http://gty.im/494206290
This picture encapsulates the Bills experience in London: a player forced into a starting role, doing their best and then at the very end being just out of reach of grabbing the win. While it was great to see Woods, Hogan, Easley, Urbik, Kouandjio, Duke Williams and (long sigh) even EJ try to keep the Bills in it, ultimately it was never going to be enough after EJ’s second quarter meltdown. You’ll read my .02 cents and some tweets (a big, good tweet actually) on the subject. Let’s boogie.
- EJ is a backup QB…. – I’ve talked about this ad nauseum on Twitter and on this site (see here), but backup quarterbacks are all for the most part bad, and the one’s that aren’t are very very rare. EJ is for all intents and purposes a bust as a starter – this game tombstone piledriver that cemented that. He will never shake the moniker in Buffalo so he should be ready to depart at season’s end for his own sanity. Personal story time: when I was in college, I had just learned to drive and as such at 18 was a 15-16 year old in terms of my ability, which stunk to high heavens. Some of my friends from high school who remember that, 18 years later still are leery of me driving them somewhere. I’m 34. I have a kid and drive as defensively as an adult with no time nor patience to have car muscles during rush hour can. Heck, if you see me in my Rav4, I’m focused more on . But to them, the story’s been told. That’s EJ. He’s never going to shake it and he (like I did) has to accept his role in that and just move on. Sell cars, get on that backup QB circuit, whatever. And get better on your own time, because the fear if Tyrod gets hurt is real.
- ….But So is Matt Cassel – I’m not going to belabor the stats on Cassel, but he was almost as bad as EJ – responsible for 17 points scored by Giants to EJ’s 21 – but listening to some of the media it’s as if Cassel would have been the Mad Bomber to the rescue for the Bills had he been here. As each source starts to push and push and push their agenda that Cassel was the better player, I remember that whomever this source to Tim Graham and some of the others in the Buffalo News and the greater Buffalo media in general is, this person first also pushed that Cassel should be starter almost to the day that Rex named Taylor. Think about what you saw (if you did) vs the Giants, vs what you’ve seen with Taylor. That coach or coaches were pushing for safe mediocrity. Those coaches need to be gone. Because doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity.
- About that Penalty… – I’d love to rant and rave about the referees having it in for the Bills, but it’s refereeing in general that is the problem. I think it’s becoming apparent that the NFL needs full time refs, as well as a more transparent accountability system for those refs. Right now, the NFL is more than happy to leak a player being fined for not having the right eye black or for wearing the wrong socks, but if a ref doesn’t call a batted ball, or mistimes the last 15 seconds of a game, or screws up a PI call, that’s just a hush hush nothing to see here situation. That to me rings very hollow. Also, while I’m sure some of you are going to pull your hair out, it would be helpful if they made everything subject to review. If Rex was going to go down with the ship, at least giving him an option to challenge that call could’ve assuaged some of the fans. Now would the refs admit a mistake? That’s the big question. But by and large, the pass interference doesn’t negate the fact that the defense allowed one other 70+ yard drive for a score. They did as good as they could, but the pass rush was still off and that is more disturbing than anything…
- …Except for Losing to the Jags – No offense to #Duval, but as I mentioned in the prediction losing to Houston or Jacksonville was a code-red situation with the way both teams have played. EJ meltdown notwithstanding, you cannot, you should not lose to that team when your season is on the line 7 games in. While the rest of the AFC is essentially clown shoes save a few top teams, this loss would’ve propelled the Bills from 9th place in the standings to 6th place. This was one of those games – like Oakland or Miami or Kansas City last year – where the Bills needed to show up, smash em and move on – and they failed to do it. That won’t keep the dogs off of Whaley, or EJ or Rex.
- #Heel – I, like many members of Buffalo Wins am a big fan of pro wrestling. In wrestling you have the good guy (face) and the bad guy (heel). By picking captains each week that are in some way related to the team he’s playing, by his attitude and by his team’s personality Rex is a heel. I’m fine with that. But if you’re a heel you cannot, you cannot, you cannot go out post game and talk about how hard your team played and how you’d take them over anyone. That Pollyanna crap don’t fly when you’ve taking shots at your predecessor, or you’re saying “this thing’s on, because it’s about to be”. You can’t whine about the placement of games – well you can, but you can’t dismiss it and move on. OWN IT. You have assembled a team of players that people think are crazy (Richie), bad citizens or just overall n’er do wells. Belichick embraces his heel, Rex has to do the same.
and of course the twittah:
@BuffaloWins @RDotDeuce first q. Why? I’ll hang up and listen
— hannahconda (@c_ntnntl) October 25, 2015
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First, Hannah is a great follow, so do that. Now.
Second, Hannah, why is a tough one. We, as fans want the Bills to be good. We want the years of watching a team go from horrible to mediocre to tire fire to mediocre to kinda ok to mediocre for 15 years and counting has been a slog. I’ve been through (as @MattyRenn has listed) 3 diplomas, 5 jobs, 2 countries, gotten married, had a kid and bought a house in the 15 years they’ve missed the playoffs. I live in Pittsburgh and have seasons I can’t always use because of coaching, but long for the day I can buy a home playoff ticket. Selling hope is easy in Buffalo because the fans want to believe. But at this point, the articles citing how ready the team is, the pins denoting how long I’ve been a ticket holder, the puff tweets that go out are slowly becoming just the worst. As I mentioned on twitter: (here comes my bye week “exhale” rant…)
@theycallmedubs Just one year, I’d like the “motto” or whatever’s on the magnet to say “show, not tell” or something. Just flippin earn it
— Rich Fann II (@RDotDeuce) October 25, 2015
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This whole business of deifying a first round pick as savior has to stop. Same with free agents. These guys aren’t going to want to reminisce with us as fans about 15 years of not being in the playoffs, and that’s okay. A guy like Mario, who’s what – 4 years in now? can’t be expected to take a pay cut next year “for the love of the team”. Not one of us will be there if he gets a Kolb concussion and can’t remember how to get home, we’ll just complain he’s not getting onto the field because “soft”.
(note: if there’s ever a word I’ve grown tired of it’s that – particularly for professional players maiming each other for our benefit)
Same with Harvin – do the Bills really want the hill they’re willing to die on be forcing a half crippled player to play? How does that fit in with the Pegula family atmosphere? How does any of this fit? How does all of this backbiting and rumor mongering from coaching (*cough Lee cough*) or front office execs or writers with ties to former GMs help anything other than personal vendettas? Even Sully’s eugenics dog whistles are just tired. I don’t get what happened in the last few weeks but it’s gone from a decent / fun season to just a pathetic pissing contest at every level of the organization. Writing articles saying how great your roster is doesn’t make up for EJ stinking on ice, does it? Because when Jay Skurski fairly roasts you on it, you look dumb. So dumb. Show – don’t tell.
See, this is what is going to happen when you talk about it, you’re going to have to be ready to be reminded of it. https://t.co/hpH7Ux78Gx
— Rich Fann II (@RDotDeuce) October 25, 2015
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Finally, since I’m on a roll, how many times are we as fans and bloggers and God knows what else going to ask ex Bills to judge current Bills? Just like I don’t need Bush 41 talking about Obama (OH NO HE DIDN’T JUST TALK POLITICS) or Hulk Hogan to talk Cena or an ex from high school to tell you how awesome you were. My fandom isn’t a running replay of everything that’s ever gone wrong in Buffalo partly because I was a transplant that got into the Bills, nor is it a Uncle Rico-esque replay of 1988-1996 and I think more of y’all need to just accept them as one of the 32 kids you get when you follow the NFL. Ours sometimes walks the wrong way on an escalator, or tries to drive from the trunk but darn it it’s our kid. Or something. That’s why Hannah. I think.
This bye week cannot come at a better time – 2 weeks for Rex to prove his 1-5 record after a bye isn’t his whole story. 2 weeks to get ready for the AFC east 11 day gauntlet. By then they could be 3-7 or 6-4 or something in the middle. But they for the love of all that is holy have to own who they are.
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