A hastily arranged gathering of the clan took place last night. The clan being a small group of men in their mid-fifties and the gathering being a get-together focused on watching televised professional sports. Late October clearly is the very best time of year for North American sports fans with every team sport operating on some level. If the World Series had been even a bit more interesting than it was this year, game six would be tonight. Hockey and basketball regular seasons are well under way. The CFL is entering the final week of its regular season while the NFL is half way through theirs. There isn't a late October night that goes by without some solid sports viewing to be had and last night was obviously no exception with the Maple Leafs at home against Calgary, the undefeated Raptors visiting the undefeated Milwaukee Bucks and the Bills playing a home game on Monday night. So, the clan gathered, aided by the best multiple picture feature that Bell Fibe has to offer as all three relevant games were on concurrently.
The Leafs fell first, giving up two quick early third period goals before losing 3-1, then the Raptors hopes of an 82-0 season were dashed as they fell to the Bucks whose similar hopes remains alive for now. Not a good start for our Toronto based teams but down the road and across the river in Orchard Park, the Bills were hanging tough against their nemesis, the New England Patriots, trailing only 9-3 at halftime. The Bills were doing ESPN a solid by keeping the national football television audience tuned in for longer than most pundits (and me) expected. The second half of the game in Orchard Park earned the clan's full attention - and for good reason. There would be no early to bed on this night.
As Bills fans have seen so many times over the past 20 or more years (after Jim Kelly retired), their team's defence put in another inspired performance, keeping the Patriots out of the endzone until the fourth quarter while the offence coughed, sputtered and stopped possession after possession. But the home team and its fired-up fans trailed by a manageable score of 12-6 after the third quarter. A touchdown, if it ever came (and it obviously didn't), could win the game and upset the heavily favoured visitors. Matt Milano, the second-year fifth-rounder from Boston College looked strong again at linebacker as he and his defensive teammates played hard, hit hard and kept their team in the game until well into the fourth quarter. Tremaine Edmunds, the promising rookie linebacker who the Bills took at 16th overall from Virginia Tech, suffered a concussion in the second quarter and did not return. He earns this week's Vontae Davis Halftime Retirement Award - not because he should or will retire - just because he missed the second half and someone has to win the award each and every week of this 2018 season. His tackling is excellent and I hope to see him play many playoff games in a Bills uniform starting round about the 2020 season and beyond.
With the score 18-6, Bills tight end Jason Croom fooled us for a few seconds with what looked from the television angle like a spectacular one-handed 25 yard touchdown catch which would have made the game a one-score affair with six minutes left. But the replay clearly showed that he didn't actually make the catch and then two plays later, the Bills dialed up the old and always reliable interception-returned-for-a-touchdown play which sealed the game and sent us all home for the night. The Patriots would like to play the Bills more than twice every year as they are 32-5 in their last 37 games against them. Watching Brady playing and Belichick coaching last night made me feel that us Bills fans are caught in a never-ending feedback loop which just keeps playing losses to the Patriots over and over again. When will they leave and let us have a sniff at winning the AFC East and earning the coveted home playoff game which goes with it?
At 2-6, the season is now a write-off and if this were English Premier League football, the Bills would stand a good chance of relegation. The remaining competition is for player evaluation and draft order. The Chicago Bears make their first visit to Orchard Park in 16 years on Sunday. Last time they played "at Buffalo", in November, 2010, the game was played in the subdued and quiet confines of the Rogers Centre, a few minutes walk from where we watched last night's games. The Bears, at 4-3, look to have a decent team this year after picking up former UB Bull Kahlil Mack from the Raiders. Their fans also travel well so there should be a good crowd back at New Era Field in five days time.
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