The NFL playoff picture finally saw its final pieces fall into place late last night. Two teams lost at home yesterday - one in a huge upset - reducing their prospects in the post-season tournament which begins next weekend. The Seattle Seahawks came literally within an inch of taking the NFC West title and the right to a home playoff game with a home loss to San Francisco and the New England Patriots lost at home to the Miami Dolphins - something I said for the past two weeks was not going to happen. The Patriots still won the AFC East but now find themselves playing in the wildcard round for the first time in ten years. As is usually the case with the NFL's final day of regular season play, some games featured high drama while others were entirely irrelevant.
I made my way to one of the irrelevant games yesterday in Orchard Park where the Bills dropped their second straight game to finish the season at 10-6. In a drenching rain, the New York Jets cobbled together enough offense to post their 7th win of their lost season mostly against the Bills second-stringers. A massive rain system impacted Sunday's games in the eastern time zone and the Buffalo area took a direct hit. Luckily, the rain held off for the tailgating portion of the day and we were able to heat our turkey vegetable soup (a new cold-weather addition to the tailgating menu) and cook our sausages on charcoal in an on-and-off light drizzle. The heavy rain held off until after the game started and more than 69,000 still showed up for at least some of the game. I expect that my socks will be dry by tomorrow. The crowd was soaked and subdued for the most part but the loudest cheer came when we saw a replay of Tom Brady throwing a pick-six against the Dolphins in their most unlikely win.
For the Bills, they will, as expected, travel to Houston to face the Texans in the first of the NFL's 10 January playoff games on Saturday at 4.30pm. The Texans are early 3.5 point favourites. The Bills didn't quite achieve their objective of surviving the game without injuries as cornerback Levi Wallace suffered a non-contact right ankle injury as he made an interception in the first quarter and right tackle Ty Nsehke re-injured his ankle on an almost identical play to the one which sidelined him in November in Miami. Early reports are that Wallace is probable for Saturday while Nsehke is likely done for the year. Josh Allen saw limited action yesterday before Matt Barkley took over while most of the other key offensive players were inactive. T.J. Yeldin ran the ball effectively, especially later in the game and fan-favourite and former CFLer Duke Williams made some good catches in the rain.
As we left after the third quarter, I said to my season-ticket neighbour to my left, a very serious football fan named Steve (who looks a lot like Metallica frontman James Hetfield) that I would either see him for the AFC Championship Game in three weeks or in September for the 2020 home opener. As the fifth seed, if the Bills and the 6th seeded Tennessee Titans can collectively win four road playoff games at Houston, New England, Kansas City and Baltimore over the next two weekends, the AFC Championship Game will see the Titans travel to Orchard Park for the right to a birth in the Superbowl. I give that about as much of a chance as I gave the Dolphins of winning yesterday in Foxborough. Ok, maybe a bit less than that but I still can't quite believe that Ryan Fitzpatrick was able to pull out the win yesterday. He has one year remaining on his deal with the Dolphins and I expect to see him again next year in Miami, probably seeing plenty of playing time, even if the Dolphins draft another quarterback in the first round.
If the Patriots were the biggest losers yesterday (honourable mention to the Steelers), the biggest winners were the 49ers whose win secured home field throughout the NFC playoffs. A loss would have pushed them down to the fifth seed needing to win three games on the road to get to the Superbowl. Now, like the Ravens in the AFC, a bye week to rest followed by two home wins gets them there. In the four games next weekend, here are my picks: The Bills with a road win over Houston, the Patriots at home over Tennessee, the Saints at home over Minnesota and the Seahawks over the Eagles in Philadelphia. In a strange scheduling quirk, both AFC games go Saturday and both NFC games are on Sunday.
Monday, 30 December 2019
Sunday, 22 December 2019
Patriots 24, Bills 17
Earlier this month, after the Bills had won in Dallas on Thanksgiving Day, my friend Paul and I concocted what we thought would turn out to be a brilliant scheme. We decided to go all-in on the Bills final game of the season in Orchard Park against the New York Jets. He bought two lower bowl seats as Christmas gifts for his two sons and, with he and I using my seats, the four of us would witness a critically important game with complex playoff seeding implications for the Bills and for the other AFC teams jockeying for one of the six positions in the post-season tournament and/or for the admittedly remote possibility of securing a home playoff game and and the even-more-remote shot at one of the top two seeds which carries with it the advantage of a first round bye. Like a rookie quarterback trying to decipher a Bill Belichick defensive formation, we mis-read it. We were sacked, we fumbled and the fumble was easily returned for a touchdown. Did we lose the game? Well, like Sunday's upcoming regular season finale against the Jets, does it matter at all?
After the Thanksgiving win in Dallas, the Bills chances at their first division title since 1995 went from slim to almost none over the course of the next three weeks, even after the Patriots lost consecutive games to the Texans and the Chiefs and the Bills posted a big prime time win last week in Pittsburgh. Going into Saturday's game in Foxborough, the Bills had to win and then hope for a week 17 miracle in the form of a Dolphins win - also in Foxborough - while they took care of business against the Jets. The Bills, we figured, would leave their starters in against the Jets at least until the out-of-town scoreboard showed the Patriots with a big lead over the Dolphins. The possibility of something really big would exist for the first half anyway, we figured. This was all dependent on the Bills winning in Foxborough on Saturday. And they did not.
They came pretty close though and, although Sean McDermott doesn't subscribe to the theory of moral victories, the Bills showed, for the second time this season, that they can hold their own against their nemesis. As happened in their week 4 game against the Patriots in Orchard Park, the Bills came within one successful drive of tying the game. In week 4, after Josh Allen left the game with a concussion, Matt Barkley was overwhelmed by the Patriots defence on the Bills final drive and on Saturday, after leading the team all the way down to the 8 yard line in the final minutes, Allen couldn't overcome the Patriots pass rush when it mattered most and they came up empty on 4 consecutive tries for the tying touchdown.
So, locked into the 5th seed and awaiting a road game in either Kansas City or Houston (other remote possibilities of where they might play do exist - including going back to Foxborough), the December 29th game against the Jets is in effect the Bills bye week - and a well-earned one at that, after 4 consecutive weeks of high-pressure games against quality opposition. They can not change the fact that they will be the 5th seeded wild card team playing on the road on either January 4th or 5th. Unfortunately for those of us planning on going to the game, it is actually less important to the Bills than a pre-season game would be. At least pre-season games always carry elements of player evaluation and offer those players "on the bubble" the opportunity to move up the depth chart in the hopes of making the final roster of 53. But this game will largely be an exercise in avoiding injury while giving some real-time reps to the back-up position players. As for the Jets, their season was lost many weeks ago but as Bill Parcells said many years ago, "anyone who thinks that any NFL regular season game means nothing doesn't know what they're talking about." The Jets players and coaching staff will be motivated to secure jobs and contracts for next season and beyond by posting either their 7th win of the season after a win yesterday against the Steelers. The Bills will rightly be looking ahead to their playoff game, deploying nothing more than a vanilla game plan designed to reveal nothing for their playoff opponent to study.
We will make the drive anyway, immerse ourselves in the pre-game tailgate festivities and probably leave early to beat the traffic, get home at a reasonable time and prepare for New Year's Eve.
After the Thanksgiving win in Dallas, the Bills chances at their first division title since 1995 went from slim to almost none over the course of the next three weeks, even after the Patriots lost consecutive games to the Texans and the Chiefs and the Bills posted a big prime time win last week in Pittsburgh. Going into Saturday's game in Foxborough, the Bills had to win and then hope for a week 17 miracle in the form of a Dolphins win - also in Foxborough - while they took care of business against the Jets. The Bills, we figured, would leave their starters in against the Jets at least until the out-of-town scoreboard showed the Patriots with a big lead over the Dolphins. The possibility of something really big would exist for the first half anyway, we figured. This was all dependent on the Bills winning in Foxborough on Saturday. And they did not.
They came pretty close though and, although Sean McDermott doesn't subscribe to the theory of moral victories, the Bills showed, for the second time this season, that they can hold their own against their nemesis. As happened in their week 4 game against the Patriots in Orchard Park, the Bills came within one successful drive of tying the game. In week 4, after Josh Allen left the game with a concussion, Matt Barkley was overwhelmed by the Patriots defence on the Bills final drive and on Saturday, after leading the team all the way down to the 8 yard line in the final minutes, Allen couldn't overcome the Patriots pass rush when it mattered most and they came up empty on 4 consecutive tries for the tying touchdown.
So, locked into the 5th seed and awaiting a road game in either Kansas City or Houston (other remote possibilities of where they might play do exist - including going back to Foxborough), the December 29th game against the Jets is in effect the Bills bye week - and a well-earned one at that, after 4 consecutive weeks of high-pressure games against quality opposition. They can not change the fact that they will be the 5th seeded wild card team playing on the road on either January 4th or 5th. Unfortunately for those of us planning on going to the game, it is actually less important to the Bills than a pre-season game would be. At least pre-season games always carry elements of player evaluation and offer those players "on the bubble" the opportunity to move up the depth chart in the hopes of making the final roster of 53. But this game will largely be an exercise in avoiding injury while giving some real-time reps to the back-up position players. As for the Jets, their season was lost many weeks ago but as Bill Parcells said many years ago, "anyone who thinks that any NFL regular season game means nothing doesn't know what they're talking about." The Jets players and coaching staff will be motivated to secure jobs and contracts for next season and beyond by posting either their 7th win of the season after a win yesterday against the Steelers. The Bills will rightly be looking ahead to their playoff game, deploying nothing more than a vanilla game plan designed to reveal nothing for their playoff opponent to study.
We will make the drive anyway, immerse ourselves in the pre-game tailgate festivities and probably leave early to beat the traffic, get home at a reasonable time and prepare for New Year's Eve.
Monday, 16 December 2019
Bills 17, Steelers 10
Looking this morning at tie-breaker scenarios, if the Bills win at New England on Saturday and finish the season tied with the Patriots with the same win/loss record, the Patriots hold the tie-breaker and that can not and will not change over the course of the next two games. According to the NFL's tie-breaker rules which determine division champions for teams in the same division with identical records, the winner is determined by the following, in this order: first is head-to-head play; if the Bills win on Saturday, the teams would be tied in head-to-head play at 1-1. Second is each team's record against their other division opponents; if the Bills win their next two games and the Patriots lose at home in week 17 against the Dolphins, the teams again would be tied. The third (and in this case the determining ) tie-breaker is the two teams record among common opponents during the season. This is where the Patriots hold the edge, with a two game advantage in this category. Both teams lost to Baltimore this season but the Patriots won against the Eagles and the Browns - and the Bills lost to both of those teams earlier in the season.
For the Bills, the securing of their first home playoff game since the 1996 season (Jim Kelly's last) remains possible but will require that they not only win at Foxborough on Saturday but then they must put their faith in Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Miami Dolphins to win on the road in week 17, also in Foxborough, in a very meaningful game for the Patriots and one on which nothing much rides for the Dolphins. It could happen: the Dolphins will obviously have nothing to lose and can dig into their bag of tricks and find fake punts and flea-flickers along with their New Year's hats and balloons. But I don't give them much of a chance really. And if the Bills don't win on Saturday, it's all moot anyway. Either way, the Bills, who, if they do not capture the division, can finish no worse than the 5th seed in the AFC and would play at Houston in the wildcard round if the current standings hold. Buffalo's week 17 opponent at home is the New York Jets.
Although they are likely locked into the 5th seed and will probably not play at home in January, last night the Bills secured their first 10-win season in 20 years and also clinched a playoff birth for the second time in Sean McDermott's three seasons as Bills head coach. For a team which has endured also-ran status and has seen a revolving door of general managers, coaches and quarterbacks over the past two decades, it must feel pretty good. And it must feel quite different from the miraculous way they made their way into the playoffs two years ago as the team watched from its dressing room as Andy Dalton completed an unlikely 4th down touchdown pass in Baltimore. That was lucky. This is different. The team has a top-three defence and a quarterback who seems able to seize the moment in big games before national TV audiences.
It may take me a few days for me to recover from staying up way past my usual bedtime and enduring the stress of last night's 4th quarter which saw the Bills score 10 points and over come a 10-7 deficit against a good Steeler defence. It ended up taking two late interceptions - of the four the Bills made - to seal the win and send Bills nation into celebration mode. Third-string Steeler quarterback Devlin "Duck" Hodges played competently last night at times but the difference in the game, which matched two of the best defences in the league, was Josh Allen's play at quarterback. Although his statistics from last night look unimpressive, he did what was needed to win when it counted most. The first-ever NFL quarterback from the University of Wyoming has found a home in Buffalo.
Up next for the Bills is the aforementioned game in Foxborough on Saturday. Amazingly, it will be their third nationally televised game in the last four - and last week's game against the Ravens was the lead game on CBS and was seen by all of the "neutral" markets in the US (markets which have no team or whose team wasn't playing in the 1pm timeslot). The first two have gone well as the team posted wins in Dallas and Pittsburgh. Maybe next year, there will be a prime time home game. I'm getting weary just thinking about what time I'll get to bed after that one.
For the Bills, the securing of their first home playoff game since the 1996 season (Jim Kelly's last) remains possible but will require that they not only win at Foxborough on Saturday but then they must put their faith in Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Miami Dolphins to win on the road in week 17, also in Foxborough, in a very meaningful game for the Patriots and one on which nothing much rides for the Dolphins. It could happen: the Dolphins will obviously have nothing to lose and can dig into their bag of tricks and find fake punts and flea-flickers along with their New Year's hats and balloons. But I don't give them much of a chance really. And if the Bills don't win on Saturday, it's all moot anyway. Either way, the Bills, who, if they do not capture the division, can finish no worse than the 5th seed in the AFC and would play at Houston in the wildcard round if the current standings hold. Buffalo's week 17 opponent at home is the New York Jets.
Although they are likely locked into the 5th seed and will probably not play at home in January, last night the Bills secured their first 10-win season in 20 years and also clinched a playoff birth for the second time in Sean McDermott's three seasons as Bills head coach. For a team which has endured also-ran status and has seen a revolving door of general managers, coaches and quarterbacks over the past two decades, it must feel pretty good. And it must feel quite different from the miraculous way they made their way into the playoffs two years ago as the team watched from its dressing room as Andy Dalton completed an unlikely 4th down touchdown pass in Baltimore. That was lucky. This is different. The team has a top-three defence and a quarterback who seems able to seize the moment in big games before national TV audiences.
It may take me a few days for me to recover from staying up way past my usual bedtime and enduring the stress of last night's 4th quarter which saw the Bills score 10 points and over come a 10-7 deficit against a good Steeler defence. It ended up taking two late interceptions - of the four the Bills made - to seal the win and send Bills nation into celebration mode. Third-string Steeler quarterback Devlin "Duck" Hodges played competently last night at times but the difference in the game, which matched two of the best defences in the league, was Josh Allen's play at quarterback. Although his statistics from last night look unimpressive, he did what was needed to win when it counted most. The first-ever NFL quarterback from the University of Wyoming has found a home in Buffalo.
Up next for the Bills is the aforementioned game in Foxborough on Saturday. Amazingly, it will be their third nationally televised game in the last four - and last week's game against the Ravens was the lead game on CBS and was seen by all of the "neutral" markets in the US (markets which have no team or whose team wasn't playing in the 1pm timeslot). The first two have gone well as the team posted wins in Dallas and Pittsburgh. Maybe next year, there will be a prime time home game. I'm getting weary just thinking about what time I'll get to bed after that one.
Monday, 9 December 2019
Ravens 24, Bills 17
Although it has history longer than Coca-Cola (by one year), I'm not sure if I've ever consumed a can or a bottle of the soft drink Dr. Pepper. Sold in the United States since 1885 and now available around much of the world, Dr. Pepper has long been a sponsor of American college football with its big-budget advertising campaigns appearing on nationally televised games for many years.
Since 2008, the Dr. Pepper Tuition Giveaway has been a halftime feature of college football Conference Championship games which are played on the last full weekend of play before the bowl games begin later in December. The Tuition Giveaway is a live halftime competition where two current or aspiring post-secondary students compete by throwing as many footballs into an oval shaped opening in a life-sized can of Dr. Pepper as they can in one minute from a distance of about ten yards. In recent years, winners have used the chest pass technique rather than using a traditional overhand football throw. In each competition, the winner receives $100,000 toward post-secondary tuition and the runner-up gets $25,000 (Dr. Pepper says it has given away more than $10 million over the past 12 years). In one of the games on Saturday, I happened to see one of these halftime competitions which was followed by a brief interview with the winner, a cheerful young woman whose goal is to attend medical school. "I want to thank God and I want to thank Dr. Pepper", she said in a rehearsed bit with the company's VP of marketing standing beside her with a giant cheque for $100,000. It reminded me of what a remarkable country the United States really is - one where a nationally promoted partnership between God and Dr. Pepper doesn't seem unusual until you think about it a little. This is a melding of three of the most important elements of what America is all about: football, religion and corporate power. If this particular young woman realizes her dream of being a doctor, she better have a can of Dr. Pepper on her desk to remind herself and her patients of who funded her education.
There were two very similar defensive plays which were critical in deciding NFL games yesterday - one in Orchard Park, NY and one in Foxborough, MA. The Bills almost completed their unlikely comeback but, trailing by seven points, Josh Allen's last minute 4th down pass intended for John Brown on the goal line was deflected away by Ravens cornerback Marcus Peters. This sealed the Ravens 11th win of the season and gave them the inside track to having home field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. The Patriots also found themselves down by seven with a chance to tie the game in the final seconds against the Chiefs. A 4th down Tom Brady pass thrown into the endzone toward Julian Edelman was deflected away by cornerback Bashaud Breeland, allowing the Chiefs to hang on for the win. The Patriots have now lost two games in a row and the Bills remain one game behind them with three games remaining, including a head-to-head match-up in week 16.
This NFL season has been quite successful from the league's perspective with improved television ratings, a welcome absence of criticism from Donald Trump and only a few minor off-field player indiscretions. The biggest area of concern is clearly the poor quality of the officiating which has been evident almost every week. Yesterday was no exception. The Bills final drive was aided by three penalties against the Ravens, including one personal foul call which was not discernible to me on replay. In the Patriots/Chiefs game, it was much worse. A key missed pass interference call cost the Chiefs but the Patriots were the victims of two particularly egregious missed calls - one where receiver N'Keal Harry was called out of bounds on a play where he not only wasn't out of bounds but the replay showed clearly that he actually scored a touchdown . Under the replay challenge rules, since the Patriots were fresh out of replay challenges and the play was not a "scoring play" (not ruled a touchdown on the field) and did not occur within the last two minutes, it was not reviewed. The other missed call was on a play where the Chiefs Travis Kelce was called down by contact but had actually fumbled. The call was reversed on review but, had the right call been made on the field, the Patriots would have advanced the fumble and probably scored. Make no mistake, I'm happy that the Patriots lost but the league has a growing credibility problem caused by too many bad calls by on-field officials. As for the rules around replay challenges, since the millions watching the game on television saw N'Keal Harry's foot clearly land in-bounds before he launched himself over the goal line, the fact that the play could not be reviewed just feels wrong.
Up next for the Bills is a trip to Pittsburgh to face the Steelers on Sunday Night Football. Jerry Sullivan wondered if the league and NBC might be second-guessing their decision to flex that game for next week after the Bills woeful offensive performance yesterday. C'mon Jerry, the Ravens defence is really good, isn't it?
Since 2008, the Dr. Pepper Tuition Giveaway has been a halftime feature of college football Conference Championship games which are played on the last full weekend of play before the bowl games begin later in December. The Tuition Giveaway is a live halftime competition where two current or aspiring post-secondary students compete by throwing as many footballs into an oval shaped opening in a life-sized can of Dr. Pepper as they can in one minute from a distance of about ten yards. In recent years, winners have used the chest pass technique rather than using a traditional overhand football throw. In each competition, the winner receives $100,000 toward post-secondary tuition and the runner-up gets $25,000 (Dr. Pepper says it has given away more than $10 million over the past 12 years). In one of the games on Saturday, I happened to see one of these halftime competitions which was followed by a brief interview with the winner, a cheerful young woman whose goal is to attend medical school. "I want to thank God and I want to thank Dr. Pepper", she said in a rehearsed bit with the company's VP of marketing standing beside her with a giant cheque for $100,000. It reminded me of what a remarkable country the United States really is - one where a nationally promoted partnership between God and Dr. Pepper doesn't seem unusual until you think about it a little. This is a melding of three of the most important elements of what America is all about: football, religion and corporate power. If this particular young woman realizes her dream of being a doctor, she better have a can of Dr. Pepper on her desk to remind herself and her patients of who funded her education.
There were two very similar defensive plays which were critical in deciding NFL games yesterday - one in Orchard Park, NY and one in Foxborough, MA. The Bills almost completed their unlikely comeback but, trailing by seven points, Josh Allen's last minute 4th down pass intended for John Brown on the goal line was deflected away by Ravens cornerback Marcus Peters. This sealed the Ravens 11th win of the season and gave them the inside track to having home field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. The Patriots also found themselves down by seven with a chance to tie the game in the final seconds against the Chiefs. A 4th down Tom Brady pass thrown into the endzone toward Julian Edelman was deflected away by cornerback Bashaud Breeland, allowing the Chiefs to hang on for the win. The Patriots have now lost two games in a row and the Bills remain one game behind them with three games remaining, including a head-to-head match-up in week 16.
This NFL season has been quite successful from the league's perspective with improved television ratings, a welcome absence of criticism from Donald Trump and only a few minor off-field player indiscretions. The biggest area of concern is clearly the poor quality of the officiating which has been evident almost every week. Yesterday was no exception. The Bills final drive was aided by three penalties against the Ravens, including one personal foul call which was not discernible to me on replay. In the Patriots/Chiefs game, it was much worse. A key missed pass interference call cost the Chiefs but the Patriots were the victims of two particularly egregious missed calls - one where receiver N'Keal Harry was called out of bounds on a play where he not only wasn't out of bounds but the replay showed clearly that he actually scored a touchdown . Under the replay challenge rules, since the Patriots were fresh out of replay challenges and the play was not a "scoring play" (not ruled a touchdown on the field) and did not occur within the last two minutes, it was not reviewed. The other missed call was on a play where the Chiefs Travis Kelce was called down by contact but had actually fumbled. The call was reversed on review but, had the right call been made on the field, the Patriots would have advanced the fumble and probably scored. Make no mistake, I'm happy that the Patriots lost but the league has a growing credibility problem caused by too many bad calls by on-field officials. As for the rules around replay challenges, since the millions watching the game on television saw N'Keal Harry's foot clearly land in-bounds before he launched himself over the goal line, the fact that the play could not be reviewed just feels wrong.
Up next for the Bills is a trip to Pittsburgh to face the Steelers on Sunday Night Football. Jerry Sullivan wondered if the league and NBC might be second-guessing their decision to flex that game for next week after the Bills woeful offensive performance yesterday. C'mon Jerry, the Ravens defence is really good, isn't it?
Monday, 2 December 2019
Bills 26, Cowboys 15
In the United States, Thanksgiving and football enjoy a long history together. Before professional football became by far the most watched television sport in America, Thanksgiving Day featured a slate of college football games. Some of those have now been relegated to the following day - Friday - when the sport of choice for most Americans is now contact shopping. Black Friday now features afternoon hockey and basketball games along with a handful of lower tier college football games.As for the fourth Thursday in November, make no mistake; the NFL rules the airwaves on Thanksgiving Day.
In 1934, the owner of the Detroit Lions saw an opportunity to raise the profile of his team and successfully lobbied the league to allow the Lions to play a game on the national holiday. Attendance was strong and the Lions have played a home game every year since. In 1966, Tex Schramm, the General Manager of the fledgling Dallas Cowboys sought the same opportunity from the NFL in order to boost interest and in-stadium attendance. The Cowboys inaugural Thanksgiving Day game drew more than 80,000 to the Cotton Bowl and another holiday tradition was born. NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle decreed that the St. Loiuis Cardinals would play Thanksgiving home games in place of the Cowboys in 1975 and in 1977 but, other than those two years, the Cowboys have had a home game, in the later afternoon time slot, on Thanksgiving Day every year since 1966. In 2006, a third prime time game was added to the holiday football viewing schedule.
Thursday's game at AT&T Stadium (the House that Jerry Built) was the first Thanksgiving game for the Buffalo Bills since they played in Detroit in 1994. As seven point underdogs, the Bills were facing a talented Cowboys team which was reeling from a tough loss to the Patriots four days earlier. Head coach Jason Garret was under pressure from owner / General Manager Jerry Jones and from an impatient fan base. The Cowboys needed to right their listing ship and their annual Thanksgiving game would be a perfect setting to do so. They took the opening kick-off and marched easily to the end zone for an early 7-0 lead, leaving Bills fans feeling that they were in for a long afternoon.
But those would be the only points the Cowboys scored until the game was essentially out of reach as the Bills chose the ideal time to dial up their best and most complete effort of the season. The defence looked fierce and Josh Allen got his wish of posting a win in Dallas followed by biting into a turkey leg which was handed to him by CBS field reporter Tracy Wolfson. For me, when receiver John Brown hit a wide open Devin Singletary for a touchdown on a gadget play late in the first half, I began believing that the Bills just might be able to pull off their biggest win in 20 years.
I was quite surprised over the weekend to read that Thursday's Cowboys v. Bills match-up generated huge television ratings. According to the CBS website, it was the most watched Thanksgiving Day game in 27 years and the most watched regular season game in the last three years. Average viewership was 32.5 million, surpassing the Academy Awards in February and making it the most watched television program in the US since the Superbowl. For context, the Superbowl attracts about 100 million viewers in the US every year, making it the gold standard in television viewership. My prediction would have been that the Cowboys Thanksgiving Day game ratings would see their highest levels in games against one of their division rivals (Giants, Eagles or Washington), not for a game against a small market AFC team which has struggled for national relevance for more than two decades. But I sense now that the Buffalo Bills have somehow generated an almost cult-like following among NFL watchers. In other words, it is now officially cool to be a fan of the Buffalo Bills. I've always know that of course. The NFL appears to agree, announcing yesterday that the Bills v. Steelers game on Sunday December 15th has been "flexed" from its original 1pm start time to the prime time Sunday Night Football game with an 8.20pm kick-off.
Michigan and Ohio State have played their annual rivalry game on the last Saturday in November since 1918. "The Game", as it is known was ranked by ESPN in 2000 as the greatest rivalry in North American sports. Twenty years later, its importance has diminished slightly but remains the biggest regular season game in the Big Ten. For Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, he probably wishes that it would disappear from the calendar as he is now a perfect 0-5 in these games, including an 0-3 record at the Big House which packed in more than 112,000 for Saturday's game. Ohio State scored two touchdowns in each quarter and sealed their entry to the four-team college football playoff. Harbaugh and the Wolverines will settle for a lower tier bowl game. Again.
As for the Bills, for now, they have found their way into the top three teams in the AFC (by record; they still occupy the fifth playoff seed) with a record of 9-3. After last night's Patriots loss in Houston, the current holder of the top seed in the AFC is the Baltimore Ravens who come to Orchard Park on Sunday. The Bills find themselves one game behind the Patriots with a head-to-head game with them in Foxborough on Saturday December 21st. The games just bigger and bigger from here.
In 1934, the owner of the Detroit Lions saw an opportunity to raise the profile of his team and successfully lobbied the league to allow the Lions to play a game on the national holiday. Attendance was strong and the Lions have played a home game every year since. In 1966, Tex Schramm, the General Manager of the fledgling Dallas Cowboys sought the same opportunity from the NFL in order to boost interest and in-stadium attendance. The Cowboys inaugural Thanksgiving Day game drew more than 80,000 to the Cotton Bowl and another holiday tradition was born. NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle decreed that the St. Loiuis Cardinals would play Thanksgiving home games in place of the Cowboys in 1975 and in 1977 but, other than those two years, the Cowboys have had a home game, in the later afternoon time slot, on Thanksgiving Day every year since 1966. In 2006, a third prime time game was added to the holiday football viewing schedule.
Thursday's game at AT&T Stadium (the House that Jerry Built) was the first Thanksgiving game for the Buffalo Bills since they played in Detroit in 1994. As seven point underdogs, the Bills were facing a talented Cowboys team which was reeling from a tough loss to the Patriots four days earlier. Head coach Jason Garret was under pressure from owner / General Manager Jerry Jones and from an impatient fan base. The Cowboys needed to right their listing ship and their annual Thanksgiving game would be a perfect setting to do so. They took the opening kick-off and marched easily to the end zone for an early 7-0 lead, leaving Bills fans feeling that they were in for a long afternoon.
But those would be the only points the Cowboys scored until the game was essentially out of reach as the Bills chose the ideal time to dial up their best and most complete effort of the season. The defence looked fierce and Josh Allen got his wish of posting a win in Dallas followed by biting into a turkey leg which was handed to him by CBS field reporter Tracy Wolfson. For me, when receiver John Brown hit a wide open Devin Singletary for a touchdown on a gadget play late in the first half, I began believing that the Bills just might be able to pull off their biggest win in 20 years.
I was quite surprised over the weekend to read that Thursday's Cowboys v. Bills match-up generated huge television ratings. According to the CBS website, it was the most watched Thanksgiving Day game in 27 years and the most watched regular season game in the last three years. Average viewership was 32.5 million, surpassing the Academy Awards in February and making it the most watched television program in the US since the Superbowl. For context, the Superbowl attracts about 100 million viewers in the US every year, making it the gold standard in television viewership. My prediction would have been that the Cowboys Thanksgiving Day game ratings would see their highest levels in games against one of their division rivals (Giants, Eagles or Washington), not for a game against a small market AFC team which has struggled for national relevance for more than two decades. But I sense now that the Buffalo Bills have somehow generated an almost cult-like following among NFL watchers. In other words, it is now officially cool to be a fan of the Buffalo Bills. I've always know that of course. The NFL appears to agree, announcing yesterday that the Bills v. Steelers game on Sunday December 15th has been "flexed" from its original 1pm start time to the prime time Sunday Night Football game with an 8.20pm kick-off.
Michigan and Ohio State have played their annual rivalry game on the last Saturday in November since 1918. "The Game", as it is known was ranked by ESPN in 2000 as the greatest rivalry in North American sports. Twenty years later, its importance has diminished slightly but remains the biggest regular season game in the Big Ten. For Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, he probably wishes that it would disappear from the calendar as he is now a perfect 0-5 in these games, including an 0-3 record at the Big House which packed in more than 112,000 for Saturday's game. Ohio State scored two touchdowns in each quarter and sealed their entry to the four-team college football playoff. Harbaugh and the Wolverines will settle for a lower tier bowl game. Again.
As for the Bills, for now, they have found their way into the top three teams in the AFC (by record; they still occupy the fifth playoff seed) with a record of 9-3. After last night's Patriots loss in Houston, the current holder of the top seed in the AFC is the Baltimore Ravens who come to Orchard Park on Sunday. The Bills find themselves one game behind the Patriots with a head-to-head game with them in Foxborough on Saturday December 21st. The games just bigger and bigger from here.
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