Bills 24, Chargers 16

David Mamet’s 1975 play American Buffalo (and the 1996 film with Dustin Hoffman and Dennis Franz) takes place in a junk shop where the owner has sold a Buffalo Nickel to a customer for $90 then regrets the low sale price and plans to steal it back. Buffalo Nickels are five-cent coins struck by the US Mint between 1913 and 1938 and are considered to be somewhat rare and valuable. These coins form the historical basis for the “alternate” Buffalo Bills uniforms, called the “Nickel City” uniforms, unveiled early in the Bills 2026 training camp. Reaction to the uniforms at the time was swift and negative. Josh Allen asked fans to relax and assured us that the uniforms were fine and that we would all grow to appreciate them. They were worn in yesterday’s game at Highmark Stadium for the first time in the regular season and the reaction – both nationally and within the Bills fan base – remained overwhelmingly negative. I decided to wait and see but I now officially join the mainstream body of opinion in saying that they’re simply awful. The strange colour palette looks like the bastard child of the uniforms of the Detroit Lions and the New York Giants. The numbers and player names are hard to see and Mike Schop said on WGR that they looked like they weren’t fitted properly. The Bills now have a minor public relations problem on their hands as the uniforms are scheduled to be worn again on December 19^th when the Bills host the Chicago Bears. I doubt that the plan will change but I will be interested to see how they spin things as that date approaches. We all know why the NFL mandated alternate uniforms – to sell more merch. And it has worked: we saw plenty of Nickel City game jerseys at the home opener. I guess if all you had was a Diggs jersey from five years ago, it might be an interesting option. Give me the Royal Blue and White in any jersey and pant combination and leave it at that.

Maybe the crappy alternate uniforms will be considered lucky as the Bills pulled out a win against the Chargers yesterday in a game they probably should have lost. Five turnovers usually means you lose but the Bills defence – much maligned through the first two games, and rightly so - was the difference in the end. James Cook had another strong game after fumbling on the very first play from scrimmage. A key interception by veteran safety CJ Gardner-Johnson set up a Cook touchdown which saw the Bills take an unlikely lead which they would not give up. This was a FOX game with their number-one crew of Kevin Burkhardt and Tom Brady. Brady seems now to have settled into his colour commentary role and I would give him a solid 7.5 out of 10 for yesterday’s broadcast.   

Dateline: September, 1973. Shortly after my eleventh birthday, I started at a new school (new for me) in St. Catharines, Ontario for grade six. It was Ridley College - a “private” school for boys (there was a handful of girls in grade 13 that year – the first year of what would be a successful co-ed experiment), conceived and operated in the image of English “public” schools: teachers were masters, the principal was a headmaster, grades were forms, we had classes on Saturday mornings, cadet training, a comprehensive sports program, chapel every morning and an archaic hierarchy of “old boys” and “new boys” where new boys performed tasks for old boys on request (shining shoes, carrying books etc). The old boy system was thankfully abolished long ago as the school modernized itself, maintaining some of the symbolic historical traditions while ditching the ones which seem preposterous in retrospect today. High educational standards were part of the formula throughout and continue to this day. About two thirds of the students were boarders. A cohort of about eight of us would move all the way from grade six (the sixth “form” as it was called) through to grade 13, graduating in 1981. Most, if not all, of our small cohort were “day students” who had grown up in St. Catharines, attending various public schools through grade five. A couple of nights ago, we marked the 45^th anniversary of our graduation from Ridley. By my count, five of us from that original grade six cohort made it. As I pointed out to Bill C., it was the 45^th anniversary of our graduation from Ridley but the 53^rd anniversary of our starting in the sixth form. Despite not seeing some of these cats for several decades, it’s amazing how personalities just don’t really change that much from age 11 to age 64. We hope to have everyone out – the full sixth form cohort and all of those who came to Ridley later and graduated with us – in five years time as we mark our 50^th. Thanks to Kelly N. and Jon B. for arranging and getting us all out on Saturday night in St. Catharines.

In five years time, I hope and expect that two or three (one at the very least) Superbowl Champion banners will hang in the new Highmark Stadium. Josh Allen, now in his ninth year in Buffalo and at the peak of his abilities – the perfect combination of physical and experiential proficeincy - will be on the back nine of his career but hopefully still playing effectively….maybe sort of like Aaron Rodgers but without the anti-vax crap.

Three AFC teams now sport undefeated 3-0 records: the Bills, the Chiefs and…..wait for it…….the Raiders. It’s easy to predict that the Raiders will soon revert to mediocrity but the Chiefs and Bills will not. Although it’s two months out, the Chiefs at Bills Thanksgiving night game on November 26^th looms large on the schedule.

Next up for the Bills is a visit from the New England Patriots on Sunday. The Pats are coming off a pretty brutal loss at Jacksonville and will be looking to right themselves in the first divisional game for both teams.  

Bills 41, Lions 31

Whenever my driving takes me on any form of triangular shape, I am reminded of the reclusive inventor Wendel Beckwith who lived alone on Best Island on Whitewater Lake in what remains of Wabakimi Provincial Park (after a devastating fire swept through it two months ago). Among other eclectic interests, he was fascinated by various triangular theories including his contention that Best Island was located at the exact the centre of the universe and existed in perfect triangulation with Stonehenge and the Great Pyramids. Beckwith died in 1980 and we visited what’s left of his cabins on Best Island in 2009.

Over the last four days, my own triangulation driving took me from east Muskoka to Orchard Park, NY, back to Muskoka and then to a small lake just south of Maniwaki, Quebec (150km north of Ottawa) where I visited with old friends, had a few laughs and did not do any night water-skiing like we had done 30 years ago. The triangulation among Orchard Park, Muskoka and Maniwaki is, in my view, just as significant as Beckwith’s was. As far as I know, my friend doesn’t theorize about Pi like Beckwith did but I can say with certainty that the drive from Orchard Park to Maniwaki via Muskoka is about 3.14 times longer than what you’d usually want to do on an average weekend.   

The triangulation began on Thursday with a rather slow and busy drive to the Queenston-Lewiston bridge. I thought for a second that the US Border Officer might just jump in the back of the car and go to the game with us. He commented about how he sure wished he was going to the Bills game which I suspected, incorrectly, might be leading to final bizarre question of some kind. It’s happened before. More thick Buffalo rush-hour traffic and the usual bottleneck around the stadium made it a four-hour drive. On a Sunday morning, it’s two-and-a-half. The reconfigured parking lots have noticeably smaller spaces leaving little room between vehicles. This became relevant when the folks next to us set up a single-burner butane stove less than a foot from their truck to heat water for corn. Somehow, as we stood within a metre or so of the sketchy-looking set-up, the entire thing burst into flames and burned intensely with six-foot high flames for about a minute before the butane was spent and someone nearby doused it with water. A scary minute it was but the party resumed immediately afterward. We left the game with eight minutes left and got out of the lot very quickly. I think the egress is better but we won’t know for sure until there’s a close game where everyone stays to the end.

Turns out that with two billion dollars a new NFL football stadium can be built – just not one with very good seats. Let me explain: the plastic seats in section 136 at mid-field on the visitor side look like the cheapest ones they could find and they are not particularly well-fastened either. They are of course perfectly fine for watching a football game. I guess I was expecting something a little better. The view from these “cheap-seats” is fantastic as I knew it would be – at the 48-yard line 22 rows from the field. The slope of the lower bowl is identical to that of the now mostly demolished Rich Stadium so it’s the same view as I had before except five yards closer to the 50 yard line and one row lower. I guess the padded and more spacious seats are in the club sections. There is definitely more leg room between the rows and more space for people to pass (as was promised) but most of us will still have to stand up, especially when bundled up for winter games. The stadium offers great sightlines and general aesthetics with a much more spacious and well-lit concourse with the field visible from all of it. Curiously, there seems to be absolutely no signage whatsoever for washrooms. No signs like “Mens”, or “Washroom”, or the universal washroom symbol. Nothing. Our investigation led us to a door with men streaming in and out marked “Exit Only” which we realized was indeed a men’s room. Only a small line-up inside (possibly because no one could find it) which was not bad for 15 minutes before kick-off. A non-existent security check at the gate (9/11 was 25 years ago so “let’s lighten up on it” seemed to be the sentiment) then a pinch-point at the ticket scanning stations but not nearly as bad as Rich was. Overall, an excellent and fully functional – but I will stop short of saying luxurious – new stadium which is orders of magnitude better than Rich was. Just get some washroom signage. After forking over $850 million, the taxpayers of New York State and Erie County surely deserve to be able to find where to relieve themselves.

Josh Allen, who Richard Sherman suggested was suffering from a bad bout of flu on Thursday, opened the new stadium in style, appropriately scoring the first touchdown, then passing for three more and running for another to reach five in total. The game was never in question really. Colin Cowherd suggested on Friday that the Lions never had a chance – missing their two starting safeties against Josh Allen who was opening the house that was built mainly for and because of him. Cowherd speculated that Lions coach Dan Campbell probably said to his team “if we can just survive the first quarter…..” Well, the Bills steamrolled through that first quarter and most of the second before the home crowd held its breath as receiver DJ Moore injured his shoulder in the endzone. Initial speculation was that it could be a broken collar-bone but it wasn’t and Moore is listed as day-to-day with an AC joint sprain, although his status for the Chargers game is unknown. Dalton Kincaid and Keon Coleman both had big games with seven and six catches respectively. James Cook had 21 carries for 135 yards and a touchdown. Like Moore, Ed Oliver, who was a game-time scratch with a hip injury, is listed as day-to-day.

Up next for the Bills is a visit from the Chargers who have arguably been the most disappointing team in the NFL through two weeks of play. Any half-decent team - which pre-season punditry suggested the Chargers certainly were – with an 0-2 record is a dangerous opponent indeed and their fear of going 0-3 may be stronger than the Bills desire to push to a 3-0 start. Maybe the Chargers aren’t that good in 2026 after all. As they say, that’s why they play the games.

The Bills should be considered, after two weeks of play, to be the early favourite to represent the AFC in Los Angeles on Valentine's Day. That could – and probably will – change as the season grinds on.

 

 

Bills 36, Texans 31

The day I drove to the location of the Bills Highmark Stadium Experience, in a nondescript strip mall in Williamsville, NY – almost exactly two years now ago to the day – I had still not made a final decision on the long-term commitment to costly seat licences and to ten pairs of much more expensive football tickets each and every year until I reached the age of 92. But I sort of knew deep down that I would probably decide to do it, as long as the seats were good and the other details seemed reasonable. I had been ruminating about the long-term prospects for the NFL in general and for the Bills in particular. I was worried that the Buffalo market might not have the capacity to absorb NFL tickets priced at $347 USD each (which mine are for this season) in, say, fifteen years time when Josh Allen is long-retired, the team is struggling competitively and perhaps the juggernaut of popularity enjoyed by the NFL over the last 25 years is waning. Those December games with both teams sporting 2-11 records are hard to sell at any price. I know this from bitter experience during the 17-year playoff drought which ended with the hiring of Sean McDermott. Even in good times like now, they can be hard to get rid of. $350 (plus inflation) to sit in an outdoor stadium late in the 2041 season to watch two teams out of playoff contention could be a big ask. Maybe too big. Very low on the list of considerations I was mulling over on that September morning was any concern for unforeseen political developments on either side of the border.

But here we are only three days from the first regular season game at the new Highmark Stadium. I’m pretty excited about it with a couple of reservations to mention. I won’t comment here about the current political situation except to say that I am really wondering if the Bare Naked Ladies rendition of O Canada on Thursday night will attract boos. I hope not but I suspect there will be at least a smattering. The other worry I have is about my own late-night stamina and endurance as I prepare for an 8.15pm kick-off and a 3am (or later) arrival home. I really REALLY hope that the egress from the parking lots will have improved (as promised as part of the seat licence sales pitch) but my assigned lot this year is exactly the same one I been parking in for several years now so I’m not especially optimistic about it. I’ll start practicing staying up late tonight I guess. For someone who is often in bed by 9.30pm, It’s kind of like dealing with anticipatory jet lag.

The Bills opened the 2026 season with a win in what has been a hostile building for them throughout the Josh Allen era. As with every close football game, a few key plays, had they either not been made or gone a way other than they did, determined the outcome. The Houston Texans and their fans will look to Kamari Lassiter’s dropped interception attempt late in the fourth quarter in the endzone. Josh Allen threw up what CBS analyst Ross Tucker called a “YOLO” pass in the general direction of Josh Palmer which Lassiter had in his hands as he fell backward in the endzone. As is so often said with these kinds of plays, Lassiter makes the interception on the play nine times out of ten. But he bobbled the ball and, as fate would have it, on the next play, Allen hit Palmer with a perfect pass on a deep post route for what would stand as the game-winning touchdown. If Lassiter holds on to the ball on the previous play, the Texans win. This is what league parity looks like.

Two players on the Bills side stood out for me in the game. Josh Allen – “doing Josh Allen things” - as CBS play-by-play man Ian Eagle (whose first name is, for some reason, pronounced “eye-on”) said after his first touchdown – or maybe it after his second or third or fourth touchdown. Allen was magnificent: over 300 yards passing, two rushing touchdowns, two passing touchdowns and no turnovers. On the other side of the ball, Deone Walker, the six foot seven 331-pound nose tackle drafted last year by the Bills in the fourth round from the Kentucky Wildcats established himself yesterday as one of the premium interior defensive lineman in the league with a dominating performance. He posted six tackles (two for losses) and was a force on defensive coordinator Jim Leonard’s new “three-four” look as nose tackle. From now on, opposing teams will need to game-plan for Walker and I expect that he will be double-teamed (and sometimes triple-teamed) in a way that Bills fans probably haven’t seen since the days of Bruce Smith. Speaking of Smith, who was drafted first overall in the 1985 NFL draft (as opposed to Walker who was picked 109^th overall), he will be the first Legend of the Game in the new stadium on Thursday.  Steve Tasker says that Smith is the greatest player ever to don a Bills uniform. For Deone Walker, that’s a high bar but something to shoot for.

After their thrilling week one win, the Bills now play three straight games at Highmark Stadium. Knowing that I would not be missing the opener on Thursday, a few weeks ago, I listed my tickets for the week three game against the Los Angeles Chargers (a Sunday 1pm game) for sale for $740 each – a sort of “YOLO” listing which I had frankly forgotten about. At some point during the tense fourth quarter yesterday, an email came in to my phone which I checked at the next commercial break. The Chargers tickets had sold for $1,480 USD. Not only does this bode well for the near future, it will easily cover my three remaining seat licence payments. I clearly made the right decision by investing long-term in the Buffalo Bills, in the National Football League and in the United States of America, right?