How fast perceptions can change.
The Buffalo Bills surprised many in the NFL by getting off to a 7-5 start and remaining in the playoff hunt out in the AFC East. But at 8-7 overall, the playoffs are no longer a possibility. What's worse is that the Bills have lost two of their last three games, including one to the woeful Oakland Raiders.
Those are not the type of results new team owner Terry Pegula expected when he purchased the team. As a result, ownership could consider major changes in the offseason, beginning with head coach Doug Marrone.
"No," Marrone told the media Tuesday when asked if he has been given any assurances about his job. "And I say that knowing that now is really not the time for that in our profession. Maybe some other people would do that. I'm probably not the best person to talk to because I'm wired a little bit differently. Like I said, my focus is just on this game and winning. I don't want to focus on the other stuff. The things that you can't control, you don't worry about. Those things will happen, I'm sure, when the season is over. I'm not interested in that. I'm interested in doing the best job I can for the Buffalo Bills."
Marrone has gone 14-17 as the head coach of the Bills. The team wasted a first-round pick on quarterback E.J. Manuel in last year's draft. He lasted just 14 games before Buffalo benched him in favor of veteran Kyle Orton, whom they signed in August.
While Buffalo's defense has improved dramatically under Marrone, ownership can't be happy with how the quarterback position has been handled or the team's struggles down the stretch. Considering Marrone's lackluster four-year career as head coach at Syracuse before coming to the NFL, it doesn't seem implausible that the Bills could begin looking for a new head coach.
Would you like a side of Jim Harbaugh with that, Buffalo?
