Well how does it feel Buffalo?
Over a day removed and I’m still somewhere between utter disbelief and
incredible giddiness myself. The Bills finally slayed the Tom Brady dragon and
won for the first time in 8 years against the New England Patriots. It was a
span of 15 straight losses since an opening day 2003 beat down to the tune of
31-0 over Brady and Belichick in which Brady threw 4 interceptions (sound
familiar?). Walking out onto Elmwood
Avenue after the game felt wonderful as I found
myself high-fiving strangers and feeling a sense of community I don’t feel that
often except in times of great tragedy or rejoicing.
I rode my bike to work this morning wearing a Bills jersey
with pride. I often wear a Bills jersey on a Friday before the weekend and on the
Monday following it during the football season. It might have been a
superstitious thing I used to do back in the day but I’ve been doing it so long
I can’t remember the origin, so don’t ask me why. One thing was very different
though. For the first time I was more expecting a person to beep “Let’s go Buffalo” at me as they
passed rather than some idiot guy yelling “The Bills Suck” and almost startling
me into a crash. Turns out neither happened but there’s still the ride home to
look forward to (yes, I am writing this during the day today at work).
Something that began last season with this team was that
despite the lousy 4-12 record, many of the games were quite exciting to watch. Ryan
Fitzpatrick aka “Fitzy” had a wild arm but he wasn’t afraid. He trusted his
playmakers to make plays for him, something many of his predecessors was unable
to do. Combine that with top notch smarts to go with his moxie and he was
starting to show signs that he could be a decent starter in this league. Coach
Chan Gailey’s offense was designed to take advantage of Fitzy’s strengths while
somewhat hiding his weaknesses. He’ll never have the big, strong arm and larger
than life stature that football fans clamor for in their quarterbacks but he
has all the intangibles the other guys who’ve been here since Jim Kelly have
lacked and when the Bills did not draft a quarterback of the future this past
April despite the fans’ rabid appetite for one, you had to think the
organization and more importantly the coaching staff had the utmost confidence
in the Harvard grad.
The team’s confidence in Fitzpatrick and many of the younger
players on the team last season is being rewarded now as guys like Stevie
Johnson are becoming stars and others like David Nelson, Eric Wood, Scott
Chandler, Donald Jones and about a dozen more are becoming vital cogs in the
core of this young team. It is one thing to be patient and Bills fans have had
to be nothing but since the 90’s, but in this case it seems like the current
regime are making much better personnel decisions which makes being patient
last year as the team lost three quarters of its’ games worth it. That journey
began only 19 games ago but unlike the last 4-5 rebuilding jobs Bills fans have
had to suffer through, this one seems to be on the right track.
This young team took another step and a huge one at that
yesterday vanquishing a hated rival who had dominated them for so long that you
could count the number of Bills players who had seen the last Buffalo
win over New England on one hand (2). They
believe in themselves and more importantly they believe in each other and this rag
tag bunch is learning how to win, how to finish games and how to compete with
the league’s elite teams. When the team was 3-0 in 2008 under Dick Jauron, it
felt more like dumb luck and wishful thinking while this time it feels like the
ride is just beginning.
Don’t believe me? Go to the stats. This was the first time a
Brady quarterbacked team has lost a game when they’ve had a 21 point lead. It’s
the 1st time EVER in NFL history a team has won back to back games when they’ve
trailed by at least 18 points in each. The Bills are scoring an average of
about 38 points in their first 3 games. You can’t “luck” into these things. It
takes talent, determination, execution, heart and good coaching.
Take the jerseys off the teams and you’d be hard pressed to
figure out which one was the Bills and which one was the battle tested, highly
touted Patriots squad. In fact in the 2nd half, the roles looked completely reversed.
The Patriots made the mistakes and let the Bills come back into the game and
the Bills fought their guts out and stole it from the Patriots. How many times
has that happened to the Bills… to us? We did it to them! How incredibly
satisfying is that? The Patriots fans had their guts ripped out for a change as
THEIR team blew it late.
As far as the game goes I’ll say this: I love Fred Jackson.
I like the progress Donald Jones and David Nelson are making. I’m thinking
about getting a Stevie Johnson jersey. I think Nick Barnett is a better LB for
this defense than Poz would have been. I love how the offensive live didn’t
allow any sacks of Fitzpatrick. It’s great to see the offensive playcalling be
able to adjust as the game does, and think on the move unlike other coaching
staffs we’ve had in Buffalo
during the last decade. I love how the Bills players are doing the “Buffalo jump” into the
stands after they score. I love how Fitzy shook off a rough start and came back
to play beautifully in the 2nd half (like Jim Kelly used to do) and
I love how this team wasn’t afraid, wouldn’t give up and wouldn’t back down,
even when New England fought back themselves and tied it.
While I do feel giddy about what’s happening, deep inside me
lies the natural skeptic and as someone who has witnessed regime after regime
come in and promise big things and leave empty handed for 15 years that skeptic
grew in power. I do wonder to myself, is this for real? Can the Bills make the
playoffs? I’m actually fighting the urges and thoughts that this team isn’t
quite ready yet for primetime because they are the ONLY undefeated team left in
the AFC! They are a very entertaining team. They are well coached for the first
time in well, seems like forever and parity has made this league so topsy-turvy
that it is completely possible to be horrible one year and great the next. BUT
let’s be honest, the Bills are not perfect. They gave up a ton of catches and
yards to Wes Welker and Rob Gronkowski. For the second straight week they were
unable to generate a single sack on defense. If this team can get a pass rush
going, they might be even more dangerous. A good place to start getting this
defense in gear is against a subpar opponent with an inexperienced quarterback,
and what do you know, this week’s game features both!
This week for the first time in a few years I am seriously
expecting a win. The Bungals of Cincinnati aren’t very good this year and they
are starting a rookie quarterback who is learning on the fly. It should be
party time for the Bills defense. For this team to take the next step, they
need to beat down teams like this. Winning games you are supposed to win is a
hallmark of the best teams. Considering how far we’ve come in such a short
period I can’t believe I’m saying this but I actually expect the Bills to win
next week. I expect them to win big. I don’t know if I’ve had this level of
expectation for a Bills team since the 90’s. It sure feels good. It feels good
to BILLieve again.
I BILLieve because the Bills have heart and guts. They play
hard for their coach and for each other. I really get the sense that these guys
are not a bunch of professionals thrown together but a tight knit group doing big
things and growing together. Ryan Fitzpatrick recently stated that Fred Jackson
is his favorite teammate of any he has ever had. That’s saying something when
he’s been on 3 different teams and spent 6 years in the NFL. That also says
something when you hear things like that and when you see Ralph Wilson Stadium looking
like a Friday night high school game with the Bills jumping into the stands and
partying with the crowd after the game the last few weeks. It looks genuine and
heartfelt. Winning can do that for you. Winning can bring everyone closer
together.
When the league locked out the players in the offseason
there was certainly a disconnect between the fans and the league. Fans blamed
the players AND the owners and watched in disbelief as the greed ran amok on
both sides. Those days, while only a few months back, now seem like forever ago
and it’s starting to feel more like these Bills are family rather than the
highly paid mercenaries fans painted them to be. We’re rooting for the
unheralded core of this team who are short on name recognition but big on heart.
We root for guys like Ryan Fitzpatrick, Fred Jackson, Stevie Johnson, Kyle
Williams, and David Nelson and on and on. These aren’t 1st round
draft picks that came to the NFL amid big expectations and were signed to big
dollars. These are late round draft picks and undrafted free agents, guys who
were an afterthought, some well traveled and given up on in several places, who
are finding a home here in Buffalo.
These overachievers have come together to provide this town with as much hope
and excitement as we’ve had in over a decade. A group of underdogs coming
together to find success in the ultimate underdog city… now that’s the kind of
story movies are made of. Hopefully this one will have a happy ending.
