The Bills played the Patriots almost evenly for almost three quarters of football yesterday in Foxborough, MA. The memory which most Bills fans will take away from this game is the fact that they should have gone to the locker room at halftime leading 17-13, rather than tied at 13 as they were. This was thanks to another virtually incomprehensible replay reversal - this time of a brilliant Kelvin Benjamin touchdown catch in the endzone in the closing seconds of the first half. But, as SI's Peter King pointed out, the NFL has micro-managed the replay function to the point of absurdity. Bill Cowher also discussed the play in great detail in the CBS studio yesterday. Cowher explained that a close and strict reading of the rule in terms of what constitutes a catch and what doesn't comes down to the meaning of "control" when a receiver is catching the ball, getting both feet down in bounds and perhaps switching which hand the ball is in when going to the ground. Cowher believes that the Benjamin catch should have stood as a touchdown because of his own interpretation of what constitutes control of the ball, compared to how the replay officials are interpreting it. He thought that Benjamin had control and retained control of the ball from the time it hit his hands - including the moment when he acrobatically got both feet down in bounds and tumbled to the ground. Yes the ball was moving in Benjamin's hands but, in Cowher's view, he had full "control"of the ball throughout the process. I still don't think that the Bills would have won the game even if they did have a four point lead at halftime. Other than a defensive touchdown on a very rare pick 6 thrown by Tom Brady, the Bills offence struggled mightily in the red zone and managed only three field goals. Sean McDermott's decision to try to long field goal on a fourth and one while trailing by a touchdown was a poor one and spelled the end for the Bills who were then steamrolled for two more touchdowns.
But a playoff birth for the Bills remains possible and the scenarios are not as far-fetched as they sometimes are with teams needing several games to end in ties and a certain team needing to score nine touchdowns etc. For the Bills, it's really quite simple: they need to win in week 17 in Miami and they also need either a Baltimore loss or losses by both Tennessee and the Los Angeles Chargers. Easy, right? Well, the Ravens, who play at home against the Bengals, control their own destiny and are in with a win without any help from other teams. Not likely that the Cincinnati Bengals will deny the Ravens a playoff birth. The Titans play at home to Jacksonville and are also in a "win and in" scenario without help from others. This one is more interesting because the Jaguars do have a remote shot at the second seed if the Steelers lose at home to Cleveland. And Jacksonville is a better team that the Titans are so a Jaguar win in Nashville is entirely possible. The Chargers play at home to an Oakland team with nothing to play for other than the traditional spoiler role after a very disappointing season. The Chargers win the tie-breaker against the Bills, having won their head-to-head match-up but lose the tie-breaker to the Titans based on conference records. For New Year's Eve, Go Bills and Go Bengals and/or Go Jaguars and Go Raiders.
The overnight snow has stopped as I sit here in north Toronto very early Christmas morning. We will have a safe passage to St. Catharines this morning I think as the highways will be plowed by the time we leave. Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it and happy two days off in any event to those who don't.
Monday, 25 December 2017
Monday, 18 December 2017
Bills 24, Dolphins 16
Jay Cutler has one of the strongest throwing arms in the NFL. Yesterday in Orchard Park in conditions which were orders of magnitude better for football than they were a week earlier, he threw for 274 yards - a total which was about 50 yards more than Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor tallied on the day. Both teams put up 21 first downs and the Dolphins held the ball for just over 32 minutes while the Bills had it for just over 27 minutes. Miami had 349 total yards to the Bills 328. It was obviously an evenly matched game. The difference? Cutler threw three interceptions and Taylor threw none. I have gone on about this for three years now and yesterday's game proves my point once again: Tyrod Taylor avoids costly turnovers. This almost always allows his team to stay in games with a chance to win down the stretch. It's really quite simple. Nathan Peterman may turn out to be a perfectly serviceable NFL quarterback someday but, in stark contrast to Taylor, his start in Los Angeles a few weeks ago (I'm ignoring last week's blizzard game in this analysis) was a perfect example of how interceptions lead to losses. Cutler played well at times yesterday and the Dolphins running game was working well too but the turnovers were the differentiating factor between two relatively evenly matched teams.
Yesterday also saw LeSean McCoy become the 30th player in NFL history to record 10,000 career rushing yards. Now in his ninth season, he has been very consistent. In six seasons with the Eagles, he racked up 6,792 rushing yards and with almost three seasons under his belt in Buffalo, he has 3,219 yards on the ground. McCoy is a gifted runner who poses the greatest threat when he breaks through the line to the "second level" of defenders (linebackers and safeties) where he can make tacklers miss like few others ever have. He is a kind of feast or famine running back because when he doesn't make it through the line, he is often dropped for a loss. A McCoy run is usually either good for 12 yards or minus 2 yards. He has a long way to go before he catches all-time NFL rushing leader Emmit Smith with 18,355 yards.
I was checking on the Partiots game and stoking the sauna fire late yesterday afternoon and I left the game in the Steelers hands when the sauna reached the requisite 110 degrees celsius. The score was 24-16 for Pittsburgh in the fourth quarter and the Partiots were lining up to punt as I checked on it for the last time. I thought the Steelers would likely hang on and clinch home field for the AFC playoffs in the process. And the Bills would be headed to Foxborough two games behind the Patriots with two games to go and a theoretical, although slim, chance at a division title. But New England got a key late interception (have I mentioned that these are critically important?) in their own endzone to secure the win - a scenario which reminded me of the end of Superbowl XLIX where the Patriots intercepted Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson at the end of the game to turn a likely loss into a win. So, the Patriots and Steelers are both 11-3 now with the Patriots holding the key head-to-head tie-breaker.
Now at 8-6, the Bills and their rookie head coach Sean McDermott are assured of avoiding a losing season which is something that few pundits foresaw in their pre-season predictions. NBC showed the Bills as occupying the 6th and final seed in the AFC playoff race last night and I presume that they crunched all of the tie-breaker numbers before doing so. Their destiny, in terms of making the NFL playoffs for the first time since 1999 and ending the Drought, therefore lies within their own hands. A trip to New England at this late and critical time of the season would not be anyone's first choice unless the Patriots had already wrapped up the first seed. But they still need to do that and the Bills therefore face a monumental challenge in week 16. If they can somehow pull out a win, they will have earned the right to a playoff birth in my mind.
Monday, 11 December 2017
Bills 13, Colts 7, OT
I had prepared myself to type "Colts 8, Bills 7" this morning after the Colts successful two-point convert yesterday in what appeared to be Orchard Park, NY. There definitely was an NFL game played somewhere in the lee of the westward winds off Lake Erie but at times, on TV, it was hard to tell what was really happening. After I took a long walk in the snow here in Muskoka then had a nap, the official threw the flag which, after a long discussion, was determined to be for offensive pass interference on the two-point convert. It was then taken off the score board and the Colts were assessed a 10 yards penalty. What followed was an interesting rule interpretation because the Colts elected to kick the single point convert rather than try for two again. The 10 yard penalty was then correctly enforced from the 15 yard line where single point kicked converts are snapped from. This made Adam Venetieri's knuckle ball kick, which started right then corrected in mid-air, the equivalent of a 42 yard field goal. The Colts could have chosen to go for two again from the 12 and half yard line - after the enforcement of the 10 yard penalty. I was a little surprised that they elected to kick under those conditions but the decision proved right. Venetieri later missed what would have been a game-winning field goal a few minutes later.
The last snow game I can recall that is even remotely comparable to yesterday's was a Bills 8-0 loss to the Cleveland Browns on December 16, 2007 on the south shore of Lake Erie. The conditions in that game, which Sports Illustrated ranked as the third-best snow game of all time, were similar but with considerably less snow on the field than there was yesterday in Orchard Park. The game featured countless turnovers (which yesterday's game amazingly did not with only one) and generally inept play on both sides before Cleveland finally scored a late touchdown and a two-point convert.
I have been to several games over the years where snow flurries and squalls came through the stadium in waves, sometimes covering the field but never accumulating to very much. I have to say that I was glad to be watching the game from the comfort of my cottage where the outside conditions matched those at the stadium as it also snowed heavily for the entire game. But one of my friends, who claimed the Colts tickets months ago, was the lucky one, along with his son and another father-son duo, who experienced the blizzard which began during the tailgate party and carried on well past the end of overtime. If they stayed to see LeSean McCoy score the winning touchdown, then he will have earned himself a pair of tickets to a game next year. But it has to be in mid-December just to keep things fair. As they were leaving, he sent me a photo of his bar-b-que beside his car which was covered in what looked like about 18 inches of snow. I hope the drive home wasn't too bad. During the game, CBS showed the radar image of the lake effect snow bands which were pointed directly at Orchard Park but they were so localized that places like Grand Island, only a few miles to the north, were entirely clear of the snow.
Nathan Peterman got the start yesterday as Tyrod Taylor was out with a knee injury. He mostly handed the ball off but was able to connect with Kelvin Benjamin twice on the Bills first scoring drive before he was injured in the third quarter trying to dive for extra yardage on a broken play. In came Joseph Webb III (who, ironically, is also the third string quarterback on the depth chart) to finish the game. He looked tall, mobile and threw a great deep ball to Deonte Thompson to set up the winning touchdown. I'm not sure how useful any evaluation of players is in a snow game but, to me, Webb is worth another look at some point. So is Peterman I guess.
The NFL tie-breaking procedures are complex but for now, the Bills are seeded 8th, behind the Ravens (who occupy the 6th seed which does qualify for a wild-card playoff birth) and the Chargers. All three teams are 7-6 with three games remaining. The Maimi Dolphins, who play tonight in New England, come to Orchard Park this Sunday for the Bills final home game of the season. The Drought will probably continue but there is still hope that they can squeak in to the playoffs although they will need help.
The last snow game I can recall that is even remotely comparable to yesterday's was a Bills 8-0 loss to the Cleveland Browns on December 16, 2007 on the south shore of Lake Erie. The conditions in that game, which Sports Illustrated ranked as the third-best snow game of all time, were similar but with considerably less snow on the field than there was yesterday in Orchard Park. The game featured countless turnovers (which yesterday's game amazingly did not with only one) and generally inept play on both sides before Cleveland finally scored a late touchdown and a two-point convert.
I have been to several games over the years where snow flurries and squalls came through the stadium in waves, sometimes covering the field but never accumulating to very much. I have to say that I was glad to be watching the game from the comfort of my cottage where the outside conditions matched those at the stadium as it also snowed heavily for the entire game. But one of my friends, who claimed the Colts tickets months ago, was the lucky one, along with his son and another father-son duo, who experienced the blizzard which began during the tailgate party and carried on well past the end of overtime. If they stayed to see LeSean McCoy score the winning touchdown, then he will have earned himself a pair of tickets to a game next year. But it has to be in mid-December just to keep things fair. As they were leaving, he sent me a photo of his bar-b-que beside his car which was covered in what looked like about 18 inches of snow. I hope the drive home wasn't too bad. During the game, CBS showed the radar image of the lake effect snow bands which were pointed directly at Orchard Park but they were so localized that places like Grand Island, only a few miles to the north, were entirely clear of the snow.
Nathan Peterman got the start yesterday as Tyrod Taylor was out with a knee injury. He mostly handed the ball off but was able to connect with Kelvin Benjamin twice on the Bills first scoring drive before he was injured in the third quarter trying to dive for extra yardage on a broken play. In came Joseph Webb III (who, ironically, is also the third string quarterback on the depth chart) to finish the game. He looked tall, mobile and threw a great deep ball to Deonte Thompson to set up the winning touchdown. I'm not sure how useful any evaluation of players is in a snow game but, to me, Webb is worth another look at some point. So is Peterman I guess.
The NFL tie-breaking procedures are complex but for now, the Bills are seeded 8th, behind the Ravens (who occupy the 6th seed which does qualify for a wild-card playoff birth) and the Chargers. All three teams are 7-6 with three games remaining. The Maimi Dolphins, who play tonight in New England, come to Orchard Park this Sunday for the Bills final home game of the season. The Drought will probably continue but there is still hope that they can squeak in to the playoffs although they will need help.
Monday, 4 December 2017
Partiots 23, Bills 3
Rob Gronkowski was born in Amherst, NY and grew up in Williamsville, NY, both Buffalo suburbs, and is considered by team-mates and others around the league to be a good and decent person. He attended the University of Arizona and was drafted in the second round of the 2010 NFL draft, 42nd overall, by the New England Patriots. At 6 feet, 6 inches, he is considered to be one of the most difficult tight ends to cover in the NFL. Gronkowski has become one of the most prolific pass receiving and touchdown scoring tight ends in league history. Against most defensive backs, his height, arm length and deceptive speed make him one of the most challenging coverage assignments possible. Bills rookie cornerback Tre'davious White stands 5 feet 11 inches tall but appears to be at least a foot shorter than Gronkowski. The cheap-shot hit in yesterday's game by Gronkowski against White, which sent White out of the game and into the "concussion protocol", will surely earn him a suspension of at least one game. After the game, he apologized for the hit, chalking it up to frustration about referees' calls over the past seven years. Because he is so difficult to cover, Gronkowski claims that he is regularly interfered with by those trying to cover him and that the penalty calls are often not made. On the other hand, he claims that he is often called for penalties, like offensive pass interference, which no other tight end in the league ever is. He is also known to post images in social media of himself and his various porn-star girlfriends. Like him or not, it is too bad that the Bills didn't draft him. Instead, ahead of him in the 2010 draft, they took running back CJ Spiller at No. 9 overall and nose tackle Torrel Troup just ahead of Gronknowski at No. 41 overall. Neither is on the Bills roster now.
The Bills played a decent first half yesterday and could have easily been up 10-9 at the break had Tyrod Taylor not thrown an egregious interception to conclude the otherwise impressive first offensive drive of the game. But, in the third quarter, the Patriots took control of the game and coasted to what became another relatively easy win for them at New Era Field. They are the clear favourites, once again, to go another Superbowl in February. If they do, it will be their 8th in the Brady/Belichick era. The Steelers look to have the best shot at unseating them this season with a head-to-head match-up slated for December 17th.
When CBS announced in the summer that Tony Romo would replace Phil Simms as the network's lead colour analyst, alongside Jim Nantz doing play-by-play, it smacked a little of desperation. Admittedly, Simms had been weak for years and needed to be shuffled along somewhere (he ended up on the CBS studio team) but the selection of Romo as the network's lead colour man, with no broadcasting experience at all, seemed odd. Now, with three quarters of a season under his belt - and having watched several games with him doing colour - I am prepared to say that not only is he absolutely outstanding in the role, I firmly believe that he is the best football colour commentator I have ever heard. He is insightful (which isn't a surprise given that he was the starting quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys just last season), he is chatty without being the slightest bit irritating, timely in his situational analysis and able to explain player emotions from each team's perspective. He is so comfortable in his role that it seems amazing that he has been on the job for only about 13 weeks. Romo had his moments - good and bad - as the Cowboys quarterback but he has found his true calling as a television colour analyst.
The Bills are still in the thick of the AFC wildcard race, despite the season feeling like it's slipping away. At 6-6, three of the next four games - one against Indianapolis and two against the Dolphins - are definitely winnable. They play at New England on Christmas Eve in week 16. The Patriots may have home field locked up by then but probably not so a 9-7 finish is easily within reach and could possibly be enough to secure the final wildcard spot but probably won't be. The Drought will continue.
The Bills played a decent first half yesterday and could have easily been up 10-9 at the break had Tyrod Taylor not thrown an egregious interception to conclude the otherwise impressive first offensive drive of the game. But, in the third quarter, the Patriots took control of the game and coasted to what became another relatively easy win for them at New Era Field. They are the clear favourites, once again, to go another Superbowl in February. If they do, it will be their 8th in the Brady/Belichick era. The Steelers look to have the best shot at unseating them this season with a head-to-head match-up slated for December 17th.
When CBS announced in the summer that Tony Romo would replace Phil Simms as the network's lead colour analyst, alongside Jim Nantz doing play-by-play, it smacked a little of desperation. Admittedly, Simms had been weak for years and needed to be shuffled along somewhere (he ended up on the CBS studio team) but the selection of Romo as the network's lead colour man, with no broadcasting experience at all, seemed odd. Now, with three quarters of a season under his belt - and having watched several games with him doing colour - I am prepared to say that not only is he absolutely outstanding in the role, I firmly believe that he is the best football colour commentator I have ever heard. He is insightful (which isn't a surprise given that he was the starting quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys just last season), he is chatty without being the slightest bit irritating, timely in his situational analysis and able to explain player emotions from each team's perspective. He is so comfortable in his role that it seems amazing that he has been on the job for only about 13 weeks. Romo had his moments - good and bad - as the Cowboys quarterback but he has found his true calling as a television colour analyst.
The Bills are still in the thick of the AFC wildcard race, despite the season feeling like it's slipping away. At 6-6, three of the next four games - one against Indianapolis and two against the Dolphins - are definitely winnable. They play at New England on Christmas Eve in week 16. The Patriots may have home field locked up by then but probably not so a 9-7 finish is easily within reach and could possibly be enough to secure the final wildcard spot but probably won't be. The Drought will continue.
Monday, 27 November 2017
Bills 16, Chiefs 10
I'm sure that they had a great time on the three week vacation they decided to take but I for one was very happy to see that the Bills defence decided to make the trip to Kansas City in time for yesterday's game at Arrowhead Stadium. After giving up 101 points over the previous two games, yesterday the Chiefs were held to 10 points, 55 yards rushing and only 236 yards in total. Tyrod Taylor played another of his trademark games going 19 for 29 passing for a modest but efficient 181 yards and zero interceptions. This was a game played almost entirely without turnovers until rookie cornerback Tre'Davious White intercepted Alex Smith with less than two minutes remaining to seal the Bills first and only win in the month of November. It was the first pick thrown by Smith at home this year and only his fourth of the season overall. The Bills and Chiefs now own the same 6-5 records but panic levels in Missouri are surely rising now that the Chiefs have fallen off so much after getting off to a 5-0 start. The Bills, on the other hand remain a bit of a mystery but looked orders of magnitude better yesterday than they have in their three previous games.
In Canadian football, it was a clean sweep this weekend for me, being a resident of Toronto and an alumnae of Western University. I also happen to be an over-the-air television viewer which means I receive television signals with a sophisticated HD antenna (hey, I paid over $100 for it) and I do not receive bills from any cable or satellite company. Another thing I do not receive is TSN or any other channel which the CRTC or the FCC does not require to broadcast over-the-air. Yes, I miss out on the Blue Jays, the Raptors and mid-week Leaf games but I do get the full spectrum of American football (except on Monday nights), TVO and endless Law and Order re-runs on a network called ION Television which I tune in on channel 51.1. Canadian football is another thing I don't get - which usually isn't a big deal for me. Until it comes to the Grey Cup. I guess I've been either at the cottage or at a friend's place over recent years but last night, I was shut out completely and saw only Steve Paikin's Twitter photos and game updates as the Argos captured the Grey Cup in its 105th iteration in snowy Ottawa. Instead, I was watching the end of the Rams/Saints game and then I caught the first half of the Steelers/Packers game.
Bell Globe Media could, if they wanted, show the Grey Cup game on the main CTV network but they decide to limit it to its sports cable property and exclusive CFL rights holder, TSN. It's their prerogative for sure and I have no doubt that if they thought that they could attract a higher combined viewership between TSN and CTV by showing the Grey Cup on both networks, they would do so. But it still pisses me off that I can't see it without a cable or satellite subscription. Same goes for the Vanier Cup which was played in Hamilton on Saturday afternoon where the Western Mustangs captured their first championship since 1994. I'm not saying that I would have watched the whole game but I would have caught some of it for sure instead of American college football which filled the airwaves on Saturday as teams battled it out for one of the four playoff spots up for grabs. In Canada, if you want to watch Canadian football, you need to have a business relationship with Bell, Rogers or Shaw. And I choose not to have such a relationship. I have had them before and they have ended badly.
The New England Patriots make their annual trip to Orchard Park on Sunday. It usually doesn't end well for Bills fans. But a win this weekend would go a long way to continuing the regaining of the credibility of head coach Sean McDermott whose goodwill among the fan base was largely dashed after last week's Nathan Peterman debacle. The Patriots have won seven straight games now and will present a massive challenge for the Bills defence. If they can build at all on yesterday's strong performance, get a key turnover or two and if the Bills offence can run the ball effectively and keep it out of Brady's hands for as long as possible, they will have a chance. These things are always said about a football team before a game where they look to be outmatched. At least I won't need to worry about being able to get the game on TV.
In Canadian football, it was a clean sweep this weekend for me, being a resident of Toronto and an alumnae of Western University. I also happen to be an over-the-air television viewer which means I receive television signals with a sophisticated HD antenna (hey, I paid over $100 for it) and I do not receive bills from any cable or satellite company. Another thing I do not receive is TSN or any other channel which the CRTC or the FCC does not require to broadcast over-the-air. Yes, I miss out on the Blue Jays, the Raptors and mid-week Leaf games but I do get the full spectrum of American football (except on Monday nights), TVO and endless Law and Order re-runs on a network called ION Television which I tune in on channel 51.1. Canadian football is another thing I don't get - which usually isn't a big deal for me. Until it comes to the Grey Cup. I guess I've been either at the cottage or at a friend's place over recent years but last night, I was shut out completely and saw only Steve Paikin's Twitter photos and game updates as the Argos captured the Grey Cup in its 105th iteration in snowy Ottawa. Instead, I was watching the end of the Rams/Saints game and then I caught the first half of the Steelers/Packers game.
Bell Globe Media could, if they wanted, show the Grey Cup game on the main CTV network but they decide to limit it to its sports cable property and exclusive CFL rights holder, TSN. It's their prerogative for sure and I have no doubt that if they thought that they could attract a higher combined viewership between TSN and CTV by showing the Grey Cup on both networks, they would do so. But it still pisses me off that I can't see it without a cable or satellite subscription. Same goes for the Vanier Cup which was played in Hamilton on Saturday afternoon where the Western Mustangs captured their first championship since 1994. I'm not saying that I would have watched the whole game but I would have caught some of it for sure instead of American college football which filled the airwaves on Saturday as teams battled it out for one of the four playoff spots up for grabs. In Canada, if you want to watch Canadian football, you need to have a business relationship with Bell, Rogers or Shaw. And I choose not to have such a relationship. I have had them before and they have ended badly.
The New England Patriots make their annual trip to Orchard Park on Sunday. It usually doesn't end well for Bills fans. But a win this weekend would go a long way to continuing the regaining of the credibility of head coach Sean McDermott whose goodwill among the fan base was largely dashed after last week's Nathan Peterman debacle. The Patriots have won seven straight games now and will present a massive challenge for the Bills defence. If they can build at all on yesterday's strong performance, get a key turnover or two and if the Bills offence can run the ball effectively and keep it out of Brady's hands for as long as possible, they will have a chance. These things are always said about a football team before a game where they look to be outmatched. At least I won't need to worry about being able to get the game on TV.
Monday, 20 November 2017
Chargers 54, Bills 24
At least the Bills didn't lose as badly as the Acadia Axemen did. After the Michigan game was out of hand on Saturday afternoon, I noticed that the Uteck Bowl was on and, since my alma mater was playing in the game, I decided to check it out. The score when I flipped to it, which I thought was a typo at first, read Western 74, Acadia 3. The Mustangs went on to score another touchdown - just to be sure I guess - making the final score in Wolfville, N.S. 81-3. Western will face the Laval Rouge et Or, winners of the Mitchell Bowl, in the Vanier Cup in Hamilton on Saturday.
As bad as Acadia's run defence was on Saturday (and it was pretty bad), Nathan Peterman's first half of football as an NFL starting quarterback was arguably worse. I think what we saw was the extreme swinging of the pendulum from the conservative play of Tyrod Taylor through his first two and a half seasons as Bills quarterback to a young player who thought he would try tossing the ball all over the yard in order to distinguish himself from his predecessor. Well, he threw it all over the yard alright and proved that if you throw 5 interceptions in the first half, your team will be down by 30 points by the time the coach benches you in favour of the guy they benched to give you a shot. Ball protection has been Tyrod Taylor's signature trait in his career in Buffalo and it is one which I value this morning more then ever. He settles for too many check-downs; he's afraid to throw the ball down the field; he relies on his legs too much, he needs to open up the passing game and take some chances......these have been the Tyrod Taylor naysayers criticisms. I, for one, love his instinct for ball protection and, yes I wish he could generate some bigger plays in the passing game but his ability to avoid the disastrous play has served him and his team well - even if the fans and the coaching staff haven't fully appreciated it.
I have no idea what Sean McDermott is going to do next week going into Kansas City. He stuck his neck out by making the quarterback switch last week and it backfired spectacularly. Will he double down and give Peterman another shot or does he chalk it up to a failed experiment and stick with Taylor? He certainly has the confidence of ownership so his view on the question will be at least be medium term if not long term. My guess is that Peterman starts again on Sunday at Arrrowhead. It just seems like Taylor now has no shot at being under centre in Buffalo in 2018 with a strong quarterback class in next spring's draft and the Bills improving their draft position with each passing week. So, if they still want to see what they have in Peterman - recognizing that one really bad half can not define a player - then giving him another shot is the logical decision. When they were at 5-2, the goal was to make the playoffs for the first time in 17 years. Now, even though they are theoretically very much in the hunt for a wildcard spot, it feels like the season is slipping away with 3 lop-sided losses since beating the Raiders. It should be said that the real elephant in the Bills locker room is the defence which appears to be entirely unable to stop the run. Maybe Marcel Dareus would have helped over these past 3 weeks.
Back to Canadian football which now moves into its final week. Thanks to the best traveling fans in the CFL, the Toronto Argonauts drew just under 25,000 at BMO Field for the Eastern Final where the visiting Green Rider fans left disappointed after their team came all the way back only to lose at the end. So, the Grey Cup in Ottawa will be the Argos against the Calgary Stampeders - the same match-up as the very first Grey Cup game I can remember in 1971 where the Joe Theisman led Argos fell short of winning the game on a late fumble near the Stampeder goal line by Leon "X-Ray" McQuay at a rainy Empire Stadium in Vancouver.
I'm siting inside the cottage as I write this. It sure looks like winter in the early morning twilight with the temperature at minus 7 and light snow falling on the 10cm we already have from the night before. The woodstove is pumping out the heat, a pot of tea made and the porridge is on. We will hike around the lake and sauna before we leave today. Who cares about football anyway?
As bad as Acadia's run defence was on Saturday (and it was pretty bad), Nathan Peterman's first half of football as an NFL starting quarterback was arguably worse. I think what we saw was the extreme swinging of the pendulum from the conservative play of Tyrod Taylor through his first two and a half seasons as Bills quarterback to a young player who thought he would try tossing the ball all over the yard in order to distinguish himself from his predecessor. Well, he threw it all over the yard alright and proved that if you throw 5 interceptions in the first half, your team will be down by 30 points by the time the coach benches you in favour of the guy they benched to give you a shot. Ball protection has been Tyrod Taylor's signature trait in his career in Buffalo and it is one which I value this morning more then ever. He settles for too many check-downs; he's afraid to throw the ball down the field; he relies on his legs too much, he needs to open up the passing game and take some chances......these have been the Tyrod Taylor naysayers criticisms. I, for one, love his instinct for ball protection and, yes I wish he could generate some bigger plays in the passing game but his ability to avoid the disastrous play has served him and his team well - even if the fans and the coaching staff haven't fully appreciated it.
I have no idea what Sean McDermott is going to do next week going into Kansas City. He stuck his neck out by making the quarterback switch last week and it backfired spectacularly. Will he double down and give Peterman another shot or does he chalk it up to a failed experiment and stick with Taylor? He certainly has the confidence of ownership so his view on the question will be at least be medium term if not long term. My guess is that Peterman starts again on Sunday at Arrrowhead. It just seems like Taylor now has no shot at being under centre in Buffalo in 2018 with a strong quarterback class in next spring's draft and the Bills improving their draft position with each passing week. So, if they still want to see what they have in Peterman - recognizing that one really bad half can not define a player - then giving him another shot is the logical decision. When they were at 5-2, the goal was to make the playoffs for the first time in 17 years. Now, even though they are theoretically very much in the hunt for a wildcard spot, it feels like the season is slipping away with 3 lop-sided losses since beating the Raiders. It should be said that the real elephant in the Bills locker room is the defence which appears to be entirely unable to stop the run. Maybe Marcel Dareus would have helped over these past 3 weeks.
Back to Canadian football which now moves into its final week. Thanks to the best traveling fans in the CFL, the Toronto Argonauts drew just under 25,000 at BMO Field for the Eastern Final where the visiting Green Rider fans left disappointed after their team came all the way back only to lose at the end. So, the Grey Cup in Ottawa will be the Argos against the Calgary Stampeders - the same match-up as the very first Grey Cup game I can remember in 1971 where the Joe Theisman led Argos fell short of winning the game on a late fumble near the Stampeder goal line by Leon "X-Ray" McQuay at a rainy Empire Stadium in Vancouver.
I'm siting inside the cottage as I write this. It sure looks like winter in the early morning twilight with the temperature at minus 7 and light snow falling on the 10cm we already have from the night before. The woodstove is pumping out the heat, a pot of tea made and the porridge is on. We will hike around the lake and sauna before we leave today. Who cares about football anyway?
Monday, 13 November 2017
Saints 47, Bills 10
We were already on the 219 headed north toward downtown Buffalo and the Peace Bridge when John Murphy, radio play-by-play announcer for the Bills, read off some statistics from the disastrous first three quarters of yesterday's debacle in Orchard Park. The one which stood out for me was the first downs earned by each team: The Saints had 30 and the Bills had 4, including none at all in the third quarter. I have heard football pundits who have run out of topics to address speculate about how the best college football team might fare against even the worst NFL team and yesterday's box score comes close to what they predicted. One even said that it would be extremely difficult for a college team's offence to get any first downs against an NFL defence. Well, yesterday the Bills ended up with 10 of them after Nathan Peterson mopped up at quarterback in garbage time. The box score through three quarters accurately reflected the ugliness for Bills fans.
The game started well enough for the home crowd with LeSean McCoy ripping off a 35 yard run on the second play from scrimmage and then Tyrod Taylor got the Bills deep in Saints territory with a 13 yard keeper before the drive stalled and the Bills settled for a field goal and an early lead. Apart from the Bills defence recovering a Saints fumble later in the first quarter, the rest of the game film should be erased in its entirety. The Saints offence was a well-oiled machine, gaining almost 300 yards on the ground with Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara both going over 100 yards each. When he wasn't handing the ball off to either running back, Drew Brees, who found the Buffalo pass rush to be virtually undetectable, was able to pass for a pedestrian sounding 184 yards, easily and repeatedly finding open receivers for first downs. Turns out that the Saints punter needn't have even bothered to dress for the game - or make the trip to Western New York at all as his services were not required. Not even once. That's right, apart from the first quarter turnover and kneel downs at the end of the game and the end of the first half, every Saints drive resulted in points.
Our strategy of waiting for a colder weather game with more importance and the excitement and pressure of the Bills trying to keep pace with the Patriots in the division or at least stay in the hunt in the AFC wildcard playoff race, didn't work. At least not in terms of seeing a competitive game. The stadium was as quiet as I can remember it and I've been there about 60 times over the last 30 years. If the comeback game - the Miracle at Rich - in January, 1993 was the best game I've ever seen live, yesterday's was probably the worst one. We left with about 8 minutes remaining in the third quarter and John Murphy was describing the final few painful seconds of the game as we were just about to drive across the Peace Bridge. On the bright side, at least it made for an easy exit from the parking lot, no waiting at the border and an early arrival home. I half-heartedly hoped that the Broncos might upset the Patriots last night and preserve a slim chance for the Bills to catch them in the division with two head-to-head games still to come in December. I think I'm dreading those games now.
I have noticed in recent years - I guess since 9/11 - that US Border Patrol officers have an amazing ability to ask a question, every time I cross, which I have never been asked before. It seems hard to believe because how many different questions are there to ask of 2 men in their mid-50's, decked out in Bills gear at 9am on a Sunday at the Lewiston crossing? "What is your citizenship?", "Where are you going?", "What are you bringing with you?" We always get those questions but then there is always a question which I presume is designed to take us out of our comfort zone in order to see how we respond in terms of the actual answer or our body language, or if we pause before answering or look or seem uncomfortable in some way. During the outbreak of Mad Cow Disease, we were regularly asked if we were bringing beef in the USA. A few years ago, one officer asked repeatedly if either of us had ever been arrested. Yesterday, we were asked a question I have definitely never been asked at a border crossing before. After advising the officer that we had 6 cans of beer with us, with a look of curiosity he asked "Is that going to be enough?". I think it was a rhetorical question but the irony of course is that it wasn't nearly enough.
The game started well enough for the home crowd with LeSean McCoy ripping off a 35 yard run on the second play from scrimmage and then Tyrod Taylor got the Bills deep in Saints territory with a 13 yard keeper before the drive stalled and the Bills settled for a field goal and an early lead. Apart from the Bills defence recovering a Saints fumble later in the first quarter, the rest of the game film should be erased in its entirety. The Saints offence was a well-oiled machine, gaining almost 300 yards on the ground with Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara both going over 100 yards each. When he wasn't handing the ball off to either running back, Drew Brees, who found the Buffalo pass rush to be virtually undetectable, was able to pass for a pedestrian sounding 184 yards, easily and repeatedly finding open receivers for first downs. Turns out that the Saints punter needn't have even bothered to dress for the game - or make the trip to Western New York at all as his services were not required. Not even once. That's right, apart from the first quarter turnover and kneel downs at the end of the game and the end of the first half, every Saints drive resulted in points.
Our strategy of waiting for a colder weather game with more importance and the excitement and pressure of the Bills trying to keep pace with the Patriots in the division or at least stay in the hunt in the AFC wildcard playoff race, didn't work. At least not in terms of seeing a competitive game. The stadium was as quiet as I can remember it and I've been there about 60 times over the last 30 years. If the comeback game - the Miracle at Rich - in January, 1993 was the best game I've ever seen live, yesterday's was probably the worst one. We left with about 8 minutes remaining in the third quarter and John Murphy was describing the final few painful seconds of the game as we were just about to drive across the Peace Bridge. On the bright side, at least it made for an easy exit from the parking lot, no waiting at the border and an early arrival home. I half-heartedly hoped that the Broncos might upset the Patriots last night and preserve a slim chance for the Bills to catch them in the division with two head-to-head games still to come in December. I think I'm dreading those games now.
I have noticed in recent years - I guess since 9/11 - that US Border Patrol officers have an amazing ability to ask a question, every time I cross, which I have never been asked before. It seems hard to believe because how many different questions are there to ask of 2 men in their mid-50's, decked out in Bills gear at 9am on a Sunday at the Lewiston crossing? "What is your citizenship?", "Where are you going?", "What are you bringing with you?" We always get those questions but then there is always a question which I presume is designed to take us out of our comfort zone in order to see how we respond in terms of the actual answer or our body language, or if we pause before answering or look or seem uncomfortable in some way. During the outbreak of Mad Cow Disease, we were regularly asked if we were bringing beef in the USA. A few years ago, one officer asked repeatedly if either of us had ever been arrested. Yesterday, we were asked a question I have definitely never been asked at a border crossing before. After advising the officer that we had 6 cans of beer with us, with a look of curiosity he asked "Is that going to be enough?". I think it was a rhetorical question but the irony of course is that it wasn't nearly enough.
Monday, 6 November 2017
Jets 34, Bills 21
Jerry Sullivan of the Buffalo News put it best in his post-game column: "I can't blame Bills fans who are conditioned to expect calamity when things seem most promising". Over the course of what is known throughout the fan base as the "Drought" (as in, not making the NFL playoffs since 1999 - the longest current streak of non-playoff seasons in the league), Sullivan ominously observed that, over the course of the last 17 years, the team often hits the wall after 5 wins. And, after citing several examples, I'm afraid that he's right.
The Thursday night game 4 days ago was forgettable from the start. The Bills first offensive play from scrimmage was a 12 yard sack of Taylor after the right side of the line allowed a full Jets jailbreak. They never recovered on either side of the ball. Josh McCown, the journeyman quarterback now playing for his eighth NFL team looked like the second coming of YA Tittle (for you, Scott B) as the Jets built a 31-7 lead before I turned off the TV and went to sleep. I gather that the Bills managed to score a couple of touchdowns late in the game to make the score look more reasonable.
I wonder about the future of the the NFL's full slate of Thursday night games. Don Banks, the long-time NFL writer and weekly commentator on Bob McCown's Prime Time Sports said last week that he sees the Thursday night schedule as a prime target for the league to address the problem of over-saturation if it chooses to do so - which it should. The old adage seems to have been turned around for many sports fans as the NFL Thursday night games have left many of them wanting less. The Bills and Jets have faced each other on TNF for 4 straight years now and while the idea of promoting a divisional rivalry year after year would appear to make sense, neither of the two teams has not been particularly compelling to watch in recent years. Many of the Thursday night match-ups since the league expanded to a full season schedule in 2012 have been similarly uninteresting and I think that the combination of over-saturation and games that don't generate much interest regardless of when they are played has presented the league with a clear jumping off point if they are serious about stopping the TV ratings decline.
Thursday Night Football actually dates back to 2006 when the NFL presented 8 late-season games on Thursday and Saturday nights. I recommend that they return to such a format whereby Thursday games are limited to the first regular season game every year, the Thanksgiving Day games (of which there are now three) and perhaps one or two others in the second half of the year which feature teams in the playoff hunt (under NFL Flex Scheduling, this is certainly possible, although a logistical challenge to be sure). Having attended two Thursday night home games in Buffalo, I can say that while night games are an interesting novelty, I am not a fan of getting home at 3am. Scrap the full slate of Thursday games next season, I say.
I am looking forward to a trip to Orchard Park this coming Sunday. The weather forecast is looking decidedly cold and I'm happy about that not only because I have all the right clothing but because the New Orleans Saints may not be entirely comfortable breaking out their own cold weather gear. The Bills will need all the cold and wind they can get as the Saints come in on a 6 game winning streak. After losing their first two games, the Saints have built their record to 6-2 and they have done it like a cold weather team usually does - by running the ball and playing strong defence. The Bills will need their running game to shine again if they are to break the Saints winning streak.
Bills fans who read the Buffalo News have been critical of sports columnist Jerry Sullivan who has pulled no punches in trashing the team over the course of the Drought. I hope that he has a positive angle to his story next Monday. As he likes to say in response to readers who don't like what he writes, "I column as I see 'em".
The Thursday night game 4 days ago was forgettable from the start. The Bills first offensive play from scrimmage was a 12 yard sack of Taylor after the right side of the line allowed a full Jets jailbreak. They never recovered on either side of the ball. Josh McCown, the journeyman quarterback now playing for his eighth NFL team looked like the second coming of YA Tittle (for you, Scott B) as the Jets built a 31-7 lead before I turned off the TV and went to sleep. I gather that the Bills managed to score a couple of touchdowns late in the game to make the score look more reasonable.
I wonder about the future of the the NFL's full slate of Thursday night games. Don Banks, the long-time NFL writer and weekly commentator on Bob McCown's Prime Time Sports said last week that he sees the Thursday night schedule as a prime target for the league to address the problem of over-saturation if it chooses to do so - which it should. The old adage seems to have been turned around for many sports fans as the NFL Thursday night games have left many of them wanting less. The Bills and Jets have faced each other on TNF for 4 straight years now and while the idea of promoting a divisional rivalry year after year would appear to make sense, neither of the two teams has not been particularly compelling to watch in recent years. Many of the Thursday night match-ups since the league expanded to a full season schedule in 2012 have been similarly uninteresting and I think that the combination of over-saturation and games that don't generate much interest regardless of when they are played has presented the league with a clear jumping off point if they are serious about stopping the TV ratings decline.
Thursday Night Football actually dates back to 2006 when the NFL presented 8 late-season games on Thursday and Saturday nights. I recommend that they return to such a format whereby Thursday games are limited to the first regular season game every year, the Thanksgiving Day games (of which there are now three) and perhaps one or two others in the second half of the year which feature teams in the playoff hunt (under NFL Flex Scheduling, this is certainly possible, although a logistical challenge to be sure). Having attended two Thursday night home games in Buffalo, I can say that while night games are an interesting novelty, I am not a fan of getting home at 3am. Scrap the full slate of Thursday games next season, I say.
I am looking forward to a trip to Orchard Park this coming Sunday. The weather forecast is looking decidedly cold and I'm happy about that not only because I have all the right clothing but because the New Orleans Saints may not be entirely comfortable breaking out their own cold weather gear. The Bills will need all the cold and wind they can get as the Saints come in on a 6 game winning streak. After losing their first two games, the Saints have built their record to 6-2 and they have done it like a cold weather team usually does - by running the ball and playing strong defence. The Bills will need their running game to shine again if they are to break the Saints winning streak.
Bills fans who read the Buffalo News have been critical of sports columnist Jerry Sullivan who has pulled no punches in trashing the team over the course of the Drought. I hope that he has a positive angle to his story next Monday. As he likes to say in response to readers who don't like what he writes, "I column as I see 'em".
Monday, 30 October 2017
Bills 34, Raiders 14
In the second-last game of the ill-fated "Toronto" series, a 23-0 blanking of Washington on October 30, 2011, the Bills improved their record to 5-2 under second year head coach Chan Gailey. Marcel Dareus had 2.5 of the Bills 10 sacks that afternoon and Ryan Fitzpatrick played well enough to earn himself a lucrative contract extension as he had, in the minds of the Bills management team, established himself as the team's franchise quarterback. After starting the previous season 0-8 and posting a 4-12 record in 2010, the Bills had turned things around just short of the mid-point of that 2011 season and were positioned to at least challenge for a playoff spot, and perhaps even overtake the Patriots to win the AFC East. Bills fans were riding high that day - even if most of them stayed state-side and watched the game from Toronto on TV.
The Bills went on to lose their next seven consecutive games and would win exactly once more in 2011, en route to a very dissapointing 6-10 season. Bills GM Buddy Nix would end up wearing the Fitzpatrick extension like an anvil around his neck. Chan Gailey and Ryan Fitzpatrick would have one more season as Bills head coach and quarterback respectively before passing their torches to Doug Marrone and EJ Manuel, who also came and went like so many Bills coaches and quarterbacks have since Marv Levy and Jim Kelly retired. I have never really been a glass half-empty kind of sports fan but I've seen enough promising starts vapourize by the teams I root for over the years to not always see the glass as half-full.
But the Bills do look pretty good this time around. The head coach seems to have fostered a winning attitude which manifests itself by way of his team playing with confidence and poise and I think I detect a certain intangible trust on the part of the players in the game plans, schemes and individual plays designed and called by the coaching staff. In short, McDermott just seems like a guy who knows what he's doing, knows the kinds of players he wants and, most importantly, he demands and receives the effort and commitment that's required not just for this season but for the long term.
It's quite amazing really that the team has, since training camp, jettisoned Sammy Watkins, Ronald Darby and, this past week, Marcel Dareus. Any Bills fan would have identified these players as some of the most valuable on the roster as the team reported to camp and, although Jordan Matthews has contributed very nicely at the wideout position, the stockpiling of draft picks from trading these players looked very much like a sacrifice of this season in favour of a better chance of success over the next five seasons. Maybe that was the strategy all along and no one is more surprised than Bills GM Brandon Beane at the team's 5-2 record so far. Sure, we'll trade one of our starting defensive tackles and former 3rd overall pick in Darues for a conditional later round pick. No problem. We'll beat Oakland anyway.
Speaking of Oakland, when the Raiders took the opening kick-off yesterday and marched it downfield for a touchdown, I worried that it was going to be a long afternoon for the Bills secondary. But, aided once again by a series of take-aways on defence and by a brilliant performance by LeSean McCoy and the offensive line, the team improved its home record to 4-0. It feels like with every home game and as the weather now turns colder with the threat of snow in the air before long, New Era Field looks like a very tough place for visiting teams to win - just as it was way back in the early 90s when when it was still called Rich Stadium. The next home game is in a couple of weeks against the red-hot Saints, a dome team which just might be worried about being overwhelmed by the crowd noise and the cold and wind of a mid-November afternoon in Orchard Park.
Up next - just three days from now - is a prime time match-up with the Jets. When you're 5-2, all games are big but this game feels like one the Bills need to have to go 6-2 with 10 days for the team and the fans to prepare for the Saints. It will be my first trip to Orchard Park this year and I would love to leave the stadium with a 7-2 record to contemplate.
The Bills went on to lose their next seven consecutive games and would win exactly once more in 2011, en route to a very dissapointing 6-10 season. Bills GM Buddy Nix would end up wearing the Fitzpatrick extension like an anvil around his neck. Chan Gailey and Ryan Fitzpatrick would have one more season as Bills head coach and quarterback respectively before passing their torches to Doug Marrone and EJ Manuel, who also came and went like so many Bills coaches and quarterbacks have since Marv Levy and Jim Kelly retired. I have never really been a glass half-empty kind of sports fan but I've seen enough promising starts vapourize by the teams I root for over the years to not always see the glass as half-full.
But the Bills do look pretty good this time around. The head coach seems to have fostered a winning attitude which manifests itself by way of his team playing with confidence and poise and I think I detect a certain intangible trust on the part of the players in the game plans, schemes and individual plays designed and called by the coaching staff. In short, McDermott just seems like a guy who knows what he's doing, knows the kinds of players he wants and, most importantly, he demands and receives the effort and commitment that's required not just for this season but for the long term.
It's quite amazing really that the team has, since training camp, jettisoned Sammy Watkins, Ronald Darby and, this past week, Marcel Dareus. Any Bills fan would have identified these players as some of the most valuable on the roster as the team reported to camp and, although Jordan Matthews has contributed very nicely at the wideout position, the stockpiling of draft picks from trading these players looked very much like a sacrifice of this season in favour of a better chance of success over the next five seasons. Maybe that was the strategy all along and no one is more surprised than Bills GM Brandon Beane at the team's 5-2 record so far. Sure, we'll trade one of our starting defensive tackles and former 3rd overall pick in Darues for a conditional later round pick. No problem. We'll beat Oakland anyway.
Speaking of Oakland, when the Raiders took the opening kick-off yesterday and marched it downfield for a touchdown, I worried that it was going to be a long afternoon for the Bills secondary. But, aided once again by a series of take-aways on defence and by a brilliant performance by LeSean McCoy and the offensive line, the team improved its home record to 4-0. It feels like with every home game and as the weather now turns colder with the threat of snow in the air before long, New Era Field looks like a very tough place for visiting teams to win - just as it was way back in the early 90s when when it was still called Rich Stadium. The next home game is in a couple of weeks against the red-hot Saints, a dome team which just might be worried about being overwhelmed by the crowd noise and the cold and wind of a mid-November afternoon in Orchard Park.
Up next - just three days from now - is a prime time match-up with the Jets. When you're 5-2, all games are big but this game feels like one the Bills need to have to go 6-2 with 10 days for the team and the fans to prepare for the Saints. It will be my first trip to Orchard Park this year and I would love to leave the stadium with a 7-2 record to contemplate.
Monday, 23 October 2017
Bills 30, Buccaneers 27
There are many ways to lose games in the NFL and the Bills were busy stockpiling them yesterday afternoon in Orchard Park against the Tampa Bay Bucs before finally finding a way to pull out a win. After the Bucs took a 27-20 lead with a little more than three minutes remaining, things didn't look good for Bills fans. Whether it was the inexcusable clock mismanagement at the end of the first half, the missed field goal by the usually very reliable Steven Hauschka or the untimely late game fumble by LeSean McCoy, the Monday morning quarterbacks would have plenty of reasons to choose from to explain rookie head coach Sean McDermott's first home loss.
But the Bills offence came roaring back on the next series with a deep pass to Deonte Thompson who the Bills plucked from the scrapheap after being cut by the Bears last week. Aided by a personal foul on the tackle, the Bills found themselves deep in Tampa territory and they scored the tying touchdown shortly afterward. What they needed then was to play some defence to get the game to overtime. But a Tampa fumble which reciprocated the McCoy fumble earlier in the quarter set them up for the winning field goal which Hauschka actually almost missed. The game ended with a prolonged Harlem Globetrotters style Bucs exercise in laterals which sent them closer and closer to their own endzone before it finally ended. NBC showed the play in fast motion with a ragtime soundtrack on their highlight reel. The disaster of the "home run throwback" play in Nashville in January, 2000 (which became better known as the Music City Miracle) isn't far from the surface of my consciousness and, honestly, I was worried about another calamity of that kind until the game-ending tackle was finally made.
Seven weeks into the NFL season, the owners are increasingly concerned about steadily declining viewership numbers. The average television audience for an NFL game has dropped about 7% from a year ago - from 16.3 million to 15.2 million. In 2015, the average game drew 18.5 million. Declining viewership will not impact the league's bottom line in the short term as network television contracts are fixed but when television rights are up for sale next time, they definitely will. The networks who broadcast NFL games now find themselves having to prepare to offer "make good" spots to advertisers whose audience numbers have fallen short of projections upon which advertising rates are based. Make good spots count among television networks least favourite obligations for obvious reasons. Credit Suisse has actually downgraded its target share prices for the parent companies of NFL broadcasters like CBS and FOX on account of their having to offer them. Now that's some serious stuff which can't be explained away by election or hurricane coverage.
A recent Gallup poll found that 57% of Americans consider themselves to be "pro football fans". That result is down an amazing 10 full points from a year ago. A CNN poll, which asked respondents about their support for the ongoing NFL player protests, found that only 43% supported the practice of players kneeling during the national anthem or skipping it altogether while 49% were opposed. Roger Goodell convened a meeting of team owners last week to discuss the protest issue and, to their credit, they did not mandate that players stand for the anthem as was widely expected. They realize, I presume, that the issue is extremely sensitive, especially when combined with Trump's flame-fanning tweets and they decided instead to propose a series of race relations and equality initiatives to placate the protesting players. What they really hope is that the issue just slowly fades away. If not for the President's involvement, it probably would have already.
So, what, if anything, will stem the NFL's decline in popularity? After decades of domination of North American sports culture which has seen the league's fortunes improve despite teams extorting stadium funding from cities under the real threat of moving (ask San Diego, St, Louis, Oakland), adding a full season of Thursday prime time games and a steady stream of criminal charges and domestic battery issues among it players, is the jig finally up for the NFL? I predict that the decline will continue for some time to come - perhaps another two or three seasons or more - before settling at a level maybe 20% below its peak of a few years ago in terms of television viewership. And maybe that will end up being a good thing for a league which has suffered no real adversity or threat to its bottom line until very recently. Mark Cuban, the outspoken NBA owner, said this a few years ago about the NFL moving to a full slate of Thursday games: "Pigs get fat; hogs get slaughtered."
But the Bills offence came roaring back on the next series with a deep pass to Deonte Thompson who the Bills plucked from the scrapheap after being cut by the Bears last week. Aided by a personal foul on the tackle, the Bills found themselves deep in Tampa territory and they scored the tying touchdown shortly afterward. What they needed then was to play some defence to get the game to overtime. But a Tampa fumble which reciprocated the McCoy fumble earlier in the quarter set them up for the winning field goal which Hauschka actually almost missed. The game ended with a prolonged Harlem Globetrotters style Bucs exercise in laterals which sent them closer and closer to their own endzone before it finally ended. NBC showed the play in fast motion with a ragtime soundtrack on their highlight reel. The disaster of the "home run throwback" play in Nashville in January, 2000 (which became better known as the Music City Miracle) isn't far from the surface of my consciousness and, honestly, I was worried about another calamity of that kind until the game-ending tackle was finally made.
Seven weeks into the NFL season, the owners are increasingly concerned about steadily declining viewership numbers. The average television audience for an NFL game has dropped about 7% from a year ago - from 16.3 million to 15.2 million. In 2015, the average game drew 18.5 million. Declining viewership will not impact the league's bottom line in the short term as network television contracts are fixed but when television rights are up for sale next time, they definitely will. The networks who broadcast NFL games now find themselves having to prepare to offer "make good" spots to advertisers whose audience numbers have fallen short of projections upon which advertising rates are based. Make good spots count among television networks least favourite obligations for obvious reasons. Credit Suisse has actually downgraded its target share prices for the parent companies of NFL broadcasters like CBS and FOX on account of their having to offer them. Now that's some serious stuff which can't be explained away by election or hurricane coverage.
A recent Gallup poll found that 57% of Americans consider themselves to be "pro football fans". That result is down an amazing 10 full points from a year ago. A CNN poll, which asked respondents about their support for the ongoing NFL player protests, found that only 43% supported the practice of players kneeling during the national anthem or skipping it altogether while 49% were opposed. Roger Goodell convened a meeting of team owners last week to discuss the protest issue and, to their credit, they did not mandate that players stand for the anthem as was widely expected. They realize, I presume, that the issue is extremely sensitive, especially when combined with Trump's flame-fanning tweets and they decided instead to propose a series of race relations and equality initiatives to placate the protesting players. What they really hope is that the issue just slowly fades away. If not for the President's involvement, it probably would have already.
So, what, if anything, will stem the NFL's decline in popularity? After decades of domination of North American sports culture which has seen the league's fortunes improve despite teams extorting stadium funding from cities under the real threat of moving (ask San Diego, St, Louis, Oakland), adding a full season of Thursday prime time games and a steady stream of criminal charges and domestic battery issues among it players, is the jig finally up for the NFL? I predict that the decline will continue for some time to come - perhaps another two or three seasons or more - before settling at a level maybe 20% below its peak of a few years ago in terms of television viewership. And maybe that will end up being a good thing for a league which has suffered no real adversity or threat to its bottom line until very recently. Mark Cuban, the outspoken NBA owner, said this a few years ago about the NFL moving to a full slate of Thursday games: "Pigs get fat; hogs get slaughtered."
Monday, 9 October 2017
Bengals 20, Bills 16
I guess the Bills could have won yesterday's game in Cincinnati if they had made a play or two here or there but they didn't play well enough to have deserved to win. Without the benefit of three Bengal turnovers, the Bills would have been lost more decisively than they did and if they had somehow managed to pull it out, the headlines in this morning's papers would have referred them as having stolen a win etc.
The Bengals gave a good effort on both sides of the ball with their defense holding LeSean McCoy to 63 hard-earned yards and Andy Dalton looked confident and poised throughout the game with his only bone-headed throw - a pass to the endzone late in the fourth quarter which could have easily been intercepted but wasn't - not costing him at all. The three turnovers the Bengals gave up were mostly of the unlucky variety with two Bills interceptions coming on tipped balls and another coming on a punched out ball after a long gain. The Bengals got off to a terrible start this season but yesterday they looked like a competent and talented team.
US Vice-President Mike Pence decided to upstage a tribute to Payton Manning yesterday in Indianapolis by leaving the stadium after 23 San Francisco 49ers players kneeled during the national anthem. Pence took to Twitter afterwards explaining that he and the President "would not dignify any event that disrespects our soldiers, our flag or our national anthem". As SI's Peter King wrote on Sunday (as a special piece ahead of his weekly Monday Morning Quarterback column), this was an orchestrated strategy by Pence as he knew that at least some players would kneel during the anthem and he also knew that he would then leave the stadium, making that the story of the day in Indianapolis instead of what it was intended to be - a well-deserved tribute given to Manning who was inducted on to the Colts Ring of Honour for his incredible career in a Colts uniform. King's point is that Pence knew that he would become the headline and he deliberately and intentionally proceeded to insert himself into the situation, presumably at the urging of or on orders from the President. One of Indiana's most beloved sports figures deserved his special day yesterday without it being overshadowed by the Trump administration's wedge politics. As King said in his column, "Mike Pence will have to live with himself for that."
I think that I am now leaning towards wanting the national anthem dropped from professional sporting events. Do we really need to hear it every time? Ok, maybe we can still have it for the Superbowl but having it before every game is ridiculous. The NBA has moved the anthem up so far that it takes place a full 15 or 20 minutes before tip-off with the stands mostly empty. The pre-game ritual before an NBA game is now fully focused on a loud and inspirational music video for the home team and its fans which takes place just before the presentation of the home starting line-up and only a couple of minutes before the game starts. It feels like the anthem is now played at NBA games because its required and not because fans want it or care at all about it.
I am not suggesting that the anthem be dropped to remove the opportunity for players to express their political views but rather so that those who practice right-wing wedge politics will have their opportunity taken away. Trump has seized the chance to energize his uncouth base and try to damage the NFL for not taking action against those players who passively demonstrate dissent by choosing to kneel during the anthem. Lets deny him that stage and let a football game be just that and nothing more. NFL players will still have plenty of media coverage if they want to be political and I hope that they will use it to share their views. We need to stop the distracting and destructive fallout from the whole national anthem business. I would bet that Roger Goodell agrees but I am sure that he will continue to simply hope that the problem goes away.
The Bills enter their bye week after five games which is probably earlier than they would have liked but still comes at a time when they can rest and try to get Charles Clay and Jordan Matthews back in the line-up for two games against the Bucs and Raiders to close out the month of October.
The Bengals gave a good effort on both sides of the ball with their defense holding LeSean McCoy to 63 hard-earned yards and Andy Dalton looked confident and poised throughout the game with his only bone-headed throw - a pass to the endzone late in the fourth quarter which could have easily been intercepted but wasn't - not costing him at all. The three turnovers the Bengals gave up were mostly of the unlucky variety with two Bills interceptions coming on tipped balls and another coming on a punched out ball after a long gain. The Bengals got off to a terrible start this season but yesterday they looked like a competent and talented team.
US Vice-President Mike Pence decided to upstage a tribute to Payton Manning yesterday in Indianapolis by leaving the stadium after 23 San Francisco 49ers players kneeled during the national anthem. Pence took to Twitter afterwards explaining that he and the President "would not dignify any event that disrespects our soldiers, our flag or our national anthem". As SI's Peter King wrote on Sunday (as a special piece ahead of his weekly Monday Morning Quarterback column), this was an orchestrated strategy by Pence as he knew that at least some players would kneel during the anthem and he also knew that he would then leave the stadium, making that the story of the day in Indianapolis instead of what it was intended to be - a well-deserved tribute given to Manning who was inducted on to the Colts Ring of Honour for his incredible career in a Colts uniform. King's point is that Pence knew that he would become the headline and he deliberately and intentionally proceeded to insert himself into the situation, presumably at the urging of or on orders from the President. One of Indiana's most beloved sports figures deserved his special day yesterday without it being overshadowed by the Trump administration's wedge politics. As King said in his column, "Mike Pence will have to live with himself for that."
I think that I am now leaning towards wanting the national anthem dropped from professional sporting events. Do we really need to hear it every time? Ok, maybe we can still have it for the Superbowl but having it before every game is ridiculous. The NBA has moved the anthem up so far that it takes place a full 15 or 20 minutes before tip-off with the stands mostly empty. The pre-game ritual before an NBA game is now fully focused on a loud and inspirational music video for the home team and its fans which takes place just before the presentation of the home starting line-up and only a couple of minutes before the game starts. It feels like the anthem is now played at NBA games because its required and not because fans want it or care at all about it.
I am not suggesting that the anthem be dropped to remove the opportunity for players to express their political views but rather so that those who practice right-wing wedge politics will have their opportunity taken away. Trump has seized the chance to energize his uncouth base and try to damage the NFL for not taking action against those players who passively demonstrate dissent by choosing to kneel during the anthem. Lets deny him that stage and let a football game be just that and nothing more. NFL players will still have plenty of media coverage if they want to be political and I hope that they will use it to share their views. We need to stop the distracting and destructive fallout from the whole national anthem business. I would bet that Roger Goodell agrees but I am sure that he will continue to simply hope that the problem goes away.
The Bills enter their bye week after five games which is probably earlier than they would have liked but still comes at a time when they can rest and try to get Charles Clay and Jordan Matthews back in the line-up for two games against the Bucs and Raiders to close out the month of October.
Monday, 2 October 2017
Bills 23, Falcons 17
On fourth down, with less then a minute to go, Matt Ryan's pass misses receiver Taylor Gabriel but Bills rookie cornerback Tre'Davious White is flagged for pass interference, giving the Falcons a first down at the Bills three yard line. After the Bills spend their three time-outs, the Falcons score a touchdown with 48 seconds left, make the extra point, stop the Bills on fourth down on the ensuing series and win the game 24-23. Except there was no pass interference called and the Bills left Atlanta with what Jerry Sullivan of the Buffalo News called the team's biggest road win since 2011.
I generally like the idea of video review for challenges, turnovers and scoring plays. They do take time and they break the natural flow of the game but they usually get the call right. There were two reviews yesterday which I was convinced would go against the Bills but didn't. The first resulted in a Bills touchdown after what was ruled a fumble by Matt Ryan. I've seen plenty of theses kind of plays where, if the quarterback's hand is moving forward - and especially if that forward motion propels the ball forward in any way - the ruling is almost always an incomplete pass. The ruling yesterday must have been that Ryan had already lost control of the ball (which he had as it was clearly knocked out of his hand well before it began to move forward) before batting it forward like a desperate volleyball player using the third hit to get the ball over the net. Ruling: the call on the field stands: touchdown Buffalo.
The second replay review was on a Micah Hyde interception of another Ryan pass where Hyde appeared to trap the tip of the ball on the ground simultaneous with his hands grasping its sides. The ground can not be used to help make a catch - or at least that's what I was convinced would be the ruling - but the play which was initially ruled to be an interception was not overturned on review and the Bills had secured their third turnover of the game. A third replay review went against the Bills who had recovered a fumble after what was initially ruled to be an interception and was then correctly ruled an incomplete pass as the receiver never controlled the ball. Two for three on replay reviews. Had they lost either of the two which they won, the Bills would likely be 2-2 this morning.
It never ceases to amaze me how much the fortunes of NFL football teams can change from season to season (with the obvious exception of the Cleveland Browns who seem permanently mired in oblivion no matter how many times they change general managers and coaches or how many high draft picks they get year after year). After installing a new coaching staff and trading two of their top players in Sammy Watkins and Ronald Darby in the pre-season, this season looked like an rebuilding year for the Bills with a stockpile of draft picks coming in 2018 and 2019. But, after four games, the Bills look to me like they actually are good team right now. The Falcons came as close to winning the Superbowl last year as a team can come without actually winning it and they were 3-0 before losing to the Bills yesterday. Buffalo's only loss was to the Panthers who won in New England yesterday and they have also beaten the Jets who are a surprising 2-2 and Denver who won against the Raiders yesterday to improve to 3-1.
I sense that it won't be long before I receive an email from the Bills asking me for a deposit on tickets to a home playoff game, something that Bills fans have not witnessed since Jim Kelly's final game in December, 1996. A home playoff game is only possible for teams who win their division (with the extremely remote but mathematically possible exception of a fifth seeded wildcard team playing a conference championship game at home against the sixth seed). With the Patriots at 2-2, the Bills find themselves in first place in the AFC East at 3-1, a position they have not occupied this late in the season in nine years. Yes, I am projecting far too much at the one quarter mark of the season but I am feeling optimistic right now with my desire for important winter-time football in Orchard Park seeming a bit less like a wild fantasy than it did a month ago. There's still plenty of time for the team to come back to earth with a schedule which still includes a trip to Kansas City and two games against the Patriots. But the schedule looks quite manageable otherwise and I see no reason to think that the team can't stay competitive at least through November.
Up next is a trip to Cincinnati this Sunday before the bye week. The Bengals throttled the Browns in Cleveland yesterday for their first win of the season. Their anemic offence has looked much better the past two weeks after firing their offensive coordinator after following a week two loss.
I generally like the idea of video review for challenges, turnovers and scoring plays. They do take time and they break the natural flow of the game but they usually get the call right. There were two reviews yesterday which I was convinced would go against the Bills but didn't. The first resulted in a Bills touchdown after what was ruled a fumble by Matt Ryan. I've seen plenty of theses kind of plays where, if the quarterback's hand is moving forward - and especially if that forward motion propels the ball forward in any way - the ruling is almost always an incomplete pass. The ruling yesterday must have been that Ryan had already lost control of the ball (which he had as it was clearly knocked out of his hand well before it began to move forward) before batting it forward like a desperate volleyball player using the third hit to get the ball over the net. Ruling: the call on the field stands: touchdown Buffalo.
The second replay review was on a Micah Hyde interception of another Ryan pass where Hyde appeared to trap the tip of the ball on the ground simultaneous with his hands grasping its sides. The ground can not be used to help make a catch - or at least that's what I was convinced would be the ruling - but the play which was initially ruled to be an interception was not overturned on review and the Bills had secured their third turnover of the game. A third replay review went against the Bills who had recovered a fumble after what was initially ruled to be an interception and was then correctly ruled an incomplete pass as the receiver never controlled the ball. Two for three on replay reviews. Had they lost either of the two which they won, the Bills would likely be 2-2 this morning.
It never ceases to amaze me how much the fortunes of NFL football teams can change from season to season (with the obvious exception of the Cleveland Browns who seem permanently mired in oblivion no matter how many times they change general managers and coaches or how many high draft picks they get year after year). After installing a new coaching staff and trading two of their top players in Sammy Watkins and Ronald Darby in the pre-season, this season looked like an rebuilding year for the Bills with a stockpile of draft picks coming in 2018 and 2019. But, after four games, the Bills look to me like they actually are good team right now. The Falcons came as close to winning the Superbowl last year as a team can come without actually winning it and they were 3-0 before losing to the Bills yesterday. Buffalo's only loss was to the Panthers who won in New England yesterday and they have also beaten the Jets who are a surprising 2-2 and Denver who won against the Raiders yesterday to improve to 3-1.
I sense that it won't be long before I receive an email from the Bills asking me for a deposit on tickets to a home playoff game, something that Bills fans have not witnessed since Jim Kelly's final game in December, 1996. A home playoff game is only possible for teams who win their division (with the extremely remote but mathematically possible exception of a fifth seeded wildcard team playing a conference championship game at home against the sixth seed). With the Patriots at 2-2, the Bills find themselves in first place in the AFC East at 3-1, a position they have not occupied this late in the season in nine years. Yes, I am projecting far too much at the one quarter mark of the season but I am feeling optimistic right now with my desire for important winter-time football in Orchard Park seeming a bit less like a wild fantasy than it did a month ago. There's still plenty of time for the team to come back to earth with a schedule which still includes a trip to Kansas City and two games against the Patriots. But the schedule looks quite manageable otherwise and I see no reason to think that the team can't stay competitive at least through November.
Up next is a trip to Cincinnati this Sunday before the bye week. The Bengals throttled the Browns in Cleveland yesterday for their first win of the season. Their anemic offence has looked much better the past two weeks after firing their offensive coordinator after following a week two loss.
Monday, 25 September 2017
Bills 26, Broncos 16
Tyrod Taylor says that he and Von Miller are friends. Maybe in the heat of the moment - with the temperature hovering close to 90 degrees and the Bills holding on to a seven point lead late in the fourth quarter of yesterday's game in Orchard Park - Miller decided to set aside their friendship by offering his hand to help Taylor from the ground after a hard hit and then pulling it away just as Taylor reached for it. Perhaps it was just an incident of competitive ribbing between friends or maybe it was the manifestation of Miller's frustration that a game in which his team was clearly favoured to win was slipping away. But Miller was called for unsportsmanlike conduct which gave the Bills a new set of downs and then a field goal which put them up by 10 points with just over three minutes to go.
I was surprised that the call was made. Not because it wasn't unsportsmanlike conduct - because it was - but because I have never seen such an act in a football game and I wondered if the officials had seen it before either. The CBS broadcast team of Spero Dedes and Adam Archuleta obviously hadn't seen it called before either as Archuleta seemed stumped by the call, wondering why Miller's clean hit on Taylor was called: "it was a textbook shoulder to the chest hit", Archuleta declared, looking for a reason for the call. Sure, I've seen a player turn away from an opponent on the ground and not help him up after a play - I mean you don't have to help your opponent up after every play. But what Miller did was actually taunting in a slightly different form than it's usually seen and taunting is regularly called as unsportsmanlike conduct in NFL games. It was a devastating penalty for the Broncos and one from which they would not recover.
The Bills will likely find themselves climbing a few rungs in the NFL Power Rankings later this week after a solid performance against what was considered to be a clearly superior team in the Broncos. It was another outstanding defensive effort which in the end was too much for Broncos quarterback Trevor Siemian, the Northwestern product in his third NFL season. Siemian made two awful plays in the second half which resulted in crucial interceptions and, along with a highly questionable fake punt play which the Bills stopped, cost his team the game. Kudos to the offence are also deserved: With the Broncos outstanding front seven shutting down the Bills running game, Tyrod Taylor was able to move the ball in the air, showing impressive touch on a couple of key passes in the second half and LeSean McCoy set aside his frustrations and was able to find his way to two key fourth quarter first downs which kept drives alive and kept the Broncos offence off the field. For the Bills, it was big win indeed.
I really am reluctant to wade into anything related to Donald Trump on this blog but since his recent statements were aimed directly at the NFL and prompted such a strong reaction, here's where I am on it: I have never understood Trump's strategy and I'm even more mystified by it this morning. I wonder if he is ever able to predict the response to his words and actions or if he practices any semblance of game theory in how he plays out issues he decides to tackle. Regardless of what I might think of him, his policies or his personal style, his success in politics can not be denied. Despite what seemed like insurmountable flaws, he won last year's election so while his strategy on any number of issues so often looks to be self-destructive, he somehow endures. Until he is impeached or indicted, his strategy works - like it or not. His recent statements have unified most of the NFL's players, many of its team owners and some of its fans. But, for sure, not all of its fans. If his goal was to divide NFL fans by making them choose sides, he surely succeeded. Did he foresee the on-field response yesterday with most players kneeling, locking arms in solidarity or skipping the national anthem altogether? Who knows? And who knows what, if any, his larger strategy with this issue really is. If he thought that Colin Kaepernick was a lone wolf who has been appropriately ostracized by the NFL for fighting an unpopular solo battle, he is obviously wrong. How or even if this forms part of any coordinated political game plan on his part is entirely unknown to me.
Things don't get easier for the Bills in week four with a trip to Atlanta to face the Falcons and their high powered offence.
I was surprised that the call was made. Not because it wasn't unsportsmanlike conduct - because it was - but because I have never seen such an act in a football game and I wondered if the officials had seen it before either. The CBS broadcast team of Spero Dedes and Adam Archuleta obviously hadn't seen it called before either as Archuleta seemed stumped by the call, wondering why Miller's clean hit on Taylor was called: "it was a textbook shoulder to the chest hit", Archuleta declared, looking for a reason for the call. Sure, I've seen a player turn away from an opponent on the ground and not help him up after a play - I mean you don't have to help your opponent up after every play. But what Miller did was actually taunting in a slightly different form than it's usually seen and taunting is regularly called as unsportsmanlike conduct in NFL games. It was a devastating penalty for the Broncos and one from which they would not recover.
The Bills will likely find themselves climbing a few rungs in the NFL Power Rankings later this week after a solid performance against what was considered to be a clearly superior team in the Broncos. It was another outstanding defensive effort which in the end was too much for Broncos quarterback Trevor Siemian, the Northwestern product in his third NFL season. Siemian made two awful plays in the second half which resulted in crucial interceptions and, along with a highly questionable fake punt play which the Bills stopped, cost his team the game. Kudos to the offence are also deserved: With the Broncos outstanding front seven shutting down the Bills running game, Tyrod Taylor was able to move the ball in the air, showing impressive touch on a couple of key passes in the second half and LeSean McCoy set aside his frustrations and was able to find his way to two key fourth quarter first downs which kept drives alive and kept the Broncos offence off the field. For the Bills, it was big win indeed.
I really am reluctant to wade into anything related to Donald Trump on this blog but since his recent statements were aimed directly at the NFL and prompted such a strong reaction, here's where I am on it: I have never understood Trump's strategy and I'm even more mystified by it this morning. I wonder if he is ever able to predict the response to his words and actions or if he practices any semblance of game theory in how he plays out issues he decides to tackle. Regardless of what I might think of him, his policies or his personal style, his success in politics can not be denied. Despite what seemed like insurmountable flaws, he won last year's election so while his strategy on any number of issues so often looks to be self-destructive, he somehow endures. Until he is impeached or indicted, his strategy works - like it or not. His recent statements have unified most of the NFL's players, many of its team owners and some of its fans. But, for sure, not all of its fans. If his goal was to divide NFL fans by making them choose sides, he surely succeeded. Did he foresee the on-field response yesterday with most players kneeling, locking arms in solidarity or skipping the national anthem altogether? Who knows? And who knows what, if any, his larger strategy with this issue really is. If he thought that Colin Kaepernick was a lone wolf who has been appropriately ostracized by the NFL for fighting an unpopular solo battle, he is obviously wrong. How or even if this forms part of any coordinated political game plan on his part is entirely unknown to me.
Things don't get easier for the Bills in week four with a trip to Atlanta to face the Falcons and their high powered offence.
Monday, 18 September 2017
Panthers 9, Bills 3
It was a perfectly scripted ending for Sean McDermott. Returning to Charlotte after six years as the Panthers Defensive Coordinator, the Bills new head coach lead his team through a grinding defensive battle and a last-minute win on a spectacular catch by rookie wideout Kay Jones who lept high in the air at the goal line, grabbed Tyrod Taylor's pass and rolled untouched into the endzone. Bills upset the heavily favoured Panthers 10-9.
Except Jones couldn't make the catch and the Bills have now fallen from first place in the AFC East. It was a fun ride for the one week it lasted. The silver lining was obviously the defence which kept Cam Newton out of the endzone for four quarters. Holding a team to 9 points should and almost always is enough to win in the NFL but the Bills weakness on the offensive side of the ball was glaring. The Panthers game planned very well for LeSean McCoy who was unable to move the ball on the ground at all. The passing game wasn't able to step up until later in the second half and, although they almost pulled it out, the Bills didn't come close to the endzone either except on their final play.
This was a frustrating game to watch as a Bills fan but for NFL fans without a rooting interest, it must have been excruciating. A defensive battle with only four field goals isn't going to do much for the league's sagging ratings, especially on a day without many close games to switch to in the 1pm line-up.
Comparing yesterday's Bills game to Saturday's Toronto Argonaut victory over the Edmonton Eskimos is a little like comparing apples to kiwi fruit but I'll give it a go anyway. Played before a gathering of just over 13,000 at BMO Field (which, laughably, is one of the biggest home crowds the Argos have drawn this season in a stadium with a football capacity of about 33,000), the home side beat the favoured Eskimos 34-26 in a game which featured 46 first downs and more than 800 yards of offence. I watched most of the second half with my dad, a life-long Argonaut fan who hasn't been to a game since 1978. The CFL still generates surprisingly decent national television ratings despite high levels of apathy in Canada's largest city. Regardless of its many challenges, the CFL's on-field product is almost always entertaining and Saturday's game was a great example of that.
The CFL made news last week by announcing an end to padded practices with contact during the regular season. The league obviously knew which coaches would support the move and which ones likely wouldn't as BC Lions head coach Wally Buono said that it was about time for such a move and Eskimos head coach Jason Maas questioned the decision and said that he learned of it only through the media. The only valid criticism I've heard of the decision is from junior and high school football coaches in Canada who worry that the pressure from parents to match the policy in their own leagues may develop a cohort of younger players who have not learned how to make or receive a proper football hit until they find themselves in game situations. This may lead to more injuries in the end, not less, they say. We'll see. If the policy serves to slow the decline in participation rates among young athletes, then it probably makes sense. I doubt that it will really give parents any more comfort when they decide which sports to sign their children up for.
The Bills have a tough test upcoming in week 3 as the Denver Broncos, coming off an impressive win against Dallas yesterday, come to Orchard Park. Then the team has two road games and a bye week before their next home game on October 22nd.
Except Jones couldn't make the catch and the Bills have now fallen from first place in the AFC East. It was a fun ride for the one week it lasted. The silver lining was obviously the defence which kept Cam Newton out of the endzone for four quarters. Holding a team to 9 points should and almost always is enough to win in the NFL but the Bills weakness on the offensive side of the ball was glaring. The Panthers game planned very well for LeSean McCoy who was unable to move the ball on the ground at all. The passing game wasn't able to step up until later in the second half and, although they almost pulled it out, the Bills didn't come close to the endzone either except on their final play.
This was a frustrating game to watch as a Bills fan but for NFL fans without a rooting interest, it must have been excruciating. A defensive battle with only four field goals isn't going to do much for the league's sagging ratings, especially on a day without many close games to switch to in the 1pm line-up.
Comparing yesterday's Bills game to Saturday's Toronto Argonaut victory over the Edmonton Eskimos is a little like comparing apples to kiwi fruit but I'll give it a go anyway. Played before a gathering of just over 13,000 at BMO Field (which, laughably, is one of the biggest home crowds the Argos have drawn this season in a stadium with a football capacity of about 33,000), the home side beat the favoured Eskimos 34-26 in a game which featured 46 first downs and more than 800 yards of offence. I watched most of the second half with my dad, a life-long Argonaut fan who hasn't been to a game since 1978. The CFL still generates surprisingly decent national television ratings despite high levels of apathy in Canada's largest city. Regardless of its many challenges, the CFL's on-field product is almost always entertaining and Saturday's game was a great example of that.
The CFL made news last week by announcing an end to padded practices with contact during the regular season. The league obviously knew which coaches would support the move and which ones likely wouldn't as BC Lions head coach Wally Buono said that it was about time for such a move and Eskimos head coach Jason Maas questioned the decision and said that he learned of it only through the media. The only valid criticism I've heard of the decision is from junior and high school football coaches in Canada who worry that the pressure from parents to match the policy in their own leagues may develop a cohort of younger players who have not learned how to make or receive a proper football hit until they find themselves in game situations. This may lead to more injuries in the end, not less, they say. We'll see. If the policy serves to slow the decline in participation rates among young athletes, then it probably makes sense. I doubt that it will really give parents any more comfort when they decide which sports to sign their children up for.
The Bills have a tough test upcoming in week 3 as the Denver Broncos, coming off an impressive win against Dallas yesterday, come to Orchard Park. Then the team has two road games and a bye week before their next home game on October 22nd.
Tuesday, 12 September 2017
Bills 21, Jets 12
The headline in the Chicago Tribune, which reads "Hurricane Irma Delays NFL's TV Ratings", probably portends more bad news for the NFL in the form of another season of declining fan interest which will manifest itself in lower television viewership, smaller in-stadium crowds and the corresponding list of excuses from the league office. The fact that the offices where NFL television ratings are compiled and reported is - or was - in Tampa, which was evacuated ahead of the storm, will only delay the inevitable.
Last year it was the election. This year, NFL spin doctors suggest, it's the weather. Ratings for The Weather Network are way up as some football fans (even those in areas not impacted by the hurricanes) apparently are now more interested in the weather than in whatever the NFL has to offer for their viewing pleasure. What will the league offer up as an explanation for the ratings drop once the hurricane season is over? Will there be another major news story which they can claim has drawn attention away from their product? Anything, I guess, to not address the fundamental issue of declining participation in junior football programs and the alarming number of high schools across America (and Canada too) which have scrapped their football programs due to player/student safety concerns.
The New England Patriots have won the Superbowl in two of the past three seasons (the 2014 and 2016 seasons). The winner of the big game from the previous year earns the right to host the league's opening regular season game on the Thursday night of Week 1, three days before the rest of the teams open their schedules. On that opening Thursday in 2015, the Patriots game was watched by an average audience of 27.4 million viewers. Two years later, average viewership for last week's game dropped to 21.8 million. A year ago, the Denver Broncos (the 2015 Superbowl winner) opening Thursday home game drew an average of 25.2 million. See a pattern here? Make no mistake: the NFL is still a ratings juggernaut and no other sports league or television program even comes close to the numbers that the NFL can draw but the downward trajectory is clear and I am confident is saying that the Golden Age of Football is now behind us. Sure, I'll still watch on television and I'll still make the pilgrimage to Orchard Park once or twice each season (or more if the Bills are competitive in December) but I am less confident now that I will still be doing so 20 or 30 years from now than I would have been five years ago.
But the Bills won in Week 1 and I still feel good about that. I like the attitude and demeanor of the new head coach Sean McDermott. I like the defence, the offensive line and the running game. I remain concerned about the quarterback and the lack of big play receivers which the team will need to get back into games where they fall behind. Like they probably will in next week's trip to Carolina.
I saw only a bit of the Jets game as I was focused mainly on rebuilding our pump house after we replaced our entire water system this summer at the cottage. I watched part of the Patriots game on Thursday night and I was pleased to see the Chiefs dominate in the 4th quarter and hand them a home loss. With the Dolphins idle due to the hurricane, the Bills find themselves alone in first place in the AFC East. This will likely only be a week-long phenomenon but I like the look of the standings in the newspaper right now.
If the Bills can pull out a road win in Week 2, then prospects for the 2017 season will definitely seem brighter in what still feels like a rebuilding year. We are rebuilding our pump house and the Bills are rebuilding for the future. I am confident that our pump house will last 30 years or more. The NFL will still be around in 30 years too but it could like quite different that it does now.
Last year it was the election. This year, NFL spin doctors suggest, it's the weather. Ratings for The Weather Network are way up as some football fans (even those in areas not impacted by the hurricanes) apparently are now more interested in the weather than in whatever the NFL has to offer for their viewing pleasure. What will the league offer up as an explanation for the ratings drop once the hurricane season is over? Will there be another major news story which they can claim has drawn attention away from their product? Anything, I guess, to not address the fundamental issue of declining participation in junior football programs and the alarming number of high schools across America (and Canada too) which have scrapped their football programs due to player/student safety concerns.
The New England Patriots have won the Superbowl in two of the past three seasons (the 2014 and 2016 seasons). The winner of the big game from the previous year earns the right to host the league's opening regular season game on the Thursday night of Week 1, three days before the rest of the teams open their schedules. On that opening Thursday in 2015, the Patriots game was watched by an average audience of 27.4 million viewers. Two years later, average viewership for last week's game dropped to 21.8 million. A year ago, the Denver Broncos (the 2015 Superbowl winner) opening Thursday home game drew an average of 25.2 million. See a pattern here? Make no mistake: the NFL is still a ratings juggernaut and no other sports league or television program even comes close to the numbers that the NFL can draw but the downward trajectory is clear and I am confident is saying that the Golden Age of Football is now behind us. Sure, I'll still watch on television and I'll still make the pilgrimage to Orchard Park once or twice each season (or more if the Bills are competitive in December) but I am less confident now that I will still be doing so 20 or 30 years from now than I would have been five years ago.
But the Bills won in Week 1 and I still feel good about that. I like the attitude and demeanor of the new head coach Sean McDermott. I like the defence, the offensive line and the running game. I remain concerned about the quarterback and the lack of big play receivers which the team will need to get back into games where they fall behind. Like they probably will in next week's trip to Carolina.
I saw only a bit of the Jets game as I was focused mainly on rebuilding our pump house after we replaced our entire water system this summer at the cottage. I watched part of the Patriots game on Thursday night and I was pleased to see the Chiefs dominate in the 4th quarter and hand them a home loss. With the Dolphins idle due to the hurricane, the Bills find themselves alone in first place in the AFC East. This will likely only be a week-long phenomenon but I like the look of the standings in the newspaper right now.
If the Bills can pull out a road win in Week 2, then prospects for the 2017 season will definitely seem brighter in what still feels like a rebuilding year. We are rebuilding our pump house and the Bills are rebuilding for the future. I am confident that our pump house will last 30 years or more. The NFL will still be around in 30 years too but it could like quite different that it does now.
Monday, 2 January 2017
Jets 30, Bills 10
I don't see Terry Pegula - or Kim for that matter, as they exist as a team - as a sports team owner like a Harold Ballard or even a Ralph Wilson with the bottom line as the primary objective, only paying attention to competitive success in order to help with the bottom line. I have no way of knowing this for sure but it seems that the Pegulas want to do right by the long-suffering football fans of Western New York, Eastern Pennsylvania and Southern Ontario. I just don't think they have surrounded themselves with the right people to help them do it - at least not yet. As a Leaf fan, I pay very little attention to the Buffalo Sabres but if we can look to them as an example of Pegula ownership over the somewhat longer term, Bills fans are in for more disappointments ahead.
Rex Ryan wasn't fired the day after the Miami game presumably because it was Christmas Day so the Pegulas waited until Tuesday the 27th to show him and his brother the door. They also installed Anthony Lynn as interim head coach and told him that Tyrod Taylor wouldn't play in the final game of the season against the Jets on account of a provision in his contract which would have made the Bills liable for Taylor's $27.5 million notional salary for next season had he suffered an in-game injury which would have prevented him from passing his team physical in March. Such is the world of NFL contracts and these are the kinds of decisions they can lead to.
As first glance, it all went bad quite quickly after the team lost in overtime to the playoff bound Dolphins but the season's end was really the second half collapse in Oakland after leading in that game 24-9. In retrospect, beating Cleveland a couple of weeks later only lessened their draft position. Yesterday's loss improved it but it looks like Doug Whaley will be calling the shots on the 2017 draft once again, in addition to heading up the search for a new head coach. The Buffalo media seems to think that they will give the job to Anthony Lynn who, until this past September, had advanced only as far as running backs coach before being named the team's offensive coordinator. In fairness to Lynn, the Bills have featured the league's number one running attack over the past two years and the team's offence showed considerable improvement overall after he took over as coordinator. If he is the successful candidate, Anthony Lynn will be the first permanent (rather than interim) black head coach in Bills history. At this point, I honestly can't think of anyone else who would be better suited to the Bills top job, at least among those who would consider taking it.
The NFL playoffs begin on the weekend with four games. The Dophins are in tough as they travel to Pittsburgh to face Le'Veon Bell and Ben Roethlisberger in the cold. The other AFC game sees the Houston Texans playing host to Oakland, a team whose hopes appear to have been dashed by not one but two quarterback injuries. In the NFC, the Seahwaks play Detroit in the Pacific Northwest and the Giants travel to the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field to face the red hot Packers. All four games could be interesting and, for Bills fans, they come without the stress of having a clear rooting interest. I am thankful for that.
Rex Ryan wasn't fired the day after the Miami game presumably because it was Christmas Day so the Pegulas waited until Tuesday the 27th to show him and his brother the door. They also installed Anthony Lynn as interim head coach and told him that Tyrod Taylor wouldn't play in the final game of the season against the Jets on account of a provision in his contract which would have made the Bills liable for Taylor's $27.5 million notional salary for next season had he suffered an in-game injury which would have prevented him from passing his team physical in March. Such is the world of NFL contracts and these are the kinds of decisions they can lead to.
As first glance, it all went bad quite quickly after the team lost in overtime to the playoff bound Dolphins but the season's end was really the second half collapse in Oakland after leading in that game 24-9. In retrospect, beating Cleveland a couple of weeks later only lessened their draft position. Yesterday's loss improved it but it looks like Doug Whaley will be calling the shots on the 2017 draft once again, in addition to heading up the search for a new head coach. The Buffalo media seems to think that they will give the job to Anthony Lynn who, until this past September, had advanced only as far as running backs coach before being named the team's offensive coordinator. In fairness to Lynn, the Bills have featured the league's number one running attack over the past two years and the team's offence showed considerable improvement overall after he took over as coordinator. If he is the successful candidate, Anthony Lynn will be the first permanent (rather than interim) black head coach in Bills history. At this point, I honestly can't think of anyone else who would be better suited to the Bills top job, at least among those who would consider taking it.
The NFL playoffs begin on the weekend with four games. The Dophins are in tough as they travel to Pittsburgh to face Le'Veon Bell and Ben Roethlisberger in the cold. The other AFC game sees the Houston Texans playing host to Oakland, a team whose hopes appear to have been dashed by not one but two quarterback injuries. In the NFC, the Seahwaks play Detroit in the Pacific Northwest and the Giants travel to the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field to face the red hot Packers. All four games could be interesting and, for Bills fans, they come without the stress of having a clear rooting interest. I am thankful for that.
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