Looking this morning at tie-breaker scenarios, if the Bills win at New England on Saturday and finish the season tied with the Patriots with the same win/loss record, the Patriots hold the tie-breaker and that can not and will not change over the course of the next two games. According to the NFL's tie-breaker rules which determine division champions for teams in the same division with identical records, the winner is determined by the following, in this order: first is head-to-head play; if the Bills win on Saturday, the teams would be tied in head-to-head play at 1-1. Second is each team's record against their other division opponents; if the Bills win their next two games and the Patriots lose at home in week 17 against the Dolphins, the teams again would be tied. The third (and in this case the determining ) tie-breaker is the two teams record among common opponents during the season. This is where the Patriots hold the edge, with a two game advantage in this category. Both teams lost to Baltimore this season but the Patriots won against the Eagles and the Browns - and the Bills lost to both of those teams earlier in the season.
For the Bills, the securing of their first home playoff game since the 1996 season (Jim Kelly's last) remains possible but will require that they not only win at Foxborough on Saturday but then they must put their faith in Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Miami Dolphins to win on the road in week 17, also in Foxborough, in a very meaningful game for the Patriots and one on which nothing much rides for the Dolphins. It could happen: the Dolphins will obviously have nothing to lose and can dig into their bag of tricks and find fake punts and flea-flickers along with their New Year's hats and balloons. But I don't give them much of a chance really. And if the Bills don't win on Saturday, it's all moot anyway. Either way, the Bills, who, if they do not capture the division, can finish no worse than the 5th seed in the AFC and would play at Houston in the wildcard round if the current standings hold. Buffalo's week 17 opponent at home is the New York Jets.
Although they are likely locked into the 5th seed and will probably not play at home in January, last night the Bills secured their first 10-win season in 20 years and also clinched a playoff birth for the second time in Sean McDermott's three seasons as Bills head coach. For a team which has endured also-ran status and has seen a revolving door of general managers, coaches and quarterbacks over the past two decades, it must feel pretty good. And it must feel quite different from the miraculous way they made their way into the playoffs two years ago as the team watched from its dressing room as Andy Dalton completed an unlikely 4th down touchdown pass in Baltimore. That was lucky. This is different. The team has a top-three defence and a quarterback who seems able to seize the moment in big games before national TV audiences.
It may take me a few days for me to recover from staying up way past my usual bedtime and enduring the stress of last night's 4th quarter which saw the Bills score 10 points and over come a 10-7 deficit against a good Steeler defence. It ended up taking two late interceptions - of the four the Bills made - to seal the win and send Bills nation into celebration mode. Third-string Steeler quarterback Devlin "Duck" Hodges played competently last night at times but the difference in the game, which matched two of the best defences in the league, was Josh Allen's play at quarterback. Although his statistics from last night look unimpressive, he did what was needed to win when it counted most. The first-ever NFL quarterback from the University of Wyoming has found a home in Buffalo.
Up next for the Bills is the aforementioned game in Foxborough on Saturday. Amazingly, it will be their third nationally televised game in the last four - and last week's game against the Ravens was the lead game on CBS and was seen by all of the "neutral" markets in the US (markets which have no team or whose team wasn't playing in the 1pm timeslot). The first two have gone well as the team posted wins in Dallas and Pittsburgh. Maybe next year, there will be a prime time home game. I'm getting weary just thinking about what time I'll get to bed after that one.
Commentary on the Buffalo Bills, politics and whatever else is on my mind
Monday, 16 December 2019
Monday, 9 December 2019
Ravens 24, Bills 17
Although it has history longer than Coca-Cola (by one year), I'm not sure if I've ever consumed a can or a bottle of the soft drink Dr. Pepper. Sold in the United States since 1885 and now available around much of the world, Dr. Pepper has long been a sponsor of American college football with its big-budget advertising campaigns appearing on nationally televised games for many years.
Since 2008, the Dr. Pepper Tuition Giveaway has been a halftime feature of college football Conference Championship games which are played on the last full weekend of play before the bowl games begin later in December. The Tuition Giveaway is a live halftime competition where two current or aspiring post-secondary students compete by throwing as many footballs into an oval shaped opening in a life-sized can of Dr. Pepper as they can in one minute from a distance of about ten yards. In recent years, winners have used the chest pass technique rather than using a traditional overhand football throw. In each competition, the winner receives $100,000 toward post-secondary tuition and the runner-up gets $25,000 (Dr. Pepper says it has given away more than $10 million over the past 12 years). In one of the games on Saturday, I happened to see one of these halftime competitions which was followed by a brief interview with the winner, a cheerful young woman whose goal is to attend medical school. "I want to thank God and I want to thank Dr. Pepper", she said in a rehearsed bit with the company's VP of marketing standing beside her with a giant cheque for $100,000. It reminded me of what a remarkable country the United States really is - one where a nationally promoted partnership between God and Dr. Pepper doesn't seem unusual until you think about it a little. This is a melding of three of the most important elements of what America is all about: football, religion and corporate power. If this particular young woman realizes her dream of being a doctor, she better have a can of Dr. Pepper on her desk to remind herself and her patients of who funded her education.
There were two very similar defensive plays which were critical in deciding NFL games yesterday - one in Orchard Park, NY and one in Foxborough, MA. The Bills almost completed their unlikely comeback but, trailing by seven points, Josh Allen's last minute 4th down pass intended for John Brown on the goal line was deflected away by Ravens cornerback Marcus Peters. This sealed the Ravens 11th win of the season and gave them the inside track to having home field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. The Patriots also found themselves down by seven with a chance to tie the game in the final seconds against the Chiefs. A 4th down Tom Brady pass thrown into the endzone toward Julian Edelman was deflected away by cornerback Bashaud Breeland, allowing the Chiefs to hang on for the win. The Patriots have now lost two games in a row and the Bills remain one game behind them with three games remaining, including a head-to-head match-up in week 16.
This NFL season has been quite successful from the league's perspective with improved television ratings, a welcome absence of criticism from Donald Trump and only a few minor off-field player indiscretions. The biggest area of concern is clearly the poor quality of the officiating which has been evident almost every week. Yesterday was no exception. The Bills final drive was aided by three penalties against the Ravens, including one personal foul call which was not discernible to me on replay. In the Patriots/Chiefs game, it was much worse. A key missed pass interference call cost the Chiefs but the Patriots were the victims of two particularly egregious missed calls - one where receiver N'Keal Harry was called out of bounds on a play where he not only wasn't out of bounds but the replay showed clearly that he actually scored a touchdown . Under the replay challenge rules, since the Patriots were fresh out of replay challenges and the play was not a "scoring play" (not ruled a touchdown on the field) and did not occur within the last two minutes, it was not reviewed. The other missed call was on a play where the Chiefs Travis Kelce was called down by contact but had actually fumbled. The call was reversed on review but, had the right call been made on the field, the Patriots would have advanced the fumble and probably scored. Make no mistake, I'm happy that the Patriots lost but the league has a growing credibility problem caused by too many bad calls by on-field officials. As for the rules around replay challenges, since the millions watching the game on television saw N'Keal Harry's foot clearly land in-bounds before he launched himself over the goal line, the fact that the play could not be reviewed just feels wrong.
Up next for the Bills is a trip to Pittsburgh to face the Steelers on Sunday Night Football. Jerry Sullivan wondered if the league and NBC might be second-guessing their decision to flex that game for next week after the Bills woeful offensive performance yesterday. C'mon Jerry, the Ravens defence is really good, isn't it?
Since 2008, the Dr. Pepper Tuition Giveaway has been a halftime feature of college football Conference Championship games which are played on the last full weekend of play before the bowl games begin later in December. The Tuition Giveaway is a live halftime competition where two current or aspiring post-secondary students compete by throwing as many footballs into an oval shaped opening in a life-sized can of Dr. Pepper as they can in one minute from a distance of about ten yards. In recent years, winners have used the chest pass technique rather than using a traditional overhand football throw. In each competition, the winner receives $100,000 toward post-secondary tuition and the runner-up gets $25,000 (Dr. Pepper says it has given away more than $10 million over the past 12 years). In one of the games on Saturday, I happened to see one of these halftime competitions which was followed by a brief interview with the winner, a cheerful young woman whose goal is to attend medical school. "I want to thank God and I want to thank Dr. Pepper", she said in a rehearsed bit with the company's VP of marketing standing beside her with a giant cheque for $100,000. It reminded me of what a remarkable country the United States really is - one where a nationally promoted partnership between God and Dr. Pepper doesn't seem unusual until you think about it a little. This is a melding of three of the most important elements of what America is all about: football, religion and corporate power. If this particular young woman realizes her dream of being a doctor, she better have a can of Dr. Pepper on her desk to remind herself and her patients of who funded her education.
There were two very similar defensive plays which were critical in deciding NFL games yesterday - one in Orchard Park, NY and one in Foxborough, MA. The Bills almost completed their unlikely comeback but, trailing by seven points, Josh Allen's last minute 4th down pass intended for John Brown on the goal line was deflected away by Ravens cornerback Marcus Peters. This sealed the Ravens 11th win of the season and gave them the inside track to having home field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. The Patriots also found themselves down by seven with a chance to tie the game in the final seconds against the Chiefs. A 4th down Tom Brady pass thrown into the endzone toward Julian Edelman was deflected away by cornerback Bashaud Breeland, allowing the Chiefs to hang on for the win. The Patriots have now lost two games in a row and the Bills remain one game behind them with three games remaining, including a head-to-head match-up in week 16.
This NFL season has been quite successful from the league's perspective with improved television ratings, a welcome absence of criticism from Donald Trump and only a few minor off-field player indiscretions. The biggest area of concern is clearly the poor quality of the officiating which has been evident almost every week. Yesterday was no exception. The Bills final drive was aided by three penalties against the Ravens, including one personal foul call which was not discernible to me on replay. In the Patriots/Chiefs game, it was much worse. A key missed pass interference call cost the Chiefs but the Patriots were the victims of two particularly egregious missed calls - one where receiver N'Keal Harry was called out of bounds on a play where he not only wasn't out of bounds but the replay showed clearly that he actually scored a touchdown . Under the replay challenge rules, since the Patriots were fresh out of replay challenges and the play was not a "scoring play" (not ruled a touchdown on the field) and did not occur within the last two minutes, it was not reviewed. The other missed call was on a play where the Chiefs Travis Kelce was called down by contact but had actually fumbled. The call was reversed on review but, had the right call been made on the field, the Patriots would have advanced the fumble and probably scored. Make no mistake, I'm happy that the Patriots lost but the league has a growing credibility problem caused by too many bad calls by on-field officials. As for the rules around replay challenges, since the millions watching the game on television saw N'Keal Harry's foot clearly land in-bounds before he launched himself over the goal line, the fact that the play could not be reviewed just feels wrong.
Up next for the Bills is a trip to Pittsburgh to face the Steelers on Sunday Night Football. Jerry Sullivan wondered if the league and NBC might be second-guessing their decision to flex that game for next week after the Bills woeful offensive performance yesterday. C'mon Jerry, the Ravens defence is really good, isn't it?
Monday, 2 December 2019
Bills 26, Cowboys 15
In the United States, Thanksgiving and football enjoy a long history together. Before professional football became by far the most watched television sport in America, Thanksgiving Day featured a slate of college football games. Some of those have now been relegated to the following day - Friday - when the sport of choice for most Americans is now contact shopping. Black Friday now features afternoon hockey and basketball games along with a handful of lower tier college football games.As for the fourth Thursday in November, make no mistake; the NFL rules the airwaves on Thanksgiving Day.
In 1934, the owner of the Detroit Lions saw an opportunity to raise the profile of his team and successfully lobbied the league to allow the Lions to play a game on the national holiday. Attendance was strong and the Lions have played a home game every year since. In 1966, Tex Schramm, the General Manager of the fledgling Dallas Cowboys sought the same opportunity from the NFL in order to boost interest and in-stadium attendance. The Cowboys inaugural Thanksgiving Day game drew more than 80,000 to the Cotton Bowl and another holiday tradition was born. NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle decreed that the St. Loiuis Cardinals would play Thanksgiving home games in place of the Cowboys in 1975 and in 1977 but, other than those two years, the Cowboys have had a home game, in the later afternoon time slot, on Thanksgiving Day every year since 1966. In 2006, a third prime time game was added to the holiday football viewing schedule.
Thursday's game at AT&T Stadium (the House that Jerry Built) was the first Thanksgiving game for the Buffalo Bills since they played in Detroit in 1994. As seven point underdogs, the Bills were facing a talented Cowboys team which was reeling from a tough loss to the Patriots four days earlier. Head coach Jason Garret was under pressure from owner / General Manager Jerry Jones and from an impatient fan base. The Cowboys needed to right their listing ship and their annual Thanksgiving game would be a perfect setting to do so. They took the opening kick-off and marched easily to the end zone for an early 7-0 lead, leaving Bills fans feeling that they were in for a long afternoon.
But those would be the only points the Cowboys scored until the game was essentially out of reach as the Bills chose the ideal time to dial up their best and most complete effort of the season. The defence looked fierce and Josh Allen got his wish of posting a win in Dallas followed by biting into a turkey leg which was handed to him by CBS field reporter Tracy Wolfson. For me, when receiver John Brown hit a wide open Devin Singletary for a touchdown on a gadget play late in the first half, I began believing that the Bills just might be able to pull off their biggest win in 20 years.
I was quite surprised over the weekend to read that Thursday's Cowboys v. Bills match-up generated huge television ratings. According to the CBS website, it was the most watched Thanksgiving Day game in 27 years and the most watched regular season game in the last three years. Average viewership was 32.5 million, surpassing the Academy Awards in February and making it the most watched television program in the US since the Superbowl. For context, the Superbowl attracts about 100 million viewers in the US every year, making it the gold standard in television viewership. My prediction would have been that the Cowboys Thanksgiving Day game ratings would see their highest levels in games against one of their division rivals (Giants, Eagles or Washington), not for a game against a small market AFC team which has struggled for national relevance for more than two decades. But I sense now that the Buffalo Bills have somehow generated an almost cult-like following among NFL watchers. In other words, it is now officially cool to be a fan of the Buffalo Bills. I've always know that of course. The NFL appears to agree, announcing yesterday that the Bills v. Steelers game on Sunday December 15th has been "flexed" from its original 1pm start time to the prime time Sunday Night Football game with an 8.20pm kick-off.
Michigan and Ohio State have played their annual rivalry game on the last Saturday in November since 1918. "The Game", as it is known was ranked by ESPN in 2000 as the greatest rivalry in North American sports. Twenty years later, its importance has diminished slightly but remains the biggest regular season game in the Big Ten. For Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, he probably wishes that it would disappear from the calendar as he is now a perfect 0-5 in these games, including an 0-3 record at the Big House which packed in more than 112,000 for Saturday's game. Ohio State scored two touchdowns in each quarter and sealed their entry to the four-team college football playoff. Harbaugh and the Wolverines will settle for a lower tier bowl game. Again.
As for the Bills, for now, they have found their way into the top three teams in the AFC (by record; they still occupy the fifth playoff seed) with a record of 9-3. After last night's Patriots loss in Houston, the current holder of the top seed in the AFC is the Baltimore Ravens who come to Orchard Park on Sunday. The Bills find themselves one game behind the Patriots with a head-to-head game with them in Foxborough on Saturday December 21st. The games just bigger and bigger from here.
In 1934, the owner of the Detroit Lions saw an opportunity to raise the profile of his team and successfully lobbied the league to allow the Lions to play a game on the national holiday. Attendance was strong and the Lions have played a home game every year since. In 1966, Tex Schramm, the General Manager of the fledgling Dallas Cowboys sought the same opportunity from the NFL in order to boost interest and in-stadium attendance. The Cowboys inaugural Thanksgiving Day game drew more than 80,000 to the Cotton Bowl and another holiday tradition was born. NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle decreed that the St. Loiuis Cardinals would play Thanksgiving home games in place of the Cowboys in 1975 and in 1977 but, other than those two years, the Cowboys have had a home game, in the later afternoon time slot, on Thanksgiving Day every year since 1966. In 2006, a third prime time game was added to the holiday football viewing schedule.
Thursday's game at AT&T Stadium (the House that Jerry Built) was the first Thanksgiving game for the Buffalo Bills since they played in Detroit in 1994. As seven point underdogs, the Bills were facing a talented Cowboys team which was reeling from a tough loss to the Patriots four days earlier. Head coach Jason Garret was under pressure from owner / General Manager Jerry Jones and from an impatient fan base. The Cowboys needed to right their listing ship and their annual Thanksgiving game would be a perfect setting to do so. They took the opening kick-off and marched easily to the end zone for an early 7-0 lead, leaving Bills fans feeling that they were in for a long afternoon.
But those would be the only points the Cowboys scored until the game was essentially out of reach as the Bills chose the ideal time to dial up their best and most complete effort of the season. The defence looked fierce and Josh Allen got his wish of posting a win in Dallas followed by biting into a turkey leg which was handed to him by CBS field reporter Tracy Wolfson. For me, when receiver John Brown hit a wide open Devin Singletary for a touchdown on a gadget play late in the first half, I began believing that the Bills just might be able to pull off their biggest win in 20 years.
I was quite surprised over the weekend to read that Thursday's Cowboys v. Bills match-up generated huge television ratings. According to the CBS website, it was the most watched Thanksgiving Day game in 27 years and the most watched regular season game in the last three years. Average viewership was 32.5 million, surpassing the Academy Awards in February and making it the most watched television program in the US since the Superbowl. For context, the Superbowl attracts about 100 million viewers in the US every year, making it the gold standard in television viewership. My prediction would have been that the Cowboys Thanksgiving Day game ratings would see their highest levels in games against one of their division rivals (Giants, Eagles or Washington), not for a game against a small market AFC team which has struggled for national relevance for more than two decades. But I sense now that the Buffalo Bills have somehow generated an almost cult-like following among NFL watchers. In other words, it is now officially cool to be a fan of the Buffalo Bills. I've always know that of course. The NFL appears to agree, announcing yesterday that the Bills v. Steelers game on Sunday December 15th has been "flexed" from its original 1pm start time to the prime time Sunday Night Football game with an 8.20pm kick-off.
Michigan and Ohio State have played their annual rivalry game on the last Saturday in November since 1918. "The Game", as it is known was ranked by ESPN in 2000 as the greatest rivalry in North American sports. Twenty years later, its importance has diminished slightly but remains the biggest regular season game in the Big Ten. For Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, he probably wishes that it would disappear from the calendar as he is now a perfect 0-5 in these games, including an 0-3 record at the Big House which packed in more than 112,000 for Saturday's game. Ohio State scored two touchdowns in each quarter and sealed their entry to the four-team college football playoff. Harbaugh and the Wolverines will settle for a lower tier bowl game. Again.
As for the Bills, for now, they have found their way into the top three teams in the AFC (by record; they still occupy the fifth playoff seed) with a record of 9-3. After last night's Patriots loss in Houston, the current holder of the top seed in the AFC is the Baltimore Ravens who come to Orchard Park on Sunday. The Bills find themselves one game behind the Patriots with a head-to-head game with them in Foxborough on Saturday December 21st. The games just bigger and bigger from here.
Monday, 25 November 2019
Bills 20, Broncos 3
Sometimes when I drive on Allen Road, I think of William R. Allen and the lengthy discussions in the 1970s surrounding the "Spadina Extension" to the road which now bears his name (and which was never built). The road's southernmost portion ends abruptly at Eglinton Avenue and this intersection is now quite often the scene of some of the worst traffic congestion in the City of Toronto. On the rare occasion when I find myself on Allen Road inching southbound toward Eglinton Avenue (and I'm done with pondering William R. Allen), I often think of the legendary NFL coach George Allen who coached the Rams and Washington from 1966 to 1977. Allen was known for his eccentricity, his paranoia and for being the first coach to put in 16 hour days - something that all NFL coaches now do regularly. Allen hired security guards to patrol the perimeter of his practice facilities for fear that his practices were being secretly observed and filmed. He also gave an up-and-coming coach named Marv Levy an NFL job as special teams coordinator of the Los Angeles Rams in 1970. Those are the first two Allens to be discussed here, with three more to come.
2019 will be known, among Allens worldwide, as their year in the NFL as no less than three Allens were under centre yesterday as NFL starting quarterbacks. One had a successful day, one had a decent game but came up short and the third has a long way to go if he wants to have a long career in the league. Let's start with Kyle Allen, the Texas A&M product, who almost quarterbacked the Carolina Panthers to a win in New Orleans but a missed field goal cost his team the game. He is now starting for the Panthers in place of the injured Cam Newton.
Allens two and three faced each other yesterday in Orchard Park. As the CBS graphic pointed out, it was only the fourth meeting in modern NFL history between teams whose starting quarterbacks bear the same sir name. Brandon Allen, who played his college football for the Arkansas Razorbacks, started the game for the Denver Broncos, replacing the injured Joe Flacco. He struggled for most of the day against the swirling winds of New Era Field and against the Bills defence which had a big game. The Broncos ended the day with only 9 first downs and a paltry total of 134 yards of offence. Allen looked overwhelmed at times against the Bills pass rush but threw only one interception on a route mix-up between quarterback and receiver.
Last but certainly not least, we turn to Bills quarterback Josh Allen. The good news is that he finally hit on a deep ball attempt - this time to John Brown on a play which was incomprehensibly called incomplete on the field but was ruled a touchdown after replay review. That sealed the game for Buffalo. Earlier on, Allen threw his first interception in 173 attempts and had another errant throw which should have been picked off but wasn't. His reversion to accuracy problems possibly had more to do with the wind than anything else as he threw the ball well for most of the day.
Congratulations this morning go to Bills running back Frank Gore who passed Barry Sanders for third place on the NFL's all-time rushing list. With 15,289 rushing yards in his career, Gore now stands behind only Emmitt Smith and Walter Payton. For his part, Devin Singletary carried 21 times for 106 yards to add to Gore's 65 yards.
Canadian football had a good final weekend with the Calgary Dinos winning the Vanier Cup before a decent crowd of more than 8,000 in Quebec City and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers capturing their first Grey Cup since 1990. A near 30 year championship drought is something that's not easy to maintain in a nine team league. And as critical as I was of Calgary football fans who boycotted the Mitchell Bowl last weekend, more than 35,000 attended the game at McMahon Stadium yesterday. As for how many paid full price for their tickets, well, whatever.
The Bills have their only scheduled nationally televised game of the regular season coming up on Thursday afternoon in Dallas (the flex schedule has created another one on Saturday December 21st in New England). The Cowboys lost a close one in New England yesterday in a monsoon and will present the biggest challenge of the season for the Bills since their week four loss to the Patriots. They will then have 10 days to prepare for the high-flying Baltimore Ravens who come to Orchard Park after playing the Rams tonight in Los Angeles and the 49ers at home next week. At 8-3, the Bills are finally embarking on a slate of important games in December.
2019 will be known, among Allens worldwide, as their year in the NFL as no less than three Allens were under centre yesterday as NFL starting quarterbacks. One had a successful day, one had a decent game but came up short and the third has a long way to go if he wants to have a long career in the league. Let's start with Kyle Allen, the Texas A&M product, who almost quarterbacked the Carolina Panthers to a win in New Orleans but a missed field goal cost his team the game. He is now starting for the Panthers in place of the injured Cam Newton.
Allens two and three faced each other yesterday in Orchard Park. As the CBS graphic pointed out, it was only the fourth meeting in modern NFL history between teams whose starting quarterbacks bear the same sir name. Brandon Allen, who played his college football for the Arkansas Razorbacks, started the game for the Denver Broncos, replacing the injured Joe Flacco. He struggled for most of the day against the swirling winds of New Era Field and against the Bills defence which had a big game. The Broncos ended the day with only 9 first downs and a paltry total of 134 yards of offence. Allen looked overwhelmed at times against the Bills pass rush but threw only one interception on a route mix-up between quarterback and receiver.
Last but certainly not least, we turn to Bills quarterback Josh Allen. The good news is that he finally hit on a deep ball attempt - this time to John Brown on a play which was incomprehensibly called incomplete on the field but was ruled a touchdown after replay review. That sealed the game for Buffalo. Earlier on, Allen threw his first interception in 173 attempts and had another errant throw which should have been picked off but wasn't. His reversion to accuracy problems possibly had more to do with the wind than anything else as he threw the ball well for most of the day.
Congratulations this morning go to Bills running back Frank Gore who passed Barry Sanders for third place on the NFL's all-time rushing list. With 15,289 rushing yards in his career, Gore now stands behind only Emmitt Smith and Walter Payton. For his part, Devin Singletary carried 21 times for 106 yards to add to Gore's 65 yards.
Canadian football had a good final weekend with the Calgary Dinos winning the Vanier Cup before a decent crowd of more than 8,000 in Quebec City and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers capturing their first Grey Cup since 1990. A near 30 year championship drought is something that's not easy to maintain in a nine team league. And as critical as I was of Calgary football fans who boycotted the Mitchell Bowl last weekend, more than 35,000 attended the game at McMahon Stadium yesterday. As for how many paid full price for their tickets, well, whatever.
The Bills have their only scheduled nationally televised game of the regular season coming up on Thursday afternoon in Dallas (the flex schedule has created another one on Saturday December 21st in New England). The Cowboys lost a close one in New England yesterday in a monsoon and will present the biggest challenge of the season for the Bills since their week four loss to the Patriots. They will then have 10 days to prepare for the high-flying Baltimore Ravens who come to Orchard Park after playing the Rams tonight in Los Angeles and the 49ers at home next week. At 8-3, the Bills are finally embarking on a slate of important games in December.
Sunday, 17 November 2019
Bills 37, Dolphins 20
As Jerry Sullivan tweeted yesterday, it really is too bad that Josh Allen can't play the Miami Dolphins every week. With Allen under centre, the Bills have put up 30 points three times, all of them against Miami - and his three highest passer ratings have also come against the Dolphins. Sure, their pass defence isn't very good but yesterday in south Florida, Allen had what looked to me to be his best game as a pro which should silence the small group of Bills fans who've been ever-so-quietly beating the drums about how he isn't progressing quickly enough - and calling WGR 550 to make their case against him and, believe it or not, as one caller yesterday morning did, to make the case for switching to Matt Barkley. But I'm quite pleased with Josh Allen's overall development and with how confidently and effectively he's playing this season and I'm positively giddy about him when I compare him to two of his 2018 draft class-mates: Sam Darnold and Baker Mayfield. Not to mention how he stacks up against Nathan Peterman, EJ Manuel, JP Losman, Trent Edwards, Jeff Tuel....need I continue? Allen was not sacked yesterday, did not turn the ball over and he has now thrown 163 passes without an interception. He showed his prowess in the running game again with a 36 yard scamper and a touchdown.
Possibly my favourite Marv Levy quote was one from the week leading up to one of the Superbowls. Replying to a reporter's question, Levy said "This is not a must-win; World War II was a must-win". Holding a Master's degree in British military history, Levy actually downplayed comparisons of football to war, explaining that he had fought in a war and that he thought war metaphors were not properly applicable to football. Levy was born in 1925 and served in the United States Army Air Forces (the predecessor to the USAF) from 1943 to 1946. He began coaching football in 1951. As a Jewish American who served in WW II, there is no question that a man like Marv Levy appreciates the sacrifices that were made. Ok now please stay with me here as I transition to Don Cherry (for the last time).
Cherry was born in 1934 and was 11 years old when the war ended - plenty old enough to remember it and to have a sense of how important it was. Whatever efforts he has made in his life to remind us of the significance of the contributions of Canadians (and others) to the war efforts of the first half of the 20th century are entirely understandable, if not commendable. His strong desire for the continued honouring of those who made the ultimate sacrifice in these wars is admirable too. But last weekend, he went too far and he knew it. Everyone involved apologized the following day except for him. Ron MacLean told us on Saturday night that, in the end, Don was not willing to take the steps which he was asked to take - which presumably included making a clear and sincere apology - in order to keep his job with Sportsnet. So, his long run is over. I generally appreciated his hockey analysis without always agreeing with it. Even some of the groups he insulted from time to time would tune in to hear him on Saturday nights. I recall a story told by Mark Hebscher who had attended a game at the Montreal Forum in a private box and watched in amazement as all of the televisions in all of the boxes changed to English CBC after the first period and then back to French when Cherry was done.
In three-down football, Hamilton and Winnipeg earned births to the 107th Grey Cup to be played on Sunday at McMahon Stadium in Calgary. The Montreal Carabins and the Calgary Dinosaurs will meet in the 55th Vanier Cup in Quebec City on Saturday. I tuned in a bit of the Mitchell Bowl on Saturday, won by Calgary over McMaster, and by my rough count from seeing shots of the stands, there could not have been more than 200 people in the stadium, other than the teams, coaches and trainers. For the Dinos, this was a home game and with a birth in the Championship at stake, the turnout was pathetic. I know that Canadian university football has pretty limited appeal but honestly Calgary.....I guess there is a chance to have a better showing for the Grey Cup but I am not optimistic that the stands will be full. The Grey Cup game should be played every year at Mosaic Stadium in Regina until further notice.
Up next for the Bills, after two road games, they return home to face the Denver Broncos on Sunday. The Broncos last won in Orchard Park in September, 2007 - a 15-14 win on a last second field goal in a game marred by a spinal injury to Bills receiver Kevin Everett. At 7-3, the Bills currently hold the fifth seed in the AFC. The schedule becomes much tougher over the final six games but I predict that Josh Allen and the rest of the team will rise to the level of their opponents and finish the season no worse than 10-6.
Possibly my favourite Marv Levy quote was one from the week leading up to one of the Superbowls. Replying to a reporter's question, Levy said "This is not a must-win; World War II was a must-win". Holding a Master's degree in British military history, Levy actually downplayed comparisons of football to war, explaining that he had fought in a war and that he thought war metaphors were not properly applicable to football. Levy was born in 1925 and served in the United States Army Air Forces (the predecessor to the USAF) from 1943 to 1946. He began coaching football in 1951. As a Jewish American who served in WW II, there is no question that a man like Marv Levy appreciates the sacrifices that were made. Ok now please stay with me here as I transition to Don Cherry (for the last time).
Cherry was born in 1934 and was 11 years old when the war ended - plenty old enough to remember it and to have a sense of how important it was. Whatever efforts he has made in his life to remind us of the significance of the contributions of Canadians (and others) to the war efforts of the first half of the 20th century are entirely understandable, if not commendable. His strong desire for the continued honouring of those who made the ultimate sacrifice in these wars is admirable too. But last weekend, he went too far and he knew it. Everyone involved apologized the following day except for him. Ron MacLean told us on Saturday night that, in the end, Don was not willing to take the steps which he was asked to take - which presumably included making a clear and sincere apology - in order to keep his job with Sportsnet. So, his long run is over. I generally appreciated his hockey analysis without always agreeing with it. Even some of the groups he insulted from time to time would tune in to hear him on Saturday nights. I recall a story told by Mark Hebscher who had attended a game at the Montreal Forum in a private box and watched in amazement as all of the televisions in all of the boxes changed to English CBC after the first period and then back to French when Cherry was done.
In three-down football, Hamilton and Winnipeg earned births to the 107th Grey Cup to be played on Sunday at McMahon Stadium in Calgary. The Montreal Carabins and the Calgary Dinosaurs will meet in the 55th Vanier Cup in Quebec City on Saturday. I tuned in a bit of the Mitchell Bowl on Saturday, won by Calgary over McMaster, and by my rough count from seeing shots of the stands, there could not have been more than 200 people in the stadium, other than the teams, coaches and trainers. For the Dinos, this was a home game and with a birth in the Championship at stake, the turnout was pathetic. I know that Canadian university football has pretty limited appeal but honestly Calgary.....I guess there is a chance to have a better showing for the Grey Cup but I am not optimistic that the stands will be full. The Grey Cup game should be played every year at Mosaic Stadium in Regina until further notice.
Up next for the Bills, after two road games, they return home to face the Denver Broncos on Sunday. The Broncos last won in Orchard Park in September, 2007 - a 15-14 win on a last second field goal in a game marred by a spinal injury to Bills receiver Kevin Everett. At 7-3, the Bills currently hold the fifth seed in the AFC. The schedule becomes much tougher over the final six games but I predict that Josh Allen and the rest of the team will rise to the level of their opponents and finish the season no worse than 10-6.
Monday, 11 November 2019
Browns 19, Bills 16
When Sean McDermott makes his list of things for his football team to work on going into its next game in south Florida, goal line defence will not likely be on it. The Bills amazingly stopped the Cleveland Browns on no less than 12 plays from inside the three yard line, on two separate series yesterday on the south shore of Lake Erie. Browns coach Fred Kitchens was prepared to roll a lucky 13 on a fourth down play but chose to kick a field goal when one of his offensive linemen was flagged for a false start. That field goal gave the Browns a 9-7 lead before halftime.
In a game which was frustrating to watch for fans of either team, the Bills took a four point lead with just over five minutes remaining on Josh Allen's second rushing touchdown of the game. Just before that, Allen fumbled the ball - yet again - on the four yard line but the ball was knocked forward to Jose Feliciano, whose ability to find just the right balance between his music and football careers, showed that he really does have a keen sense of smell for the ball by recovering it on the one yard line to not only preserve possession and extend the drive, but for a first down as well. After the touchdown, leading 16-12, the Bills appeared to seal the win as Jerry Hughes recovered a botched "hand-off" attempt by Baker Mayfield and scampered to the endzone for an apparent touchdown and a 22-12 Bills lead. But as soon as CBS rules analyst Gene Seratore, a long time NFL referee, said that in his opinion Mayfield's unsuccessful short vertical toss amounted to an incomplete pass, I knew that the Bills lead had been reduced again to four.
When kickers miss field goal attempts, headlines in the sports press often declare that "there is plenty of blame to go around". Well, yes there is for a Bills team which continued again yesterday to struggle on offence but kicker Stephen Hauschka not only missed on a 53 yard attempt to tie the game in perfectly decent weather conditions, but he also missed a 34 yard try earlier on. We can all count, as Andy Reid once said, and by my count, the missed field goals really made the difference in the game. The Bills have generally been solid in the place-kicking department over many years - think of names like Steve Christie and Ryan Lindell - and Hauschka had success in Baltimore, Denver and Seattle before coming to Buffalo in 2017. He has been quite consistent over the past three seasons with the Bills and in August signed a two-year contract extension which pays him $4 million per season.
The Bills remain on the road in week 11, travelling to Miami to face the red-hot Dolphins, winners of two straight games, including an upset road win in Indianapolis yesterday over the heavily favoured Colts. At 6-3, the Bills are still well positioned for a playoff spot in the relatively weak AFC.
Elsewhere in the football world, the CFL's Division Championship games are set with Hamilton hosting Edmonton and Winnipeg playing the Riders in Regina next Sunday. The Grey Cup is set for November 24th in Calgary whose Stampeders lost at home yesterday to the Bombers. Since the game at McMahon Stadium drew only 24,000 yesterday in Calgary, Grey Cup tickets, I presume, will be easy to come by.
There is something about Alabama coach Nick Saban which I don't like so I was happy to see his Crimson Tide (and the 100,000+ fans in Tuscoloosa who cheered Donald Trump) lose to LSU whose coach, Ed Orgeron, looks and talks like a mobster.
My neighbourhood high school football team in north Toronto is the Lawrence Park Panthers. The Panthers play on Thursday in the Tier 1 semi-finals against Richview CI at Esther Shiner stadium. I know one of the players who I expect will be able to get me a good seat for the 2pm kick.
Finally, to the good people of Canada - and I guess to you too Don Cherry - today is Remembrance Day so please take a moment at 11am to pay your respects. Maybe its time to remove Mr. Cherry from the public airwaves since he has failed or refused to apologize for his baffling comments on Saturday night - leaving that to his employer, Sportsnet and to his broadcast partner Ron McLean.
In a game which was frustrating to watch for fans of either team, the Bills took a four point lead with just over five minutes remaining on Josh Allen's second rushing touchdown of the game. Just before that, Allen fumbled the ball - yet again - on the four yard line but the ball was knocked forward to Jose Feliciano, whose ability to find just the right balance between his music and football careers, showed that he really does have a keen sense of smell for the ball by recovering it on the one yard line to not only preserve possession and extend the drive, but for a first down as well. After the touchdown, leading 16-12, the Bills appeared to seal the win as Jerry Hughes recovered a botched "hand-off" attempt by Baker Mayfield and scampered to the endzone for an apparent touchdown and a 22-12 Bills lead. But as soon as CBS rules analyst Gene Seratore, a long time NFL referee, said that in his opinion Mayfield's unsuccessful short vertical toss amounted to an incomplete pass, I knew that the Bills lead had been reduced again to four.
When kickers miss field goal attempts, headlines in the sports press often declare that "there is plenty of blame to go around". Well, yes there is for a Bills team which continued again yesterday to struggle on offence but kicker Stephen Hauschka not only missed on a 53 yard attempt to tie the game in perfectly decent weather conditions, but he also missed a 34 yard try earlier on. We can all count, as Andy Reid once said, and by my count, the missed field goals really made the difference in the game. The Bills have generally been solid in the place-kicking department over many years - think of names like Steve Christie and Ryan Lindell - and Hauschka had success in Baltimore, Denver and Seattle before coming to Buffalo in 2017. He has been quite consistent over the past three seasons with the Bills and in August signed a two-year contract extension which pays him $4 million per season.
The Bills remain on the road in week 11, travelling to Miami to face the red-hot Dolphins, winners of two straight games, including an upset road win in Indianapolis yesterday over the heavily favoured Colts. At 6-3, the Bills are still well positioned for a playoff spot in the relatively weak AFC.
Elsewhere in the football world, the CFL's Division Championship games are set with Hamilton hosting Edmonton and Winnipeg playing the Riders in Regina next Sunday. The Grey Cup is set for November 24th in Calgary whose Stampeders lost at home yesterday to the Bombers. Since the game at McMahon Stadium drew only 24,000 yesterday in Calgary, Grey Cup tickets, I presume, will be easy to come by.
There is something about Alabama coach Nick Saban which I don't like so I was happy to see his Crimson Tide (and the 100,000+ fans in Tuscoloosa who cheered Donald Trump) lose to LSU whose coach, Ed Orgeron, looks and talks like a mobster.
My neighbourhood high school football team in north Toronto is the Lawrence Park Panthers. The Panthers play on Thursday in the Tier 1 semi-finals against Richview CI at Esther Shiner stadium. I know one of the players who I expect will be able to get me a good seat for the 2pm kick.
Finally, to the good people of Canada - and I guess to you too Don Cherry - today is Remembrance Day so please take a moment at 11am to pay your respects. Maybe its time to remove Mr. Cherry from the public airwaves since he has failed or refused to apologize for his baffling comments on Saturday night - leaving that to his employer, Sportsnet and to his broadcast partner Ron McLean.
Monday, 4 November 2019
Bills 24, Washington 9
When Jerry Sullivan was relieved of his duties as a featured sports columnist for the Buffalo News a couple of years ago, he was widely considered to be the opposite of a "homer" sports journalist. Always seeming to find a dark cloud in any story, despite the silver lining of eternal optimism shared by fans of the Buffalo Bills, Sullivan was the subject of a petition which gained enough momentum for the western New York daily to move on from him, saying that he was just too negative for their readers. In a larger market, Sullivan's "glass half empty" approach to covering losing teams (remember the Bills missed the playoffs from 1999 to 2017) would have been considered appropriate in my view. But enough fans in Buffalo had read enough of his doom and gloom columns - even if they were pretty much accurate most of the time.
A couple of days before the Bills fell to the Eagles last Sunday, Sullivan shared with his Twitter followers another of his dire tidbits which was sure to rile up those (like me) who are still interested in what he has to say about the Bills. Sullivan dug up the fact that since 2000, including last week's game against the Eagles, the Bills have had 17 chances to record their sixth win in a season before the 11th game (in other words, to get to a record of 6-4 or better). Over the course of those 17 games, the Bills were a perfect 0-17. In the 2011 season, the Bills started 5-1 (as they did this year) and went 0-5 in trying to get to 6 wins before game 11. Many Buffalo sports fans will see this data point as typical Sullivan - trying to find the most depressing angle from which to evaluate the team and anticipate more Bills losses. Maybe he's disappointed this morning that the team finally broke the streak of 0-17 yesterday against Washington but I'm sure that he will find another equally dire trend to infuriate his readers as the Bills take their 6-2 record to Cleveland next week. Either way, I'll be reading what he has to say. This is the best start to a season for the Bills since their last Superbowl year in 1993 but Sullivan probably won't mention that.
I heard something that Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said the other day: with so many close games every week in the NFL, most games come down to which team is able to step up and execute in the last 10 minutes of the 4th quarter. The Bills allowed Washington, a team which had already fired its head coach earlier this season and was starting a rookie third-string quarterback yesterday, to hang around within one score in a 17-9 game. Then, as those critical final minutes began ticking down, the team stepped up on both sides of the ball and put the game out of reach. The defence stiffened and a Tre'davious White sack pinned Washington inside their five yard line, having to punt from their endzone. Josh Allen then led the team to the game-sealing touchdown - a two yard run by Devin Singletary.
Speaking of Singletary, the Bills rookie running back, only now appearing to be fully recovered from his early season hamstring injury, had a big day with 140 total yards. He had 20 carries for 95 yards on the ground and took a screen pass 49 yards for the game's biggest offensive play. As the featured running back yesterday, Singletary took the time to find running lanes and looked elusive and deceptively quick. On the other hand, Frank Gore, the highly respected veteran, seemed like he was banging his head against a brick wall with multiple unsuccessful straight ahead attempts in short yardage situations. He has been quite effective for the Bills this year but not yesterday. I predict that the combination of the two backs with very different styles will continue to work well with at least one of them finding running room each week. Adrian Peterson looked like the hardest player in the league to tackle in the first half yesterday as he repeatedly shed defenders who should have been able to bring him to the ground and was able to pile up 101 yards before the break but ended the game with only 7 more in the second half.
Going into yesterday, Washington had not played a game in Orchard Park since 2003. The 2011 game, won by the Bills 23-0, was played before a subdued crowd at the Rogers Centre in Toronto (I know it was subdued because I was there). The team from Washington is scheduled to play in Buffalo next in 2027.
Up next for the Bills is a short drive along the south shore of Lake Erie to visit their cousins, the Cleveland Browns. The Browns are coming off a loss at Denver yesterday and are now at 2-6 - quite disappointing for a team which was hoping to contend with Baker Mayfield in his second year and the signing of Odell Beckham Jr for him to throw to. I expect a large contingent of Bills Nation to make the drive to Cleveland for a chance to see the Bills improve to 7-2.
A couple of days before the Bills fell to the Eagles last Sunday, Sullivan shared with his Twitter followers another of his dire tidbits which was sure to rile up those (like me) who are still interested in what he has to say about the Bills. Sullivan dug up the fact that since 2000, including last week's game against the Eagles, the Bills have had 17 chances to record their sixth win in a season before the 11th game (in other words, to get to a record of 6-4 or better). Over the course of those 17 games, the Bills were a perfect 0-17. In the 2011 season, the Bills started 5-1 (as they did this year) and went 0-5 in trying to get to 6 wins before game 11. Many Buffalo sports fans will see this data point as typical Sullivan - trying to find the most depressing angle from which to evaluate the team and anticipate more Bills losses. Maybe he's disappointed this morning that the team finally broke the streak of 0-17 yesterday against Washington but I'm sure that he will find another equally dire trend to infuriate his readers as the Bills take their 6-2 record to Cleveland next week. Either way, I'll be reading what he has to say. This is the best start to a season for the Bills since their last Superbowl year in 1993 but Sullivan probably won't mention that.
I heard something that Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said the other day: with so many close games every week in the NFL, most games come down to which team is able to step up and execute in the last 10 minutes of the 4th quarter. The Bills allowed Washington, a team which had already fired its head coach earlier this season and was starting a rookie third-string quarterback yesterday, to hang around within one score in a 17-9 game. Then, as those critical final minutes began ticking down, the team stepped up on both sides of the ball and put the game out of reach. The defence stiffened and a Tre'davious White sack pinned Washington inside their five yard line, having to punt from their endzone. Josh Allen then led the team to the game-sealing touchdown - a two yard run by Devin Singletary.
Speaking of Singletary, the Bills rookie running back, only now appearing to be fully recovered from his early season hamstring injury, had a big day with 140 total yards. He had 20 carries for 95 yards on the ground and took a screen pass 49 yards for the game's biggest offensive play. As the featured running back yesterday, Singletary took the time to find running lanes and looked elusive and deceptively quick. On the other hand, Frank Gore, the highly respected veteran, seemed like he was banging his head against a brick wall with multiple unsuccessful straight ahead attempts in short yardage situations. He has been quite effective for the Bills this year but not yesterday. I predict that the combination of the two backs with very different styles will continue to work well with at least one of them finding running room each week. Adrian Peterson looked like the hardest player in the league to tackle in the first half yesterday as he repeatedly shed defenders who should have been able to bring him to the ground and was able to pile up 101 yards before the break but ended the game with only 7 more in the second half.
Going into yesterday, Washington had not played a game in Orchard Park since 2003. The 2011 game, won by the Bills 23-0, was played before a subdued crowd at the Rogers Centre in Toronto (I know it was subdued because I was there). The team from Washington is scheduled to play in Buffalo next in 2027.
Up next for the Bills is a short drive along the south shore of Lake Erie to visit their cousins, the Cleveland Browns. The Browns are coming off a loss at Denver yesterday and are now at 2-6 - quite disappointing for a team which was hoping to contend with Baker Mayfield in his second year and the signing of Odell Beckham Jr for him to throw to. I expect a large contingent of Bills Nation to make the drive to Cleveland for a chance to see the Bills improve to 7-2.
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