His decision to punt in OT with just more than four minutes left and the Bills on their own 41-yard line also came under fire. Ryan defended the decision to members of the media, saying reporters’ “livelihood” wasn’t on the line the way his was.

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The Bills announced the move Tuesday morning, saying the Ryans had been relieved of their duties and that offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn will coach the team in the regular season finale Sunday against the New York Jets.

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“I spoke with Rex earlier today and we mutually agreed that the time to part ways is now,” owner Terry Pegula said in a statement issued by the team early Tuesday afternoon. “These decisions are never easy. I want to take this opportunity to thank Rex for all his efforts and wish him all the best moving forward.

“Kim [Pegula’s wife] and I and our entire Bills organization share in the same disappointment and frustration as our fans, but we remain committed to our goal of bringing a championship to Western New York.”

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Rex Ryan, who was hired by the team in January 2015 shortly after he was fired by the Jets, called the loss to the Dolphins “about as painful a loss as I can remember.”

“That’s a loss that you lose sleep over,” Ryan, who was 15-16 with the Bills, said. “For myself, questioning things and what we should have done different or whatever, I can say this, it’s a hell of a lot easier to do that in hindsight than it is the moment it happens. To say that this is obviously the toughest defeat that I’ve taken to this point as the Bills coach, they all hurt, but this one especially.”

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Ryan seemed ready to accept whatever decision the Pegulas made about his future. Since Marv Levy retired in 1997, no Bills coach has lasted four full seasons and the team’s playoff drought has reached 17 seasons. The last coach to take the Bills to the playoffs was Wade Phillips, the Denver Broncos’ defensive coordinator, in 1999.

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ESPN’s Jeff Darlington reported Tuesday that a personnel issue may have played a role in the timing of Ryan’s departure. The team wanted to bench quarterback Tyrod Taylor this week, lest he get injured against the Jets and trigger a very large contract guarantee, but Ryan, “loyal to a fault,” had balked at making that move.