Bills 17, Vikings 16

With the clock winding down in the fourth quarter and his team trailing 16-10, the Bills quarterback was calm and focused in the huddle as the game's final drive was about to begin. He encouraged his teammates to bear down, execute their assignments and move the ball down the field to win the game. And that's exactly what happened. After a rather sloppy effort against a pesky underdog, the game winning touchdown came in the dying seconds and Bills fans celebrated a key victory, went home happy and probably felt a little more confident in their starting quarterback. After all, he was signed to be a back-up - an insurance policy really - in case the anointed starter was injured or floundered. The date was October 18, 1998 and the quarterback's name was Doug Flutie.

I had seats in the upper deck to watch Flutie's first start as a Buffalo Bill on that October day 16 years ago. On a 4th down play from inside the Jacksonville Jaguars five yard line, Flutie, alone in the backfield, took the snap in shotgun formation and moved to his right, along with the entire offensive line all of his receivers. As intended, all 11 Jaguar defenders also moved to that side of the field. Then, he quickly spun around, turned the other way and carried the naked bootleg into the wide open left side of the endzone to tie the game. Steve Christie's convert would give them the one point lead with only a few seconds left. A thrilling 17-16 win for Flutie and the Bills. Flutie Flakes went into production the next week and the diminutive Boston College graduate and CFL star went on to lead his team to a 10-6 record and a playoff berth.

Yesterday at Orchard Park, Purdue graduate and 10 year NFL journeyman Kyle Orton, signed just before the season began as insurance in the event that EJ Manuel could not progress enough in his second season as the Bills franchise quarterback, repeated a very similar feat. Trailing 16-10, the final drive began with just over 3 minutes left in the 4th quarter. After completing a 4th down and 20 to tight end Scott Chandler (who had uncharacteristically dropped a pass earlier in the drive), he found Chris Hogan who made an acrobatic catch at the Vikings 2 yard line. The offence rushed to the line of scrimmage and Orton spiked the ball with 5 seconds remaining on the game clock. The Vikings called a time-out and the Bills drew up a play to Sammy Watkins which both he and Orton executed perfectly to the front left corner of the endzone. Sammy got both feet down for the touchdown and Dan Carpenter sealed the win with the convert. Bills fans went home happy - just as they had exactly 16 years earlier.

My friend Greg had a long day yesterday, He awoke at 4.30am in Ottawa, boarded a 6am flight to Pearson where I picked him up and then took him to see my friend at the Lewiston US Border entry point. I was disappointed not to be able to introduce the two. Either he was recently arrested or perhaps it was his day off but his replacement was quite pleasant and we were parked in Drive 5 at the stadium just before 10am. My pals Paul and Rodger and their respective young sons found us there and the boys got some nice woolen Bills hats at the new Bills gear store at the front of the stadium as they prepared for their first live NFL game. I hope they remember it for what it was - a thrilling finish and much needed win for the home team.

On to the Meadowlands next week to face the 1-6 Jets who will have had 10 days to prepare after a strong game against the Patriots which they lost by only two points. With both Fred Jackson and CJ Spiller out, it's time for Boobie Dixon to step and establish himself before the Bills have their bye week.

Patriots 37, Bills 22

It's clouding over here in Muskoka on this Thanksgiving Monday. I don't mind because today is the day when many cottagers leave, not to return until May. The shoulder season officially starts today so I can look forward to peace and quiet, perhaps more wildlife to see and a cold lake which provides generally perfect sauna conditions for the next few weeks and beyond.

I spent the first quarter of yesterday's game preparing the Thanksgiving turkey. I tried a new brine solution with a bit of soy included and it was particularly good. I stuffed the turkey, catching a play after each handful and also between bodkin stitches on the two turkey cavities. The game looked to be a defensive struggle through the early going which I thought boded well for the Bills with their ball control offence and I thought their pass rush might keep Tom Brady off balance enough to generate a turnover or two at some point as the Bills were likely to need at least one to post a win in the first game of the Pegula era.

Terry and Kim Pegula were introduced to the crowd at the Ralph before the game and, based on the short clip I saw, were well received. The letter they penned to the fans after the Governors approval on Wednesday and the closing of the sale on Friday sent a positive message and Pegula's comment about never wanting to finish second in anything - except for being the second Bills owner after Ralph Wilson - was a good message too. When he joined the Fox broadcasters in the booth during the game, it was clear to me that Pegula is a man who thinks before he speaks and doesn't say too much. Apparently, he and his wife choose to lead quite private lives and do not circulate much in high level social scenes. I presume that they usually stay home and count their money so I guess they can look forward to having a bit more free time after dropping $1.4 billion on a football team. It has been reported that Kim Pegula will be the CEO under the new ownership structure so if I were Russ Brandon, I'd make sure I was in early every day, at least for this week. The Bills ownership situation has clearly resolved itself in what looks to be just about the best possible way. I was worried that a Toronto ownership group would outbid Pegula and create a lingering sense of uncertainty which could potentially sour the fan base and cause permanent resentment no matter what they did or didn't say about the Bills staying in Buffalo. So, on with the Pegula era which may or may not include more fracking. Either way, I'm happy about it.

I did watch the second half of the game closely. I think that the Patriots are simply very well coached and their game planning against the Bills, year in and year out, is well conceived and well executed. We just can't stop them when we need to and it feels like that has been the case for so long that I can't remember when it wasn't. Although I'm a Bills fan, I do find the Patriots impressive and I usually root for them in the post season too. I don't hate them. I don't think I hate anybody really when it comes to sports teams and rivalries. I just wish we could beat them a little more often.

So, at 3-3, The Bills get ready to play the Minnesota Vikings in Orchard Park - something they do only every 8 years. The Bills need to win and I think they will. I'm looking forward to seeing my buddy at the US Border station in Lewiston. I've managed to avoid arrest since I saw him and I can't wait to share the good news with him. Happy Thanksgiving and to my American friends, Happy Columbus Day.

Bills 17, Lions 14

Meet Alex Henery. An honourable young man, by all accounts, Alex is from Omaha, NE and he attended the University of Nebraska where he earned a degree in Construction Management. He also earned a Community Service Award while in university for his work volunteering at local hospitals. As the Cornhuskers place-kicker, he ended his college career as the most accurate place-kicker in NCAA history. This was presumably one of the reasons why the Philadelphia Eagles drafted him 120th overall in the fourth round of the 2011 NFL draft. The Eagles obviously changed their mind about Alex as they released him on August 30th, near the end of this year's training camp. The Detroit Lions signed him on September 22nd, three full weeks into the regular season.

Alex Henery missed all three field goals which he attempted in yesterday's game against the Bills. He hit the goal post on one of them and hooked the other two badly to his left. The attempts were long by NFL standards (47, 50 and 50 yards) but in the indoor confines of Ford Field, the Lions home field where the game was played, an NFL kicker would be expected to make at least one of those. It must have been particularly painful for him to watch his counterpart, Bills kicker Dan Carpenter, win the game for Buffalo on a 58 yard kick in the game's final seconds, his third successful kick of four attempts yesterday. Carpenter himself, also from Omaha, NE, was released by the Miami Dolphins in 2013 after five seasons with them and was signed by the Bills just before the start of last season as an injury replacement for Dustin Hopkins. He has been one of the best kickers in the league over the course of last season and the first five games this year. As for Alex Henery, he may be about to pursue a career in construction management a little sooner than he expected.

The other compelling story from yesterday's game was the play of Bills quarterback Kyle Orton. Orton, a late pre-season signing, had never taken a snap for the Bills and his rustiness showed early on. His errant pass in the second quarter was intercepted and run back for a Detroit touchdown to give the Lions a 14-0 lead and, at that point, I wondered if we might see EJ Manuel in the second half. But Orton kept improving as the game went on and, when he hit Marquise Goodwin for a long gain to the Detroit two yard line to set up what was the tying touchdown, I thought at that moment that Bills coach Doug Marrone had made the right call in giving him the start yesterday.

Jim Schwartz must have enjoyed being carried off the field on the shoulders of his defensive players after yesterday's game. After serving as the Lions head coach for five years before being fired after the 2013 season, the Bills defense made his homecoming a sweet one by playing extremely well for him, holding the Lions to one offensive touchdown. And Sammy Watkins made a couple of acrobatic catches which made a huge difference.

A strange note from yesterday's game: The Bills have filed a complaint with the league about laser pointers being shined in some of their players eyes during the game. Up Next: The Patriots come to Orchard Park. I will put our Thanksgiving turkey in the oven at halftime.  

Texans 23, Bills 17

It was a spectacular weekend in Muskoka but I dutifully came inside at 1pm yesterday with my dad to watch the Bills play the Texans. The roof was closed at NRG Stadium due to high humidity in the Houston area which made me feel that we weren't the only ones sitting inside watching this game. And a most infuriating game it was to watch. When they get blown out, at least I can pack it in and do something else but not yesterday when we had to stick with it until close to 4.30pm when EJ Manuel threw the game ending interception on what could have been - would have been - the game winning drive.

Manuel clearly took a step back yesterday. I want so badly for him to look like the franchise quarterback for the next 10 years but I'm afraid that he really did not look like that yesterday. In fairness, the Texans pass rush, led by the super-human JJ Watt, was pressuring him and knocking him down all day and there were at least 4 dropped passes by his receivers. But, despite showing some impressive pocket quickness a couple of times yesterday, his throwing is just not accurate enough of the time. He throws too low or too high or behind his receivers when he seems to have plenty of time. It sometimes seems like he panics a bit when he has time to set his feet, step into the throw and deliver it accurately. It is frustrating to watch. He's such a likable kid too. He's good at saying the right things in post-game press conferences and I'm sure that his mother and his god-father Bruce Smith feel good about that but he needs to show that he can get it done on the field starting next week or another season could begin to slip away.

If I were Roger Goodell, I would be buying Jason Witten lunch today. And I just might take some of my $44 million salary and pay for it myself because his pre-game interview on NBC last night on the subject of domestic violence was very impressive indeed. He has first-hand experience as his mother was a victim of an abusive spouse. He was careful to compliment the league office and the Commissioner for taking ownership of the issue after a difficult couple of weeks while acknowledging that the problem goes far beyond the NFL. Whether he was coached on what to say or not, it came across as sincere and I'm sure that the Commissioner was duly impressed.

The best highlight from yesterday's games, for me, was Stevie Johnson's first touchdown catch as a 49er. He was able to keep the tips of his toes in the front left corner of the endzone and maintain control of the ball as he fell to the ground, helping his team give the Eagles their first loss of the season. The man who calls himself "7/11" (because he's always open) may not be open quite as often now as his career advances, but he's a skilled receiver and, when he was in Buffalo, I was always impressed with his ability to get separation even from much faster players.

EJ Manuel said in his post-game press conference that they need to be more prepared than ever to face the Detroit Lions next week. Prepared, yes but his confidence needs a boost next week so he can prove what he can do or there will be more questions about when Kyle Orton might see some playing time. Better quarterbacking probably would have won the game yesterday. Now is the time for Manuel to step up and not follow in the path of Trent Edwards, JP Losman or - dare I say - Ryan Fitzpatrick. Although he is very well paid by any standard of comparison, I feel for EJ Manuel as the pressure to perform must be immense. For so many reasons, I hope he can do it.

 

Chargers 22, Bills 10

Being 2-1 is better than being 1-2 if your goal is to make the playoffs and if someone had asked Bills coach Doug Marrone if he would have taken a 2-1 record after the first three games of this year, I would have thought that he'd jump at it. But, in fact, I did make that very offer to him over the Labour Day weekend but he must have found it to be a difficult one to evaluate and, in the end, he neither accepted it or declined it. He did make it known to me that his preference is to simply play the games and see what happens. That's what he's paid to prepare his team for I guess.

In a quarterback dominated league, Philip Rivers was clearly far better yesterday than was EJ Manuel who seemed to take a step or two back yesterday with his weakest performance of the season so far. Rivers and the Chargers offence showed a great ability to extend drives, convert third downs and dominate the time of possession. The Bills secondary looked outmatched as Rivers found wide open targets far too often. I think that the Chargers are going to challenge Denver in the AFC West this season and will turn out to be one of the league's best teams.

The NFL and its Commissioner Roger Goodell have obviously had a bad couple of weeks on the public relations front. Goodell's desire to "make things right" around its handling of domestic abuse on the part of its players and in the creation of a new league policy in that regard, as he stated last week, felt like too little too late. It just isn't plausible that he or the league office was unable to secure the Ray Rice elevator video tape which was obtained (easily, so they say) by TMZ. The league was unwilling to pursue it for obvious reasons but if it can be proven that it was sent to the league office and either shown at high levels or suppressed at lower levels, then Goodell will likely have to go. The "investigation" into this, headed by former FBI Director Robert Mueller, has potential to be a whitewash which could deepen the PR hole that Goodell and the league has dug.

Over the past couple of weeks, as this story has played out, there is no question that the issue of domestic violence - among NFL players and, I would suggest, in society generally - has received considerable media attention and has occupied a more prominent spot in the public discourse than it perhaps ever has. I see this as a good thing. James Brown, host of CBS's NFL studio broadcasts, has, in my opinion, tackled this issue with honesty and integrity in his editorial pieces and in his interviews. When a respected head coach like Tampa Bay's Lovie Smith sat with Brown last week and commented that it hardly needs to be said that its not OK to hit woman, I thought to myself that, unfortunately, it actually does need to be said. There is no question that domestic abuse among NFL players has been minimized, downplayed - ignored - and it seems likely that will now stop. Say what you want about how the league has approached this issue in the past - and there's plenty of valid criticism to go around in the NFL and elsewhere - I firmly believe that there is a societal good in shining a light on it, having it occupy the headlines of the sports pages and the front pages, seeing it discussed on prime time broadcasts with huge audiences - even watching Roger Goodell try to squirm his way to keeping his $44 million a year job over it. Yes, Lovie Smith, it's not OK to hit a woman and we need more people like you to say so.

Bills 29, Dolphins 10

"Does never really mean never?", asked the US Customs and Border Patrol officer at the Queenston Lewiston bridge just before 9am yesterday. This came after he had asked us four separate times if either of us had ever been arrested in Canada or in the United States. After scanning our passports and confirming our destination, he casually told us that he had one more question, the answer to which he didn't really care about, as long as neither of us lied. I was certain that the formal part of our discussion was over and that he was about to ask us if we were confident that the Bills offensive line was going to be able to handle to Dolphins pass rush or perhaps our best guess on how many false start penalties the crowd noise would cause the Dolphins offence. Nope. He wanted to know - although he claimed not to care what the answer was - about the business of being arrested. This, I believe, was not done due to any real suspicion on his part that either of us had ever been arrested but as part of a larger strategy to take travelers out of their comfort zone by asking unexpected questions and evaluating responses. I guess we seemed believable on the fourth try so he graciously allowed us entry to the United States. I was going to ask him if he wanted to go to the San Diego game next week but decided that he might find that to be an odd question. And I know that odd questions can be a little disconcerting.

Jim Kelly was tearing up a little as he paid tribute to the late Ralph Wilson and thanked the fans for their well-wishes on his cancer recovery in a pre-game ceremony. He looked a little rough, a little pale and a little thin but spoke well and from the heart. His speech was not too long, not too sappy - just about right. Then, he concluded by declaring that it was time to squish the fish. The crowd erupted and remained as loud as I've ever heard throughout the game. Terry Pegula was likely in attendance but did not appear publicly as NFL approval of his ownership bid is still required. That will come next month at the NFL owners meeting which will take place at the site of Pegula's newest fracking site in rural Pennsylvania. The owners and their beleaguered Commissioner will bring their own water, apparently, as they all know about the dangers that fracking poses to ground and drinking water. These guys are smart.

One of the WGR radio guys said that the Bills best free agent off-season signing was former Lions head coach and defensive specialist, Jim Schwartz. Contrary to some rumours, Jim Harbaugh was NOT the first to shake his hand on being appointed Bills Defensive Coordinator. But Bills fans should be thankful that he's here because the defense was good last week in Chicago and great yesterday against the Dolphins who had put up 33 points in their first game against the Patriots. All three levels of the Bills defence were solid yesterday. I would have given a game ball to Corey Graham who had another big day pass defending.

Yesterday was a great day to be a Buffalo Bills fan and to be at Ralph Wilson Stadium. After much effort, a more subdued and civilized tailgating experience has been established, the weather was perfect, my new seats are excellent (as are the fine Buffalo people who sit nearby), the team performed well in all three phases, the fish were properly squished and the quarterback looks confident and comfortable in what has been a limited role through the first 12% of the season.

The San Diego Chargers come to Orchard Park next week. I'm trying to make sure that the same border guard is on duty next Sunday and I'll do my best not to get arrested anywhere this week. I just don't think he'd appreciate me changing my story - even if it was true.

Bills 23, Bears 20 OT

I've said before on this blog that Fred Jackson is one of the classiest guys in the NFL. I haven't changed my mind about him in that regard but an issue has now arisen between us which I hope we can resolve quickly. See, he owes me $16,371.60 because if he had been able to extend his fantastic overtime run yesterday by one more yard and reach the endzone, my Proline ticket would have been a winner.....if the Jets and Cowboys had also won their home games. So, I'm optimistic that Fred can and will pay me what I'm owed and if he wants to approach the Jets and/or the Cowboys to extract a third of the money from each of them, that would make sense too. I will leave it with him to deal with those teams as, after all, he is in the NFL.

I watched most of the game with my dad who actually watched the entire game. When the Bills went three and out on their first possession and then the Bears reached the endzone easily on their first drive, I got up, went out side and started cutting up hemlock to take my mind off the misery that was going to be the Bills afternoon in Chicago. After a few minutes, he opened the door and told me that the Bills had tied the game. Then a few minutes after that, he said that they took the lead on a field goal. Then when he came out again to tell me that they'd gone up 17-7, I thought he was developing cognition problems and I had to come inside to verify it.

Someone posted a couple of weeks ago that it had been ages since the Bills had recorded a "signature" road win. The 2011 home win against the Patriots was surely a signature home win but a meaningful road win was ancient history for them - until yesterday. I guess we'll have to wait to see how good Chicago really is this season- or if the Bills really are ready to step up from also-ran mediocrity but there were no expectations of a win for Buffalo among prognosticators I saw anyway. In fact, Chris Simms had a piece last week on the five teams guaranteed to lose their week one games. Guess which one topped his list. I have no doubt that many suicide pools blew up yesterday on this game.

I was acutely aware over the days leading up to opening week that my optimism for the team was lower than it had been for a few years. Usually, I'm quite upbeat before actual games are played - with the draft picks, maybe a new quarterback or a new head coach - whatever changes have taken place, I find a way to convince myself that this is the year when those December home games will actually mean something and that I won't be scouring the depths of my rolodex to find someone to go with. But this pre-season with EJ's weak performance, the jettisoning of two back-up quarterbacks, the signing of Orton and the head coach embroiled in controversy with his Player Personnel Director and GM, I was not feeling good about things yesterday morning. But a signature road win changes everything.

Now the Dolphins come to town after having beaten the Patriots yesterday. The crowd will be cranked up and the Ralph will be rockin on Sunday. And, with new seats in a new section, I'm thinking that this season will finally be different.