I'm sure that they had a great time on the three week vacation they decided to take but I for one was very happy to see that the Bills defence decided to make the trip to Kansas City in time for yesterday's game at Arrowhead Stadium. After giving up 101 points over the previous two games, yesterday the Chiefs were held to 10 points, 55 yards rushing and only 236 yards in total. Tyrod Taylor played another of his trademark games going 19 for 29 passing for a modest but efficient 181 yards and zero interceptions. This was a game played almost entirely without turnovers until rookie cornerback Tre'Davious White intercepted Alex Smith with less than two minutes remaining to seal the Bills first and only win in the month of November. It was the first pick thrown by Smith at home this year and only his fourth of the season overall. The Bills and Chiefs now own the same 6-5 records but panic levels in Missouri are surely rising now that the Chiefs have fallen off so much after getting off to a 5-0 start. The Bills, on the other hand remain a bit of a mystery but looked orders of magnitude better yesterday than they have in their three previous games.
In Canadian football, it was a clean sweep this weekend for me, being a resident of Toronto and an alumnae of Western University. I also happen to be an over-the-air television viewer which means I receive television signals with a sophisticated HD antenna (hey, I paid over $100 for it) and I do not receive bills from any cable or satellite company. Another thing I do not receive is TSN or any other channel which the CRTC or the FCC does not require to broadcast over-the-air. Yes, I miss out on the Blue Jays, the Raptors and mid-week Leaf games but I do get the full spectrum of American football (except on Monday nights), TVO and endless Law and Order re-runs on a network called ION Television which I tune in on channel 51.1. Canadian football is another thing I don't get - which usually isn't a big deal for me. Until it comes to the Grey Cup. I guess I've been either at the cottage or at a friend's place over recent years but last night, I was shut out completely and saw only Steve Paikin's Twitter photos and game updates as the Argos captured the Grey Cup in its 105th iteration in snowy Ottawa. Instead, I was watching the end of the Rams/Saints game and then I caught the first half of the Steelers/Packers game.
Bell Globe Media could, if they wanted, show the Grey Cup game on the main CTV network but they decide to limit it to its sports cable property and exclusive CFL rights holder, TSN. It's their prerogative for sure and I have no doubt that if they thought that they could attract a higher combined viewership between TSN and CTV by showing the Grey Cup on both networks, they would do so. But it still pisses me off that I can't see it without a cable or satellite subscription. Same goes for the Vanier Cup which was played in Hamilton on Saturday afternoon where the Western Mustangs captured their first championship since 1994. I'm not saying that I would have watched the whole game but I would have caught some of it for sure instead of American college football which filled the airwaves on Saturday as teams battled it out for one of the four playoff spots up for grabs. In Canada, if you want to watch Canadian football, you need to have a business relationship with Bell, Rogers or Shaw. And I choose not to have such a relationship. I have had them before and they have ended badly.
The New England Patriots make their annual trip to Orchard Park on Sunday. It usually doesn't end well for Bills fans. But a win this weekend would go a long way to continuing the regaining of the credibility of head coach Sean McDermott whose goodwill among the fan base was largely dashed after last week's Nathan Peterman debacle. The Patriots have won seven straight games now and will present a massive challenge for the Bills defence. If they can build at all on yesterday's strong performance, get a key turnover or two and if the Bills offence can run the ball effectively and keep it out of Brady's hands for as long as possible, they will have a chance. These things are always said about a football team before a game where they look to be outmatched. At least I won't need to worry about being able to get the game on TV.
Monday, 27 November 2017
Monday, 20 November 2017
Chargers 54, Bills 24
At least the Bills didn't lose as badly as the Acadia Axemen did. After the Michigan game was out of hand on Saturday afternoon, I noticed that the Uteck Bowl was on and, since my alma mater was playing in the game, I decided to check it out. The score when I flipped to it, which I thought was a typo at first, read Western 74, Acadia 3. The Mustangs went on to score another touchdown - just to be sure I guess - making the final score in Wolfville, N.S. 81-3. Western will face the Laval Rouge et Or, winners of the Mitchell Bowl, in the Vanier Cup in Hamilton on Saturday.
As bad as Acadia's run defence was on Saturday (and it was pretty bad), Nathan Peterman's first half of football as an NFL starting quarterback was arguably worse. I think what we saw was the extreme swinging of the pendulum from the conservative play of Tyrod Taylor through his first two and a half seasons as Bills quarterback to a young player who thought he would try tossing the ball all over the yard in order to distinguish himself from his predecessor. Well, he threw it all over the yard alright and proved that if you throw 5 interceptions in the first half, your team will be down by 30 points by the time the coach benches you in favour of the guy they benched to give you a shot. Ball protection has been Tyrod Taylor's signature trait in his career in Buffalo and it is one which I value this morning more then ever. He settles for too many check-downs; he's afraid to throw the ball down the field; he relies on his legs too much, he needs to open up the passing game and take some chances......these have been the Tyrod Taylor naysayers criticisms. I, for one, love his instinct for ball protection and, yes I wish he could generate some bigger plays in the passing game but his ability to avoid the disastrous play has served him and his team well - even if the fans and the coaching staff haven't fully appreciated it.
I have no idea what Sean McDermott is going to do next week going into Kansas City. He stuck his neck out by making the quarterback switch last week and it backfired spectacularly. Will he double down and give Peterman another shot or does he chalk it up to a failed experiment and stick with Taylor? He certainly has the confidence of ownership so his view on the question will be at least be medium term if not long term. My guess is that Peterman starts again on Sunday at Arrrowhead. It just seems like Taylor now has no shot at being under centre in Buffalo in 2018 with a strong quarterback class in next spring's draft and the Bills improving their draft position with each passing week. So, if they still want to see what they have in Peterman - recognizing that one really bad half can not define a player - then giving him another shot is the logical decision. When they were at 5-2, the goal was to make the playoffs for the first time in 17 years. Now, even though they are theoretically very much in the hunt for a wildcard spot, it feels like the season is slipping away with 3 lop-sided losses since beating the Raiders. It should be said that the real elephant in the Bills locker room is the defence which appears to be entirely unable to stop the run. Maybe Marcel Dareus would have helped over these past 3 weeks.
Back to Canadian football which now moves into its final week. Thanks to the best traveling fans in the CFL, the Toronto Argonauts drew just under 25,000 at BMO Field for the Eastern Final where the visiting Green Rider fans left disappointed after their team came all the way back only to lose at the end. So, the Grey Cup in Ottawa will be the Argos against the Calgary Stampeders - the same match-up as the very first Grey Cup game I can remember in 1971 where the Joe Theisman led Argos fell short of winning the game on a late fumble near the Stampeder goal line by Leon "X-Ray" McQuay at a rainy Empire Stadium in Vancouver.
I'm siting inside the cottage as I write this. It sure looks like winter in the early morning twilight with the temperature at minus 7 and light snow falling on the 10cm we already have from the night before. The woodstove is pumping out the heat, a pot of tea made and the porridge is on. We will hike around the lake and sauna before we leave today. Who cares about football anyway?
As bad as Acadia's run defence was on Saturday (and it was pretty bad), Nathan Peterman's first half of football as an NFL starting quarterback was arguably worse. I think what we saw was the extreme swinging of the pendulum from the conservative play of Tyrod Taylor through his first two and a half seasons as Bills quarterback to a young player who thought he would try tossing the ball all over the yard in order to distinguish himself from his predecessor. Well, he threw it all over the yard alright and proved that if you throw 5 interceptions in the first half, your team will be down by 30 points by the time the coach benches you in favour of the guy they benched to give you a shot. Ball protection has been Tyrod Taylor's signature trait in his career in Buffalo and it is one which I value this morning more then ever. He settles for too many check-downs; he's afraid to throw the ball down the field; he relies on his legs too much, he needs to open up the passing game and take some chances......these have been the Tyrod Taylor naysayers criticisms. I, for one, love his instinct for ball protection and, yes I wish he could generate some bigger plays in the passing game but his ability to avoid the disastrous play has served him and his team well - even if the fans and the coaching staff haven't fully appreciated it.
I have no idea what Sean McDermott is going to do next week going into Kansas City. He stuck his neck out by making the quarterback switch last week and it backfired spectacularly. Will he double down and give Peterman another shot or does he chalk it up to a failed experiment and stick with Taylor? He certainly has the confidence of ownership so his view on the question will be at least be medium term if not long term. My guess is that Peterman starts again on Sunday at Arrrowhead. It just seems like Taylor now has no shot at being under centre in Buffalo in 2018 with a strong quarterback class in next spring's draft and the Bills improving their draft position with each passing week. So, if they still want to see what they have in Peterman - recognizing that one really bad half can not define a player - then giving him another shot is the logical decision. When they were at 5-2, the goal was to make the playoffs for the first time in 17 years. Now, even though they are theoretically very much in the hunt for a wildcard spot, it feels like the season is slipping away with 3 lop-sided losses since beating the Raiders. It should be said that the real elephant in the Bills locker room is the defence which appears to be entirely unable to stop the run. Maybe Marcel Dareus would have helped over these past 3 weeks.
Back to Canadian football which now moves into its final week. Thanks to the best traveling fans in the CFL, the Toronto Argonauts drew just under 25,000 at BMO Field for the Eastern Final where the visiting Green Rider fans left disappointed after their team came all the way back only to lose at the end. So, the Grey Cup in Ottawa will be the Argos against the Calgary Stampeders - the same match-up as the very first Grey Cup game I can remember in 1971 where the Joe Theisman led Argos fell short of winning the game on a late fumble near the Stampeder goal line by Leon "X-Ray" McQuay at a rainy Empire Stadium in Vancouver.
I'm siting inside the cottage as I write this. It sure looks like winter in the early morning twilight with the temperature at minus 7 and light snow falling on the 10cm we already have from the night before. The woodstove is pumping out the heat, a pot of tea made and the porridge is on. We will hike around the lake and sauna before we leave today. Who cares about football anyway?
Monday, 13 November 2017
Saints 47, Bills 10
We were already on the 219 headed north toward downtown Buffalo and the Peace Bridge when John Murphy, radio play-by-play announcer for the Bills, read off some statistics from the disastrous first three quarters of yesterday's debacle in Orchard Park. The one which stood out for me was the first downs earned by each team: The Saints had 30 and the Bills had 4, including none at all in the third quarter. I have heard football pundits who have run out of topics to address speculate about how the best college football team might fare against even the worst NFL team and yesterday's box score comes close to what they predicted. One even said that it would be extremely difficult for a college team's offence to get any first downs against an NFL defence. Well, yesterday the Bills ended up with 10 of them after Nathan Peterson mopped up at quarterback in garbage time. The box score through three quarters accurately reflected the ugliness for Bills fans.
The game started well enough for the home crowd with LeSean McCoy ripping off a 35 yard run on the second play from scrimmage and then Tyrod Taylor got the Bills deep in Saints territory with a 13 yard keeper before the drive stalled and the Bills settled for a field goal and an early lead. Apart from the Bills defence recovering a Saints fumble later in the first quarter, the rest of the game film should be erased in its entirety. The Saints offence was a well-oiled machine, gaining almost 300 yards on the ground with Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara both going over 100 yards each. When he wasn't handing the ball off to either running back, Drew Brees, who found the Buffalo pass rush to be virtually undetectable, was able to pass for a pedestrian sounding 184 yards, easily and repeatedly finding open receivers for first downs. Turns out that the Saints punter needn't have even bothered to dress for the game - or make the trip to Western New York at all as his services were not required. Not even once. That's right, apart from the first quarter turnover and kneel downs at the end of the game and the end of the first half, every Saints drive resulted in points.
Our strategy of waiting for a colder weather game with more importance and the excitement and pressure of the Bills trying to keep pace with the Patriots in the division or at least stay in the hunt in the AFC wildcard playoff race, didn't work. At least not in terms of seeing a competitive game. The stadium was as quiet as I can remember it and I've been there about 60 times over the last 30 years. If the comeback game - the Miracle at Rich - in January, 1993 was the best game I've ever seen live, yesterday's was probably the worst one. We left with about 8 minutes remaining in the third quarter and John Murphy was describing the final few painful seconds of the game as we were just about to drive across the Peace Bridge. On the bright side, at least it made for an easy exit from the parking lot, no waiting at the border and an early arrival home. I half-heartedly hoped that the Broncos might upset the Patriots last night and preserve a slim chance for the Bills to catch them in the division with two head-to-head games still to come in December. I think I'm dreading those games now.
I have noticed in recent years - I guess since 9/11 - that US Border Patrol officers have an amazing ability to ask a question, every time I cross, which I have never been asked before. It seems hard to believe because how many different questions are there to ask of 2 men in their mid-50's, decked out in Bills gear at 9am on a Sunday at the Lewiston crossing? "What is your citizenship?", "Where are you going?", "What are you bringing with you?" We always get those questions but then there is always a question which I presume is designed to take us out of our comfort zone in order to see how we respond in terms of the actual answer or our body language, or if we pause before answering or look or seem uncomfortable in some way. During the outbreak of Mad Cow Disease, we were regularly asked if we were bringing beef in the USA. A few years ago, one officer asked repeatedly if either of us had ever been arrested. Yesterday, we were asked a question I have definitely never been asked at a border crossing before. After advising the officer that we had 6 cans of beer with us, with a look of curiosity he asked "Is that going to be enough?". I think it was a rhetorical question but the irony of course is that it wasn't nearly enough.
The game started well enough for the home crowd with LeSean McCoy ripping off a 35 yard run on the second play from scrimmage and then Tyrod Taylor got the Bills deep in Saints territory with a 13 yard keeper before the drive stalled and the Bills settled for a field goal and an early lead. Apart from the Bills defence recovering a Saints fumble later in the first quarter, the rest of the game film should be erased in its entirety. The Saints offence was a well-oiled machine, gaining almost 300 yards on the ground with Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara both going over 100 yards each. When he wasn't handing the ball off to either running back, Drew Brees, who found the Buffalo pass rush to be virtually undetectable, was able to pass for a pedestrian sounding 184 yards, easily and repeatedly finding open receivers for first downs. Turns out that the Saints punter needn't have even bothered to dress for the game - or make the trip to Western New York at all as his services were not required. Not even once. That's right, apart from the first quarter turnover and kneel downs at the end of the game and the end of the first half, every Saints drive resulted in points.
Our strategy of waiting for a colder weather game with more importance and the excitement and pressure of the Bills trying to keep pace with the Patriots in the division or at least stay in the hunt in the AFC wildcard playoff race, didn't work. At least not in terms of seeing a competitive game. The stadium was as quiet as I can remember it and I've been there about 60 times over the last 30 years. If the comeback game - the Miracle at Rich - in January, 1993 was the best game I've ever seen live, yesterday's was probably the worst one. We left with about 8 minutes remaining in the third quarter and John Murphy was describing the final few painful seconds of the game as we were just about to drive across the Peace Bridge. On the bright side, at least it made for an easy exit from the parking lot, no waiting at the border and an early arrival home. I half-heartedly hoped that the Broncos might upset the Patriots last night and preserve a slim chance for the Bills to catch them in the division with two head-to-head games still to come in December. I think I'm dreading those games now.
I have noticed in recent years - I guess since 9/11 - that US Border Patrol officers have an amazing ability to ask a question, every time I cross, which I have never been asked before. It seems hard to believe because how many different questions are there to ask of 2 men in their mid-50's, decked out in Bills gear at 9am on a Sunday at the Lewiston crossing? "What is your citizenship?", "Where are you going?", "What are you bringing with you?" We always get those questions but then there is always a question which I presume is designed to take us out of our comfort zone in order to see how we respond in terms of the actual answer or our body language, or if we pause before answering or look or seem uncomfortable in some way. During the outbreak of Mad Cow Disease, we were regularly asked if we were bringing beef in the USA. A few years ago, one officer asked repeatedly if either of us had ever been arrested. Yesterday, we were asked a question I have definitely never been asked at a border crossing before. After advising the officer that we had 6 cans of beer with us, with a look of curiosity he asked "Is that going to be enough?". I think it was a rhetorical question but the irony of course is that it wasn't nearly enough.
Monday, 6 November 2017
Jets 34, Bills 21
Jerry Sullivan of the Buffalo News put it best in his post-game column: "I can't blame Bills fans who are conditioned to expect calamity when things seem most promising". Over the course of what is known throughout the fan base as the "Drought" (as in, not making the NFL playoffs since 1999 - the longest current streak of non-playoff seasons in the league), Sullivan ominously observed that, over the course of the last 17 years, the team often hits the wall after 5 wins. And, after citing several examples, I'm afraid that he's right.
The Thursday night game 4 days ago was forgettable from the start. The Bills first offensive play from scrimmage was a 12 yard sack of Taylor after the right side of the line allowed a full Jets jailbreak. They never recovered on either side of the ball. Josh McCown, the journeyman quarterback now playing for his eighth NFL team looked like the second coming of YA Tittle (for you, Scott B) as the Jets built a 31-7 lead before I turned off the TV and went to sleep. I gather that the Bills managed to score a couple of touchdowns late in the game to make the score look more reasonable.
I wonder about the future of the the NFL's full slate of Thursday night games. Don Banks, the long-time NFL writer and weekly commentator on Bob McCown's Prime Time Sports said last week that he sees the Thursday night schedule as a prime target for the league to address the problem of over-saturation if it chooses to do so - which it should. The old adage seems to have been turned around for many sports fans as the NFL Thursday night games have left many of them wanting less. The Bills and Jets have faced each other on TNF for 4 straight years now and while the idea of promoting a divisional rivalry year after year would appear to make sense, neither of the two teams has not been particularly compelling to watch in recent years. Many of the Thursday night match-ups since the league expanded to a full season schedule in 2012 have been similarly uninteresting and I think that the combination of over-saturation and games that don't generate much interest regardless of when they are played has presented the league with a clear jumping off point if they are serious about stopping the TV ratings decline.
Thursday Night Football actually dates back to 2006 when the NFL presented 8 late-season games on Thursday and Saturday nights. I recommend that they return to such a format whereby Thursday games are limited to the first regular season game every year, the Thanksgiving Day games (of which there are now three) and perhaps one or two others in the second half of the year which feature teams in the playoff hunt (under NFL Flex Scheduling, this is certainly possible, although a logistical challenge to be sure). Having attended two Thursday night home games in Buffalo, I can say that while night games are an interesting novelty, I am not a fan of getting home at 3am. Scrap the full slate of Thursday games next season, I say.
I am looking forward to a trip to Orchard Park this coming Sunday. The weather forecast is looking decidedly cold and I'm happy about that not only because I have all the right clothing but because the New Orleans Saints may not be entirely comfortable breaking out their own cold weather gear. The Bills will need all the cold and wind they can get as the Saints come in on a 6 game winning streak. After losing their first two games, the Saints have built their record to 6-2 and they have done it like a cold weather team usually does - by running the ball and playing strong defence. The Bills will need their running game to shine again if they are to break the Saints winning streak.
Bills fans who read the Buffalo News have been critical of sports columnist Jerry Sullivan who has pulled no punches in trashing the team over the course of the Drought. I hope that he has a positive angle to his story next Monday. As he likes to say in response to readers who don't like what he writes, "I column as I see 'em".
The Thursday night game 4 days ago was forgettable from the start. The Bills first offensive play from scrimmage was a 12 yard sack of Taylor after the right side of the line allowed a full Jets jailbreak. They never recovered on either side of the ball. Josh McCown, the journeyman quarterback now playing for his eighth NFL team looked like the second coming of YA Tittle (for you, Scott B) as the Jets built a 31-7 lead before I turned off the TV and went to sleep. I gather that the Bills managed to score a couple of touchdowns late in the game to make the score look more reasonable.
I wonder about the future of the the NFL's full slate of Thursday night games. Don Banks, the long-time NFL writer and weekly commentator on Bob McCown's Prime Time Sports said last week that he sees the Thursday night schedule as a prime target for the league to address the problem of over-saturation if it chooses to do so - which it should. The old adage seems to have been turned around for many sports fans as the NFL Thursday night games have left many of them wanting less. The Bills and Jets have faced each other on TNF for 4 straight years now and while the idea of promoting a divisional rivalry year after year would appear to make sense, neither of the two teams has not been particularly compelling to watch in recent years. Many of the Thursday night match-ups since the league expanded to a full season schedule in 2012 have been similarly uninteresting and I think that the combination of over-saturation and games that don't generate much interest regardless of when they are played has presented the league with a clear jumping off point if they are serious about stopping the TV ratings decline.
Thursday Night Football actually dates back to 2006 when the NFL presented 8 late-season games on Thursday and Saturday nights. I recommend that they return to such a format whereby Thursday games are limited to the first regular season game every year, the Thanksgiving Day games (of which there are now three) and perhaps one or two others in the second half of the year which feature teams in the playoff hunt (under NFL Flex Scheduling, this is certainly possible, although a logistical challenge to be sure). Having attended two Thursday night home games in Buffalo, I can say that while night games are an interesting novelty, I am not a fan of getting home at 3am. Scrap the full slate of Thursday games next season, I say.
I am looking forward to a trip to Orchard Park this coming Sunday. The weather forecast is looking decidedly cold and I'm happy about that not only because I have all the right clothing but because the New Orleans Saints may not be entirely comfortable breaking out their own cold weather gear. The Bills will need all the cold and wind they can get as the Saints come in on a 6 game winning streak. After losing their first two games, the Saints have built their record to 6-2 and they have done it like a cold weather team usually does - by running the ball and playing strong defence. The Bills will need their running game to shine again if they are to break the Saints winning streak.
Bills fans who read the Buffalo News have been critical of sports columnist Jerry Sullivan who has pulled no punches in trashing the team over the course of the Drought. I hope that he has a positive angle to his story next Monday. As he likes to say in response to readers who don't like what he writes, "I column as I see 'em".
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