Rex Ryan was already on the verge of getting fired before he totally flubbed overtime

Rex Ryan’s job with the Buffalo Bills was far from secure when the took the field Saturday for a Week 16 game against the Dolphins. They lost, and the team was eliminated from postseason contention for the 17th consecutive year. By Tuesday morning, Ryan and his brother Rob were out of jobs, let go by the Bills.

Saturday’s performance against Miami was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Ryan was at the helm for only two of those seasons, but a 7-8 record in 2016 is especially disappointing for a team that has outscored opponents by 41 points. Only seven teams have a better point differential and all seven have already clinched a spot in the playoffs.

No team turns the ball over less, no team runs the ball better, and yet the Bills can’t get the job done. That’s why Ryan was fired before the season ended, after he hurt his case more by flubbing overtime against the Miami Dolphins.

With just over four minutes remaining, the Bills elected to punt instead of electing to go for it on fourth-and-2 from their own 41-yard line. Typically, that kind of conservative choice wouldn’t raise eyebrows, but the Bills were set to be eliminated from the playoffs with a tie.

Buffalo also racked up a franchise-record 589 yards of total offense on the day, but never touched the ball again after the punt — willingly handing the ball over to a Dolphins offense that managed 494 yards of its own.

“I know exactly how many yards we had, but every coach in America would’ve done the same thing backed up in your own end,” Ryan told reporters after the game. “It’s easy to say when your livelihood’s not depending on it and say ‘Hey, I would’ve done this and this.’ I’m sure you would.”

The questionable decision by Ryan became a nail in the coffin when Jay Ajayi burst free on Miami’s first play after the punt. It was helped by the fact that the Bills only had 10 players on the field for the play.

With just three defensive linemen and three linebackers on the field for Buffalo, Dolphins left tackle Branden Albert only needed to wash Bills linebacker Lorenzo Alexander out of the play. Then it was up to Ajayi to get by defensive tackle Kyle Williams and he was off to the races.

After the game, Ryan said an injury suffered by cornerback Stephon Gilmore created confusion on the sideline that led to the mistake.

“We had a young man (Gilmore) who is now in the concussion protocol — I think the communication he had is that he was heading back on the field,” Ryan said. “Apparently that wasn’t the case. We assumed he was going back in the game and apparently it didn’t happen. Obviously we didn’t know about it or we would’ve called timeout.”

Had Gilmore been in the game, the hole off the left side of the offensive line may not have opened for Ajayi.

A day later, Ryan took full responsibility for the error:

But this is just the latest mistake for a Bills team that wasn’t getting the job done defensively despite a defensive-minded head coach, and wasn’t getting the wins that it should. And that meant Ryan was shown the door in Buffalo.