Why, Buffalo, Why?

The Buffalo Bills won their game on Sunday against the New Jersey J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets.  The most amazing part of this game in my opinion were not the countless amount of interceptions that the Bills were able to force.  It was at one point toward the end of the game when one of the announcers brought up a shot of the division standings and said something close to, “well, with a win Buffalo can get back in the mix.”  Just because someone is able to find 20 bucks in their couch does not mean they will be able to do this every time they go back to the couch and continue to keep pulling fresh 20’s from it.  Meaning, in what planet does this win put Buffalo back into the playoff picture?

That is almost as ignorant as before having the season start and having someone say that St. Louis or Detroit are still mathematically in the playoff hunt.  Is it a true statement, yes.  Is it a dumb statement, hell yeah.  Buffalo has no chance of making the playoffs this year.  I will still be a fan regardless.  What I fail to understand is how the Jets were beaten by Buffalo?  Furthermore, how does a team intercept 6 passes in one game, 5 during regulation, and not win decisively?  The answer to the last question is, ‘only the Buffalo Bills’.  But how did the Jets lose this game.

With such a stellar defense, the Jets need to have a QB that can limit his mistakes and just worry about being efficient.  They are using the same mold that Baltimore used when they won the Super Bowl with Trent Dilfer.  Their only problem is that a rookie QB is prone to mistakes and a learning curve.  The Jets ran for over 300 yards on Sunday, that’s right I only said RAN.  Buffalo’s run defense was atrocious.  It wasn’t like they needed to be fearful of the pass with Sanchez back there.

Buffalo missed a golden opportunity in this game to do one of two things, lay down and roll over, or win decisively.  They did neither.  By winning they will be in danger of slipping up the rankings into the level just under mediocrity.  This would mean a poor season, but not poor enough to merit a top 5 draft pick.  I am not saying that Buffalo should throw their games, but they do need to decide what type of season they want to have.  The offense was terrible yet again, and it is becoming more obvious that Buffalo has no idea what they are doing with their personnel.  With Marshawn Lynch coming back from suspension, the Buffalo Bills have decided to cut Fred Jackson’s carries.  What makes this more shocking is that at the time Jackson was a top 5 running back in the league.  Fred Jackson was returning punts yesterday.  Although good as I no longer want to see special teams mistakes be a catalyst for another loss, it is a complete waste of a wonderful talent.

Marshawn is picking up where he left off last year.  Although he has shown flashes, the end result has been the same, carries without earning them.  The only bright spot for this team has been the defense.  The defense ran into a rookie QB who had a bad game though, and I do not foresee many more games where Buffalo forces even half of that total.  But, they do deserve credit as they have kept Buffalo in almost every game this year.  But, the defense is starting to wear down as they are allowing more and more big plays as they spend more and more time on the field.

The end result is this.  Buffalo is playing themselves out of a very good draft pick.  St. Louis is on their game this year and Tennessee has far too much talent but seem hell-bent on tanking and stepped it up to whole new level on Sunday.  Tampa Bay and Cleveland are also working very hard and seem to be gearing up for a top 5 pick as well.  Buffalo is playing right back to a nice 12th overall pick, yay.

Tags: Buffalo Bills, Fred Jackson, Marshawn Lynch