Bills 35, Bears 13

Marv Levy always said that to win in the NFL, a team need only do two things and two things only: run the ball and stop the run. This philosophy might be a nod to the NFL of yesteryear - the "three yards and a cloud of dust" approach - with the running game accounting for well over 50% of offensive snaps. Today's pass-happy brand of football has taken over for the most part but when weather conditions restrict the passing game, the ability to run the football - or the lack thereof - carries the day even today. 

Going into the Christmas Eve game in Chicago, the Bears had managed to ride their strong running game, led by second-year quarterback Justin Fields, to a dismal 3-11 record despite a promising opening week win against the San Francisco 49ers. In week 9 against the Dolphins, Fields set the league record for rushing yards by a quarterback in a single regular season game at 178, breaking Michael Vick's 20 year-old record. The Bills would have to contain Fields on a day where running was going to critically important. The defensive game plan was pretty much perfect as Fields rushed for a net of 11 yards and was dropped for losses a couple of times too. Bills Linebackers were patient in resisting the temptation to over-pursue, one of the cardinal sins in playing against an explosive running quarterback. The Bears rushed for only 80 yards en route to posting an anemic 209 total yards in the game. 

On offence, the Bills gashed the Bears for 254 yards on the ground, averaging 8.2 yards per carry, with both Devin Singletary and James Cook having strong games with each breaking out for long touchdown runs. Singletary finished with 106 yards on 12 carries and Cook fell a yard short of the century mark with 99 of his own. Run the ball and stop the run. Check and check. In one of the coldest and windiest games in Bears history, the Bills adjusted their usually pass-oriented attack accordingly and shut down the Bears main offensive weapon. For his part, Josh Allen passed Dan Marino for the most touchdowns by a quarterback in the first five years in the league (passing, running and receiving). 

The importance of the Bills next game, Monday January 2nd in Cincinnati, OH can not be over-stated in the context of seeding for the NFL playoffs. The Bengals have won seven in a row and sit one game behind Buffalo (winners of six straight themselves) in the AFC standings at 11-4. If the Bengals can win a week from today, they will leapfrog over the Bills in the AFC playoff seeding by virtue of the head-to-head win and the only chance that the Bills would have of regaining the number one seed would be if the Baltimore Ravens can win in Cincinnati in week 18. Early lines have the Bills as 1.5 point favourites. My guess is that the line will tighten as the week goes on. If  the Bills Pro Bowl centre Mitch Morse, who suffered the sixth concussion of his career last week against the Dolphins, can return, I will like the Bills chances much more. Another night game - the Bills 5th of the season - awaits, as does another disruption of my usual early-to-bed and early-to-rise routine. With these late-night Bills games, the last few hours before sleep are usually tense and stressful, making the following day feel as if I'm recovering from a trip to west coast. 

Around the NFL, week 16 featured much jockeying for playoff positions and seeding with some teams clearly on the rise and peaking at the right time while others are flaming out. Leading in the flaming out category is the Miami Dolphins who have now lost four straight and have fallen to 8-7. Tua Tagovailoa threw three brutal interceptions in the second half yesterday and, after a strong first half of the season, questions about him as the franchise quarterback in Miami have returned. The Dolphins opponent yesterday, the Green Bay Packers are on the rise, having won three straight to improve to 7-8 with a shot at a wildcard playoff spot. The Jaguars have the inside track on the fourth seed in the AFC and the LA Chargers are finishing strong too.  

   

Bills 32, Dolphins 29

After every game, WGR's game-day sideline reporter and commentator Sal Capaccio writes his "Arrows Up/ Arrows Down" column on the station's website. Topping the most recent Arrows Down list was the Bills tackling which was absolutely brutal on Saturday night against the Miami Dolphins. He ended the Arrows Down list with "whoever threw the snowball" which hit him square in the back of the head as he stood on the sideline during the first half. 

If the lake effect snow bands had pointed at Orchard Park throughout the entire game on Saturday night, and if the alcohol-fueled fans in the stadium had been throwing snowballs through heavy snow squalls, it probably wouldn't have mattered anyway. But the snow didn't come until the fourth quarter - at least the snow falling from the sky. As the Dolphins players and bench were being pelted with snowballs from the stands, coach Mike McDaniels spoke with game officials about the Bills being assessed a fifteen yard penalty if public address warnings to stop throwing snowballs were not followed. The game was paused and the announcement was made that if the snowballs continued, such a penalty would be assessed. It seemed to work for the most part. The key assumption of course was that it was Bills fans who were the guilty snowball-throwing parties but it occurred to me that if I were a Dolphins fan in the stadium, after hearing the warning, I would have thrown as many snowballs as I could and I would have encouraged my Dolphins fan brethren to do the same. As someone rooting for the visiting team, how great would it feel to know that my actions caused a significant penalty to be called against the home team? The obvious risk would have been the administration of vigilante justice against me which would probably have been swift and severe. I've seen it in action and it can be quite violent. Lucky that no player was injured and that the snowballs subsided. Had I been in my seats 23 rows up from the Dolphins bench, I probably would have been turned away from the field to see the incoming munitions rather than risk being hit in the back of the head by one of them. Snowballs seemed harmless enough in the schoolyard when we were in grade three but they can be dangerous if packed well and thrown from a height. Frankly, I was appalled. And relieved when it mostly stopped. I know that there wasn't time to clear the snow from the stands and I guess it's hardly surprising that many of the 70,000 drunk footballs fans chose to do what they did (this was not the first time) but it definitely wasn't Bills Mafia's finest hour.

Josh Allen, on the other hand, despite fumbling the ball three times (and losing one of them), had a stellar game, making enough spectacular plays to guide his team to a nail-biting if not thrilling and important win. The bottom line with Allen is that he is extremely talented, physically powerful and entirely fearless - a very difficult combination to defend against. After the game, he explained that on the James Cook touchdown with time expired in the second quarter, he knew that he had taken too much time scrambling to his right and that throwing across his body was probably an ill-advised move. I'd say that he has earned the right to try just about whatever he wants. As it turned out, his leaping two-point conversion - a play on which he fumbled the ball one microsecond after manoeuvring one or two of the dimples of one end of the football over the plane of the goal line to tie the game - wasn't needed after all. Tyler Bass's short field goal as time expired would have given the Bills a one-point win. Either way, the Dolphins covered the spread.

And the Dolphins certainly played well enough to win the game and appeared unfazed by the travel and short week they had or by the weather. The Bills simply could not stop Raheem Mostert who racked up 136 yards on the ground; Tua Tagavailoa endured the cold and the snowballs and threw the ball quite well; Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle looked dangerous all night; on defence, the Dolphin pass rush and run defence were both solid. They played like their season was on the line (which it more or less was) but they came up just a bit short. Younger Bills fans think of the Patriots as their team's nemesis but it was the Dolphins who won 20 straight times against Buffalo throughout the 1970s. Squishing the Fish remains highly satisfying for Bills fans - especially in winter conditions. The teams have played twice every year since 1966 and the Dolphins still lead the all-time series 62-55.

I had really hoped that the World Cup Final would not be decided by penalty kicks. Despite a highly compelling and high scoring 90 minutes of regular time and another 30 minutes of extra time, the rules say that there will be no further team play after that. For hockey fans in particular who have stayed awake into the wee hours watching three, four and even five periods of sudden-death overtime playoff hockey, this seems like a mysterious way to decide a World Championship. A friend who follows soccer like I follow North American football explained to me that a sudden-death scenario in soccer would result in the two teams each locking up into defensive shells which would put the ghost of Roger Nielson to sleep and that, quite literally, no one would ever score. So, forget that. But maybe extend the extra time beyond the first 30 minutes into another 30 minutes and maybe another after that. Or make the World Cup Final a best of three. Just figure out some way to avoid penalty kicks as the final arbiter. I was happy for Messi I guess. Too bad his extra time goal didn't stand as the winner.

The 11-3 Bills travel to Chicago for a 1pm Christmas Eve game which is critical for them but for the 3-11 Bears, only important for players looking to pad their stats and enhance their contract prospects for next season and beyond. With the Chiefs pulling out an OT win in Houston yesterday, Buffalo can not afford a lapse against a team they should beat easily.

 

  

Bills 20, Jets 12

Halfway through the second quarter of yesterday's game in Orchard Park, Buffalo journalist Jerry Sullivan (often quoted in this blog over the years) sarcastically tweeted "And they say soccer is boring". This was in reference to the game's first ten possessions which ended in punts - most of the way to the total of 14 punts in the game. The wet, snowy and breezy wintry weather was responsible for some of the offensive ineptitude but I chalk it up far more to two dominant defences. The Bills were able to find the end zone twice as part of four consecutive scoring drives which spanned the second, third and fourth quarters. An NFL classic it was not and both teams can lay claim to having played well enough to win the game. But the Bills defence made things difficult and extremely painful for the Jets and quarterback Mike White. 

Not that anyone was questioning Mike White's toughness before the game, but as Tony Romo pointed out in the broadcast, no one will be now. White took several shots to the right side of his ribs, had to leave the game twice and was taken to a local hospital after the game as a precaution before rejoining his teammates for the flight home. Despite the violence of the hits on White, they were all clean and legal hits which generated no penalties. Matt Milano's hit in particular was so jarring to watch in slow motion as White's body contorted and "rag-dolled" before he went down and out of the game. It was hard to watch. I wondered if most quarterbacks would have turned turtle rather than standing in there, delivering the pass and taking the Milano hit (and others). I admire his bravery. He may be wondering this morning if it was worth it. 

Statistically, the Bills offensive performance was anemic at best with 232 yards in total offence and 14 first downs. The league's best team on third down coming in, they went 2 for 13 yesterday. Stat lines like that are rarely seen for the winning team but the Jets didn't fare much better with 309 total yards and 19 first downs, many of which came on third and long conversions. The Jets dominated the time of possession too but fumbled the ball away twice in the second half while the Bills didn't give it away once. The defence stepped up on the Jets final possession, forcing four consecutive incompletions in the final minute of play. It was a nail-biter for Bills fans but, as the saying goes, good teams find many different ways to win. 

The history of conflict between England and France is obviously a long one with no less than 20 wars between the two from the time of the Norman Conquest in the 11th Century to the death of Napoleon in 1821. The present day 200 years of peace didn't come close to ending on Saturday in Qatar but English fans probably felt like they had lost another war to France. The two countries had only met in World Cup play twice before with England winning both times - in 1966 (when England won it's only championship) and in 1982. Poor Harry Kane. After the English striker tied the game early in the second half on a penalty kick, he had another chance late in the game to tie it again (or "bring it level" as the soccer term goes) but he fired the ball over the net. The French keeper guessed correctly by moving to his right and may well have saved it had it been below the crossbar but we will never know.

The soccer penalty shot is indeed a fascinating event although a tough way to decide a game. I have seen goals scored when the shooter goes for the middle of the net, firing the ball directly at the spot from which the goalie has just moved, having guessed either right or left. It seems like a good strategy unless the goalie shares the same strategy and decides not to move away from the centre of the net. It feels like success or failure on a penalty shot is as much luck as it is skill. Harry Kane's luck had run out and France moves to the semi-final against Morocco. A France v. Argentina Final would be good and I gather is considered quite likely.

The Miami Dolphins are probably just arriving home as write this at 6am Monday morning. After losing two games on the west coast, they have a short week of practice before flying to Buffalo on Friday (NFL teams always travel the day before game day) for an 8.15pm Saturday night kick-off . The contrast between the weather in southern California (and south Florida) and the dark, cold and hostile environment of Bills Stadium in western New York will present a massive challenge for the Dolphins. The Bills lost in Miami in sweltering September heat in week three so it seems just to play the rematch in opposite conditions. As long as the Bills keep winning, they will hold on to the first seed in the AFC. 

Bills 24, Patriots 10

The football gods were smiling on Buffalo yesterday and making sure that things went right for the Bills in Minneapolis, Cincinnati and Santa Clara. This Monday morning, the Bills occupy the first seed in the AFC playoff race and, if they can hold that seeding, they will have earned a first round bye and home field for two playoff games (provided they win the first one). With the cakewalk that is the Chiefs remaining schedule, the Bills will probably have to run the table over their last five games to remain tied with them with three losses. That will not be easy but they are certainly capable of it with three divisional home games remaining and trips to Chicago and to Cincinnati. 

Looking back to Thursday night's game in Foxboro, my question is this: Is Al Michaels just mailing it in now? I hesitate to criticize the iconic sports announcer  - he of the "do you believe in miracles?" call from the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics - but  his play-by-play call of Thursday's game in Foxboro, MA was, at best, sleepy and low key and, at worst, almost comatose. The game itself certainly didn't lend itself to uncontrollable excitement on anyone's part (even a hard-core Bills fan like me found the broadcast almost relaxing) as the Bills ground out a methodical dismantling of the Patriots in a game whose score was closer than the margin in play was between the two teams. But isn't that the reason why Jeff Bezos hired him? To make a mundane game feel like its worth watching? To present the uncompelling as must-see? And his colour commentator partner Kirk Herbstreit wasn't much better either. Herbstreit has built a long and successful career broadcasting college games and he is solid and knowledgeable but, for me anyway, as plain vanilla as they come. Compared to Tony Romo whose insights remain fascinating, he's dull and predictable. The pre-game panel is another story altogether. With Ryan Fitzpatrick and Richard Sherman in particular, they're worth watching. At 78, Michaels broadcasting resume is second to none in American sports. Maybe he should hang 'em up sometime soon. I don't know who Bezos would hire in his place. Anyone he wants to I guess. Maybe Al just had a bad night but this was the first of Amazon's Thursday games I've watched closely start to finish and I was decidedly underwhelmed by the two men in the booth. 

As for the game and how the Bills played, Greg Cosell (Howard's nephew) of NFL Films said it best on WGR on Friday: it looked to him that the Bills knew that they were the better team going in and they decided to just line it up and dominate the Patriots with a simple game-plan, more running than they usually do and score just enough points to make the Patriots realize that they were just not going to be able to come back with Mac Jones and a B-list of NFL receivers. That's how it felt too. The Patriots offence felt like it was whatever the opposite of threatening is - and un-explosive and pedestrian too. 

WGR played a small sample of some of the calls which came in to New England Sport Radio WEEI after the game and while Patriots fans are predictably looking to run Mac Jones out of town, there seems to be a growing sentiment that maybe Bill Belichick isn't the football genius he's been made out to be for the last 25 years. The team literally does not have an offensive coordinator and Belichick has appointed defensive specialist Matt Patricia to call the offensive plays. After all, he was the Lions head coach for three seasons. How did that go? Who knows how Robert Kraft will handle this situation but his fan base has enjoyed unprecedented success during Belichick's reign, they have come to expect it and they are restless now that their team has joined the other 31 NFL teams muddling through varying degrees of mediocrity from season to season. Apparently, there is talk of Brady returning to the team. Maybe he can play until he's 60. 

I've been trying to watch the World Cup and I've had some success but not that much. That Alfonso Davies goal to open the scoring for Canada against Croatia was absolutely brilliant and the obvious - and maybe only - highlight of Canada's first trip the World Cup since 1986. By the way, 1986 was not just the last time Canada made the 32-team tournament (until this year) but it was the ONLY other time they've made it since the quadrennial event began in 1930. As a watcher of North American sports, my uninformed observation of watching soccer is that it sure seems like it's just too hard to score. And, compared to the the professional sports I watch, soccer lacks a consistent sense of urgency in its play. Someone said that while North American sports "explode", soccer "unfolds". I just find it hard to watch teams commencing offensive thrusts only to turn back and regroup if they don't unfold exactly as planned. I said to myself at one point as I watched Canada lose 4-1 to Croatia that if they pass the ball back to their own goalie one more time, I'd stop watching. They did so about a minute later and I turned it off.  

The college football final four is set and Michigan seems to have drawn the long straw as they will face the TCU Horned Frogs in the first semi-final on New Year's Eve. They are early 9.5 point favourites. The other match-up is between Georgia and Ohio State. Big Ten fans are hoping for a rematch between the Wolverines and the Buckeyes in the National Championship Game and I think they just might get that. 

For the Bills, the stretch run begins Sunday in Orchard Park against the Jets who fell just short yesterday against the Vikings. We will learn in the next day or two exactly when the Dolphins will play the Bills in week 15. I expect that it will be dark and I hope that it's cold and snowy too.