Bills 30, Colts 20

My dad grew up in Scarborough and attended Scarborough Collegiate (now R.H. King Academy) in the early 1950s. One of his pals and class-mates was Danny Nykolyk (older brother of one-time Leaf coach Mike Nykoluk) who went on to play 16 seasons as an offensive tackle for the Toronto Argonauts. When I was a kid, we watched the Argos and the CFL. The NFL was not on our sports radar at all. Only later in his life, and mainly due to my fandom of the Buffalo Bills, did my dad develop an interest in the NFL – and that interest was only a passing one (forgive the pun) at best. In the 1970s, average CFL salaries were actually higher than those in the NFL. Tony Dorsett once famously said “I’d play for peanuts before I’d go to Canada”. The Dallas Cowboys paid him more than peanuts I’m sure but many US college players came to the CFL because it paid well, was popular and well-attended and offered black players a chance to be revered - even worshipped - by appreciative Canadian fans as well as offering a much more equitable social setting. Times have obviously changed considerably in the last 50 years with the CFL now an afterthought for most Canadian football fans, except for a shrinking and aging cohort of what Stephen Harper called “Old Stock Canadians”. Fun fact: Canadian football is actually a four-down game but, being Canadian, teams are so conservative that they always punt on third down.

Last year, the CFL finally figured out that it might draw more viewers if it played its playoff games (except for the Grey Cup) on Saturdays rather than going up against the NFL juggernaut on Sundays. The two conference championship games played two days ago – the East game in Montreal and the West game in Winnipeg – were both well-attended. Percival Molson Memorial Stadium on the campus of McGill University was sold out and Princess Auto Stadium in Winnipeg looked completely full as well. The East game was exciting and close with the visiting Argos holding on for a 30-28 win and a birth in the 111^th Grey Cup game next weekend in Vancouver. The Blue Bombers sent their fans home happy with a dominating 38-22 win over Saskatchewan. I heard a report that Grey Cup tickets were selling well last week in Vancouver, a market whose support of the CFL in recent years has been about as lukewarm as Toronto’s has. Let’s hope we don’t see many empty seats. The Argos will be without their starting quarterback Chad Kelly (nephew of Jim Kelly) who suffered a gruesome broken ankle in the second half of Saturday’s game. The Argos will look to Nick Arbuckle (a great sports name), who finished the game capably, to guide them to the Grey Cup.

The Indianapolis Colts have suffered from problematic ownership since Robert Irsay acquired the team (then the Baltimore Colts) in 1972. After his extended unsuccessful negotiations with the City of Baltimore around the construction of a new stadium, the Maryland legislature passed a law permitting the City of Baltimore to seize the Colts from Irsay under the legal principle of Eminent Domain. In response and after receiving a sweetheart offer from the City of Indianapolis, Irsay orchestrated the team’s “midnight move” in the early morning hours of March 29^th, 1984 when 15 tractor trailers were loaded with the team’s filing cabinets, office furniture, shoulder pads, athletic tape, etc. The move made headlines around the North American sports world and reinforced the doctrine that NFL owners can do almost anything they want to. Son Jim Irsay assumed control of the team following his father’s death in 1997 but only after a bitter legal battle with his stepmother. Jim Irsay has struggled with addiction and was charged with impaired driving in 2014. Police found oxycodone and a large amount of cash in his car but he was able to avoid jail time, pleading to two misdemeanors. He faced heavy criticism two years ago for firing head coach Frank Reich mid-season and replacing him with former Colts Pro Bowl centre Jeff Saturday who had no previous coaching experience beyond the high school level. After drafting Andrew Luck first overall in the 2012 NFL draft, Luck abruptly retired from football two weeks before the 2019 season was to begin. The team has struggled since then and those struggles continued yesterday against the Bills with 39 year-old Joe Flacco under centre.

The game at Lucas Oil Stadium was a sloppy affair with multiple errant passes and fumbles by both teams. Star slot cornerback Taron Johnson intercepted Flacco on the Colts first play from scrimmage and returned it for a pick-six touchdown. The Bills have not lost since Johnson returned from injury five weeks ago. Curtis Samuel made an appearance and a significant contribution early in the game as the Bills were without both Keon Coleman and Amari Cooper. The Colts Jonathan Taylor had great success running in the first half, racking up 107 yards but managed only another seven yards in the second half. The Bills final scoring drive was a classic close-out drive, chewing up significant fourth quarter time and finishing with a James Cook two-yard touchdown run to put the Bills up 30-13.

Someone said last night that the Kansas City Chiefs are the worst 9-0 team ever. That may well be but they extended their winning streak to 15 games (including the Superbowl) yesterday by blocking a 35-yard field goal in the dying seconds to hang on for a 16-14 win over the Denver Broncos. Will their win streak come to an end on Sunday in Orchard Park? In the most anticipated game of the 2024 season so far, CBS has decided to send its studio crew to the Highmark Stadium parking lot on Sunday. They are expecting to witness Bills Mafia fully in its drunken stupor, chugging beer bongs, jumping through folding tables and proving that they are the hardest drinking and most dedicated fans in the NFL. With the late 4.25pm start, Bills fans will definitely not disappoint.