Jaguars 9, Bills 6

The last 9-6 game I can remember was played 33 years ago at Rich Stadium. I was one of more than 78,000 in attendance that day as Fred Smerlas blocked a field goal in the final seconds of regulation time to send the game to overtime where the Bills would win the game and clinch the AFC East division title. Delirious fans stormed the field, tore the goal posts down and gave birth to Van Miller's "fandemonium" catch-phrase. The rain-soaked game became a classic in Bills history and marked the beginning of the team's mini-dynasty which included four consecutive Superbowls. 

Yesterday's game in north Florida was one of the worst NFL games in recent memory - and not just because the Bills lost. The officiating crew, led by referee Land Clark, will probably not be at the top of the list for playoff game assignments after yesterday's highly questionable performance which included, ironically, far too many flags and some key missed calls. Josh Allen looked more like the Josh Allen from his 2018 rookie season with multiple turnovers and his offensive line had its worst game of the season. Much was made of the fact that the Jaguars have a defensive player also named Josh Allen who was the best player on the field for either team. If their names were Cornelius Bennett or Billy-Joe Hobart then it might have been more noteworthy. I wonder how many Josh Allens there are in the United States? 

The Aaron Rodgers story dominated the off-field NFL news last week as he contracted COVID and had to miss yesterday's game in Kansas City. Boomer Esiason made an excellent point on the NFL Today broadcast when he compared Rodgers' approach on the question of vaccination to that of Colts quarterback Carson Wentz. Wentz made no attempt to conceal the fact that he and his family have decided to forego the vaccine and he has, by all accounts, followed all of the NFL's protocols for unvaccinated players. It remains unclear if Rodgers has done this himself. Wentz's main reason for refusing the vaccine is that he thinks that there isn't "enough" known about its long-term effects. I would go a step further and point out to him (and to others who use this excuse) that the vaccines were developed within the last year and there is literally no data on their long-term effects. Taking into account the fact that side effects from vaccines are almost always evident in the very short term (usually days or weeks at most after vaccination), the decision is a matter of balancing risks and, in my view, its an easy choice. But Wentz has the right to his opinion and I do respect him for being transparent about it and accepting the conditions imposed by the league. The same can be said about Bills slot receiver Cole Beasley who has been outspoken on the issue but not misleading.

The problem for Rodgers is one of credibility as he clearly set out to mislead the public about his vaccination status. He used the word "immunized" to describe his status and we now know that means he has subscribed to some sort of homeopathic "immunization" regime rather than taking one of the approved vaccines. He decided to "do his own research" and says that he submitted some 500 pages of this research to the league or to his team or maybe to FOX News. Now that the US has reached a 70% vaccination rate among adults, it seems clear that he is on the wrong side of public opinion on this issue. It has already cost him as Wisconsin-based Prevea Health terminated a sponsorship deal with Rodgers which has been in place since 2012. State Farm Insurance also cut back on television spots featuring Rodgers during yesterday's NFL broadcasts from an average of about 25% of its spots over the course of the season to date to 1.5% yesterday. The insurer would not comment on what plans it has for future spots with Rodgers but it seems likely that the saturation of the "Rodgers Rate" spots which NFL viewers have seen in the past few seasons will not continue. Executives at GEICO, Liberty Mutual and Progressive are undoubtedly pleased. Jake from State Farm could not be reached for comment.

Josh Allen said after yesterday's game that his team "played like shit" and that they will be better for it in the long run. That may be true but the team has mailed in two clunkers so far after the bye week and really needs to get on the right track against the Jets on Sunday. The Jaguars probably played as well as they could yesterday and certainly played with a measure of intensity which the Bills did not match. These three games - against the Dolphins, Jags and Jets - looked like classic trap games to me and the team has fallen into the trap with the first two. I'm expecting things to turn around next week and the Jets will see it first-hand. The score will not be 9-6.