Like local television stations track Santa Claus on Christmas Eve, yesterday I was tracking the movements of a friend of mine – let’s call him Paul F. – on his journey from Riverdale to Orchard Park in a large passenger van with his two sons and a group of 11 friends of theirs – 14 of them in total. Not much information on their travels was available in real time but as the day progressed, I was imagining where they might be along their way: stopping in St. Catharines to buy warm winter boots, in a line-up at the Queenston-Lewiston Bridge, dealing with US border authorities, trying to find a suitable place to park near the stadium so as to not be too far away but far enough away to avoid being trapped in the insanity which is post-game traffic trying to exit the stadium lots and then Orchard Park. Would they be prepared for the cold, I wondered as yesterday’s game was one of the coldest home games in Buffalo Bills history – certainly the coldest one in recent years. And even colder with kick-off changed from 1pm to 4.25pm. Was their recently purchased small charcoal barbecue enough to feed 14 chilly Bills fans? They were certainly hoping for - even expecting – a comfortable Bills lead in the second half to permit a stress-free early exit, easy egress from wherever they managed to park and a manageable arrival time at home. I will request a full report in a few hours but for now the only thing I know for sure is that if they did leave the game early, they missed what was a closer finish than Bills fans – and sports books - were predicting.
“It’s hard to win in the NFL”, former Bills head coach Dick
Jauron famously said 15 or so years ago as he was busy stringing up 7-9 seasons
like Christmas lights on his house. Sean McDermott repeated that after
yesterday’s game which the Bills won mostly because of an unsuccessful lateral
pass attempted by Patriots quarterback Drake Maye under the shadow of his own
goalposts. The fumbled lateral landed just inside the goal-line where Taron Johnson
pounced on it for an easy touchdown. The Bills added a 50-yard Tyler Bass field
goal which ended up being the margin of victory in a tense final few minutes
which saw the Patriots score late then try an onside kick which the Bills
actually fumbled then recovered.
It definitely is hard to win in the NFL especially late in
the season when pitted against a 3-11 team with “nothing to play for” except
pride, roster spots for next season, possible free agent dollars in the
off-season and the development of a promising young quarterback who could
become the foundation of the franchise going forward. Bill Parcells once said
of these late-season games with teams who have been eliminated from playoff
contention: “Anyone who says these games don’t mean anything doesn’t know what
they’re talking about.” If I were a Patriots fan, the play of Drake Maye
yesterday in a cold and hostile environment would have given me a strong
measure of confidence going into the season’s last two games and hopefully many
seasons beyond. His composure and throwing accuracy were impressive given the
opponent and playing conditions. Even in a loss, the Patriots probably came
away feeling pretty good about their effort and their future prospects. Given the
last 20 years of history, maybe success shouldn’t come too quickly for them.
As for the Bills, they continue to give up yardage on the
ground but this time, rather than hanging 40 or more points on their opponent
as they’ve been doing in recent weeks, their passing offence sputtered as they found
themselves down 14-0 in the second quarter. We learned that Josh Allen actually
broke his left hand on the game-winning touchdown way back in week one against
the Cardinals. Yesterday, he pranged the funny-bone on his right arm on another
scramble and temporarily lost feeling in his hand which was evident on his next
throw. He told CBS sideline reporter Evan Washburn after the game that
everything was fine with his right arm and hand. Of course it was. Hopefully,
it doesn’t evolve into another nagging injury for him.
The US college football bowl season and new playoff format
are well underway now. The ever-changing names of the lesser bowl games invite
ridicule in some circles but I just find them amusing. I may not catch all of
the Potato Bowl this afternoon in Boise, ID between Northern Illinois and
Fresno State but I’ll definitely be thinking about it when I’m cross-country
skiing. As for the new 12-team playoff format, it seems to be off to a good
start with the four home teams winning their games comfortably this past
weekend, leaving eight teams going forward. The remaining seven games will be
played at neutral sites with the National Championship Game set for Monday January
20th. I have a niece who is currently residing in Athens, GA, home
of the Georgia Bulldogs and for that reason (and since the Michigan Wolverines have
been relegated to playing in the ReliaQuest Bowl on New Year’s Eve), I’ll be
rooting for the Bulldogs when they play Notre Dame on New Year’s Day.
The Bills have another home game coming up next against the farcical
New York Jets. It is set for 1pm on Sunday but, who knows, maybe it too will be
flexed to the late afternoon slot. The Jets managed another loss yesterday,
this time at home to the Rams. The Jets will come to Orchard Park with a 4-11
record and have been a dumpster fire / train wreck all season. They have one more
win than the Patriots do but expectations going into the season were high –
probably unrealistically high – and they have failed epically to deliver
anything promising to their fan base. The meddling owner fired the head coach
early on, then the general manager and we heard this past week that he vetoed a
trade earlier this season because the player they were trading for had a “Madden
Score” which wasn’t high enough for him. For the Bills, this represents another
potentially dangerous opponent with “nothing to play for”. Let’s hope they are ready
as the top seed in the AFC, although fading away, remains within reach.
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