As the clock wound down toward the end of the first half in yesterday's game at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, I thought that the Bills roster would again be reduced by another halftime retirement. And this week's candidate was going to be Nathan Peterman. Had he followed Vontae Davis' lead from last week, Peterman probably would have made his decision when Josh Allen decided to launch himself up and over Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr on a third and nine run late in the first quarter with his team up 17-0. Peterman could have resigned himself at that point that he wasn't going to see another live snap this season as he watched Allen establish himself as the confident, aggressive, athletic leader the team was hoping he would become when they picked him seventh overall in April.
I guess Peterman wanted to stick around for the second half to see if his team would fold and allow the Vikings back into the game. But that didn't happen as the Bills came close to shutting out the Vikings on their home field for the first time since 1962. By the time the home team did finally score, the game was beyond reach and the Bills went on to earn their first win of the season. And if the team ends the season with three, four, five or perhaps six wins, yesterday's road performance will probably be remembered as the highlight - as the day that Josh Allen showed us why he is the future of the team and the day that the Bills showed the football world that they are in fact better than the Alabama Crimson Tide and maybe not the 32nd best professional football team in North America.
To put yesterday's win in perspective, the betting line at kick-off was Minnesota minus 16.5 which was the largest spread for a September NFL game in five years. The line opened at minus 17 but some Buffalo money late in the week brought it down by a half point. The spread was so large that Proline delisted the game and it actually was not on my $25,000 ticket (which didn't win but came close). Here's an even more remarkable statistic from yesterday's game: the Bills were the biggest underdog to win an NFL game outright since 1995. This game proved the principle we know by rote that any team can win on any given Sunday. Pundits, odds-makers and gamblers also know the principle of a "trap game" and the Vikings, who travel to Los Angeles to play the Rams on Thursday, fell hard into the trap of overlooking what was considered to be the worst team in the league while subconsciously preparing to play the Rams four days later, who some consider to be the best.
I heaped plenty of praise on Tony Romo as a colour commentator last season (his first) so I don't need to go on about it again - except to say that he delivers the most insightful analysis of anyone in that role, ever. Yesterday was no exception. I'm not sure why Buffalo at Minnesota deserved CBS's top broadcast team of Romo and his play-by-play partner Jim Nantz but I'm glad that it did. Romo addressed the issue which emerged after last week's game against the Chargers where head coach Sean McDermott took over the defensive play-calling from coordinator (and former Vikings head coach) Leslie Frazier at halftime. Romo explained that the passing back and forth of play-calling responsibilities between head coaches and coordinators is common-place and depends on who has the best feel for how the game is going. I don't know who called the defensive formations yesterday but they worked extremely well as the Bills were able to pressure Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins all afternoon. The Bills pass rush earned them two key turnovers in the first quarter which they turned into 10 points and never looked back. In his post-game locker room speech, McDermott gave the game ball to Frazier.
The Green Bay Packers lost yesterday in Washington to bring their season record to 1-1-1 with the high-flying Bills traveling to the not-quite-frozen tundra of Lambeau Field on Sunday. I suspect that the Packers will not fall into the same trap as the Vikings did so the Bills will have a much tougher test in week four. But, as we know, and as was proven yesterday, any team can beat any other team on any given Sunday.
Monday, 24 September 2018
Monday, 17 September 2018
Chargers 31, Bills 20
Vontae Davis, we hardly knew ya!
Have you ever taken a new job and felt like quitting at lunchtime? Maybe the company's prospects look bleak; perhaps the management appears to be less than competent; could be that you're just not feeling that great and you'd rather be somewhere else. Then take inspiration from Davis and just walk out. You can show them that you think nothing of bolting if things aren't going your way. One thing's for sure: you will be remembered for quitting - and for the way you quit - even if you had a decent 10 year career beforehand.
The Buffalo Bills signed the cornerback, entering his 10th NFL season, in February to a one-year contract worth $5 million, with $3.5 million of that guaranteed. He was a healthy scratch from the Bills line-up in week one but was activated for yesterday's home opener in Orchard Park. He played the first half and apparently felt that he was physically unable to perform to the level he wanted. So, he quit. Quit the team, quit the NFL, quit the sport of football. At halftime. Not only did he pull himself from the game but he showered, changed into street clothes and, rather than joining his teammates on the sidelines for the second half, he left the stadium and then issued a self-serving statement to the media. There is no precedent for this as far as I know. So, readers, take inspiration; if things don't go well this morning, when noon rolls around, just walk out.
Back to the $3.5 million in guaranteed money. If I were Bills GM Brandon Beane, I might try to avoid Terry Pegula today at least until I can think of a reasonable explanation for giving away $3.5 million of his oil-fracking money to one player in exchange for one crappy half of football. If his deal had been $5 million for the season with nothing guaranteed, then Davis would have earned one game cheque of about $312,500 - and it seems to me that the Bills would have a solid argument to cut that amount in half. He will earn that single game cheque anyway but he also walks away with the $3.5 million. Move over Jian Ghomeshi, Vontae Davis is this week's hashtag. I have a feeling that Davis won't feel as sorry for himself as Ghomeshi apparently does.
Driving home from the cottage, WGR post-game hosts Mike Schop and the Bulldog were looking for any suggestion of a silver lining from the home opener and they latched on to the performance of quarterback Josh Allen. Despite some notable throwing inaccuracies, they said that Allen looked poised under centre and overall played decently enough to encourage the fan base and give them some optimism for the future. Hardly glowing praise but I am inclined to agree with their assessment in that he certainly does not seem to have the Nathan Peterman "deer in the headlights" look about him and his big arm, when properly harnessed, will serve him well as long as he can improve on locating his passes. He seems to have a good instinct for pocket presence and is deceptively fast when flushed. Maybe his big arm will serve him well when the weather turns cold and windy.
Schop and the Bulldog also made the point that last year's unlikely trip to the playoffs provided Bills ownership and management with the necessary relief for the fan base to justify stripping everything down, having an epically bad season in 2018 and rebuilding most of the roster from the bottom up starting next year. This follows 16 years of posting between 6 and 9 wins - not bad enough to be the worst but not good enough to be a playoff team except for last season when a fortuitous 4th down play on New Year's Eve in Baltimore squeaked them into the tournament as the 6th seed in the AFC.
That analysis makes sense to me. But I still have 7 home games this season to deal with. The appeal will be watching the continuing development of Josh Allen while hoping that the Bills league-worst offensive line doesn't get him killed in the process. With December games against the Jets, Lions and Dolphins on the schedule, if Allen is injured, I for one won't be too interested in watching Nathan Peterman deal with his gremlins.
Have you ever taken a new job and felt like quitting at lunchtime? Maybe the company's prospects look bleak; perhaps the management appears to be less than competent; could be that you're just not feeling that great and you'd rather be somewhere else. Then take inspiration from Davis and just walk out. You can show them that you think nothing of bolting if things aren't going your way. One thing's for sure: you will be remembered for quitting - and for the way you quit - even if you had a decent 10 year career beforehand.
The Buffalo Bills signed the cornerback, entering his 10th NFL season, in February to a one-year contract worth $5 million, with $3.5 million of that guaranteed. He was a healthy scratch from the Bills line-up in week one but was activated for yesterday's home opener in Orchard Park. He played the first half and apparently felt that he was physically unable to perform to the level he wanted. So, he quit. Quit the team, quit the NFL, quit the sport of football. At halftime. Not only did he pull himself from the game but he showered, changed into street clothes and, rather than joining his teammates on the sidelines for the second half, he left the stadium and then issued a self-serving statement to the media. There is no precedent for this as far as I know. So, readers, take inspiration; if things don't go well this morning, when noon rolls around, just walk out.
Back to the $3.5 million in guaranteed money. If I were Bills GM Brandon Beane, I might try to avoid Terry Pegula today at least until I can think of a reasonable explanation for giving away $3.5 million of his oil-fracking money to one player in exchange for one crappy half of football. If his deal had been $5 million for the season with nothing guaranteed, then Davis would have earned one game cheque of about $312,500 - and it seems to me that the Bills would have a solid argument to cut that amount in half. He will earn that single game cheque anyway but he also walks away with the $3.5 million. Move over Jian Ghomeshi, Vontae Davis is this week's hashtag. I have a feeling that Davis won't feel as sorry for himself as Ghomeshi apparently does.
Driving home from the cottage, WGR post-game hosts Mike Schop and the Bulldog were looking for any suggestion of a silver lining from the home opener and they latched on to the performance of quarterback Josh Allen. Despite some notable throwing inaccuracies, they said that Allen looked poised under centre and overall played decently enough to encourage the fan base and give them some optimism for the future. Hardly glowing praise but I am inclined to agree with their assessment in that he certainly does not seem to have the Nathan Peterman "deer in the headlights" look about him and his big arm, when properly harnessed, will serve him well as long as he can improve on locating his passes. He seems to have a good instinct for pocket presence and is deceptively fast when flushed. Maybe his big arm will serve him well when the weather turns cold and windy.
Schop and the Bulldog also made the point that last year's unlikely trip to the playoffs provided Bills ownership and management with the necessary relief for the fan base to justify stripping everything down, having an epically bad season in 2018 and rebuilding most of the roster from the bottom up starting next year. This follows 16 years of posting between 6 and 9 wins - not bad enough to be the worst but not good enough to be a playoff team except for last season when a fortuitous 4th down play on New Year's Eve in Baltimore squeaked them into the tournament as the 6th seed in the AFC.
That analysis makes sense to me. But I still have 7 home games this season to deal with. The appeal will be watching the continuing development of Josh Allen while hoping that the Bills league-worst offensive line doesn't get him killed in the process. With December games against the Jets, Lions and Dolphins on the schedule, if Allen is injured, I for one won't be too interested in watching Nathan Peterman deal with his gremlins.
Sunday, 9 September 2018
Ravens 47, Bills 3
When the NFL first introduced a salary cap in 1994 (set at $34 million per team) it was intended to, among other things, assist in the creation of long-term league-wide team parity. The age of team dynasties in the NFL - think of the Steelers in the 1970s and the 49ers in the 1980s - essentially died with the advent of the cap. The Buffalo Bills were actually one of the last examples of a team which maintained its core group of star players through many seasons, earning four consecutive AFC Championships at one point along the way.
NFL General Managers not only assemble their team's coaching staffs and rosters and oversee armies of college and pro scouts but they must also constantly focus on adherence to the league salary cap which is set at $177 million for the current season. Each team is restricted by that upper limit but also must spend not less than 89% of the cap each year. With NFL player contracts not guaranteed beyond the amount of their signing bonuses, these bonuses - and the way they must be accounted for under the cap - can sometimes haunt teams for years after players who earned them are jettisoned. That's because any unamortized portion of a released or traded player's signing bonus counts against a team's cap in the current year even if the bonus was paid in full when the contract was signed. This is known in the salary cap world as "dead money". It can kill a team - and sometimes quickly.
The Buffalo Bills enter the 2018 season with a staggering and by far the league's biggest dead cap money allocation at $54 million . Think of it this way: Of the $177 million they can spend on player salaries, $54 million is unavailable off the top because of the accumulation of unamortized signing bonuses for players the Bills have traded or released. The league average this year is $11.9 million. Four players - Marcel Dareus, Eric Wood (who retired unexpectedly for medical reasons), Cordy Glenn and Tyrod Taylor - account for about $41 million of it. The team with the second highest dead cap number is the Cowboys with $28.8 million. The New England Patriots have $6.3 million.
The dead cap anvil around Bills GM Brandon Beane's neck - and yesterday's embarrassing rout in Baltimore - are the bad news. And there will probably be much more of it over the next 15 games. The good news is not for this season but for next as the Bills will enjoy the second-highest salary cap space in the league at $76 million. With that, they can sign free agents and lock in some of their other assets. But that's going to happen in 2019. We need to get through 2018 first and season ticket holders like me need to come up with reasons to go to the 8 home games on the schedule. Or reasons for anyone to go.
The game in rainy Baltimore yesterday unfolded as the antithesis of what Bills fans had hoped for. They won the coin toss. Then everything unraveled as fully and completely as it could have. Especially for Nathan Peterman whose second career NFL start was not much better than his first one last season. Josh Allen came in when the score reached 40-0. And I went for a bike ride.
The Los Angeles Chargers, who travel to Orchard Park next week for the Bills home opener, lost their own home opener yesterday so both teams will be looking to avoid an 0-2 start. For the Chargers, it matters a lot as they are expected to compete for a division title in the AFC West. For the Bills, I'll be happy to just see more of Josh Allen under centre and some improvement on the only two things Marv Levy said a team needs to do to win in the NFL: running the ball and stopping the run.
NFL General Managers not only assemble their team's coaching staffs and rosters and oversee armies of college and pro scouts but they must also constantly focus on adherence to the league salary cap which is set at $177 million for the current season. Each team is restricted by that upper limit but also must spend not less than 89% of the cap each year. With NFL player contracts not guaranteed beyond the amount of their signing bonuses, these bonuses - and the way they must be accounted for under the cap - can sometimes haunt teams for years after players who earned them are jettisoned. That's because any unamortized portion of a released or traded player's signing bonus counts against a team's cap in the current year even if the bonus was paid in full when the contract was signed. This is known in the salary cap world as "dead money". It can kill a team - and sometimes quickly.
The Buffalo Bills enter the 2018 season with a staggering and by far the league's biggest dead cap money allocation at $54 million . Think of it this way: Of the $177 million they can spend on player salaries, $54 million is unavailable off the top because of the accumulation of unamortized signing bonuses for players the Bills have traded or released. The league average this year is $11.9 million. Four players - Marcel Dareus, Eric Wood (who retired unexpectedly for medical reasons), Cordy Glenn and Tyrod Taylor - account for about $41 million of it. The team with the second highest dead cap number is the Cowboys with $28.8 million. The New England Patriots have $6.3 million.
The dead cap anvil around Bills GM Brandon Beane's neck - and yesterday's embarrassing rout in Baltimore - are the bad news. And there will probably be much more of it over the next 15 games. The good news is not for this season but for next as the Bills will enjoy the second-highest salary cap space in the league at $76 million. With that, they can sign free agents and lock in some of their other assets. But that's going to happen in 2019. We need to get through 2018 first and season ticket holders like me need to come up with reasons to go to the 8 home games on the schedule. Or reasons for anyone to go.
The game in rainy Baltimore yesterday unfolded as the antithesis of what Bills fans had hoped for. They won the coin toss. Then everything unraveled as fully and completely as it could have. Especially for Nathan Peterman whose second career NFL start was not much better than his first one last season. Josh Allen came in when the score reached 40-0. And I went for a bike ride.
The Los Angeles Chargers, who travel to Orchard Park next week for the Bills home opener, lost their own home opener yesterday so both teams will be looking to avoid an 0-2 start. For the Chargers, it matters a lot as they are expected to compete for a division title in the AFC West. For the Bills, I'll be happy to just see more of Josh Allen under centre and some improvement on the only two things Marv Levy said a team needs to do to win in the NFL: running the ball and stopping the run.
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