Take a look at this picture. I made it extra gigantic because it actually made me feel good to see it at around 3:55pm. A friend of mine, who lives in Buffalo, took the trip out to San Diego to see our sorry bunch take on the Chargers and posted this photo on his Facebook page.
The Bills backers out in San Diego had a 2,000 person tailgate party. As you can see, the tables were marked with flags from each section of WNY. Amherst, West Seneca and South Buffalo. If a picture is worth a 1,000 words, this one just screams unity.
Like I said, it made me feel good to see it. Really, when your franchise is this pathetic, the only thing you have is each other. The memories, the stories, the beer, and the love for WNY will never flame out, no matter how bad the team is. I can only imagine how many more people would have showed up if the Bills were actually 8-4 or in playoff contention.
When I think of transplants or road crews going to Bills games, it just burns my ass at how this franchise has been run like complete garbage over the last 11 years. If I owned this football team and saw the reception this team gets on the road, I wouldn’t be able to look in the mirror everyday. I’d be ashamed to know that I’ve let millions of people done on a yearly basis. I’d break my back and open up my Scrooge McDuck vault and re-sign Stevie Johnson. I’d also sign Reggie Wayne, Vincent Jackson, trade my draft class for Andrew Luck, make Bill Parcells our president and put a new stadium downtown. Alas, my bank account is only in the low thousands and I could probably only afford a trip out west.
Maybe the fans who went out west have only a couple of 100 of dollar to their name as well, but at least they make the effort to give 100% for their team. Days like these make me wonder if the Bills front office gives out that same effort.
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—Ryan Fitzpatrick played awful today. That wasn’t even a Bad Fitzpatrick day, that was a Todd Collins like performance. 13 of 34 with two picks against a crappy Chargers defense? Ridiculous. He just didn’t look comfortable today and his deep balls are pathetic. I don’t know where I am at with Fitz. I still think the Bills owe it to him to surround him with a better cast of players. He’s not the type who is going to make his weapons better. Instead, the offensive weapons need to make him better. You saw who Phillip Rivers is throwing to in SD? All of his skilled players are better than what the Bills have. Now, the “I don’t know where I’m at” consists of what happens if the Bills have a top 10 pick and they have a franchise QB at that spot? Well, I think you may have to pull….the…trigger? It’s an awful reversal of fortune if I go down that path and that’s why this season needs to end today, because Fitz is just throwing all the confidence we had in him in October out the window. However, do you really have faith that the Bills are going to field a competent team around Fitzpatrick at this point? History says, no. So, you may want a franchise QB who can make everyone else look better. Does that make sense? Anyways, I’m conflicted or just over it. However, when I weigh out the options, I just think there are bigger problems to fix, but I could probably be convinced otherwise.
—Chan Gailey is 9-20 as the Bills the head coach. Even if the Bills win out, he’ll have fewer wins in his first two seasons than Gregg Williams, Mike Mularkey and Dick Jauron. I get that he’s inherited a huge mess, but so did Williams and Jauron. IMO, the biggest thing that could be working against Gailey and it is something I wrote when we first hired him, is he’s a guy who was NOT going to be a head coach in the NFL again. However, no one wanted the Bills job except Gailey. L-U-C-K-Y. Now, with being lucky, you may be of the mindset to not rock the boat. You see that roster today? Pathetic. I wonder at times if Gailey has the moxie to bang his fist against the desk and demand that Nix/Wilson go out and find players. Is he counting his blessings because he’s a head coach and doesn’t want to rock Ralph Wilson’s titanic? I hope Gailey realizes that reigning in hell is NOT a place where he should want to be at, especially since we are living there with him.
—Re-sign, Stevie Johnson. Johnson was a baller today and was the lone bright spot on offense. He had his first 100-yard game on the season and has a good chance to go over a 1,000 yards and 70 catches. During that awful 3-game roadtrip, Johnson was playing hurt and I think it had a huge effect on his play on the field. I know some can make the argument that he shouldn’t be re-signed, but at this juncture, the Bills need all the offensive weapons they can get. In my perfect world, re-sign Johnson and sign Reggie Wayne. Boom!
—Marcell Dareus was a monster today. Alright, the San Diego interior line is pretty banged up, but he played his butt off. He was in on some nice run stops and even got a sack. His sack on Rivers was what we wanted out of him. He split the double team on a 4-man rush and was able to get to Rivers. I don’t think there is anyone on this team who could beat a 1 on 1 block at this point.
—Speaking of the defense, they are terrible…again. I’ve run out of things to say about how bad they are. I think my favorite play of defensive futility came on the Phillip Rivers negated touchdown run. Rivers, who will never be confused with Mike Vick, was able to outrun Alex Carrington to the outside for a 4-yard touchdown. We are talking about our starting OLB. Is he even starting? I don’t know at this point but it just gives more credence to how bad our OLBs are at this point.
—I’m going to contradict myself for a moment or it might come out that way. I feel fans/media aren’t making a bigger deal about the Bills injuries than they should be. Look, they suck and it is very easy to make fun of the Bills. They are like nerds, who year in and year out, you can just tease them no matter what changes they make to their life. They can get a new haircut or buy a new car, but they will still be the dorks of the school. Their reputation precedes them. When Louis Skullnick went to Miami Beach as the president of the Greek counsel in Revenge of the Nerds II, he was still a complete tool and everyone made fun of him still. However, and maybe this will come up as me trying to stick up for my nerds, they have lost their best offensive player (Jackson), their best defensive player (Kyle Williams) and their best offensive linemen (Wood). For all the excuses I’ve heard (See: WGR’s coverage and fans alike) about how the Sabres are not playing well because all-stars Cody McCormick, Mike Weber, Brad Boyes and Patrick Kaleta got hurt (sarcasm), I think injuries have hindered the Bills way more than the Sabres. The hockey team still has their core in tack (Besides Myers), while the Bills core is pretty much on IR. As for the whole depth thing, do you guys know who the back-ups are on the 49ers or Patriots? They probably aren’t that good, hence the reason why they are back-ups. Look, the Bills are pathetic and it’s easy to make fun of them, but if you ignore the 11-years of garbage and their owner being cheap, you have to agree with me somewhat.
—The Bills haven’t won in San Diego since 1980.
—The Bills defense has given up 20 points or more in 11 of their 12 games this year. They have also given up 30 or more in half their games. Damn. If only we can play John Beck again.
—If you have Ryan Fitzpatrick on your fantasy football team, you may want to trade him at the midway point during the season. In his first six games this season and last, Fitz had 25 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. The following six games of each season goes as followed: 18 touchdowns and 18 interceptions. Teams catch up, maybe?
Final word: Like I wrote a few weeks back, I wish this season would end already. 5-2 to six straight losses is a bitter pill to swallow. Hell, the Bills haven’t won in the USA since the first week of October. The Bills have been blown out in four of their last six games. Under Fitz last year, they were only blown out against Minnesota and New England. When this season started, I just wanted the team to make progress. Injuries aside, they look worse than they did all of last year. Miami and San Diego aren’t that good and they outscored us, 72-18. Not good.
There’s nothing more I can add at this point. The Bills stink and you better get your draft guide.
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