Shattering Realities

The Football Outsiders crew have posted their DVOA projections for this season, and they have the Bills as a decidedly mediocre team. I'm not happy about this.

You see, I had already accepted the Bills' fate. I knew they had a tough schedule (as they seem to every year), and I also knew they didn't have any exceptional talent. Their offensive line looks like crap (again), so I expected another year of middling offence, with the odd moment of pistol formation excitement thrown in. I was all aboard the Andrew Luck train, going so far to realize that if Carolina is terrible as well, the Bills have double the chance of getting Luck.

And now, Football Outsiders have burst my bubble by giving the Bills ranking of 19th, along with giving them more wins than any team in the NFC West. They're saying the Bills are better than the ENTIRE NFC WEST! And on the playoff odds, the Bills have a 15.7% chance of making the playoffs. They have a better chance of winning their division than they do getting the first pick overall! They have a 1% chance of getting the number 1 seed in the AFC for crying out loud!

I don't need this optimism. I'm perfectly content to go through this season and consider it a building season. I've already begun to wait until next year. Now I'm thinking that there is a chance they could make the playoffs if things break right.

I guess I'll have to stick with Bill Barnwell.

The last time the Bills played a meaningful game was on January 2, 2005, when they were denied a playoff spot in Week 17 at home by the Steelers' second-stringers. Since that game, the Bills have gone 36-60. And barring a miracle, things aren't about to change.

Ah, that's the stuff.

Just Shoot Me Now

Jim Kelly on Tim Tebow: 'A class act, a great guy'

Bills coach Chan Gailey expressed interest in Tebow last week, saying he has "every tangible" you could ever want in a quarterback.

Kelly has been a vocal supporter of Tebow and has made it little secret he'd like to see the team draft him.

Your feel good story of the day

Normally I have very few good things to say about any New England Patriot, but good on Ty Warren for choosing education over money. $250K is a fair amount of money to walk away from, so I applaud his stance of education coming frst.

Ramblings about Super Bowl XLIV

As a Buffalo Bills fan, the Super Bowl is a touchy time of the year. In recent time, it has also turned into a game where I do not have a set team to cheer for.

In some years, I cheer for the team that I have placed a wager on. Normally, this ends poorly. In other years, there is one team that I find kinship with and cheer for. Normally, this ends poorly. The years where there are two teams who I dislike in the Super Bowl tend to come down to which team I dislike the least, and even then I'd rather a event occur where the Super Bowl is just cancelled, and no champion declared. (cf Super Bowl XLII aka JayRo jabs a pencil into his eye to make the pain go away, and yet cheers the ending of the game completely as it marks the end of the 19-0 season and the New England Patriots' dynasty.)

What made the lead up to this year so enjoyable was that it involved two teams that I wanted to win in the Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints. The Colts, led by Peyton Manning, were playing for their legacy. A second Super Bowl win would cement Manning as this generation's greatest quarterback, and would create the argument of which team was most dominant in the past 10 years - the Patriots or the Colts. The Saints were the feel good story with what New Orleans had been through. They also featured an exciting offence to watch, with a great running game setting up a dynamic passing game.

I chose to root for the Colts, as I wanted to see thir legacy validated. As the game went on though, I found that I wasn't cheering that much when the Colts succeeded, or when the Saints failed. Really, I was going to be happy with the outcome no matter who won. Oddly, this made the game less interesting.

This was a very odd dynamic. There wasn't much to dislike about either team. So unless you were a fan of either team, it was difficult to truly feel any sort of negative emotion to the other team. Which left "dramatic ending" as the only thing that could save the Super Bowl. When Peyton Manning threw the pick-6, that option was gone, and we were left to consider what the Saints' victory meant.

Many will want to frame it as a great victory for a snake bit city. Others will use it to belittle Peyton Manning. Some will choose to bring up the decision of the Colts to rest their starters in Week 16 and 17 and forego a chance at a perfect season. I'm going to remember it for the great performance from the entire Saints' team, who executed a well prepared game plan in order to defeat a great team in their own right. We saw two great quarterbacks play. We saw some strong decisions made by Sean Payton, some of which worked out for him, and others that did not. All-in-all, we saw a well-played game which, while not that dramatic, left us with a satisfying conclusion.

Congratulations to the New Orleans Saints on their Super Bowl victory - it is well earned, and well deserved.

An Epic Takedown

Cris Carter on the the signing of Brett Favre

Fun with headlines...

(or how to drive JayRo batty)

Buffalo News: Decision to fire Jauron should come to pass
ESPN: Sources: Bills Coach Jauron signs extension

They're partying on Devonshire tonight

No, Devonshire House has not reopened. The Toronto Varisty Blues won their first game in 7 years.

I need some help

After watching Tony Romo's "Aw shucks, sure I sucked in the game and we had to fluke out a win against a team that is going to win 4 games all years, but gosh darn it, aren't I pretty?" interview, who is a Bills fan to hate more: Tom Brady or Tony Romo?

(Okay, it's Brady. But I threw up in my mouth multiple times during that freaking interview.)

Random aside: The Bills are two last second field goals away from being 3-2. For this team that is absolutely ridiculous.

Your bitter Buffalo Bills post of the day

You would think the Patriots would not need to cheat to beat the Buffalo Bills. But I guess Vince Wolfolk felt differently.

Well played Bill Belichek; your knowledge of the Bills' 2 quarterback team is definitely worth the title of genius.

Hey, he's good for something

He might not be a good quarterback, but Trent Green is pretty funny.