron after starting the season 3-6.

Defensive coordinator Fewell Perry is expected to become the Bills’ interim head coach, a Bills source told NFL.com’s Vic Carucci.

In just short of four seasons with the Bills, Jauron compiled a record of 24-33 (.421 winning percentage). The Bills failed to make the playoffs in each season under Jauron. Buffalo has not made the playoffs since 1999, the longest active streak for a non-expansion team.
On Monday, defensive end Aaron Schobel questioned the Bills’ lack of direction with seven games remaining in their season.

“It’s embarrassing,” said Schobel, the longest-tenured player on the Bills roster, a day after a 41-17 loss at Tennessee dropped Buffalo’s record to 3-6. “I mean, we’re technically, mathematically still in it, I guess, but it’s like what … are we doing here?”

Speaking within earshot of several Bills officials near the entrance of the locker room, Schobel expressed his frustration, but stopped short in explaining what he thinks the franchise’s problems are by saying: “That’s about all I can say without saying what I want to say.”

Terrell Owens posted this on his Twitter page roughly about the same time the news broke:

Wassup everytweeter? It’s a beautiful day n the neighborhood here n good ‘ol Buffalo!

Now, that could be a genuine statement by T.O. but then again I don’t know how many beautiful days there are in Buffalo in the middle of November. So my guess is that Owens is a fan of this news.

Jauron did nothing to help the Bills succeed over the past couple years and it was painfully obviously that he wasn’t moving the team in the right direction. They got off to a hot start last year but fell apart shortly thereafter because opponents started to figure out ways to stop Trent Edwards (which isn’t hard) and Jauron and his coaching staff never made adjustments.

I’m sure he’ll catch on as a coordinator or assistant somewhere next year, but he’s likely done as a head coach at the NFL level.

The Bills are similar to the Browns in that they need a complete makeover, starting with the front office down to the players. I highly doubt Perry Fewell is the answer, which means Ralph Wilson needs to get to work on finding a permanent replacement in the offseason.

Photo from fOTOGLIF
]]> http://www.scoresreport.com/2009/11/17/bills-fire-head-coach-dick-jauron/feed/ 1 http://www.scoresreport.com/2009/11/15/chris-johnson-is-sick-t-o-is-a-turd/ http://www.scoresreport.com/2009/11/15/chris-johnson-is-sick-t-o-is-a-turd/#comments Mon, 16 Nov 2009 01:44:16 +0000 Anthony Stalter http://www.scoresreport.com/?p=29099

Chris Johnson rushed for 132 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries on Sunday, while also adding nine receptions for 100 yards to help the Titans crush the Bills, 41-17.

Johnson turned simple screen and dump off passes into highlight reel plays and also gained 32 yards on an option pitch. Since Vince Young re-entered Tennessee’s starting lineup, Jeff Fisher’s coaching staff has done a nice job of finding creative ways to get Johnson the ball. He’s racked up 1,091 rushing yards on the season, which is tops in the NFL.

While Johnson was doing everything to help his team win, Terrell Owens was being a distraction to his. He did catch an eye-popping three passes for 85 yards and a touchdown, but he also got into a screaming match with one of his coaches and apparently was slapping people high-fives to the crowd behind the Bills’ bench near the end of the game. What he was celebrating about and whom he was celebrating with are both unknown, although he did go to college in Tennessee so maybe he saw one of his old roommates.

Trent Edwards misfired on several passes to T.O. throughout the game and therefore Owens must have felt that because of that, he didn’t have to pursue Tennessee defenders on two separate interceptions in the second half. One of the interceptions was T.O.’s fault too, as he let the ball slip through his stone-hands.

ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reported after the game that Owens might be trying to get cut. Hopefully the Bills keep him and make him rot in Buffalo for the rest of the season.

The Eagles acquired linebacker Will Witherspoon from the Rams at the trade deadline on Tuesday. In exchange for Witherspoon, St. Louis acquired wide receiver Brandon Gibson and a 2010 fifth round pick.

Witherspoon had been playing the weak side linebacker position for the Rams, but he has experience in the middle, which has been a weakness for the Eagles since Stewart Bradley was lost for the season in training camp. Stewart’s replacements, Jeremiah Trotter and Omar Gaither, are fine against the run but have been a liability in coverage.

Gibson was a sixth round pick of the Eagles’ in April. He impressed Philadelphia’s coaching staff in training camp, but was never going to see the field with DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin and others in front of him. St. Louis has had a major need at receiver, especially since Laurent Robinson was lost for the year with a knee injury.

As expected, the trade deadline came and went without any big names being dealt. Rumors circulated last week that Brady Quinn, Joshua Cribbs and/or Terrell Owens might be traded, but nothing came to fruition.

The NFL trade deadline is today and not much is expected to happen because, well, nothing usually happens.

Here are a few reasons why:

- The deadline occurs after Week 6 and good luck getting any head coach to say that the season is over when there are still 10 games left on the schedule. Teams haven’t thrown in the towel yet and still believe the players they have on their roster give them the best chance to win. And if teams with losing records aren’t willing to deal, how are teams with the winning records supposed to improve themselves in an attempt to make the playoffs?

- Not every player is a match for a team’s offensive or defensive system. Football isn’t like baseball where the second base position in Milwaukee is the same as the second base position in San Francisco. It takes players weeks, if not months, if not seasons to learn a new system, so knowing that they can’t get a quick return on their investment, teams are reluctant to acquire new players. Take the Bears and Gaines Adams for example. Chicago acquired him on Friday night from Tampa Bay, but didn’t even bother activating him for Sunday night’s game against the Falcons because they knew he wouldn’t be ready to play in their system. The Falcons traded for cornerback Ty Hill (a former starter for the Rams) right before the season started and still haven’t played him yet.

- Unless an entirely new staff takes over in the offseason (i.e. Cleveland and Tampa Bay), coaches aren’t willing to give up on the players they drafted. You hear the term “his player” used all the time in the NFL. Come hell or high water, a coach is going to fight for the player he drafted (especially if they were a first day pick), because they don’t want to see the fruits of their labor have success anywhere else.

So even if you hear the names Brady Quinn, Josh Cribbs and Terrell Owens thrown around today, don’t buy into the hype that they’ll be traded because those players will likely be wearing the same uniforms come Sunday.

- THE BIG LEAD has the details on Lisa Guerrero’s recent sting on the Tennessee hotels that allegedly filled a creep’s request to get a room next to Erin Andrews (which led to the peephole tape). Did you know that she posed for Playboy a while back? (NSFW)

- Over at YARDBARKER, Brendan Haywood argues that the NFL should just say no to Rush Limbaugh’s bid to buy the Rams.

- THE SPORTING BLOG reports that one Miami scalper took his “job” waaaay too seriously.

- The folks in Buffalo are already talking about trading Terrell Owens, and THE HERD’S WORD wonders where he could land.

- DEADSPIN details how Francisco Garcia will miss four months because of a freak rubber ball incident.

Here are my top four plays against the spread for Week 5 in the NFL. (Fade at will.)

Steelers (2-2) at Lions (1-3), 1:00PM ET
The Lions are in trouble for a couple reasons, although none bigger than not having rookie quarterback Matthew Stafford (knee injury) run their offense. Stafford is expected to be sidelined for Detroit’s game against the defending champs this weekend, which means Daunte Culpepper will get the start. Even without Troy Polamalu, the Steelers defense should handle everything Culpepper throws their way and generate a turnover or two. This is another big test for Rashard Mendenhall. If he follows up his 165-yard effort against the Chargers last week with a dud against the lowly Lions, then the Steelers’ ground game is right back where it started at the beginning of the season (i.e. in trouble). That said, Ben Roethlisberger should have no issues moving the ball through the air against Detroit’s 25th ranked pass defense. Will this be the game Pittsburgh finally plays all four quarters and step on an opponent’s throat?
Odds: Steelers –10.5.
Prediction: Steelers 34, Lions 14.

Patriots (3-1) at Broncos (4-0), 4:15PM ET
The Broncos aren’t going to move the ball against the Patriots as well as the Ravens did last week, but they should have more than enough weapons in Brandon Marshall and Knowshon Moreno to keep the chains moving and give their defense time to rest. Speaking of Denver’s defense, as long as Elvis Dummervil and company continue to generate pressure, the Broncos should pull off the upset as home dogs this Sunday. The Patriots’ issues are far from solved and Bill Belichick knows his team has to go week-to-week and game-by-game. New England has struggled in Denver over the years, covering the spread just five times in its last 20 visits to the Mile-High City. This will be a great test for the Broncos defense to see where they’re at, and I think they harass Tom Brady just enough to earn a victory.
Odds: Patriots –3.5.
Prediction: Broncos 20, Patriots 17.

Browns (0-4) at Bills (1-3), 1:00PM ET
This has trap written all over it. Why are the Browns 6-point underdogs on the road against a Bills team that played awful against the Dolphins last week? Cleveland showed more fight than Buffalo did in Week 4, so it would stand to reason that the point spread would be a tad lower. Watch for Alex Van Pelt to get Terrell Owens more involved in the passing game this week and use the running back duo of Marshawn Lynch and Fred Jackson to open things up for Trent Edwards in the passing game. Buffalo is beat up defensively coming into this game, but Derek Anderson always supplies a turnover or two and the Bills won’t have to worry about double teaming Braylon Edwards like Cincinnati did last week since he’s now in New York. One would think that the Browns would keep this game close (if not win it) after finally showing some fire last week, but I bet they suffer another letdown playing in a tough Buffalo environment.
Odds: Bills –6.
Prediction: Bills 24, Browns 16.

Colts (4-0) at Titans (0-4), 8:20PM ET
Things don’t get any easier this week for the winless Titans as they host the undefeated Colts on Sunday night football. Tennessee has struggled stopping the pass this year and converting on third downs, which is a troubling sign with Indy coming to town. Peyton Manning should obliterate a weak Titans’ secondary, which stands little to no chance against Reggie Wayne, Dallas Clark and the rest of Manning’s receiving weapons. Defensively, Indy matches up well with a Tennessee team that likes to get Chris Johnson involved in the short to intermediate passing game. The Colts are fast and can’t be beat running east and west. If Kerry Collins can’t convert on third downs, it’s going to be a long night for him and one has to wonder if Jeff Fisher won’t go back to Vince Young at some point in order to provide a spark. As long as the Colts don’t turn the ball over or suffer a letdown, Indy should roll in this one.
Odds: Colts –4.
Prediction: Colts 33, Titans 17.

In an interview for the radio program the “Two Live Stews,” Bills wideout Terrell Owens said that he believes the media is trying to stir things up in Buffalo by twisting around what he says.

From ESPN.com:

“It really just shows you the angle that the media has taken all these years,” Owens said during the interview. “Over the years I’ve always kind of spoken openly about whatever is being asked with my answers, so the last four or five years I’ve kind of noticed that and tried taking some steps to prevent some of those things from happening.

“But [Sunday] as you saw, it was obviously … [the media] took some more than initiative to try to get me to kind of go down the wrong path. I know the last two teams that I’ve been on, I felt like I left those teams prematurely due to media interviews that I’ve done and things kind of taken out of context and they created sort of a media whirlwind in the locker room and things kind of went downhill from there. I’m just trying to do the best job I can do as far as answering the questions and trying to be a better teammate and not try to throw people under the bus.”

During his news conference on Sunday after the Bills loss — in which his streak of 185 consecutive games with a reception was snapped — Owens was repeatedly asked about his lack of involvement in the team’s offense.

“Just going with the plays that are called,” Owens replied repeatedly to those questions. “Whether I like them or don’t, I’m just going with the plays that are called.”

He admitted some frustration with the lack of pass attempts downfield — “We had some chances to go down the field and we didn’t,” he said — but he sidestepped a question about whether the Bills and quarterback Trent Edwards are looking enough to the team’s top receivers.

“No, I don’t want to answer that,” Owens said Sunday. “I don’t want to answer that, because whatever I say you guys are going to turn it to however you want to say it.”

I heard Owens’ press conference following the Bills’ loss to the Saints on Sunday and the media was definitely trying to get him to say something controversial. They repeatedly asked him questions in an attempt to get him riled up and when he didn’t take the bait, they pushed harder.

That said, I have zero empathy for T.O. in this situation because he brought this on himself. Had he not thrown multiple teammates under the bus and not taken such a me-first attitude throughout his career, then the Buffalo media wouldn’t be trying to conjure up a story. He thinks just because he’s been on good behavior in Buffalo that all of a sudden the media is just going to forget everything he’s done and said in the past.

Sorry T.O., but you’re not getting off that easy.