Patriots 40, Bills 32

Things started out just fine yesterday. Tyrod Taylor took the opening kick-off and marched his team down the field for a touchdown. The Patriots then went three-and-out on their first possession which included Tom Brady having to take a time-out due to crowd noise, presumably. From that point on, despite mounting a late comeback of sorts, the Bills were outmatched, outcoached and overwhelmed for the rest of yesterday's game in Orchard Park. I presume that the Guinness Book of World Records folks, there to measure crowd noise for a possible outdoor world record, left early.

As I watched each and every one of Rex Ryan's press conferences from the day he was hired last January, through OTA's and training camp and after last Sunday's game, I wondered how his demeanor would change after a loss. He seemed angry and terse. And rightfully so. After building this week 2 game up as the potential defining moment of this season and his coaching tenure in Buffalo, the hype was fully deflated (sorry, had to use it) as Tom Brady passed for 466 yards (a Bills team record) as the Bills had no defensive answer at all. Ryan took full responsibility for the poor game plan and for the undisciplined conduct of his team which took 14 penalties on the day and, at times, lost its composure. Watching the game from home, it was endlessly frustrating and reminiscent of so many games the Bills have played over the past 15 years against New England.

I think that Rex may now regret having let expectations grow too high for yesterday's game. It's a long season with another big divisional game coming up on Sunday. Many teams are 1-1 after week 2 and I hope that coach Ryan and his team can prepare properly for a road game in south Florida against a 1-1 Dolphins team which will be highly motivated after lost at Jacksonville yesterday. The Bills will have to wait until week 11 for revenge when they will face the Patriots again in prime time on a Monday night.

Remember Donald Trump being one of the prospective purchasers of the Bills last year? I'm not sure that he was ever a serious bidder but imagine for a moment the chaos around the team if he had succeeded in buying it. How would the fan base feel about his controversial candidacy for the Republican nomination for President? He might wear a Bills hat instead of a "Make America Great Again" hat and isn't it possible that Tom Brady, apparently a good friend and supporter of Trump, may have felt some sense of mixed loyalty yesterday?

Trump's unlikely campaign momentum has carried him to the front-runner position, for now anyway. I see his statements, and those of some of his supporters, in a good news/bad news context. The bad news of course is that they are divisive, bigoted and often based on unthruths. The good news is two-fold: first, they will serve to pull the Republican party further to the right and force his competitors to play in his space and, second, while there is a shocking level of support for his views among those voting in Republican primaries, that support will fall short among the wider population, thankfully. Among other things, he's pretty much locked up the Latino vote - for the Democrats.

Next week's game is a late kick-off (4.25pm) in Miami. It will be a significant test of how Rex Ryan can re-set and re-focus his team.  

 















 

Bills 27, Colts 14

Rex Ryan is a master of media relations. Maybe not in comparison to politicians or corporate communications professionals but, as NFL coaches go, he's smart, savvy and relaxed in front of a microphone. He's a natural. He knows exactly what to say to motivate the fan base and the team and to show the appropriate deference to the team's relatively new owners, Terry and Kim Pegula.

Contrary to one of the main discussion threads from yesterday's season opening game at Ralph Wilson Stadium, Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor did NOT record his first career NFL start against the Indianapolis Colts. League records will show that Matt Cassel was under centre for the Bills first play from scrimmage, a trick play, in the tradition of the "wildcat" formation, which landed with a resounding thud and resulted in a six yard loss. Ryan explained in his post-game press conference that offensive coordinator Greg Roman conceived the play which went for touchdowns in practice. That led Ryan to brag about the upcoming play to game officials and to Terry Pegula as kick-off approached. Among some of his other comments, Ryan declared that the home crowd was better than the players yesterday, who were "pretty darn good" themselves. In the days leading up to the game, Ryan had called for Bills fans to make the stadium louder than ever yesterday - and they (we) responded accordingly. Noise levels when the Colts were running their offence were as loud as I can recall them ever being.

Taylor did get his first NFL start yesterday, if not officially, and he delivered a poised and confident performance by demonstrating his ability to throw the long ball on a pass to Percy Harvin, scrambling when it was required, showing a nice touch on screen and check-down passes and by not turning the ball over. Taylor has a long way to go before his name goes on the Wall of Fame at the Ralph but the 5th year man out of Virginia Tech likely went a log way towards earning the trust of Bills fans who haven't seen a real answer at quarterback since Jim Kelly retired after the 1996 season.

Then, there's the defence. Andrew Luck is considered one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL but the Bills defence contained him and his new look offence with veteran running back Frank Gore by shutting them out for nearly three quarters as the Bills offence staked them to a 24-0 lead. And possibly the Bills best defensive player, lineman Marcel Dareus, didn't even suit up yesterday as he served a one game suspension for violating the league's substance abuse policy. Word is that he likes to smoke a little bit of marijuana. The Bills signed him to a contract extension last week and I think he may have smoked a little more to celebrate. Who am I to judge?

Kitchener, Ontario native and undrafted Yale graduate Tyler Varga got a few touches for the Colts yesterday with one carry, one pass reception and two kick-off returns.

Yesterday was a great day to be a Bills fan and to help answer Rex Ryan's call for the crowd to do its part. Next week, the stakes are even bigger as the defending Superbowl champion New England Patriots with quarterback Tom Brady and his entire legal team come to Orchard Park. Can the fans make even more noise next week?

Patriots 28, Seahawks 24

Pete Carrol explained the decision to call a pass on the play which effectively ended one of the most exciting Superbowls in history by simply saying that sometimes the play you call works and sometimes it doesn't. Now that I've slept on it, I don't blame him or the Seahawks for the play call. It's easy to say this morning that it was a bad call but if the relatively high percentage play had worked and the Seahawks had won their second consecutive NFL title, the decision would either be considered brilliant or, more likely, would not be discussed at all. One of the key elements of play calling is to resist the temptation to do what the defence expects and with the winning touchdown a yard away and Marshawn Lynch in the backfield, a pass would not have been what the Patriot defence was looking for. So, it didn't work and the Patriots won. That's the way it goes.

When the Stanley Cup is won, the NHL Commissioner presents it to the captain of the winning team who then (almost always - unless there's a senior player who isn't the captain and has never won a Cup before) hoists the Cup over his head and skates around the ice before handing it to a team-mate. In the NFL, the Commissioner presents the Vince Lombardi trophy not to a team captain, not to the quarterback, not to the coach or general manager but to the team's owner. Robert Kraft now has another one to add to his display case which already had three. Another thing I like about the Stanley Cup is that there is only one of them (well, apparently there are two in case the one presented is damaged) but every year, a new Vince Lombardi trophy is made and the winning team keeps it. So, there are now 49 of them out there.

As President Obama said yesterday in the kitchen of the White House, the most surprising thing to most fans about the deflated ball controversy was that the individual teams have anything to do with the "preparation" of game balls. I think that it is a virtual certainty that this will end before next season and that game balls will be the exclusive domain of game day officials who will test the balls for inflation pressure and other specifications. The league could also come up with a policy which says that, in colder weather, balls are slightly less inflated. This helps with all aspects of ball handling and would make sense in order to reduce the chances of having games with multiple turnovers. The point is that each team plays with the same balls. I say you can bet on it.

So, the games are done but the NFL off-season will swing into full gear with the college player combine next then free agency, the draft, the schedule release, OTA's and then training camps in late July. My season ticket invoice from the Bills will be arriving in my mailbox shortly. I'm not looking forward to paying it with 78 cent dollars but I will.

Here's another prediction: the Bills will have a Monday night home game in 2015 and it will be against the Dallas Cowboys. As tempting as it will be to sell my tickets on the secondary market and recover some of my currency shortfall and the cost of the two pre-season games, I will most likely go. It will surely be the latest that I will have stayed up since the last night home game in 2012.

Let the Rex Ryan Era Begin

One of my favourite Rex Ryan quotes from his time coaching the Jets came when he was asked if he was intimidated by coaching against Bill Belichick. He responded by saying "I'm not going to kiss his rings". And there are three of them to kiss with a fourth possibly on its way in a couple of weeks.

There are many things to like about Ryan's hiring for Bills fans. First, here is what would have been the main reason not to hire him: The Bills challenges over the past two years have been on the offensive side of the ball. Without a franchise quarterback, the offence sputtered under Doug Marrone who, as a former offensive lineman in the NFL, was hired to help find a quarterback and, when they settled on EJ Manuel, to bring him and the Bills offence along. Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz handled the defence brilliantly last season and most Bills fans would have agreed that the defence needed little or no tweaking going into 2015. But Ryan is a defensive coach and his arrival last week led to the departure of Schwartz only a few days later. With no obvious solution at quarterback, Ryan has hired former 49ers offensive coordinator Greg Roman to run the Bills offence. Roman's focus has been on a power running game - and that might suit the Bills personnel well if CJ Spiller returns but winning teams in the NFL are able to throw the ball effectively more now than ever. So, we'll see.

The press conference last Wednesday where Ryan was introduced was great to watch. Ryan has a certain swagger and, combined with his sense of humour and folksy charm, he will endear himself to the fan base easily. And, for the first time since the Bills hired former Rams coach Chuck Knox in 1978, Rex Ryan is a name - an experienced NFL head coach who has spent the last 6 years in New York. Other than Knox, Ralph Wilson's coaching hires, including Marv Levy, were either coordinators getting their first head coaching job or re-tread coaches who came cheap (like Levy was). Ryan brings a measure of credibility to the Bills who really needed it after Doug Marrone mysteriously "opted out" on New Year's Eve. But, as one of the WGR guys said last week, Ryan can have the most hilarious press conferences the Buffalo media has ever seen but if he can't find an NFL serviceable quarterback to lead the offence, he won't seem that funny after a few weeks.

So, after all the wild card machinations of the last two weeks of the NFL season, and with 10 of the 11 NFL playoff games in the books, we are left with the two top conference seeds: The Patriots and the Seahawks. This looks like a great match-up for the Superbowl. Yesterday's conference championship games were a study in contrast with one being a classic overtime thriller and the other not really competitive at all. Watching the Packers collapse yesterday, which included giving up an onside kick, I couldn't help wondering how their playoff run would have turned out had they been able to beat the Bills in week 15 and play the NFC Championship game at Lambeau instead of in Seattle.

Finally, I visited my friend and long-time colleague JS last week who has been knocked back by a medical issue. Get well soon. The Cowboys need you and so do the rest of us.

The Pegula Honeymoon is Over

Doug Marrone was apparently very upset with the Buffalo media and its apparent obsession with questioning his conservative approach on 4th down and probably other issues too. If he ends up coaching the Jets, he will find the New York media to be better behaved and much less likely to question his decisions.

Jerry Sullivan of the Buffalo News has his share of detractors (Marrone probably among them) for his decidedly negative tone over the years but I think that his journalism is good and right and presents readers with a valuable perspective. He called Ralph Wilson cheap - which he was. He also pointed out in a recent column that the honeymoon for the Pegulas is clearly over. When Kyle Orton resigned the morning after the Bills final game, it was understandable. After all, the Bills had to coax him out of a sort of semi-retirement to agree to be the "back-up" in 2014. But when news of Marrone's New Year's Eve "opt-out" reached me, it didn't sound like good news.

According to multiple reports, Marrone asked for a contract extension at some point in the first three days of last week and was turned down. This may have been a high stakes bluff game on the part of both Marrone and Pegula with Marrone sensing his market value had risen after having guided the team to its first winning season in 10 years and Pegula doubting that Marrone would really pull the plug if an extension was not granted. But the result is the antithesis of what many of us thought the Pegula regime would deliver to the Bills fan base. The quarterback retires and then the coach resigns. Perhaps both men would handle the negotiations differently were they to have a second chance but its done now and the Bills have no coach.

From Pegula's perspective, I understand his reluctance to consider a contract extension for Marrone. He is yet to hire - either permanently or on a "contract" basis - a football expert to advise him on the state of his $1.4 billion investment in a business where he is not an expert. Perhaps he should have moved sooner to do so but the man he apparently wanted, current ESPN analyst and former Bills GM, Bill Polian, turned him down after Marrone opted out. He may not have done so if the coach was coming back. Marrone was apparently concerned about Polian coming in to the organization with too much authority - authority which he wanted some of anyway. So, Marrone quit because Polian might be coming and Polian turned down a front office job because Marrone had left. What are we to think of this?

It's easy for me to say this but surely Pegula could have explained to Marrone that he needed a bit more time to review the team's operations before extending coaching contracts. He could have thrown him a bone of some kind - in private, of course. This could have been an assurance that his job was safe and that he would have more authority over personnel decisions - whatever - even if the promises were made without knowing if they would be kept. Pegula has a public relations disaster on his hands now with a President and a GM who are both fearful of losing their jobs after an analysis by the owner's appointed expert. But there is no expert in place now. And the top coaching candidates are all going through the interview process this week with the list of teams looking to hire. Any candidate for the Bills job who may receive other offers will have to consider that the team has potential lame ducks in the front office, pending Pegula's review of operations. Other offers will not come with that level of uncertainty.

Pegula has said nothing publicly and I think its time that he does. Marrone has made no statement either but he's gone and it really doesn't matter. Pegula built a business empire and a personal fortune. Surely, he can take steps to calm the fan base and bring stability to the front office, either by giving the President and the GM a vote of confidence or by cleaning house. He won't solve this one by pumping water deep underground. He needs to take charge, take action and do it fast.

Bills 17, Patriots 9

One account I read last night described the Patriots effort yesterday as "uninterested". There was certainly no sense of urgency about their game, especially in the second half and the Bills first win ever at Gillette Stadium will need an asterisk beside it to indicate that the Patriots had nothing to play for except for general consistency and avoiding injury. The stadium opened in 2002 and the Bills play there every year so a win there has been a long time coming, but still.

Week 17 in the NFL features 16 Sunday games - the only week where all 32 teams play on the same day - with no Thursday or Monday games and no byes. It was an exciting day in terms of what was at stake in some of the games but the key games themselves generally lacked drama. The Atlanta Falcons were embarrassed at home by the Panthers in the NFC South Bowl and Black Monday will probably mark the end for coach Mike Smith. The Detroit Lions string of losses at Lambeau Field makes the Bills losing streak in Foxborough look tame in comparison as the Lions, who also play there every year, have not won in Green Bay since 1991. They gave up a chance to win their division and host a home playoff game and will now travel to Dallas on Sunday for a first round match-up. The Steelers also won at home and sent the Bengals to Indianapolis on Sunday. Pittsburgh will host Baltimore on Saturday. The Panthers will be home to the Arizona Cardinals on Saturday.

As for the Bills, President Russ Brandon dispelled rumours yesterday that former General Manager and the architect of the Bills Superbowl teams, Bill Polian, would be returning to the team as early as today. Coach Doug Marrone looks secure for another season as the Bills registered their first winning season in 10 years. GM Doug Whaley may be more vulnerable. He has clearly brought in some good talent, especially on defence but he is also responsible for two key moves which look questionable in retrospect: the over-reaching in last year's draft for quarterback EJ Manuel who, after two seasons, has not lived up to his first round draft position. Second was the trading of the team's first round pick in the 2015 draft to get wideout Sammy Watkins this year. Watkins had a good season and will be a key offensive contributor for years to come but the price of a first round pick for him now seems too high as a couple of other rookie receivers (like Odell Beckham) have posted seasons just as good or better than Watkins has but without the steep price. Whaley saw something in Manuel which just isn't there yet and he gambled that drafting Watlkins would create a powerful combination between the two which never materialized. The key question for the team and whoever the GM is, as it has been since Jim Kelly retired after the 1996 season, is who will be the quarterback. The fan base will likely not be satisfied if they decide to ride Kyle Orton again and with no first round pick, the draft is less likely to produce the franchise quarterback the team needs. A trade? Jay Cutler will probably be available but he has had character issues - which is why he will be available. With a top ten quarterback, I wonder how well this year's team with its awesome defence would have done.

Overall, the 2014 Bills season has been successful as their 9-7 record indicates. After all, I haven't resorted to political rants even once this year (I don't think). I will post after the Superbowl and possibly beforehand if there's something which grabs me.

Raiders 26, Bills 24

Bills defensive tackle Marcel Dareus is signed through the 2015 season, after which he will be an unrestricted free agent, having completed his five year contract. If I were his agent, I would be approaching Doug Whaley this week to discuss an extension. His bargaining position peaked after he left yesterday's game in Oakland with what looked to be a knee injury. With Dareus no longer plugging up the interior of the Bills defensive line, the Raiders began to run the ball seemingly at will which, as it always does, opened later opportunities in the passing game as they officially ended Buffalo's slim playoff hopes. As soon as Dareus left the game, it was like the team collapsed. The Raiders offence moved the ball and their defense stopped the run and found their pass rush too. A late touchdown by the Bills made the score close than the game really was. Just before the Raiders converted on a third down and 22 in the fourth quarter, I jinxed it by saying that if they made it, they deserved to win the game

So, the Bills continue to extend the NFL's longest current playoff drought as they will have to wait until at least next year to play their first post-season game since the Music City Miracle some 15 years ago. CBS decided to show that infamous play near the end of yesterday's broadcast to remind Bills fans of just how long it's been. It looked like footage from a different era (and I guess it was) as it was non-HD. Rob Johnson was quarterbacking the team that day in Nashville (and ironically led the team to what should have been a playoff win) in case anyone had forgotten his name. Now that the Bills have been eliminated, I no longer need to worry about the Bengals losing twice or about needing two teams to tie - or, for that matter about trying to win in Foxborough next week.

Doug Marrone will surely be back next year. But Bills fans will wonder who will be under centre next September. Will EJ Manuel start on Sunday in New England and begin the process of earning his starting job back which he lost after week 4? Or will the team try to ride the workmanlike Kyle Orton again? With no pick in the first round of next year's draft, it is possible that the franchise quarterback could be found in the second round, but it doesn't seem likely. How would this year's team have done with an elite quarterback throwing to Sammy Watkins? The Bills very good defense will be a year older next year and the window may be closing on players like Kyle and Mario Williams. Or not. Teams can change so much year to year but the Bills seem to swing between simply being bad and then being mediocre or slightly better. The defining play this season was Bryce Brown's fumble on his way into the endzone against the Chiefs.

I felt a little sorry for the Arizona Cardinals last night. They had a chance to clinch home field and a good chance to be the first ever team to play in a Superbowl in its home stadium. But a third string quarterback going against the Seattle secondary had no chance and now the Seahawks look like they could be the league's first repeat Superbowl winners since Denver in 1999. And if the Broncos lose tonight, the Patriots wrap up home field advantage through the AFC playoffs and look to be a good bet to get back to the Superbowl and maybe even win it for the first time in 10 years.