Last night's Raiders v. Chargers game featured an intriguing possibility which did not come to pass although it sure looked like it was going to literally right up to the end of the ten minute overtime period. Going into the NFL regular season's last day, the unprecedented scenario of a mutually beneficial tie in the season's final game, which depended on the league's worst team, the Jaguars winning against the Colts, was discussed but mostly theoretically on account of the unlikelihood of a Jacksonville win. But the Jags did win and this set up what could have been a nightmare for the league - two teams colluding to produce a certain result. If last night's game had ended in a tie, then both the Raiders and the Chargers would have been playoff bound with the Steelers being eliminated. Although there is not a specific rule against such collusion, I wonder if the league office contacted the teams before the game to implore each of them to play the game to win it. If that happened, it certainly worked.
Buffalo Bills fans were more than a little interested in the outcome in Las Vegas last night as well. A Chargers win would have brought them to Orchard Park next weekend but the Raiders not only ended their season and earned a playoff birth of their own, but set up a third game this season between the third seeded Bills and their arch-rivals the New England Patriots who come again to Buffalo on Saturday night for a playoff game, the first between the two teams since the AFL Divisional round of 1963. I think that most Bills fans would have preferred to see the Chargers make a winter trip to Buffalo but the Patriots, who stumbled down the stretch, offer the Bills another chance to slay that particular dragon - this time in an elimination game.
Last time the Bills clinched the AFC East in front of their home fans was 1995 and the last time they played a home playoff game with a full house was in December, 1996 against Mark Brunel and the Jacksonville Jaguars. It was Jim Kelly's last game in the NFL. The Bills clinched their second consecutive division title yesterday in a strangely frustrating game which was much closer than the boxscore would indicate. Some patches of empty seats were visible on wide shots of the stadium yesterday but the game still drew more than 64,000 fans as the Bills finished the season with two January home games, both against relatively weak teams in the Falcons and Jets.
The Jets came into the game with what was statistically the league's worst defence and an offence which looked to be making improvements. But in the NFL, trends don't always hold: the Jets offensive output yesterday was limited to four first downs and 53 total yards. Both of these are franchise record lows for the Bills defence. On the other hand, the Bills offence generated 25 first downs and 424 total yards while the defence also recorded nine sacks, a season high. Despite the statistical dominance, the game was still in question into the fourth quarter when Devin Singletary scored two touchdowns to put the game away.
The game featured no less than 18 punts - 11 by the Jets and seven by Matt Haack who clearly had his most stressful day as a professional football player. Haack, who had not seen the field (except for a free-kick on a safety) since the Panthers game three weeks ago, had a rough time in the third quarter in particular as he bobbled a snap and barely got off a partially blocked punt before shanking three consecutive punts into the wind, giving the Jets great field position each time. But the Jets offence could only manage one decent play from these opportunities. Haack will be hoping for less wind and a more dynamic performance from the Bills offence on Saturday night.
The long range forecast for Saturday looks ok with the temperature expected to be around minus five which is fine for two cold weather teams but would have been a clear advantage for Buffalo against the Chargers. Among his many memorable pre-game expressions, Marv Levy used to say to his team just before a winter game against a warm weather or dome team "When it's too cold for them, it's just right for us". Seems like it will be just right for both teams on Saturday. Let's hope that the Bills offence from Boxing Day shows up.
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