In the second-last game of the ill-fated "Toronto" series, a 23-0 blanking of Washington on October 30, 2011, the Bills improved their record to 5-2 under second year head coach Chan Gailey. Marcel Dareus had 2.5 of the Bills 10 sacks that afternoon and Ryan Fitzpatrick played well enough to earn himself a lucrative contract extension as he had, in the minds of the Bills management team, established himself as the team's franchise quarterback. After starting the previous season 0-8 and posting a 4-12 record in 2010, the Bills had turned things around just short of the mid-point of that 2011 season and were positioned to at least challenge for a playoff spot, and perhaps even overtake the Patriots to win the AFC East. Bills fans were riding high that day - even if most of them stayed state-side and watched the game from Toronto on TV.
The Bills went on to lose their next seven consecutive games and would win exactly once more in 2011, en route to a very dissapointing 6-10 season. Bills GM Buddy Nix would end up wearing the Fitzpatrick extension like an anvil around his neck. Chan Gailey and Ryan Fitzpatrick would have one more season as Bills head coach and quarterback respectively before passing their torches to Doug Marrone and EJ Manuel, who also came and went like so many Bills coaches and quarterbacks have since Marv Levy and Jim Kelly retired. I have never really been a glass half-empty kind of sports fan but I've seen enough promising starts vapourize by the teams I root for over the years to not always see the glass as half-full.
But the Bills do look pretty good this time around. The head coach seems to have fostered a winning attitude which manifests itself by way of his team playing with confidence and poise and I think I detect a certain intangible trust on the part of the players in the game plans, schemes and individual plays designed and called by the coaching staff. In short, McDermott just seems like a guy who knows what he's doing, knows the kinds of players he wants and, most importantly, he demands and receives the effort and commitment that's required not just for this season but for the long term.
It's quite amazing really that the team has, since training camp, jettisoned Sammy Watkins, Ronald Darby and, this past week, Marcel Dareus. Any Bills fan would have identified these players as some of the most valuable on the roster as the team reported to camp and, although Jordan Matthews has contributed very nicely at the wideout position, the stockpiling of draft picks from trading these players looked very much like a sacrifice of this season in favour of a better chance of success over the next five seasons. Maybe that was the strategy all along and no one is more surprised than Bills GM Brandon Beane at the team's 5-2 record so far. Sure, we'll trade one of our starting defensive tackles and former 3rd overall pick in Darues for a conditional later round pick. No problem. We'll beat Oakland anyway.
Speaking of Oakland, when the Raiders took the opening kick-off yesterday and marched it downfield for a touchdown, I worried that it was going to be a long afternoon for the Bills secondary. But, aided once again by a series of take-aways on defence and by a brilliant performance by LeSean McCoy and the offensive line, the team improved its home record to 4-0. It feels like with every home game and as the weather now turns colder with the threat of snow in the air before long, New Era Field looks like a very tough place for visiting teams to win - just as it was way back in the early 90s when when it was still called Rich Stadium. The next home game is in a couple of weeks against the red-hot Saints, a dome team which just might be worried about being overwhelmed by the crowd noise and the cold and wind of a mid-November afternoon in Orchard Park.
Up next - just three days from now - is a prime time match-up with the Jets. When you're 5-2, all games are big but this game feels like one the Bills need to have to go 6-2 with 10 days for the team and the fans to prepare for the Saints. It will be my first trip to Orchard Park this year and I would love to leave the stadium with a 7-2 record to contemplate.
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