Remember at the beginning of the season how I said that Ralph\u2019s fountain of youth is being a below .500 team? I\u2019m guessing right now the \u201cRocky\u201d montage is playing and Ralph is doing situps in the barn. The man must feel like a million bucks (or $700-800 million bucks).<\/p>\n
I hate to be so glum about the last 3 losses, but the Bills 0-8 run last year was vastly more enjoyable than this current 3 game losing skid. If you add up the 11, 7, and 8 points the Bills have scored from the last 3 weeks, you get 26 points. Those 26 points wouldn\u2019t\u00a0 beat the Jets\u2019 27, the Cowboys\u2019 44 or the Dolphins\u2019 35 from the previous weeks. Don\u2019t look now, but it\u2019s the ghost of Dick Jauron.<\/p>\n
The Bills looked capable for 4 minutes at the start of the game. Then Fitzpatrick threw a wildly inaccurate pass on 3rd<\/sup> down in the red zone, and the Bills never came close to being competitive again. There is good news though. There is the old saying, \u201cif a tree fell and no one was there to hear it, did it make a sound?\u201d Similarly, \u201cif the Bills get crushed in Miami, but there are no Dolphins fans there to see it, did it happen?\u201d I hate to keep spouting off on how large cities in and of themselves aren\u2019t reason enough to keep a team, but Miami has sucked for 7 games. People have fled like Dexter is hunting them down. Bills world has been awful for 15 years. We somehow keep coming back like moth to flame.<\/p>\n There is almost nothing else to say about the game. The defense didn\u2019t get off the field.\u00a0 While the defense has struggled all season with the rush, we haven\u2019t exactly seen wide receivers this open all season. Matt Moore was given a PS3 controller and asked to play video game football. I\u2019m not even sure if he needs to wash his uniform for next week.<\/p>\n One quick fix to stop the bleeding may be quite simple. The Bills DB coach needs to say the following words to the team. \u201cTurn around.\u201d That\u2019s it. Early in the game when a stop would have helped, Bills LB\u2019s and DB\u2019s had the coverage but ran with their back to the ball. The whole bar was screaming, \u201cturn around!\u201d Yet for 3 straight weeks our coverage guys are running like they are in a dog show. Full of vigor, content, and mostly clueless.<\/p>\n For all of us who were worried the Dolphins would get Andrew Luck, the worry is over. But the problem is any NFL QB, from starter to third string, is going to look pretty awesome and \u201cLuck-like\u201d if everyone is open and no one is rushing. The Bills are facing Andrew Luck every week. The likes of Sanchez, Romo and Moore are not great QBs. They are notoriously bad when pressured. Yet they stand back there like an uncle playing with the neighborhood kids.<\/p>\n On offense Fitzpatrick was throwing what Erik referred to as \u201chospital balls.\u201d I couldn\u2019t think of a better term. His inaccuracy is getting more out of control. He was throwing guys outstretched into the middle of the field. I wonder if the misfits feel as strongly about Fitz now as they did when they weren\u2019t getting hurt. The true display of how awful this is, Tyler Thigpen entered. This is like having your little sister sub in for you.<\/p>\n Prior to November, the Bills were 5-2 and in control of their lives. November has been awful. At this point, I don\u2019t even think they can beat Tennessee. I am preparing to buckle down and prepare for the NYC Jet contingent to gang up on me for a full week.<\/p>\n DVD Extras<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n –\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So long since this was fun<\/strong> \u2013 At work, we have a rotating password for our computers. Every 10 weeks or so, we have to change our passwords. Typically I find a sentence that captures my mood for that week. My last password change was the Monday after the Patriots game. The password for the last 10 weeks was derived from the sentence \u201cThe Bills beat the Pats today. Life\u2019s good.\u201d My password expires next week. I\u2019m guessing the mood of the password is going to be much less hopeful.<\/p>\n –\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 King of the Hedges<\/strong> \u2013 Any time the Bills decide to hedge the risk of rising player\/coaching costs, they invariably blow it. And in the process of blowing it, the season crumbles. They did this with Jauron and that didn\u2019t turn out well. I was all for resigning Fitzpatrick. I won\u2019t revise history and say I didn\u2019t. However, I did say, \u201cwhy do teams make such a big deal to sign players during the season?\u201d Once the season is underway, they are playing. If you sign them in November and by December they already outperformed the contract, they will want to renegotiate. The Bills resigned Fitz and now overpaid dearly. They did nothing with Stevie, and they will most likely get a more reasonable rate. Never sign players once the season has started. The system is such that you aren\u2019t really hedging anything out. You are just overpaying for one season.<\/p>\n –\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sean shows again<\/strong> \u2013 Sean, former high school pal, arrived at the game. As stated before he isn\u2019t much of a Bills fan despite living in the greater Buffalo area during the four super bowl runs. How does that happen? Anyways, he showed up in blue and white which seemed to be a step in the right direction. One day he\u2019ll have a Bills hat.<\/p>\n –\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Math genius \u2013 <\/strong>I love this part of a dying Bills season. While the micro factors to the Bills are all negative (our QB play, the Line play, no defense) and seem like the world is against us, the macro factors (how other teams play) are working out to keep us in the hunt. The Jets losing to Tebow? The Bengals losing to the Ravens? The Bills are still in this hunt. If the Bills would have lost these three games and were mildly competitive, this would be exciting news. <\/strong><\/p>\n –\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tebow \u2013<\/strong> Our Godly fellow, Tim Tebow, continues to work his magic (or mostly God\u2019s magic depending on how you feel about things) and wins no matter how ugly he plays. The bad news for the Bills is that we face god-boy on Christmas Eve. What once was a sure win has now become a sure loss. <\/strong><\/p>\n –\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Chan Press Conference \u2013<\/strong> Chan explicitly said, \u201cI don\u2019t know what\u2019s wrong.\u201d Here is a tip, Chan. You have 5 injured linemen playing your spread offense. They aren\u2019t getting the blocks. Fitz is throwing under pressure and Fred isn\u2019t getting the same lanes. Bring in your TE\u2019s to help on the blocking and put Corey McIntyre out there. You will at least convert a third down this way. I offer only because you asked.<\/strong><\/p>\n –\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Terrence McGee \u2013<\/strong> Thank you for your service on many a bad Bills team. At your age and your declining skill, you most likely aren\u2019t coming back. As Bills fans, we thank you for being one of the best during some of the worst times. Prior to Terrance McGee, I never expected the Bills to return a kickoff for a touchdown. And thanks to Brad Smith, I\u2019ll never expect a kick to be returned for a touchdown for all of 2011. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n –\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mark in London \u2013 <\/strong>I had the post game conversation with Mark who was in London for the week. \u201c35-8?\u201d \u201cYeah it was brutal.\u201d \u201cHow\u2019d they get the 8?\u201d \u201cTwo field goals and a safety?\u201d \u201cAre you serious?\u201d \u201cYes\u201d \u201cI think my Sunday\u2019s freed up. I can\u2019t watch 2 field goals and a safety.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s hard to argue with that.<\/strong><\/p>\n –\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Shelly Shark-mania<\/strong> \u2013 If you all saw the animal planet show, you saw myself in the episode. Apparently, so good-looking I am, the Animal Planet producers decided to edit down the hour of footage they had of me to a 3 second shot of my face, then transitioning to using just my voice and then a long, gratuitous shot of the back of my head. Thanks, Animal Planet. I see how it is. <\/strong><\/p>\n