Entering Sunday’s matchup between the Bills and Indianapolis Colts, there was still a sliver of hope that Buffalo, with the toughest portion of their schedule behind them, could build off the momentum of their prime time win over Miami last week and vault themselves back into the playoff race with a win. The Bills, however, were their usual selves, doing just enough in all 3 phases of the game to lose, 20-13. The Bills haven’t been terrible this season, and aren’t the most disappointing team in the league. Just ask the fans in Kansas City, or Jacksonville. They certainly haven’t been as disappointing as Detroit or San Diego, teams that have quality players throughout their roster and possess what everybody says a team needs to be a winner – “franchise” quarterbacks. However, the Bills may be a longer distance away from being a winning team than any of those others. As in a lot of their losses this year, there were positives – C.J. Spiller rushed for over 100 yards, Stevie Johnson had his first 100 yard receiving game of the year, Mario Williams had another good game – recording 3 sacks, Marcell Dareus was a factor, and Stephon Gilmore, right up until the pass interference call that ended any chance Buffalo had to win, played well. Incidentally, there was a play in a later game, between the 49ers and Saints, that could have passed for an instant replay of the foul on Gilmore, where the defensive back used the same exact technique, and there was no penalty. Of course, as I said in my review of a recent game against New England, the Bills won’t get the benefit of any official’s calls until they change the perception that they are an irrelevant, losing team.
Spiller, as he has been all year, was a sparkplug throughout the game, and tried his hardest to breathe life into his team. However, also as usual, he didn’t get the ball enough. He had only 14 carries, as coach Chan Gailey, once again, ran the offense as if the team needed to rely on Ryan Fitzpatrick’s arm rather than their lethal running game. The Bills passed 33 times and attempted to throw another 3 times on plays in which Fitzpatrick scrambled. Spiller and Fred Jackson had 20 carries between them, meaning that the Bills preferred the pass to the run almost 2-to-1. The Bills trailed the whole game, but it’s not as if the score was ever so far out of hand that it warranted abandoning the run. As it’s been all season, it was just a matter of the type of attack Gailey prefers. Don’t the best head coaches tailor their offense to feature their best players and put the team in the best position to win games?
The best description I can come up with to describe Fitzpatrick’s performance is – sluggish. He looked like a guy who ate too much turkey on Thanksgiving and was still feeling the effects of the tryptophan. He had a couple of decent throws – the 63 yard completion to Johnson comes to mind – but also missed on too many passes to open receivers. His accuracy has been an issue all year, and unfortunately, the “experts” who’ve been saying all along that he’s not the future QB of this team, but just a career backup, look to be correct at this point. Bruce DeHaven’s special teams unit gave up another kick return touchdown, another difference-maker in the game, and just another example of how this team finds ways to do just enough to lose. Another sign of that is, despite playing a decent game, the defense was just bad enough on third down (they rank dead last in the NFL in that category) to assure a win for the Colts.
The Bills lost again, and that’s something fans are surely used to after 12 consecutive years of missing the playoffs, but what really made the day depressing was the news of the passing of Ernie Warlick, a tight end and key member of the team’s 1964 and ’65 AFL championship clubs. He was a class act and in the 1965 AFL title game against heavily-favored San Diego, with the Bills missing key receivers due to injury, he was a main target of QB Jack Kemp and played a huge part in the Bills winning that title. It was an example of a role player rising to the occasion to do whatever it took to win, something that’s sadly lacking on the current version of the team.
Louise
November 26, 2012 at 12:07 pm
This Bills team frustrates me to no end. CJ Spiler should be used until his tongue drags on the ground like Jim Kelly used to run Thurman Thomas. When you have a terrific weapon, use it! As for Ernie Warlick, I talked to him a couple of times after his career ended and he worked as a rep for a parts company. He graciously talked with me about football and even signed an old program I had from the 1966 AFL Championship game. He was a terrific receiver in his day with huge and reliable hands. I will never forget how my hand disappeared into his when he shook my hand! Rest in peace, Ernie.