ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Rex Ryan had the look of a defeated coach resigned to his fate when he tried to explain after Saturday's overtime loss to the Miami Dolphins why he, his players and coaches made critical mistakes that led to the Buffalo Bills' elimination from playoff contention for a 17th consecutive season.

At best, Ryan's explanations shed light on procedural errors that should have been corrected long before Week 16. At worst, Ryan's excuses were an indictment of his decision-making in his eighth year as an NFL head coach.

The most obvious place to start is Ryan's decision to punt with 4:09 remaining in overtime. On fourth-and-2 from the Bills' 41-yard line, the offense -- which set a franchise record with 589 net yards in the game -- had a chance to move the chains. Instead, Ryan opted to punt to try to pin the Dolphins deep in their territory.

As Saturday's game was slipping away, Rex Ryan had no answers. He had plenty of excuses afterward, though. Rich Barnes/Getty Images

The problem? The Bills would have been eliminated from postseason contention even if the game ended in a tie, and the defense had done little to slow Dolphins running back Jay Ajayi all game. By punting, the Bills were giving Miami an opportunity to either run out the clock for the tie or drive downfield to win. Of the Dolphins' six possessions before their final drive, only one had ended in a three-and-out, while three resulted in scores.

"I thought I'd pin them deep and then get the ball back," Ryan said after the game. "But every coach in America would have done the same thing, backed up in your end one first down away [from a Dolphins field goal if the fourth-down conversion had failed]. And it's easy to sit back up there when your livelihood is not riding on it and say, 'Hey, I'd go ahead and do this and this.' I'm sure you would."

Ryan's statement should be a slap in the face for Bills fans, even those who paid $6 or less -- the going rate for some tickets on the secondary market -- to watch a December game during a typically disappointing Bills season. Most fans earn only a small fraction of Ryan's $5.5 million annual salary, and none would have billionaires such as Bills owners Terry and Kim Pegula continuing to mail them a paycheck if they were fired. Ryan still has three years remaining on his $27.5 million contract and will be paid handsomely to be a television analyst if he is fired.

If the dictionary definition of the word "livelihood" is "a way of earning money in order to live," Ryan's livelihood certainly was not on the line with his decision to punt.

But here's the kicker: When Ryan's defense took the field for the first play of the Dolphins' ensuing possession, it had only 10 players on the field. With cornerback Stephon Gilmore absent because he was being evaluated for a concussion, Ajayi had little trouble bouncing his run on the first play of the drive to Gilmore's side of the field and running 57 yards to all but seal Miami's win.

"I think we assumed [Gilmore] was going back in the game, and I was told and apparently it didn't happen," Ryan said. "Obviously, we didn't know about it or we would have called a timeout."

It might not be Ryan's direct responsibility to make sure Gilmore is on the field, but it is part of his job description to ensure his staff follows a procedure for such situations. In this case, the system broke down at a critical moment, and Ryan deserves blame as the CEO of the Bills' sideline.

Ryan also leaned on a weak, flimsy argument for why he shouldn't be fired for his defense's struggles since he took over as coach prior to the 2015 season. Over his 31 games as Bills coach, Ryan has fielded a defense that ranks 23rd in yards allowed per game, 15th in points allowed, 21st in yards allowed per play, 30th in yards allowed per rush, 15th in net yards per pass attempt, 29th in sacks per pass attempt, 20th in third-down conversion rate and 24th in red zone conversion rate.

"You can question it all you want," he said. "I've been pretty decent throughout my career. Obviously, this was a rough night, there's no question. We've had some tough ones, but I think the league is -- I think offenses are pretty decent these days. They're able to move the football, but again, I'll let my reputation stand for what it is, and you can challenge it all you want.

"I'm talking about a body of work that's 20-some years in the making in this league. I think I can stand up here and whatever happens, happens. But I'm going to tell you this: that I'll stand by my reputation. Let's just put it that way."

Unfortunately for Ryan, he is not the defensive coordinator of the Baltimore Ravens' defenses of the past decade or the New York Jets' defenses earlier this decade. His reputation with those teams is worthless to Bills fans, and at a time when Ryan could have taken better ownership of the defensive struggles with his current team, he punted.