Buffalo Bills: Time that playing in Orchard Park is a significant advantage

There is home field advantage in the NFL but it is time for the Buffalo Bills to take that up a notch.

Previously we highlighted what was going on from the last 3-0 start by the Buffalo Bills which ended in a 6-10 season.  I am not overconfident. If I was I would be reviewing the 2008 season which was the last time the Bills were 4-0.

That year Dick Jauron coached the Bills which had Captain Check-down himself, Trent Edwards, as their starting quarterback.  Both the coach and QB were peak performers at that time.

A 4-0 start that finished with a dismal 7-9 record with the coach getting rewarded a contract extension in the midst of the winning streak.  The quarterback had jerseys worn by thousands only to be available at Marshall’s shortly thereafter.

The stock people at that retail store must dislike each time the Bills fans go all-in on an unproven quarterback. The manufacturer make a surplus of the jerseys to compensate for the demand. That demand quickly halts at some point as reality becomes apparent.

The jerseys are then redirected to Marshalls.

That is when the stock people get tasked with putting all the abundance of jerseys out on the floor which requires an awful lot of boxes to open, product to unpacking and sorting as well as having to break down the boxes to be recycled.

That’s a lot of work to do throughout the post Jim Kelly era of rotating door quarterbacks. Todd Collins, Rob Johnson, J. P. Losman, Trent Edwards, Ryan Fitzpatrick and E.J. Manuel are just some of the Bills jerseys I recall being on display as the prices dropped in tiers until not one was remaining.

While the Bills have a quarterback likely not to follow in the footsteps of previous players in this role there is one small obstacle in the way of 4-0 before comparisons, praise or warnings begin.  New England. This Patriots team is fantastic. They have beat weak competition similar to our Bills. Unlike Buffalo, they have manhandled the weak competition. The Bills have needed to come from behind twice and also needed to defend against a possible comeback. That said, 3-0 is undefeated no matter how the W’s were secured.

Many times the Bills are a couple of turnovers or red zone executions away from the playoffs, but when the season is reviewed the results are either playoffs or not. The couple of bounces or referee calls that fans may blame are really insignificant. This is not like a child’s report card where the letter grade may have a plus or minus labeling the grade or a number identifying the effort level. In the NFL a win is a win and a loss is a loss.

Buffalo has the home field advantage which usually is huge with how loud it is in Orchard Park. Darrin Simmons, Bengals’ assistant coach, was noted as stating Orchard Park is as loud as Seattle if not louder. That is loud. Very loud. Just saying…..

Tom Brady talked about it this week and what it is like to play at New Era Field in front of Bills Mafia. He talked about no matter the circumstance, the fans are always into the game.

The  noise factor and other home field advantages have really not translated over to the win column though against the Patriots. That is not stating that the advantage has not made certain times difficult for the Pats. It may have made many situations difficult. However, the advantage has clearly not been significant enough to overcome the simple fact that New England has been much more talented, more disciplined and a better coached squad for the greater part of this century.

The few Bills’ victories over the Patriots in Orchard Park since Brady took over for Bledsoe points to the advantage of playing at home against the team from Boston being very minimal. If that is not accurate then New England just dominates in so many situations that they make the Bills home field advantage appear very ineffective and insignificant. They play through the noise and in many instances take the opposing teams fans out of the game by having leads early on.

One must keep in mind that the Patriots have dominated the NFL overall for the majority of this century. Buffalo has not been a punching bag opponent all alone.

Buffalo has also fielded very few good teams that fell to the Patriots at home.

This is a huge game. That said, after the game is in the books, win or loss, only 75% of the games for the season will be played Buffalo has proved that they are capable of missing the playoffs after a 4-0 start. However, they are also certainly not a lock to implode and miss the playoffs if they exit this weekend at 3-1.

Losing to New England is old. It isn’t fun. It is frustrating. It is also not a team anyone is embarrassed about if they lose to them home or away. How can you be ashamed losing to the greatest quarterback and coach of all time?

I am not overconfident. I am certainly not looking to justify a loss though. I purely want to be 4-0. I certainly want to beat the Patriots. If I had a choice of beating the Patriots and then going on to implode and miss the playoffs or lose the game and make the playoffs, I chose playoffs. That said, it has been a long century for Bills fans.