Wow. If the Buffalo Bills getting demolished on Sunday in Miami 30-13 at Hard Rock Stadium in the episodic pouring rain wasn’t a smack in the face of fans of Buffalo sports, then realizing the chances of winning the AFCE also just took a nosedive should finish the job for us.
November is a cruel month in Buffalo. The weather turns nasty, it’s dark by 5 p.m. and it’s usually around this time when reality hits for fans of both the Bills and Sabres. Cue up yet another season filled with the sound of those bubbles of irrational exuberance bursting before Thanksgiving… as we drown our sorrows eating a plate of pierogis.
I’m not here today to be a cheerleader or doomsayer.
What I am here to convey is a sense of disappointment about what I heard on Sunday from Josh Allen at his press conference following the game. Basically he said the team failed to win the game because they didn’t want it more than their opponent.
Really.
When the team’s quarterback admits the team didn’t have the will to win the game more than their (then) 2-7 division opponent, I have to question why I would waste a nanosecond caring about their losing a game they had no business losing. Life takes on a different set of priorities when you get old and I now refuse to waste my time lamenting things out of my control.
So I don’t get upset like I used to when the Buffalo Bills play a horrible game of football on any given Sunday. Part of what I learned about myself (and only ‘speaking’ for myself) is that my regional sense of self esteem as a native WNYer used to be very much tied to the fun and the foibles of our beloved sports teams.
Our unholy and unhealthy attachment to the Buffalo Bills ruptured like Michael Hoecht’s Achilles tendon on Sunday. The scar tissue runs so deep inside us we didn’t even see the rupture coming before it emotionally incapacitated us. This wasn’t just another loss to a division rival, it was the weary look on Josh’s face after the game that appeared all too familiar over the decades and brought back a familiar sense of nausea.
Can this team go on a tear and still win it all?
Chances are more likely one could successfully grow pineapples outside during the winter in Cheektowaga.
This iteration of the Bills appears old, tired and more like a bunch of overpaid veterans than a team on the rise. It’s exhausting to think about needing a major rebuild again before the team starts playing in a shiny new stadium next season, but here we are.
Matt Milano, Taron Johnson and Tre’Davious White’s best days are behind them. We also can’t look away and ignore how ineffective Terrel Bernard and Keon Coleman have been this season. At least Keon is on a rookie deal, but how can Buffalo justify continuing to pay Bernard as a substandard option at middle linebacker?
The Bills are no longer the darling of the NFL… that would be the Indianapolis Colts and the New England Patriots at this point of the season.
There is still time for Buffalo to go on a run, but this team appears ill equipped to deal with adversity. Injuries happen to every team but when the quarterback admits the team was not prepared and did not want to win the game more than a divisional opponent, there may be more problems than the team can solve this season.
Editor’s babble: Take care of yourselves, Bills fans. The fate of the team this season should not rule your mood. You can find this and more of my nonsense on Xwitter @RobynMundyWYO.
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