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This past weekend's wild-card games in the NFL revealed a glaring fact about the current league: it's mediocre. That's a good thing for the Buffalo Bills , a team that went 7-9 during the season and played some of this year's playoff teams tough.
In Buffalo's conference, the AFC, the New England Patriots feasted on the New York Jets in a 37-16 trouncing in Massachusetts on Sunday. Saturday afternoon saw the home Indianapolis Colts win ugly over the 9-7 Kansas City Chiefs , 23-8.
Of the above four teams, the only one the Bills didn't play during the regular season was Kansas City.
They battled division rivals New England and New York twice, with mixed results. In Buffalo's opening game of the season, it traveled to New England, losing a heartbreaker by a score of 19-17. The next time the two teams met, in October, the Pats crushed the Bills, 28-6. As for the two Jet games, the western New Yorkers dropped a Week 3 thriller, 28-20, and manhandled New Jersey's finest by nearly three touchdowns, 31-13, in Week 15 at the Meadowlands. Finally, in a November matchup in Indianapolis, the upstart Bills stayed close before falling by a single point, 17-16.
Aside from their 22-point loss to New England, the Bills fought tooth and nail against the conference's wild-card game participants. To be fair to Buffalo, the team was at its lowest point of the season in its second loss to the Patriots. Quarterback J.P. Losman was, in the minds of many, on the verge of hitting the bench in favor of either Kelly Holcomb or Craig Nall, and neither the offensive line nor defense were faring well.
Once Buffalo made some roster adjustments - including an O-line shift - it began to play much more competitive football in the second half of the season, growing from a 2-5 team at its bye week to a better 5-4 in the last nine games of the year.
Ultimately, the fact of the matter is that the Dick Jauron- and Losman-led Bills may not be far off from being a contender in their conference. Despite what appears to be a lack of talent, any team (aside from Detroit, Oakland and Arizona) can compete in the current NFL. How else did the Jets finish 10-6 and make the playoffs? They didn't exactly have any noteworthy stars.
Frankly, Buffalo was probably the better team. The same can be said about the average-at-best Chiefs, a team that looked pathetic against the Colts' horrid defense. Kansas City, led by the attack of all-world running back Larry Johnson, couldn't gain a first down until the third quarter. Losman and Co. probably could have done better, in all honesty.
In Buffalo's conference, the AFC, the New England Patriots feasted on the New York Jets in a 37-16 trouncing in Massachusetts on Sunday. Saturday afternoon saw the home Indianapolis Colts win ugly over the 9-7 Kansas City Chiefs , 23-8.
Of the above four teams, the only one the Bills didn't play during the regular season was Kansas City.
They battled division rivals New England and New York twice, with mixed results. In Buffalo's opening game of the season, it traveled to New England, losing a heartbreaker by a score of 19-17. The next time the two teams met, in October, the Pats crushed the Bills, 28-6. As for the two Jet games, the western New Yorkers dropped a Week 3 thriller, 28-20, and manhandled New Jersey's finest by nearly three touchdowns, 31-13, in Week 15 at the Meadowlands. Finally, in a November matchup in Indianapolis, the upstart Bills stayed close before falling by a single point, 17-16.
Aside from their 22-point loss to New England, the Bills fought tooth and nail against the conference's wild-card game participants. To be fair to Buffalo, the team was at its lowest point of the season in its second loss to the Patriots. Quarterback J.P. Losman was, in the minds of many, on the verge of hitting the bench in favor of either Kelly Holcomb or Craig Nall, and neither the offensive line nor defense were faring well.
Once Buffalo made some roster adjustments - including an O-line shift - it began to play much more competitive football in the second half of the season, growing from a 2-5 team at its bye week to a better 5-4 in the last nine games of the year.
Ultimately, the fact of the matter is that the Dick Jauron- and Losman-led Bills may not be far off from being a contender in their conference. Despite what appears to be a lack of talent, any team (aside from Detroit, Oakland and Arizona) can compete in the current NFL. How else did the Jets finish 10-6 and make the playoffs? They didn't exactly have any noteworthy stars.
Frankly, Buffalo was probably the better team. The same can be said about the average-at-best Chiefs, a team that looked pathetic against the Colts' horrid defense. Kansas City, led by the attack of all-world running back Larry Johnson, couldn't gain a first down until the third quarter. Losman and Co. probably could have done better, in all honesty.
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