Things started out just fine yesterday. Tyrod Taylor took the opening kick-off and marched his team down the field for a touchdown. The Patriots then went three-and-out on their first possession which included Tom Brady having to take a time-out due to crowd noise, presumably. From that point on, despite mounting a late comeback of sorts, the Bills were outmatched, outcoached and overwhelmed for the rest of yesterday's game in Orchard Park. I presume that the Guinness Book of World Records folks, there to measure crowd noise for a possible outdoor world record, left early.
As I watched each and every one of Rex Ryan's press conferences from the day he was hired last January, through OTA's and training camp and after last Sunday's game, I wondered how his demeanor would change after a loss. He seemed angry and terse. And rightfully so. After building this week 2 game up as the potential defining moment of this season and his coaching tenure in Buffalo, the hype was fully deflated (sorry, had to use it) as Tom Brady passed for 466 yards (a Bills team record) as the Bills had no defensive answer at all. Ryan took full responsibility for the poor game plan and for the undisciplined conduct of his team which took 14 penalties on the day and, at times, lost its composure. Watching the game from home, it was endlessly frustrating and reminiscent of so many games the Bills have played over the past 15 years against New England.
I think that Rex may now regret having let expectations grow too high for yesterday's game. It's a long season with another big divisional game coming up on Sunday. Many teams are 1-1 after week 2 and I hope that coach Ryan and his team can prepare properly for a road game in south Florida against a 1-1 Dolphins team which will be highly motivated after lost at Jacksonville yesterday. The Bills will have to wait until week 11 for revenge when they will face the Patriots again in prime time on a Monday night.
Remember Donald Trump being one of the prospective purchasers of the Bills last year? I'm not sure that he was ever a serious bidder but imagine for a moment the chaos around the team if he had succeeded in buying it. How would the fan base feel about his controversial candidacy for the Republican nomination for President? He might wear a Bills hat instead of a "Make America Great Again" hat and isn't it possible that Tom Brady, apparently a good friend and supporter of Trump, may have felt some sense of mixed loyalty yesterday?
Trump's unlikely campaign momentum has carried him to the front-runner position, for now anyway. I see his statements, and those of some of his supporters, in a good news/bad news context. The bad news of course is that they are divisive, bigoted and often based on unthruths. The good news is two-fold: first, they will serve to pull the Republican party further to the right and force his competitors to play in his space and, second, while there is a shocking level of support for his views among those voting in Republican primaries, that support will fall short among the wider population, thankfully. Among other things, he's pretty much locked up the Latino vote - for the Democrats.
Next week's game is a late kick-off (4.25pm) in Miami. It will be a significant test of how Rex Ryan can re-set and re-focus his team.
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