He didn't get a fair shake
Dick Jauron has been hired to become the next head coach of the Buffalo Bills. To this I say, “Ha Ha!” like Nelson on The Simpsons. I'm sorry, that's not very nice. Dick Jauron was well-spoken and polite, and I'm sure if I met him that I'd come to the conclusion that he's a heck of a guy. His record as a NFL head coach was pretty terrible, though. Witness the carnage, courtesy pro-football-reference.com:
+--------------+----------+
| Reg. Season | Playoffs |
+----------+--------------+----------+
| Year TM | W L T | W L |
+----------+--------------+----------+
| 1999 chi | 6 10 0 | 0 0 |
| 2000 chi | 5 11 0 | 0 0 |
| 2001 chi | 13 3 0 | 0 1 |
| 2002 chi | 4 12 0 | 0 0 |
| 2003 chi | 7 9 0 | 0 0 |
| 2005 det | 1 4 0 | 0 0 |
+----------+--------------+----------+
| TOTALS | 36 49 0 | 0 1 |
+----------+--------------+----------+
If you were Marv Levy, the 81-year-old new GM of the Bills, what would make you think that this is the man to return the team to glory? “He didn't get a fair shake with Chicago,” Marv said. Oh, I'd say he got plenty of shake. So what did they see in him? Was it his sterling record with young Quarterbacks? His ability to win in cold weather? Was it the excellent defense the Lions had this year? I don't get it.
I've come to enjoy Chicago-native Marv Levy's analysis in recent years, but I wasn't a fan of him or his team back in the old days. It goes back to Week 17 of the 1991 season. Heading in to the weekend, the Bears and Lions were tied for the division lead with records of 11-4. The Lions were at Buffalo on a Saturday and the Bears were at San Francisco on Monday. With nothing to play for, Buffalo rested all of their starters and the Lions eeked out a 17-14 victory. The 49ers, naturally, pummeled the Bears on that Monday night and Wayne Fontes lit up his victory cigar at half-time. I can still vividly see Fred Flintstone and his stogey, and it made me want to puke. The Lions got the bye week and the Bears ended up losing the Wild Card game to the upstart Cowboys. The Bills, of course, ended up losing their second of four-straight Super Bowls, so I guess they got what was coming to them. But still, I never liked Buffalo after that. Enjoy your Jauron, Buffalo!