I've said before on this blog that Fred Jackson is one of the classiest guys in the NFL. I haven't changed my mind about him in that regard but an issue has now arisen between us which I hope we can resolve quickly. See, he owes me $16,371.60 because if he had been able to extend his fantastic overtime run yesterday by one more yard and reach the endzone, my Proline ticket would have been a winner.....if the Jets and Cowboys had also won their home games. So, I'm optimistic that Fred can and will pay me what I'm owed and if he wants to approach the Jets and/or the Cowboys to extract a third of the money from each of them, that would make sense too. I will leave it with him to deal with those teams as, after all, he is in the NFL.
I watched most of the game with my dad who actually watched the entire game. When the Bills went three and out on their first possession and then the Bears reached the endzone easily on their first drive, I got up, went out side and started cutting up hemlock to take my mind off the misery that was going to be the Bills afternoon in Chicago. After a few minutes, he opened the door and told me that the Bills had tied the game. Then a few minutes after that, he said that they took the lead on a field goal. Then when he came out again to tell me that they'd gone up 17-7, I thought he was developing cognition problems and I had to come inside to verify it.
Someone posted a couple of weeks ago that it had been ages since the Bills had recorded a "signature" road win. The 2011 home win against the Patriots was surely a signature home win but a meaningful road win was ancient history for them - until yesterday. I guess we'll have to wait to see how good Chicago really is this season- or if the Bills really are ready to step up from also-ran mediocrity but there were no expectations of a win for Buffalo among prognosticators I saw anyway. In fact, Chris Simms had a piece last week on the five teams guaranteed to lose their week one games. Guess which one topped his list. I have no doubt that many suicide pools blew up yesterday on this game.
I was acutely aware over the days leading up to opening week that my optimism for the team was lower than it had been for a few years. Usually, I'm quite upbeat before actual games are played - with the draft picks, maybe a new quarterback or a new head coach - whatever changes have taken place, I find a way to convince myself that this is the year when those December home games will actually mean something and that I won't be scouring the depths of my rolodex to find someone to go with. But this pre-season with EJ's weak performance, the jettisoning of two back-up quarterbacks, the signing of Orton and the head coach embroiled in controversy with his Player Personnel Director and GM, I was not feeling good about things yesterday morning. But a signature road win changes everything.
Now the Dolphins come to town after having beaten the Patriots yesterday. The crowd will be cranked up and the Ralph will be rockin on Sunday. And, with new seats in a new section, I'm thinking that this season will finally be different.
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