After every game, WGR's game-day sideline reporter and commentator Sal Capaccio writes his "Arrows Up/ Arrows Down" column on the station's website. Topping the most recent Arrows Down list was the Bills tackling which was absolutely brutal on Saturday night against the Miami Dolphins. He ended the Arrows Down list with "whoever threw the snowball" which hit him square in the back of the head as he stood on the sideline during the first half.
If the lake effect snow bands had pointed at Orchard Park throughout the entire game on Saturday night, and if the alcohol-fueled fans in the stadium had been throwing snowballs through heavy snow squalls, it probably wouldn't have mattered anyway. But the snow didn't come until the fourth quarter - at least the snow falling from the sky. As the Dolphins players and bench were being pelted with snowballs from the stands, coach Mike McDaniels spoke with game officials about the Bills being assessed a fifteen yard penalty if public address warnings to stop throwing snowballs were not followed. The game was paused and the announcement was made that if the snowballs continued, such a penalty would be assessed. It seemed to work for the most part. The key assumption of course was that it was Bills fans who were the guilty snowball-throwing parties but it occurred to me that if I were a Dolphins fan in the stadium, after hearing the warning, I would have thrown as many snowballs as I could and I would have encouraged my Dolphins fan brethren to do the same. As someone rooting for the visiting team, how great would it feel to know that my actions caused a significant penalty to be called against the home team? The obvious risk would have been the administration of vigilante justice against me which would probably have been swift and severe. I've seen it in action and it can be quite violent. Lucky that no player was injured and that the snowballs subsided. Had I been in my seats 23 rows up from the Dolphins bench, I probably would have been turned away from the field to see the incoming munitions rather than risk being hit in the back of the head by one of them. Snowballs seemed harmless enough in the schoolyard when we were in grade three but they can be dangerous if packed well and thrown from a height. Frankly, I was appalled. And relieved when it mostly stopped. I know that there wasn't time to clear the snow from the stands and I guess it's hardly surprising that many of the 70,000 drunk footballs fans chose to do what they did (this was not the first time) but it definitely wasn't Bills Mafia's finest hour.
Josh Allen, on the other hand, despite fumbling the ball three times (and losing one of them), had a stellar game, making enough spectacular plays to guide his team to a nail-biting if not thrilling and important win. The bottom line with Allen is that he is extremely talented, physically powerful and entirely fearless - a very difficult combination to defend against. After the game, he explained that on the James Cook touchdown with time expired in the second quarter, he knew that he had taken too much time scrambling to his right and that throwing across his body was probably an ill-advised move. I'd say that he has earned the right to try just about whatever he wants. As it turned out, his leaping two-point conversion - a play on which he fumbled the ball one microsecond after manoeuvring one or two of the dimples of one end of the football over the plane of the goal line to tie the game - wasn't needed after all. Tyler Bass's short field goal as time expired would have given the Bills a one-point win. Either way, the Dolphins covered the spread.
And the Dolphins certainly played well enough to win the game and appeared unfazed by the travel and short week they had or by the weather. The Bills simply could not stop Raheem Mostert who racked up 136 yards on the ground; Tua Tagavailoa endured the cold and the snowballs and threw the ball quite well; Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle looked dangerous all night; on defence, the Dolphin pass rush and run defence were both solid. They played like their season was on the line (which it more or less was) but they came up just a bit short. Younger Bills fans think of the Patriots as their team's nemesis but it was the Dolphins who won 20 straight times against Buffalo throughout the 1970s. Squishing the Fish remains highly satisfying for Bills fans - especially in winter conditions. The teams have played twice every year since 1966 and the Dolphins still lead the all-time series 62-55.
I had really hoped that the World Cup Final would not be decided by penalty kicks. Despite a highly compelling and high scoring 90 minutes of regular time and another 30 minutes of extra time, the rules say that there will be no further team play after that. For hockey fans in particular who have stayed awake into the wee hours watching three, four and even five periods of sudden-death overtime playoff hockey, this seems like a mysterious way to decide a World Championship. A friend who follows soccer like I follow North American football explained to me that a sudden-death scenario in soccer would result in the two teams each locking up into defensive shells which would put the ghost of Roger Nielson to sleep and that, quite literally, no one would ever score. So, forget that. But maybe extend the extra time beyond the first 30 minutes into another 30 minutes and maybe another after that. Or make the World Cup Final a best of three. Just figure out some way to avoid penalty kicks as the final arbiter. I was happy for Messi I guess. Too bad his extra time goal didn't stand as the winner.
The 11-3 Bills travel to Chicago for a 1pm Christmas Eve game which is critical for them but for the 3-11 Bears, only important for players looking to pad their stats and enhance their contract prospects for next season and beyond. With the Chiefs pulling out an OT win in Houston yesterday, Buffalo can not afford a lapse against a team they should beat easily.
No comments:
Post a Comment