Bills 33, Patriots 21

I watched all three-and-a-half minutes of Bill Belichick's post-game press conference after yesterday's home loss to the Buffalo Bills. There is no chance that he would even consider doing these if the league didn't require him to and he is notoriously brief in his remarks and answers after losses. One reporter who was somehow allocated a question yesterday explained to him that she was working on a piece on New Year's resolutions and then asked if he had any to share with her readers. "Not right now. Maybe next week." was all she got - and maybe all she deserved in the circumstances. It almost seemed like her goal was to get him to answer rudely, thereby giving her a possible viral clip to share with her grandchildren decades down the road. Belichick said that Buffalo made more plays than his team did, executed better and were coached better. I'll add that they had the far better quarterback too. 

If the slate of week 16 games weren't played against the backdrop of the growing list of COVID casualties around the league, the Bills win yesterday at Foxborough would rank among the most significant regular season road wins in recent franchise history. Not that COVID took away from the importance of the win or that it sidelined many players from either team (as it did with some other teams) but this coming week might be a tough one for the NFL in terms of keeping its star players out of COVID protocols and on the field. If any league can pull it off, its the NFL but if it suffers anywhere near the same level of disruption as the NHL or the NBA, the quality of the product on the field will be called into question just as the season reaches its most critical period. I watched a few minutes of the Raptors game at Cleveland yesterday and couldn't help thinking that if I were a Cavs season ticket holder paying good money to see my team take on a ragtag group of D-Leaguers in Toronto uniforms, I would have asked for a refund. Maybe the NFL needs to isolate its players; maybe its new policy of not testing vaccinated non-symptomatic players will reduce casualties; maybe fans won't care who is wearing their team's helmets as long as they get their football. We'll see what happens but it might get ugly.

Three weeks ago, Isaiah "William Lyon" McKenzie was a healthy scratch against the Patriots on that windy night in Orchard Park. The sometime kick returner and occasionally used receiver, listed at five feet, seven-and-a-half inches, was drafted by the Broncos in the fifth round of the 2017 draft from the Georgia Bulldogs (who play Michigan on Friday night for a chance at the National Championship Game). The Bills claimed him on waivers mid-way through the 2018 season from Denver and, other than returning kicks, have used him effectively on power sweeps once or twice each game he dresses. Yesterday was by far the best day of his pro career as his 11 catches for 125 yards included a couple of acrobatic grabs and some valuable yardage afterward. He is a likeable guy too and I was very happy for him. 

As good as MacKenzie was yesterday, Josh Allen was the best player on the field for either team. Allen was 30 of 47 passing for 314 yards, three touchdowns (and another two sure touchdown passes were dropped) and no interceptions. He also ran for 64 yards which led the team. He was a force in every way and is clearly one of the top quarterbacks in the league. He's come a long way from Firebaugh, CA to the University of Wyoming to Buffalo, a town he now owns. 

We often see professional athletes doing charitable work - visiting children's cancer hospitals, food banks and shelters - and these are usually media events arranged by their teams and/or agents mostly for public relations purposes. On Christmas Eve, Stefon Diggs went to a MacDonalds drive-through in suburban Buffalo and decided to give $200 to each employee working there that night. The story was picked up because one of the lucky employees let someone in the media know about it and then it was widely circulated as a national wire story. I can't confirm this but as far as I can tell, Diggs did this on his own without planning any publicity around it. That's a nice Christmas story for me.

Now that the Bills control their own destiny in terms of winning the AFC East, they have two January home games to win, starting with the Altanta Falcons on Sunday. The Falcons have not been to Orchard Park since 2005 as the 2013 game, in which Matt Ryan led them to a come-back win, was the sixth and final game of the ill-fated Toronto series. I was at the sleepy Rogers Centre that day and thought it was a fitting way to end it.      

Bills 31, Panthers 14

When we learned moments before kick-off yesterday that the Carolina Panthers placekicker Zane Gonzales was injured in the warm-up and would not play, The FOX broadcast showed punter Lachlan Edwards nervously playing catch on the sidelines. He was probably the best of a few bad options as the Panthers held an emergency placekicking job fair minutes before kick-off with no one showing any game-worthy ability. To the great relief of Edwards, an Australian, the Panthers chose not to try a kick at all, going for a two-point convert on each of their two touchdowns and never lining up for a field goal even when well within in easy range. How much of a factor this was in the end? I'll say not as much as the FOX crew of Kenny Albert and Jonathan Vilma thought it was anyway. A healthy and competent kicker would have kept the Panthers a bit closer but the Bills were going to win this game one way or another.

On the FOX halftime show, Jimmy Johnson commented that the Buffalo Bills, a consensus Superbowl contender early in the season, are inconsistent in all three phases of the game and can not be trusted. I know what he means. I really was hoping for a more emphatic and dominant performance yesterday in Orchard Park, especially early in the game, but as Dick Jauron used to like to say, "It's hard to win in the NFL" and any win, any way is all you can hope for each week I guess. This season has felt like we are on a perpetual search for evidence to justify the lofty pre-season expectations and, as Jimmy Johnson said, sometimes we see glimpses of it but not often enough and not consistently.

Late in the season as we now are, big games usually lead to even bigger games. Sunday's week 16 game in Foxborough, MA is very big for both the Patriots and the Bills. A New England win would virtually guarantee them the division title and a Bills win would move them into the driver's seat, holding the tie-breaker with the Patriots. The tie-breaker for a division title between two division teams is: first, head-to-head games (where they would be tied at a game each if the Bills win on Sunday) then each team's record in games played within the division. If the Bills win Sunday then if both teams win their remaining two games, the Bills win the tie-breaker on this basis. This seems a likely scenario as the Patriots week 17 and week 18 games are against the Jaguars and at Miami while the Bills play at home against the Falcons and Jets. It all rests on next week's game. Yes, Boxing Day 2021 will probably decide who wins the AFC East and offer the Bills another perfect opportunity to re-establish themselves as a contender in the AFC. If the COVID Omicron variant doesn't derail them or derail the remainder of the NFL season.

With well over 100 players testing positive last week, the NFL found a way to re-schedule games to complete the week's schedule with two games tonight (Monday) and another two tomorrow. Thanks to COVID, Tuesday Night Football returns in 2021 with two games, both on FOX at 7pm Eastern. I can't help thinking that these won't be the last changes to the schedule over the next few weeks. The NBA and the NHL have similar problems with postponed games and some teams shut down for 10 or more days. 

I was lucky to have procured my third vaccine dose last week and I have ditched my Bills-branded cloth mask and switched to wearing a KN95 mask at all times when I'm not home. With my third shot five days ago, a good well-fitting mask and a cottage to retreat to, I am cautiously optimistic about my own ability to avoid the virus but I fear that, with COVID weariness turning to COVID exhaustion - particularly in the US  - this might get away from us in a hurry. Maybe I'm just feeling the effects of not eating for the last 36 hours as I have a colonoscopy set for noon today. 

For those who want to have one, I'll wish them a Merry Christmas. And for Boxing Day, more than ever, I will say Go Bills!   

      

Buccaneers 33, Bills 27

After watching the ESPN documentary "The Four Falls of Buffalo" a few weeks ago, a friend suggested to me that surely I would have found it better to not have had my team make it to four consecutive Superbowls than it was to have done this and then gone on to lose each and every one of them. He figured that the pain of the losses must have exceeded the joy of making it to those championship games in the first place. For me, it didn't. The way I look at it is that the ultimate achievement for an NFL team as each season begins is to win the Superbowl. It follows therefore that the second-best achievement must then be to lose the Superbowl. Believe me, the thrill of winning those conference championship games, each of which preceded two weeks of analysis, hype and anticipation, far outweighed the disappointment of losing the final games. Think about it: would you rather have your team lose a game to avoid the let-down of possibly losing the next game? Of course not. 

Yesterday's game in Tampa reminded me of this and provided the same somewhat conflicted emotion. With the Bills trailing 24-3 at halftime and then 27-10 with just over 11 minutes remaining in the game, they looked to be dead in the warm salty waters of Tampa Bay. Would I have preferred that they simply went on to lose 34-10 rather than staging a thrilling comeback and forcing overtime before going on to lose on Tom Brady's 700th career touchdown pass? No. And for a couple of reasons: first, as a spectator, the game went from brutal to hopeful to fantastic and then finally ended on the wrong side of the ledger - all of which is better than it being brutal all the way through. Second, as difficult as it was to have lost the game after storming back to tie it, the team can take something positive from it as they prepare for the last four games of the regular season. If they had rolled over and lost 34-10, how would they be feeling this morning? I'm sure that local naysayer journalist Jerry Sullivan would be claiming that McDermott has "lost the room" and that his "process" has now been proven to be faulty. It may still be but the season isn't lost yet. Three of the last four games come against teams with losing records with the fourth being in New England on Boxing Day. 

In three-down football, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers won their first Grey Cup in 30 years two years ago and have managed to remain at the top of the CFL throughout the missed COVID year and through to last night in the Hammer where they won in overtime. Good for them and good for Winnipeg. As we've been saying for about the last 40 years, the league really has to try to attract some younger fans. I have no idea how they might do this but if they don't, we'll be saying the same thing 40 years from now. I'll be 99. I wonder how many fans the Argos will be averaging in 2061.

In US College Football, as we await the two national semi-final games on New Year's Eve, the first of the litany of bowl games kicks off on Friday in Nassau. The University of Buffalo Bulls will unfortunately not have a chance to defend their Bahamas Bowl title. The winner will be either heavily favoured Toledo or Middle Tennessee. I wonder if fans of Middle Tennessee wish that their team hadn't made it to this bowl game. After all, they could easily lose. On Saturday, Navy beat Army in the 122nd meeting between the Black Knights and the Midshipmen. 

Next up for the Bills is a home date with the 5-8 Carolina Panthers. I predict that they will blow them out and, in the process, regain their confidence and general mojo. They find themselves on the outside of the AFC playoff picture this morning at 7-6, a game behind the Los Angeles Chargers who occupy the 7th and final spot. With their relatively easy schedule (with the exception of the re-match with the Patriots) over the last four games, I still like their chances to make the playoffs. With the division title seemingly now out of reach, if they do make it, they will be playing on the road and could easily be one of those teams whose record looks worse than they actually are and who no one wants to play. After all, this team, which arguably has improved from last season (on defence anyway), went to the AFC Championship Game a year ago. And, yes, I wish that they had won it and gone on to lose the Superbowl to Tampa Bay.            

Patriots 14, Bills 10

November 11, 1990. Bills v. Phoenix Cardinals. This is considered the windiest game ever played at the now almost 50-year-old football stadium in Orchard Park. Cold with bitter wind gusts and snow squalls literally blew the Cardinals away as the Bills improved to 8-1 on their way to their first of four Superbowls. I was there. In the upper deck. 

Last night was windy but not as bad as that Cardinals game. The Patriots were able to run the ball very effectively and the Bills were not. Simple as that as I see it. Now that the Bills have taken the long and much more difficult road to the NFL playoffs by practically ceding the division title last night to the Patriots, the high expectations with which they entered this season have now been officially grounded. A wildcard spot and a road playoff game are probably the best the team can hope for now and that will be difficult too with the logjam that is the AFC playoff race. 

The game was close. Two trips to the red zone in the 4th quarter, into the wind, and they came away with no points. As with any close game, there were a few plays made (and not made) which could have changed the outcome but if I had to pick one, it would be the Damien Harris 64 yard touchdown run into the wind in the first quarter - followed by a two-point convert. Matt Jones threw the ball only three times. THREE TIMES! The Bills also tried the ground game which the weather conditions called for but abandoned it in the fourth quarter and came quite close to getting what could have been the winning touchdown but the Patriots strong redzone defence prevailed. For the 1990 Cardinals game, I'm glad I was there. For this one, I'm quite happy to have watched the game in comfort while tending my woodstove.    

We're now down to the final game of three-down football with the 108th Grey Cup set for Tim Horton's Field in Hamilton on Sunday. The game is expected to be a sell-out but, with the stadium having a seating capacity of only 23,000, that isn't saying much. State Championship high school games in the US regularly draw more than that. But the East and West championship games were relatively well attended. I had to dig to find the attendance numbers but finally did. The Argos, with plenty of help from fans coming up the QEW from Hamilton, broke the 20,000 mark (attendance was 21,492) for the first time this season after averaging just 8,600 in the regular season. In Winnipeg, the Bombers drew just over 31,000 which was about 2,000 short of a sell-out. Not bad overall considering that the league did not play a single down in 2020. In Laval, the Vanier Cup drew only 5,600 in minus 11 weather. Not too surprising that few in the Montreal area would come out to see the Western Mustangs, a team from London, ON, play against the Regina-based Saskatchewan Huskies. Western won its 8th Championship which is second only to the Laval Rouge et Or with 10. 

A recent survey of Canadian sports fans asked them, among other things, how they viewed the possibility of the NFL coming to Canada. 55% did not feel strongly about it either way but a surprising percentage (to me anyway) were in favour of it only if the CFL survived as well. Nationally, about 21% of us say that we follow the CFL - almost exactly the same number as those who say that they follow the NFL. The main point of differentiation (not surprisingly) is that CFL fans skew considerably to the 55+ age group. Hockey and the NHL lead the way with 38% saying that they follow it. The Grey Cup has always been a big television draw in Canada with audiences often topping four million. This year's game will probably fall short of that number but I'll be tuning in for at least some of it. Kick-off is at 6pm but the Bills play at Tampa at 4.25pm so I'll likely not see much of the first half. I continue to feel a sentimental attachment to the CFL which is largely based on my dad's life-long interest in it and his support of the Argos. Before he died, on any summer or fall afternoon, if I turned on the television and told him that there was a CFL game on, he would sit down and watch it with me. Because of my keen interest, he became a Bills fan of sorts but he never cared much for American football. He loved the joke about the "Argo play book" which consisted of only three plays: a first down run for two yards, a second down incomplete pass and a third down punt. 

Having attended one game at the Big House in 2003 (along with 112,000 others), I have since been a casual to semi-serious fan of the Michigan Wolverines. With 24 years having passed since its last National Championship, the Jim Harbaugh coached team has made it to the four-team playoff for the first time since the format began in 2014. They will face the Georgia Bulldogs on New Year's Eve in the Orange Bowl with a chance to face the winner of the Alabama v. Cincinnati game which is this year's Cotton Bowl. The National Championship game will be played in Indianapolis on Monday January 10th.   

The Bills now travel to Tampa on a short week where at least they should be able to pass the ball the way they want to but they will face the defending champs who look fully capable of winning another title. At some point, the Bills will need to figure out a running game.