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By JERRY SULLIVAN
Buffalo News
11/17/2002
Bills may be tied at the top, but it still doesn't feel like first place
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Nine games in. Tied for first place in the division. Back in August, when the Buffalo Bills were stumbling through the preseason, you would have taken it in a heartbeat, wouldn't you? You were hopeful but wary, confident that the Bills would be improved but prepared for them to be average, a team in transition.
So it must be an unexpected joy to see them tied atop the AFC East in the middle of November. When you're in first place, looking out over the NFL's vast, mediocre landscape, all things seem possible. But you might as well enjoy the view while you can.
Somehow, it doesn't feel like first place. I can't smell it. I can't taste it. First place was the Bills of 1988 or '90 or '91, racing out to 8-1 records after nine weeks and looking back with contempt at the trampled opposition in their wake. That's how first place is supposed to feel - inviolate, inevitable and secure.
This Bills team seems more like an intruder, like someone who wandered into the wrong party by mistake. Yes, they're 5-4; they control their own destiny; they could win the division and make the playoffs, maybe even get a bye. But they still seem like an average team to me, a team that's tied for first place and fighting for its life at the same time. ...MORE...
Buffalo News
11/17/2002
Bills may be tied at the top, but it still doesn't feel like first place
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Nine games in. Tied for first place in the division. Back in August, when the Buffalo Bills were stumbling through the preseason, you would have taken it in a heartbeat, wouldn't you? You were hopeful but wary, confident that the Bills would be improved but prepared for them to be average, a team in transition.
So it must be an unexpected joy to see them tied atop the AFC East in the middle of November. When you're in first place, looking out over the NFL's vast, mediocre landscape, all things seem possible. But you might as well enjoy the view while you can.
Somehow, it doesn't feel like first place. I can't smell it. I can't taste it. First place was the Bills of 1988 or '90 or '91, racing out to 8-1 records after nine weeks and looking back with contempt at the trampled opposition in their wake. That's how first place is supposed to feel - inviolate, inevitable and secure.
This Bills team seems more like an intruder, like someone who wandered into the wrong party by mistake. Yes, they're 5-4; they control their own destiny; they could win the division and make the playoffs, maybe even get a bye. But they still seem like an average team to me, a team that's tied for first place and fighting for its life at the same time. ...MORE...
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