Our New Year's Eve dinner at the cottage was literally being served with the guests seated and hungry after I had prolonged the sit-down time through the end of the Bills game in Miami and the last few excruciating minutes of what looked like a Ravens come-back against a Cincinnati team which was motivated by playing a spoiler role and by winning what was likely to be the last game for their popular and long-tenured coach Marvin Lewis. "This is the last play right here" I said as the Bengals lined up for a desperate and probably game-ending fourth down and 12 at mid-field, trailing the Ravens by three points. Then Andy Dalton hit a wide open Tyler Boyd who raced to the endzone for the Bengal touchdown. It was amazing. But it wasn't the last meaningful play of the game as the Bengal defence had to hold the Ravens who needed a touchdown to win. And the Bengal defence held indeed. Incredibly, they defeated the Ravens in Baltimore and by so doing eliminated them while sending the Buffalo Bills to the NFL playoffs for the first time since the Music City Miracle in Nashville in January, 2000.
I spent a bit of time on this New Year's Day morning trying to figure out why the Los Angeles Chargers did not earn the sixth and final seed in the AFC playoff picture but could not find the answer. They ended the season with the same 9-7 record as the Bills but held the head-to-head tie-breaker against them by virtue of their win in LA on November 19th in what Bills fans have come to know as the Nathan Peterman debacle. Maybe the tie-breaker works differently when multiple teams are tied - as they were with the Bills, Chargers, Ravens and Titans (who earned the fifth seed) all finishing the season tied at 9-7. Whatever. They're in and there is a Bills playoff game to be played on Sunday in Jacksonville. The Jaguars are early seven point favourites.
Before the Dalton to Boyd touchdown, the Bills had taken care of business in Miami with a strong game which was not as close as the final score of 22-16 would indicate. Tyrod Taylor continued his improved passing and the defence bent but didn't break. LeSean McCoy went down with an ankle injury which looked bad enough to keep him out for at least the next week but I am confident (pure speculation here) that he will be back for the Superbowl - if not the AFC Championship Game. McCoy or not, I like the Bills chances going into Jacksonville as the Jaguars are new to the idea of having a home playoff game and all of the pressure and fan expectations which go along with it. The Bills will be loose and irreverent as they look to extend their season with a win next week and earn a trip to either Foxborough or Pittsburgh the following week. I have virtually no confidence that they can win in either of those places but it would be fun to have a shot.
The NFL has had a very difficult season on a number of fronts as we all know. The commissioner recently pointed out that television ratings for NFL games this season are only down 1% from last year but he did not address the fact that there has been a much larger drop in actual in-stadium game attendance across the league. The Bills had good crowds for almost all of their eight home games this year but I was quite surprised to notice that most of the upper deck at M & T Bank Stadium in Baltimore was empty yesterday. Yes it was very cold by normal Maryland standards and it was late start which meant that most of the game was played after dark but this was a game where the home team simply had to win to get in to the playoffs and I would have expected much better fan support in Baltimore. Most NFL revenue is generated from its massive television audiences with stadium gate receipts well down the list of revenue line items but the in-stadium experience is one of the most appealing parts of the sport of football and the NFL. I don't like seeing swaths of empty seats any time but especially not for critically important later-season games with playoff births at stake.
It's been cold here in Muskoka. And I mean really cold. I arrived at 7.45am on Thursday morning with the outside temperature sitting at minus 33. Yesterday's high was minus 24. The skiing is squeaky and slow with little glide. The dog usually wants in after only a few minutes. One more sauna and cold plunge today before we leave tomorrow. Happy New Year.
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