I love that every 4 years that the Bills play the NFC East. For me that means that there are 3 games a year I get to watch from the comfort of my own home. I always keep telling myself that the Bills were their best when I could watch a game in my pajamas as a kid. However, they’ve beaten the Jets a couple times in boring Meadowland affairs, and have gone on for tragic primetime losses to the Cowboys and Patriots while I watched at home. So, technically, watching at home is infinitely worse than watching at Kelly’s. But my general laziness and my lack of enthusiasm for crowds make me continue to hold on to the belief that the Bills are better when I’m at home. Clearly, the Giants and Fitzpatrick were intent to prove me wrong.
I really thought after the Namaan Roosevelt touchdown that the game was over. I thought the Bills had the whole thing wrapped up. The Bills had all the momentum; they had exposed the Giants weak secondary as bad tacklers. Even after the Giants fought to kick a field goal to make it 14-10, the Bills started a drive at their own 23. They ate up clock and moved the ball to the Giants 22. At that point it felt like the Bills were going to score TDs, and the Giants were going to waste time with FGs. I liked that. I liked that a lot.
The next three plays changed the game from a possible blow out to nailbiting shootout where both teams would move the ball with ease. At the 22 yard line, the Bills had first down. As an illustrative point, if they kicked the field goal on 1st and 10 from the 22, it would have been a 40 yard field goal. This is within Fancy I’s automatic range.
On first down Fitz was sacked for a 6 yard loss. Pears for Fears let his man traipse around him. At least Pears had the good mind to hunt the fumble down before the fumble even happened. That’s how badly he got beaten. Now it was second down from the 28. If they kick the field goal there, it would have been a 46 yard field goal. Still doable for Fancy I, not that I am suggesting that they should have kicked a field goal on 2nd down. Fancy I would hit a longer one at 49 yards later in the game.
Second down was an incompletion. On 3rd down he took a sack. It was the most Losmanian/Edwardian thing I’ve seen in a while. And this guy went toHarvard. My belowHarvard education was screaming throw it away! Maybe not even a D3 QB would have taken the sack. He took a 10 yard sack that pushed them from a 40 yard field goal to a 56 yard field goal. This was definitely in the career long range for Fancy I. The Bills punted, and the Giants drove to make it a 17-14 game. That totally changed the game’s complexion.
Then we have the interceptions. Those were frustrating to see. Fitzpatrick threw the same INT twice in the same game, but alas, it is what it is.Fitzhad hit that same throw for a touchdown to Stevie in the Patriots game. He can make that throw. What made it frustrating was that Stevie had beaten the pants off ofWebsterboth times. If it was just thrown out there, Stevie might have been able to celebrating his second TD of the day with 7 minutes left to play. Oh well.
This loss is devastating because bad news seems to just pile up after Bills losses. Monday markets were down 200+ points, and we have 2 weeks with this loss.
DVD Extras
– Big loss – Potentially this loss really set the Bills back. Going in, they were tied for the lead in the AFC East with the tie breaker in hand. Now the Patriots are 1st, and we are second. Instead of being 2 games up on the Jets, we are 1 game up. There are now more 4-2 teams in the AFC. Despite the positives of being in a game on the road despite losing the turnover battle, they gave up a great chance to be able to rest later in the season. I’m worried about the long term ramifications of this loss.
– Injuries – The Bills injuries aren’t as numerous as the Jauron days, but they are coming to more key guys. It was obvious that the below average defense really needsKyleWilliams andShawneMerriman to put the mild level of pressure that they do occasionally get.DonaldJones is clearly Fitzpatrick’s guy on long passes. They struggled to move the ball after Jones went out in the Eagles game. Now with Hairston out, the Bills line is becoming less than reliable. This bye week hopefully came at a great time.
– Second Halves – For 3 straight weeks, the Bills second half performance has been less impressive than their first half performance. I’m beginning to worry.
– The Second INT – I was not that angry that the Bills went to the air with 4 minutes on 1st and ten inside the red zone. It was a gutsy call to say the least. It was a winner’s move. Fred Jackson had 121 yards rushing, but when you back out his 80 yard run, he only averaged 2.7 yards a carry. You are essentially playing for the FG if you are trying to run the clock. You don’t want the Bills defense trying to protect a 3 point lead with 2 minutes to go. They’ve thrown that pass to Stevie in the Patriots comeback game. It’s worked in the past. Perhaps it was just a bad game. At least let’s hope that’s what it is.
– Pass interference? – Ok, Florence would be the first one to tell you he had a bad game. In fact, he did. He took full responsibility for his play. That being said, what was frustrating was his pass interference was no different than what the Giants did earlier on 3rd and 5. The first drive of the second half, the Bills had moved the ball and had 3rd and 5 at mid field. Fred Jackson got shoved to the ground with Fitz throwing the ball his direction. The defender never turned back and made contact, yet no call happened. It’s not that the refs had it out for us, but their pass interference was hard to decipher. There was a down where the Bills mugged one of their receiver more so than any of the other calls. It went uncalled. Somhow the refs league wide have had the worst of it from the lockout. In week 6 they still aren’t getting much right.
– McGee – He may be old, but he tattooed Manningham, whom my sister thought was named Mammogram at first glance of his jersey.
– Watching the game with the Sis – My sister, Nandita, swung by. She specifically asked that I not do this, but seeing that I’m the younger brother, I have to do this. These are the rules of nature between siblings. The Bills were winning before she showed up. Nandita was appauled at the all white jersey’s of the Bills, which I also noted as not being the greatest look. She made it a little more fashion focused by saying, “all white after labor day?” It is a fair point. Get us the blue pants, Buffalo! She did do the right thing and leave when the game was tied again at 24. And she took me to a broadway show afterwards. The show was called “Ching-lish” and should you find yourself in NYC in the coming months, I’d highly recommend it.
– Angering my Sis: Part 2 – The brilliant Nandita Shenoy is a Yale grad. When I told her that Fitzpatrick had a quote that said, “our offense isn’t that complex, a yalie could get it,” she was as angry as I thought she’d be. I happened to rub it in a little more. “Nandita, Dick Jauron was a Yalie; he definitely didn’t get offense, so perhaps Yalie’s wouldn’t get the current offense.” Thinking back on it, I’m not sure if this is when she left or not.
– Giants Last second field goal – I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you that I was hoping Tynes would miss wide right. He almost missed his first field goal wide left. I also had hoped that Dareus got to have the mammoth Leon Seals sack on Manning. That too never materialized. Where are the football gods with their good sense of humor when you need them?
– Wide right – Must we see that clip every time these two teams play? That clip is like snakes for me. I hate snakes. Even when they are on TV, I have to look away. This clip is the same. The second they showed that zapruder like film (who new 1990 television was that grainy) I look down. I haven’t seen highlights from that game, ever. I just remember every play like it was last week’s game.
– Guy at work – For the first time since the Sabres lost to the Penguins in the 2002 series, I entered into a bet with a co-worker. The loser bought the winner lunch. This is the first time in 9 years that a bet came up that I actually was like, “ok, I might not be buying lunch for the other guy.” Guess not. Lunch terms were never specified, so I think he’s going to love getting his monopoly game piece from Macdonalds. Do you get a monopoly game piece on dollar menu items?
– Dez Bryant, GET A BELT – If any of you watched the Dallas New England game in hopes that we could still be the top of the AFC East, you were probably treated to Dez Bryant being de-panted 2 times on the same drive. First, get a belt. Second, wear those spandex suits underneath your equipment like everyone else. Where are the conservatives now? They got up in arms about a nipple at a football game. Where is their outrage of an ass during a football game? A man’s ass is always more offensive than a lady’s nipple.
– Terrible Fan – My buddy, Kevin Gay with whom I do a weekly Sabres podcast called “The Sabre Gutcheck” available on iTunes (I think that self promotion was hardly noticeable), and I went to Kelly’s for the Sabres home opener. If you’ve listened to the podcast, which I’m almost sure none of you have, you’d know Kevin is the realist and I’m the emotional swing. Kevin and I were questioning before the game if Kelly’s would be packed. Kevin said, “it was last year, but maybe the Bills are keeping some people at bay since they are coming on Sunday.” I fired up, “the good thing about these two duelingBuffalo seasons is that the Bills Super Bowl parade will really fix any issues by the time we do the Sabres championship parade later in the year.” Kevin looked at me stunned; I looked on satisfied. I believe Tyra refers to this as “fierce” and “owning it.” However, since they lost that game and then the Bills lost, all championship talk must be shelved for at least 2 weeks.
– Coach fight – The 49ers and Lions game ended in a scuffle between the coaches. This is becoming like a Team Angelina/ Team Jen division. Personally, I thought Harbaugh ran over without any interest to actually shake hands. He shoved Schwartz out of the way like Seinfeld pushing Elaine in the episode of “the Big Race”. This goes back to my point about how people look at others do douchey things and call it, “competitiveness.” There isn’t even really a fine line between competitive and douchebag. Douchebag’s shove the loser out of the way, Competitors say, “did you just shove me? I’m going to chase you down and trash talk.” If this was the Bills and Chan was like, “you just shoved me aside, I’m chasing you down.” Don’t you think that helps the players in the locker room? Don’t you think they are like, “wow, our guy who tells us to man up on every play actually just did it himself. He isn’t just a talker, he’s a doer.” I think the Lions come out of that loss charged up and dismantle whoever it is they play next week. Mark me down for team Schwartz. Also I’d like to see how the NFL handles two players sprinting 50 yards down the field needing to be separated from one another. I hope those players aren’t fined.
– Sabre/Islander side note that intrigues only me – Rick Dipietro is hurt yet again. The oft-injured Islander has a concussion. I read that they man has only played 39 games in 3 years. Ryan Miller has only missed 51 games in 3 years. If we were to put together an all fragile team, we’d have Dipietro in net, Connolly at Center. Who else is on that line?
Kevin Shenoy can be reached at onefansview@gmail.com. @KevinShenoy is the twitter handle.
