Bills 28, Chiefs 21

By 11.30pm on Saturday night, I had decided that I was pretty much sick of baseball. Sick of the stress and tension, sick of the blown opportunities, sick of the called strikes which were balls and the called balls which were strikes, sick of the sleep disruption from too many late nights in a short period and sick of the players, coaches and managers’ constant spitting of saliva or sunflower seed shells in and around the dugout steps. By the time Alejandro Kirk hit into the season-ending double play, it seemed like they could have just flipped a coin to see who would win the World Series.  It felt random and it felt genuinely unlucky - for Blue Jays fans anyway. After Bo Bichette’s three-run homer in the third inning, I thought we were on our way to a decisive win like the Kansas City Royals 11-0 game seven win in the 1985 World Series – the year that a wild-blown three-run Jim Sundberg triple off the top of the right-field wall of Excruciating Stadium, hit off Blue Jays ace Dave Stieb, clinched the ALCS for the Royals and thereby created the first playoff baseball nightmare for Toronto fans. Some forty years later, Saturday’s loss is worse, not just because of recency bias, but because it came in extra innings of game seven of the World Series. Considerable time was invested in this playoff run and it ended in bitter disappointment. I guess we’ll get ‘em next year. Pitchers and catchers report to spring training about 100 days from now.

Yesterday’s marquee matchup between the Chiefs and the Bills at Highmark Stadium probably drew a US television audience of about 30 million for CBS, based on the 2024 numbers for the same teams a couple of weeks later in the season. In preparation for the Blue Jays big game seven on Saturday, I looked at some historical viewing data for the World Series and there is no doubt that FOX would have been thrilled to have drawn 30 million for their game seven broadcast. Through five games, the World Series was averaging about 12.5 million viewers per game in the US. Even if that increased to 20 million for game seven, that’s still only two thirds of what yesterday’s regular season NFL game in Buffalo drew. World Series viewership peaked in 1978 at about 40 million US viewers per game but in the mid-80s, it began to decline and by 2023, had dropped to under ten million viewers per game. Baseball has become a “regional” sport in the US, with strong local support for teams in most markets in terms of gate, merchandise and local media but it seems like many Americans will only watch the World Series if their own rooting team is in it. The NFL commands the airwaves in this respect by drawing huge national audiences for games between teams (in yesterday’s case) in relatively small markets like Buffalo and Kansas City.

When Bills General Manager Brandon Beane realized that Utah Utes safety Cole Biship had dropped to the Bills in the second round of the 2024 draft, his facial expression was equal parts thrilled and surprised. Bishop’s rookie season was mixed as he battled injuries while learning the Bills defensive scheme and how to play safety in the NFL. Yesterday’s performance against the Chiefs was Bishop’s best game as a pro as he was prominent in multiple pass break-ups while delivering some big hits, including against Travis Kelce in the endzone at the end of the first half. As the Bills defensive backfield has battled through injuries this season, we are now seeing why Beane was so high on Bishop 18 months ago.

Now add Maxwell Hairston to the mix. The first-round pick in April’s draft saw the field for only the second time yesterday after missing almost all of training camp and the first six games of the season with an injury. He grabbed his first NFL interception and showed his speed and his ability to cover fast receivers down the field – something that wily veteran cornerback Tre White can no longer do nearly as well as he did a few years ago. The emergence of Bishop at safety and now Hairston at cornerback may save the Bills defence after all in 2025.

Yesterday unfortunately brought another devastating injury to the Bills defence with Michael Hoecht suffering a non-contact Achilles injury which will sideline him for the rest of the season. Hoecht was suspended by the league for the first six games of the season (for PED violation) but played very well last week and yesterday until he went out. Matt Milano and Terrel Bernard both returned to the lineup but Ed Oliver remains sidelined until the playoffs with a torn bicep. Evey team has injuries.  Although they sometimes seem trivial, the draft picks teams make in the fourth, fifth and sixth rounds and the undrafted free agents they sign each spring are critical to building depth as injuries often mean that these players will see the field, often in critical late-season situations. Michael Hoecht, we hardly knew you!

Yesterday’s game against the Chiefs produced another regular season win against their conference rival which was very important in terms of playoff seedings. The Chiefs are in tough now at 5-4, chasing both the Broncos and the Chargers in the AFC West. The Bills remain a half-game back of the Patriots who hold the tie-breaker by virtue of their win in Orchard Park a month ago. The week 15 game in Foxborough is looming large on the schedule and will likely determine the winner of the AFC East.

Up next for the Bills is a trip to south Florida to take on the reeling Dolphins who fired their General Manager last week and feel like a slow-motion train wreck at 2-7. The Patriots also play in Florida, taking on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who will travel to Orchard Park the following week. The baseball playoffs certainly took their emotional toll over the past three weeks but I’m happy to have it behind us now with the full focus now clearly on the NFL.