As I drove home after the game at 2AM the plows were already at a number of high traffic thruway exits preparing for the snow. Fitting that the storm will roll in on one of the worst Fridays in Buffalo Bills history. In fact, the last 88 hours have made every pessimistic fan stand tall and say, “I told you so.” After dominating the Jets before the bye week nobody saw this coming, nobody but that voice in all of our heads. The Chiefs game was like a bad dream. A tragedy in motion. The main character is about to score and take a commanding 14 point lead and then it happened. Fumble. Doubt. Lose. Reality. Last night was exactly what we all feared. The letdown. The disappointment. The 3 point second half. Again. Sadly, they were still in it. So we all watched believing this couldn’t possibly happen again, but it did.
Sometimes I wish that we just get blown out in these situations. Of course that isn’t happening this year because of a defense that has kept us in every game. We lost Pettine last year after a great season but they don’t miss a beat. Rest assured Schwartz will be rewarded for his efforts and probably win someplace else. The Bills won’t sign him, but somebody will. The stats certainly don’t lie, and I wouldn’t be surprised if 4 guys make it to the Pro Bowl. They are that good. Unfortunately, it doesn’t matter when you only score 3 points in the second half of the biggest game of the season. Twice. At first I thought Mario’s eye were contacts. Turns out he is just really fired up about what’s going on. No wonder he is always wearing a visor.
It took 88 hours for all of us to remember what we signed up for. This administration planned to let a rookie lead this team in the preseason and pulled the plug when he went 2-2. This administration and coaching staff at some point felt EJ was the future, and now that ours looks bleak, why not bring him back against the Jets? Orton is a backup that we have little invested in. As usual he is playing .500 football when we need much more. All week the talk was - lose and you’re done. If that’s the case why not give our first round draft choice from just two years ago another shot? He must have learned something through all of this. He has to want a chance to prove some people wrong, and some other people right. Chances are Marrone and everything linked to him is gone after this year. Since we are stuck with #3 why not put him out there and see what he has? Orton is 3-3 as usual. He isn’t changing and he definitely isn’t the answer. I hate watching him basically throw it away almost every time he feels the heat. He might not have thrown a pick last night, but he didn’t really give his guys a chance to make any plays. I have to believe EJ has learned something over the last two months that can help him win the job back. Orton has taken us as far as he can. It’s time to put the young guy back out there and give him a shot.
The entire country had a chance to see what we go through year in and year out. Those two calls in the second half were a joke. Watkins ran the wrong play and the pass interference on Gilmore was the typical ending to our Bills tragedy. Yet, just like most of you, I watched until the final whistle and will do the same on the 23rd. I used to watch so that hopefully and finally one day I can tell that voice in my head to shut up! I still will. You never know. All I do know, is that this franchise has 10 days to figure out their next move, and most if not all of these coaches need to win six games. Tall order after those two bad dreams.
