SAME OLE BILLS? HOPEFULLY NOT
Chan Gailey needs to light a fire in the Bills’ locker room in order to justify Fred Jackson’s most recent playoff predictions. If getting completely torn apart in back to back weeks isn’t motivation enough to ignite this team I’m not sure exactly what it will take. The Bills, who created a reputation for themselves earlier in the season with a tough, never say die mentality, have done a complete 180 highlighted by their last two performances, or lack there of.
The first Buffalo possession last Sunday began with a Demarcus Ware sack on quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick for a loss of 10 yards. Unfortunately this would foreshadow the rest of the afternoon as the Buffalo offense never recovered. On the day, Fitz finished with a sub 50 quarterback rating and three costly interceptions. He must play better football moving forward for this team to reach the post season, and to justify his recent 6 year 59 million dollar contract. The scariest thing about Ryan’s interceptions (And maybe his new contract) is that the majority of his picks have been poorly placed balls. I understand that football is a team effort and the team as a whole has been horrific, but history shows that successful teams posses stability at the quarterback position.
Tony Romo, on the other hand, completely torched the Bills’ defense, completing 23 of his 26 attempts while adding 3 touchdowns. If that wasn’t enough, DeMarco Murray added 135 yards and a touchdown on the ground, as the Bills found no answers for anything Dallas threw, or ran, in their direction. In addition, Leodis McKelvin may be the newest victim to an up and coming Dez Bryant poster, as Bryant literally plucked the ball from McKelvin’s hands on what appeared to be a slightly under thrown ball from Romo for the Cowboy’s first touchdown of the afternoon.
Where has the Buffalo resiliency gone? No way no, how would this team have folded up like that just a few short weeks ago. Is this 2008 all over again? Many of these questions will be answered this weekend as Buffalo faces a peaking Miami team in South Beach. They need not come just to play, but to win.
In a city that could benefit immensely from a successful football club, a city that deserves to win, lies much angst. We have been here before. History does repeat itself on occasion, but not just the bad. The glory will emerge again. Right?
The point is so many times in sports we, as admirers of the game cling to our superstitions, our curses. When in reality we may currently be witnessing a team littered with below average personnel. While our expectations have been set by a decade of underachievement and mediocrity, a fast start has us in the midst of contention. Now what do we do?
Typically this club does not fair well in the face of adversity. Maybe it’s due to our recent football culture in Western NY. Maybe we are cursed. Maybe our expectations are cause for our results. Whatever the case may be, if the Bills new uniforms, blue end zones, and all wish to take a step forward the choice is theirs, and theirs alone.
The beautiful thing about the game of football is that it’s not the team with the biggest names, prettiest stadium, or greatest economy that prevails. Its the mentality that on any given Sunday, I can and will be better than you today. It’s war, comprised of 11 individual battles and in most cases the team with the most individual victories emerges in triumph.
So while I do believe that there is room for “Curses” and skepticism in the game, I equally believe in “Fate” and hope. If the 2011 Buffalo Bills hope is to play a snap of post season ball, they must go and take it. No one is going to give them anything. This is the first real adversity the Bills will face and how they emerge will define them. It is necessary to come out of the gates this weekend with guns blazing, with the will to out work a scrappy Miami team. It’s time to find out what this team is made of. It’s time to move forward, to take the next step, to pave the road, back to glory. Go Bills!