Rex Ryan, 0-2 Bills eager to face Arizona, New England

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Reeling from an 0-2 start, coach Rex Ryan boldly declared Monday that the Buffalo Bills' next two opponents -- the Arizona Cardinals and New England Patriots -- are the "exact" medicine his team needs to get back on track.

"It might be the best team in the league, and maybe this is the exact team we need to play," Ryan said of the Cardinals. "And it's back-to-back weeks, by the way. You got [Cardinals coach] Bruce Arians this week, and you got [Patriots coach Bill] Belichick next week. So it's like, OK, there's a few more easier options than those two, but maybe this is exactly what we need."

The Cardinals are 1-1 after blowing out the Tampa Bay Buccaneers40-7 on Sunday. The Patriots (2-0) held on for a 31-24 win over the Miami Dolphins after defeating the Cardinals in Week 1.

Asked to elaborate on his thinking, Ryan said, "I think if you're coming down, you're 0-2, our expectations were much higher than that. Against these two teams right here, it's clear that they're playing as good as any teams in the league. I don't think there's any doubt about that. I can't see anybody playing better than what I saw on tape. So we'll get to see us immediately.

"I see we've had struggles. There's no doubt about that. We've been far from perfect. I get that. But we'll see how we measure up against maybe the best in the league here."

After dropping their first two contests, the Bills fired offensive coordinator Greg Roman on Friday, a move that Ryan continued to insist Monday was solely his decision.

"I made the decision on letting Greg Roman go. That's it. Final. I made the decision," Ryan said. "We didn't expect to be 0-2 at this point, yet here we are. Some of the decisions that I made, to move on, is because I truly believe we can get better by making a change. And that's the only reason I did it. I have a great deal of respect for Greg Roman, but I think at this moment I think we need to make a change.

"If you're going to pin it on one person being responsible for this 0-2 start, it's on me. I certainly accept it. I'm not happy with it. But I'm doing whatever I can to avoid being 0-3, albeit against arguably one of the best, if not the best, team in the NFL."

Bills owner Terry Pegula later confirmed to The Associated Press in a text message that it was Ryan's call to fire Roman.

"We do things together like any well run org would,'' Pegula wrote in the text message. "Head coach runs the team and staff.''

Ryan addressed an NFL Network report Sunday that owners Terry and Kim Pegula met with offensive players Friday (without Ryan present) to gauge what needed to be done with Roman.

"That happens all the time," Ryan said. "I feel fortunate that our owners -- I mean, they talk to our players, they talk to everybody. I can tell you this: I'm in full support of our owners. At the end of the day, it really doesn't matter, does it? They own the football team. They don't have to get permission to talk to anybody, myself included. I have no problem with it whatsoever. In fact, I think it's a real positive thing for us."

New coordinator Anthony Lynn led the offense for the first time in practice Monday but will keep the terminology from Roman's playbook intact.

"I think the spin on the offense is going to be immediate," Ryan said. "Some things that we'll do from a tactical standpoint, I think we'll see immediately. Change in the verbiage and playbook and all that stuff, we'll pull from the same playbook. There may be an occasional play here and there, but it's still gonna be -- we're definitely keeping the verbiage and everything else that's already in place."