It’s 2011 now, but first let’s rewind back a bit to speak about what we didn’t discuss over the dreadful aughts in Part V of the History of the Buffalo Bills. The Twin Towers in New York City and the Pentagon was attacked on September, 11th 2001 which would later cause a new conflict on the war on terror. The Colts and Peyton Manning would leave the AFC East after division realignment after the 2001 Season. The break the Bills thought they got with the Colts moving out of the AFC East would be for not though as the Patriots would take over the division winning all but two AFC East titles during the decade starting in 2001. The Pats would also win 3 Super Bowls and have a perfect Season in 2007 but would lose in that particular Super Bowl (haha). The Houston Texans would be the 32nd NFL team beginning having their inaugural season in 2002. The Browns and Lions would somehow be worse than the Bills over the Decade. The Dolphins (the Bills biggest threat for decades) would also be pretty bad for the decade after Dan Marino retired after the end of the 1999 Season. Barack Obama became the first African American President in 2008. Social media would explode with a new forms of communication and self expression. As Myspace, then Facebook and Twitter taking over the World in a new way. Marshawn Lynch would create an earthquake with his new team. There is much more we could discuss but since you are caught up on some of the important events over the decade we now shift into the next part of our story.
2011
Chan Gailey took over as the new head coach of the Buffalo Bills starting in 2010. The Bills were a bad football team going 4-12 but Ryan Fitzpatrick had shown enough in 2010 that he would get another shot as the full time starter for the following Season.
The Bills with their own Mafia behind them and a new sense of enthusiasm would start off the season in grand style. Blowing out the 2010 AFC West Champs Chiefs 41-7 in Arrowhead in the opening game of the Season. Then in Week 2 would have five consecutive touchdown drives in the Second half capped off by a Fitzpatrick 6 yard touchdown pass to Tight End David Nelson to complete the 18 point comeback in a 38-35 victory over the Raiders. It’s Week 3 and here comes that team again, the New England Patriots.
Remember the 31-0 Week 1 blowout win with big ol Sam Adams rumbling to the endzone with a stadium full of hysterical Bills fans chanting in the background. Yeah, that is the last time the Bills had beaten these Pats. 8 years and 15 losses later (with most of them being blowout losses) we arrive here. The game started off as many Pats-Bills games had over the Years. Tom Brady throwing three touchdown passes and Ryan Fitzpatrick throwing two interceptions as the game was already 21-0 Pats midway through the second Quarter. It appeared that it was the same ol same ol, rinse and repeat, but then….
Fitzpatrick would lead the Bills on a lengthy drive capping it off with a touchdown to Steve Johnson (yup that same Steve Johnson who inadvertently started the Bills Mafia movement). This is followed by Tom Brady throwing and interception to setup a field goal. It’s 21-10 at the half but the Bills (who just had a huge comeback the week before) have the momentum. In the 3rd Quarter Brady throws another interception which sets up a Bills touchdown, now it’s 21-17. Then in the 4th with the Pats up 24-17 Brady throws another pick with the Pats about to go up double digits (being in the Bills red zone). Fitzpatrick and the Bills go 80 yards in five plays capped off with a Fred Jackson touchdown run. It’s now tied at 24. On the very next play Tom Brady has a pass tipped and intercepted by Cornerback Drayton Florence who takes it to the house. It’s Brady’s 4th pick in a quarter and a half and the first time Brady has thrown four interceptions in a game in five years. Ralph Wilson stadium for the first time in four years has lost it’s collective mind (previous time being a forgotten Cowboys game in 2007 that ended in a loss). Pandemonium is defined as a wild and noisy confusion, uproar. The Bills Mafia in this moment might be a level above pandemonium (whatever adjective you can describe in this moment). We watch sports to feel this way, it’s what makes a fan a fanatic. The Bills are about to slay the dragon in the most unexpected way. But Tom Brady because he’s not human would lead the Pats down the field to tie the game on the ensuing drive (he’s still playing at a high level at the age of 44, come on it’s not real, it can’t be). But that doesn’t matter anymore, this is Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Bills moment and no one is going to stop them. Fitzpatrick would lead the Bills down the field running the final 3:25 off the clock to setup the chip shot game winner from Rian Lindell from 28 yards out! The Bills have done it, they have beaten the mighty Patriots. Ralph Wilson Stadium is going crazy, the Bills are in first place at 3-0 and just defeated the Evil Empire in thrilling fashion, don’t wake me now…
The Bills would get to 5-2 and the Bills on their bye week would give Ryan Fitzpatrick a 6 year 59 million dollar contact extension. Unfortunately, at this point is when the Wheels would fall off. The Bills would lose seven in a row with four of the games being by at least 16 points. The Bills would beat Tim Tebow and the surging Broncos in Week 16 but the writing was on the wall. The Bills finished 6-10, that two game homestand in September was a glorious period in an otherwise forgotten Season. But for a team that had not been to the Playoffs in 12 years and counting, those moments were moments that young Bills fans would cherish forever. That’s what made this Bills fan base special. It’s always been about the journey but Bills fans (unlike many other fans in sports) were great at living in the moment. When your team has been as bad as theirs had been it’s what you have to do to get by.
2012
Ryan Fitzpatrick was under a big new contract, but with the signing bonus only being ten million the Bills wisely gave themselves some outs if Fitzpatrick’s play would falter. Another important moment was also coming in 2012. The Bills were in their last season of their lease at Ralph Wilson Stadium. The Bills and Erie County would miss out on the deadline for the renovations in September. Could this be the year the Bills flee to Toronto? To ensure the Bills would not be going anywhere they may have to play well on the field (something they haven’t done for a full season in over a decade) to save the team.
The 2012 Bills even with addition of 100 million dollar man and former first overall pick Mario Williams would never have a signature moment in 2012 (Williams would be solid in his four years in Buffalo but never was a superstar and not worth that type of money). Ryan Fitzpatrick was okay but not exceptional. 2010 First round pick C.J Spiller would have a breakout season running for 1,244 yards on 6 yards a carry to be the long bright spot on the team. The low point of the year would be a 50-17 loss in Toronto to the Seahawks in Week 15. Maybe this game was an omen to what would come the following Friday as Erie County and the Bills would come to an agreement on a 200 million dollar renovation of Ralph Wilson stadium. The Bills were 1-4 in their games in Canada and just gave up a 50 berger in their most recent game across the border. It seemed like the Football gods were saying Canada doesn’t want them, you can keep them!
2013
Chan Gailey was the most recent Bills coach to only last three seasons as the Bills would hire former Syracuse Orange head coach Doug Marrone to take over. With Ryan Fitzpatrick jettisoned out of town the Bills would turn to the 15th overall pick in the draft, Florida State Quarterback E.J Manuel…
E.J Manuel had a big arm but was seen as a very raw project. Even with this moniker the Bills would have no real veteran to placehold the Quarterback position. Even though the had the perfect candidate on the roster for a place holder on the roster Ryan Fitzpatrick, but with Fitzpatrick now in Tennessee it was up to E.J Manuel to prove what he could do from day one. Things would go predictably up and down but E.J Manuel would have a signature moment right away.
In Week 2, Manuel would throw a game winning touchdown to Steve Johnson with 2 seconds left for a 24-23 come from behind victory over the eventual NFC South Champion Carolina Panthers. The Bills would get another big early season win beating the former Super Bowl Champ Ravens in Week 4 intercepting reigning Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco five times. In Week 5 things would fall apart for E.J Manuel and the Bills. The Bills would be in Cleveland on a Thursday night and winning 24-17 in the third Quarter looking like the Bills were on their way to a 3-2 start. E.J Manuel would scramble and get a first down. But Manuel would not get out of bounds on the play and would take a vicious hit from Browns corner Tashaun Gipson. Manuel’s knee would bend the wrong way on the hit and he would suffer a knee injury. The Bills would be stuck with the duo of Jeff Tuel and Thaddeus Lewis midseason, the year would go as expected with the Bills finishing 6-10 for a third straight season and fourth time in five years.
2014
In July 2011 Ralph Wilson would fall at home and break his hip. Wilson would for the first time in time as owner miss the Bills home opener. Wilson would be wheelchair bound for the rest of his life. Ralph Wilson would pass away from natural causes on March, 25th 2014 at the age of 95. Shortly before Wilson’s death the Bills and Toronto would thwart the Toronto series. But with Wilson’s death the Bills were abruptly now up for sale. Rock star Bon Jovi & the Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment group were making a hard push to buy the Bills and would almost certainly relocate the Bills to Canada, somehow yet again we hold our breath about the very existence of the Buffalo Bills…
As the Bidding War would come to an end, the winning bid of the Bills would go to natural gas mogul Terry Pegula. Terry Pegula was the owner of the Buffalo Sabres and Buffalo Bandits (Buffalo’s professional Lacrosse team). Pegula was instilled in the Buffalo community for years and assured the public that the Bills would not be going anywhere. To make matters ever greater the Bills for the first time since 2007 will be playing all 8 home games in Orchard Park, let’s go!!!
In one of the most underrated days in Bills history we go to Week 2 of the 2014 Season with the opponent being the hated Miami Dolphins. It had been just a few days since the announcement had been made that the Bills would be staying in Buffalo for good. Let’s correlate Bills Mafia’s mindset for the previous six months to a real life situation. You put in a bid on the house of your dreams, but you have other bidders that are just as worthy as you are and you have to wait for an extended period of time to find out if your bid is the winning bid. You get the call from your realtor that your bid has been accepted. There is a combination of relief and Euphoria that will last a while. This was the Bills state on this Sunday. The emotion of Ralph Wilson Stadium was more engaged than a baby to a lollipop. The Dolphins were done from the get go, the Bills would win 29-10 in a day of celebration, emotion, and relief. If you believe in fate as I do the Buffalo Bills were not losing that game.
E.J Manuel would get off to a so so start in 2014 going 2-2 with a back braking pick six by J.J Watt in a Week 4 23-17 loss. Doug Marrone had seen enough of Manuel and did not see him as the answer, football is just not fair in today’s landscape (E.J Manuel only started 15 games in a Bills uniform). The new signal caller would be journeyman (and awesome break dancer) Kyle Orton. Orton would immediately make a difference in a come from behind Week 5 victory over the Lions. Orton would lead the Bills to a Week 9 comeback, a 17-16 win over the Vikings completing a one yard winning touchdown to fourth overall pick Sammy Watkins with one second remaining. The Bills would defeat Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers in Week 15 to get to 8-6 (clinching their first non losing season in ten years) and put themselves in prime position to make the playoffs, next up is a trip to the 2-12 Raiders, should be easy right…
The 2014 Bills defense was for the first time in a while elite. They were 4th in yards against, 4th in points against, 3rd in yards per play (and only one of three teams to allow under 5 yards a play). The Raiders were the worst offense in football in 2014, 31st in points, last in yards, last in yards per play. Yet on this Sunday in December the Bills could not make a stop. The biggest moment on this game came on a 3rd and 22 for the Raiders at their own 19 with 5:07 to play and the Raiders clinging to a 19-17 4th quarter lead. Raiders rookie Quarterback Derek Carr would roll out and find receiver Andre Holmes for a 51 yard completion over Bills corner Corey Graham. The Raiders would later score a touchdown to secure what will end up as a 26-24 victory, the defeat would eliminate the Bills from playoff contention. The Bills would win the final Week in New England over a Pats team playing for nothing to finish with their first winning season in 10 years but Bills fans will respond with age old response, who cares!! The Biggest Question we all had in the pivotal game in Oakland was why is the Bills playing one on one coverage on a 3rd and 22? The Bills looked like a team finally on the rise but Doug Marrone would unexpectedly quit after the season. He would text ownership to tell the players to let them know for him that he’s out, what a cowardice move. Kyle Orton would also retire after the Season. The Bills had an outstanding young defense, but no Quarterback and no coach.
2015-2016
It’s 2015 and the Bills Mafia is really starting to gather serious notoriety and popularity. Pregame tailgating would include drinking beer out of bowling balls, jumping through tables, and spraying ketchup on each other. This behavior would seem weird to many, but it became part of a Sunday tradition that would bond the Bills fan base together. With Doug Marrone surprisingly resigning and Kyle Orton deciding to move to Louisiana to work on his break dancing moves and mentor up and coming high school and college players the Bills were a team in flux. So the Bills with this bravado fan base needed some bravado in the organization at the top. They would sign former Dolphins (and bully scandal culprit) guard Richie Incognito…
Okay that wasn’t the bravado move I was referring to but that certainly brought some toughness to the Bills locker room (Incognito was an outstanding pickup and would turn his career around in the three years he spent in Buffalo). No I’m referring to old Jets coach, foot lover, and best smack talker of them all, Rex Ryan. We circle back 25 years when Jim Kelly was introducing Rex’s dad Buddy first hand to the K-Gun offense as the Eagles coaching staff looked like the opposing coaching staff in the last scene of Varsity Blues when James Vander Beek went five wide outs with no huddles (mass confusion, coaches running into each other, hysteria everywhere). But anyways, the Ryan family was known for being very abrasive, and confident. This is probably what attracted GM Doug Whaley to Ryan. The Bills could use a tough guy at the top who was also a big name. Rex Ryan would make a bold prediction of the Bills making the playoffs. They haven’t done that in 16 years but Ryan took a team led by Mark freaking Sanchez to back to back AFC Championship games. So when Rex said it we believed him.
The Bills did not have a first round pick after they traded it away to acquire receiver Sammy Watkins fourth overall the previous year so the Bills had to go to the free agency wire to try to find their next Quarterback. The Bills still had E.J Manuel but after benching him after Week 4 of 2014 Season there was an overwhelming consensus that he was not the answer. So Bills would do what teams who don’t have a Quarterback option would normally do, create a competition. The Bills would bring in veteran Matt Cassel and former Ravens backup Tyrod Taylor to compete for the starting job. Cassel was as expected mediocre in camp so the former Virginia Tech Hokie, Tyrod Taylor would win the gig.
On September 25th, 2015 the Toronto Blue Jays (what could have been the Bills brother, thank goodness for Terry Pegula!) would clinch their first playoff berth in 22 years clinching the AL East. In doing so the Buffalo Bills now at 16 years without a postseason berth would now be the longest current streak in North American professional sports without a playoff berth. But Rex Ryan guaranteed a playoff berth at his press conference and the Bills in 2014 had one of the best defenses in all of football with a defensive guru taking over, so all would be well right……
The Bills defense regressed to league average and it was evident this wasn’t the same unit as 2014 in a 40-32 Week 2 loss to the Pats when the Bills would give up 507 yards of offense to the Pats including 466 yards and three touchdowns to that man, Tom Brady. The Bills however, would be sitting at 6-6 and still on the fringe of playoff contention as they would head to Philadelphia in Week 14…
Tyrod Taylor proved in 2015 he was the right answer at Quarterback for this Bills team. Taylor had a passer rating of 99.4 (8th in the league), a 1.6 percent interception rate (5th in the league), and was a dual threat running for 568 yards and 4 touchdowns. Tyrod Taylor would make the pro bowl and with running back LeSean McCoy also having a solid season, the Bills would had an above average offense in 2015. But the defense who had regressed some but still on this day only gave up 23 points, which is not terrible and easy for a good offense to overcome. The Bills had one last chance down 23-20 with under 2 minutes left. 75 yards to win about 40 yards to get into field goal position to force overtime.. But on a third and 8 Tyrod Taylor would over throw a pass an awaiting Eagles safety Ed Reynolds who would intercept the pass and seal the Bills fate.
The Bills would knock Rex Ryan’s former team the Jets out of the playoffs with a Week 17 22-17 upset (for the Second straight 22-17 victory over the Jets this season, random facts!), but it did not matter to the Bills Mafia as the Bills would be sitting at home for the dance again finishing at 8-8
2016 would begin well for the Bills. There was an early 16-0 shutout victory in Week 4 over the Tom Bradyless Patriots (because a suspension having something to do with deflated footballs), then after their 4th straight win defeating the 49ers 45-16 in Week 6 the Bills would be sitting at 4-2 and in the drivers seat to playoff contention. In Week 7 at Miami, the Bills would get a big play scoring a 67 yard touchdown from Tyrod Taylor to Marquise Goodwin to put the Bills up 17-6 with under six minutes to play in the 3rd Quarter. It is looking like the Bills are going to win their fifth in a row, but then..
The Dolphins would score a touchdown to close to within three. Tyrod Taylor would take a sack to take the Bills out of field goal range. Dolphins running back Jay Ajayi would take over leading the Dolphins on a touchdown drive to take a 21-17 lead, then another failed Bills drive. Then on 3rd and 6 with 2:35 left for the Dolphins at their own 34. Dolphins Quarterback Ryan Tannehill would go back to pass and horribly underthrow wide receiver Kenny Stills, but Stills would adjust and make the catch and the two Bills covering Stills would collide with each as Kenny Stills would have a wide open field to put the game to bed, oy vey!
The Bills would get another chance in Week 16 to exact revenge on the Dolphins as the 9-5 Dolphins would head to Buffalo to play the 7-7 Bills at the newly named New Era field with the last playoff spot up for grabs (random fact, New Era is based out of Buffalo). We shift to the 4th Quarter with 1:25 to play and the Dolphins up 28-24 with the Bills having a 4th and goal at the Dolphins 7. Tyrod Taylor was in my opinion one of the most underrated Quarterbacks in football during this time frame in terms of ball placement, he had put that accuracy on display in this critical moment. Taylor would throw the ball to tight end Charles Clay on an in route but Clay was tightly covered with a linebacker shifting over from the middle of the field, to take both defenders out of the play Taylor threw the ball low and Clay went down to grab it to give the Bills the 31-28 lead. The Dolphins now down by three and with backup Quarterback Matt Moore in the game (Ryan Tannehill had torn his ACL a couple of weeks prior), it was a dire situation indeed for the Phins. But Moore would lead the Dolphins into fringe field goal range with kicker Andrew Franks lining up for a brutally difficult 55 yard field goal to attempt to force overtime…
The kick looked initially like there was no way the kick was going to have enough distance to get there but almost like the wind gusts came from above the ball would somehow push it’s way barely over the crossbar to successfully force overtime. The Bills would win the toss and would drive down into field goal range. By 2016 the rules had changed and you needed a touchdown to win in overtime but a field goal against an opponent with a backup Quarterback would do as well. Kicker Dan Carpenter would line up for a 45 yard field goal. The ball looked to be going right down the center of the goal post before the wind would shift the ball right, I will not say those two bad words just know that the kick was not successful. Serendipitous as it seemed the Dolphins would eventually get into field goal range setup up by a 57 yard Jay Ajayi run and the Dolphins would kick the winning kick to yet again the eliminate the Bills from the playoffs. The Bills on this day would have 589 yards of total offense and won the turnover battle, yet still lost.
Rex Ryan may had not been on the hot seat initially but after Week 17’s performance against the 4-11 Jets, it was enough to get him fired after the game. The play that may be the stupidest in Bills history (and you know we have a lot of moments here) was with 3:21 to play in the 4th with the Jets already humiliating the Bills, the Jets just kicked a field goal to go up 23-3 and will be kicking off to Buffalo. The Jets would pouch kick it but the ball would bounce over Bills running back and return man Mike Gillisee towards the end zone. For whatever reason Gillisee thinking it’s a punt would let the ball bounce into the end zone without picking it up. On a kickoff the ball is live once it crosses ten yards (as anyone who’s ever watched an onside kick play would know) and the Jets Doug Middleton would fall on the ball in the end zone for what has to be the dumbest touchdown in NFL History.
2017
The Bills decided to start a new in 2017 hiring a new General manager and coach. The Bills would go down south hiring the Panthers assistant General Manager Brandon Beane to be their new GM. Beane would hire one of his own to take over the head coaching duties, the Panthers defensive coordinator, Sean McDermott..
McDermott is only the fourth coach in the 61 year history of the Buffalo Bills to get a 5th season as the coach. He will be only the 3rd coach to finish his 5th season and only the 2nd coach to ever get a 6th season (almost a certainty he will retain his position as the head coach after this upcoming season). To say that McDermott is entering unchartered waters in the annals of Bills history would be an understatement. McDermott has been in coaching ever since he got out of college at William and Mary. He began as a scouting administrative coordinator in the Eagles organization at the age of 25. McDermott had always been very competitive going back to his days as a college safety and wrestler, but very fair to his players and assistants. He’s always during his time with the Eagles and Panthers got the most out of his players, having top 10 units regularly with the Panthers and Eagles. What McDermott could do with this team was fix the undisciplined play that the team was playing with under the stewardship of Rex Ryan.
The 2017 Bills were not a great team they would get outscored by 51 points (compared to positive point differentials the previous three seasons). But the 2017 Bills would be great in close games, they were a fantastic situational team. They were 6-2 in one score games. Many would say there is a randomness to close games, but I think that is something that data head stat nerds like to say because stats and data aren’t necessarily tangible. There is a reason why Russell Wilson wins a lot of close games and Kirk Cousins doesn’t. In big situations the more well coached teams with the more disciplined players will more often than not come up with the big play. It’s not a coincidence that the Pats have won all those close playoffs games and Super Bowls, they were always more prepared and better coached, and they also had Tom Brady! Tyrod Taylor was still the Quarterback primarily in 2017 for the Bills but would get benched after a 47-10 thrashing at the hands of the Saints dropping the Bills to 5-4, so the next start would go to one of my personal favorite Buffalo Bills ever, current Raiders backup Quarterback and Bills legend Nathan Peterman…
Nathan Peterman was drafted out of the fifth round in 2017 out of the university of Pittsburgh. He was lauded as a draft steal as a Quarterback with a big arm and the propensity to show up in big games (upsetting the eventual national Champion Clemson Tigers in Death Valley the previous year). McDermott, with the team having a mid season slide looked to Peterman to give the team a spark as the Bills headed to Los Angeles to play the Chargers in a critical Week 11 game, what would next ensue would be arguably the Worst half in the history of football by a quarterback….
Nathan Peterman would go 6 for 14 for 66 yards and five interceptions…. In the first half, I know that there has been 72 instances of a Quarterback having a passer rating of zero and somehow Nathan Peterman had a passer rating of 17.9 (how in the World did this performance get a passer rating of 17.9!) but for a Quarterback in his first career start playing in a critical game, this may have been the lowest of low we have ever seen from any Quarterback in their debut. Peterman would sit on the sidelines benched after halftime maybe out of pity, absolutely dejected on the sidelines. Peterman, believe it or not would get three more starts in his Bills career, his second career start would come in Week 14 in another pivotal game.
In one of the most fun Bills games in recent history the opponent was the Indianapolis Colts. New Era field was covered in snow, Bills Mafia was fired up. The Bills were still in the playoff hunt at 6-6. The Colts were 3-9 and just playing for pride. But the game was a close low scoring affair that would go down to the wire. This was the one start in Nathan Peterman’s career he was not a train wreck. Peterman throw an 8 yard touchdown pass to Kelvin Benjamin right before the half to give the Bills a 7-0 lead (Peterman was in because Tyrod Taylor was out with a bruised knee). Peterman would leave in the third Quarter with a head injury (Peterman went 5-10 for 57 yards and a touchdown not terrible given the conditions) and in would come veteran Joe Webb.
With the Bills up 7-0 late the Colts would go on a long drive and would get the potential tying touchdown from Colts Quarterback Jacoby Brissett to tight end Jack Doyle with 1:14 to play to cut the deficit to one. With the kicking conditions being horrific at best the Colts would decide to go for the lead instead of the tie. Brissett would find Doyle again for a successful conversion but the Colts would be called for offensive pass interference on wide receiver Kamar Aiken, so now with the kick being the better option out would come 45 year old (and snow kicking legend) Adam Vinatiari. The kick would hook like a Phil Mickelson chip and sneak barely in over the crossbar for the tying kick.
Joe Webb would then do the unthinkable and throw an interception with the Colts now in position to steal this game. But for whatever reason Colts Coach Chuck Pagano would not try to get into closer range for Vinatieri thinking that a 43 yarder on a snow packed field would be easy (he just did it before why not do it again). Vinatieri would line up for the kick, the kick looked like it was going to sail through but would at the last moment fade left, I’ll say it for you Bills fans wide left!!!!!!!!!! We go to overtime, enter LeSean McCoy…
LeSean McCoy was one the best running backs in the NFL in his time with the Eagles (like Peterman coming out of the university of Pittsburgh). McCoy would have 4 1,000 yard seasons with the Eagles including a league leading 1,607 yards in 2013 (leading by a wide margin, 350 yards over old friend Marshawn Lynch). McCoy was a huge trade pickup for the Bills, he brought professionalism and credibility to the team. He was also still a very highly productive back. McCoy’s most memorable performance with the Eagles was in a 34-20 2013 win over the Lions in you guessed it a blizzard, McCoy had 217 yards and 2 touchdowns and it looked like LeSean was running on concrete while the Lions defenders were running on quicksand. The Bills got a second and third life in a game that they should have already lost and in overtime LeSean McCoy would take advantage, having another vintage snow moment. It’s 3rd and 4 at the Colts 21 with under 2 minutes to play in overtime. LeSean McCoy would run right through the middle and would outrun the Colts Secondary to the endzone for the victory. The CBS cameras will show the fans throwing snow in the air in celebration, it was magical, dare I say romantic. On this Sunday, fate had finally appeared to be on the Bills side. New Era stadium for the first time in years has hit a state of pandemonium.
We now shift to Week 17. If you read Part I you know that Andy Dalton and the Bengals helped the Bills make it to the playoffs for the first time in 18 years. So how did the Bills help themselves. Let’s go down to the a place that started the collapse of 2016, Miami Florida.
The Dolphins were 6-9 and out of the playoffs but if you learned anything about this rivalry you know that records do not matter when it comes to the Bills and Dolphins and the Bills knew that this would be a fight, or so they thought. The Bills would dominate early on this day. The Bills would go up 22-3 early in the 4th Quarter and it appeared the Bills had come to Miami to do what they had to do. But when you haven’t made the playoffs in 18 years and have had everything bad happen that possibly could over that time frame you know it’s never that easy. San Jose State’s finest, Quarterback David Fales would lead the Dolphins on two straight scoring drives to cut the score to 22-16 with 1:55 to play. The Dolphins would line up for an onside kick. An onside kick under normal circumstances in NFL History are about 10 percent of the time successful when a team knows you are attempting one. But because this is the Bills we are talking about of course the Dolphins recover it. This can’t be happening right….
The Dolphins are now in Bills territory there is under a minute left to play, this could be the most devastating defeat in Buffalo Bills history (well that day in January 1991 happened so let me rephrase) this WOULD be the most devastating Bills loss in the 21st Century, but as soon as we started to panic Bills safety Jordan Poyer would jump a seam route for the game sealing interception. The Bills have done it, they are going to the playoffs! They would lose in Wildcard Weekend 10-3 to the Jags in what may have been the worst playoff game in the history of football (but I’ll say it, who cares!). The Bills (because of conference record and common opponents record) would win a tiebreaker over the Ravens (a team with a plus 92 point differential) and Chargers (a team that beat the Bills by 30 in that horrific game started by our good friend Nathan Peterman). None of these last couple of sentences mattered, the Bills made the playoffs, all rejoice…
The coolest tidbit to share about this season was defensive tackle Kyle Williams. Williams, spent his entire 13 year career in Buffalo (last season being 2018) would play in his only playoff appearance in 2017. The LSU product was a two time 1st team all pro 6 time pro bowler, because of spending most of his career on middling teams he will almost certainly not make the hall of fame but is one of the best defensive players in Bills history, many Bills fans would say this playoff appearance was dedicated to Kyle Williams, who always did his job and was a lifetime Bill.
2018
The Bills realized there was some smoke and mirrors to their 9-7 record and first playoff appearance and did what smart aggressive teams do and hit the reset button. They would send Quarterback Tyrod Taylor out of town. They would trade with the Bengals to move up to 12th in the draft, almost certainly targeting a Quarterback. Then on draft day move up to 7th overall (with a trade with the Bucs) to get what Mel Kiper called the 10th best Quarterback draft prospect he’s ever covered, but would be the third Quarterback drafted in this draft alone. Anyone who watches football today knows him, University of Wyoming Quarterback Josh Allen….
Josh Allen grew up on a cotton farm in Firebaugh, California. Firebaugh is a small town about 40 miles west of Fresno. Allen and his father would regularly go to Fresno State games as a kid and Josh Allen would try to get himself self recruited by Fresno State but the Bulldogs weren’t interested. Josh Allen was smaller at this time (about 6’3 180) and hadn’t attended any of the elite Quarteback camps growing up. Josh Allen was simply an unknown, Allen attended Reedley Junior College because of a favor that one of the assistants was doing for the Allen family with an assistant coach being married to Allen’s cousin. Allen was solid throwing 26 touchdowns his one year at Reedly, that and Allen having a late growing spurt getting to 6’5 and 215 pounds would have Wyoming’s offensive Coordinator Brent Vigen decide it was worth a shot and offered Allen a scholarship to go and play in Laramie.
Josh Allen at Wyoming was wildly inconsistent by it was impossible not to see his potential. By his junior season Allen was the 6’5 240 prototype you see today but, but coming up he showed signs of immaturity, swearing in a post game interview at the bowl game (an obvious no no). Having some insensitive tweets when he was 14 (just remember that 14 year olds are prone to saying ignorant things). If you built a prototype for size, athleticism, arm talent, leadership, Josh Allen is the absolute stereotype of what a scientist 100 years from will make when creating the perfect quarterback. But one of the best raw talents in the history of the NFL Draft had to go to a junior college (on a favor) and then go and play his college ball in Laramie Wyoming in the Mountain West Conference. Even with all of what I stated, there was rightfully so was more questions than answers with Josh Allen heading into the NFL…
In 2018 Josh Allen would struggle having more interceptions than touchdowns for a 6-10 football team that at times looked like the worst team in the NFL (especially early in the season). If you want to see a moment that would make the Bills realize Josh Allen was worth the patience it happened in Josh Allen’s second career start in Week 3 against the Vikings. It’s 3rd and 10 late in the first Quarter with the Bills already shocking the Vikings (up 17-0 in Minnesota), Josh Allen would evade the rush and run. Allen would then do what I don’t know any other quarterback in the world would have the size and athleticism to do. Allen would hurdle over two defenders to lounge for the first down. In this moment the Bills realized they have a once in a generation talent, in this moment the Bills realized if they can harness this potential they could maybe one day finally hoist that Lombardi Trophy…
Remember Nathan Peterman, I told you I would discuss his other two career starts… His third career start would come in Week 1 of 2018 against the Ravens. Peterman went 5-18 for 24 yards and two interceptions for a passer rating of 0 in a 47-3 loss. Peterman was so bad that Sean McDermott’s hand was forced and Josh Allen would immediately be handed the keys to the franchise the following week…
Peterman’s second in final start came in Week 9 2018 with Josh Allen out with an elbow injury. The Bills were playing a great defense in the Bears so of course Peterman was again awful. Peterman would go 31-49 for 188 yards and 3 interceptions for what was compared to the other two games Peterman started without leaving due to injury was a hall of fame performance. Peterman was so bad in this game he was benched for Matt Barkley, ouch.
2019
The Bills in 2019 were lauded as a preseason darkhorse to make a playoff run. The pundits would be right! The Bills would have a comeback from down 16-0 to beat the Jets in Week 1. Then a come from behind victory over the Bengals in Week 3 to improve to 3-0 for the first time since 2011. Josh Allen in his first five games of 2019 would have 7 interceptions, including an abysmal 24 passer rating (with three interceptions) in the Bills first loss of the Season to those darn Patriots in Weeks four. But then what the Bills brass were hoping was the results would match the talent and after from Week 6 on it would..
Allen would have a sensational three touchdown performance in a 37-20 Week 11 win over the Dolphins to improve the Bills to 7-3. But the performance that would put Allen and the Bills on the map publicly would be a Bills 26-15 win over the Cowboys on Thanksgiving with Allen going 19-24 for 231 yards and a touchdown and rushing for 43 yards and another touchdown. The game that showed that the Bills Mafia had become one of the best traveling fan bases in football took place in Week 15 at Pittsburgh. The Steelers terrible towels have been notorious for invading other stadiums across the league making a road game seem like a pseudo home game. On this flexed Sunday night game the Bills Mafia invaded Heinz Field and turned sea of black and yellow into an ocean of blue and red. For good measure the Bills would win 17-10 to improve to 10-4 and clinch their second playoff berth in three years. The following game would be in Foxboro against the hated Pats with the Bills having a chance to clinch their first division title in 24 years…
The Bills would take a 17-13 lead with a Josh Allen to John Brown touchdown but in the fourth Quarter Tom Brady (we know he’s still playing!) would lead the Pats to a go ahead score. We would rather not talk about the rest of the game but move on to the Wildcard Round of the playoffs.
Unlike at Jacksonville in 2017 where the Bills were just happy to be there the Bills were playing in Houston in a game the Bills believed they could win. The Texans were a team that had stars on it, Deshaun Watson, DeAndre Hopkins and J.J Watt. But the Texans were a very flawed team. Many believed the Bills were the better team and early in the game the Bills would show the Texans a little wrinkle early in the game. Josh Allen would hand the ball to John Brown on a reverse but Brown would toss the ball back to Allen on a nifty throwback pass (a play the Bills would show successfully the following season in Arizona with this time Isiah McKenzie being the player throwing the ball to Allen) Allen would lunge to the end zone to give the Bills the early lead. After a third Quarter field goal the Bills were up 16-0. The Bills haven’t won a playoff game in 24 years, the moment appears have finally arrived.
Deshaun Watson would go on a drive with the drive being capped off with Watson bulldozing three Bills to the endzone for the touchdown to cut the lead to 16-8. The pure emotion of the Watson run shifted the game. Bills would punt, then a Texans field goal. Then after another a punt, another touchdown drive with the two and all of a sudden it’s 19-16 Texans in less than a quarter of game time. We now shift to under a minute left when Josh Allen would scramble and make an amazing play with his legs. But would while being tackled Allen tried to lateral the ball to tight end Dawson Knox, Knox would bat the ball backwards out of bounds. The Texans coaching staff would argue that the ball was illegally batted but since Knox was batting the ball backwards, but batting it backwards is a legal play. I did some research to see if I could find a play like this and I could not in recent NFL History. This is one of the most unusual plays you’ll ever see and it happened in the closing minutes of a playoff game. Things got a little bit weirder shortly after, now it’s third and ten with the Bills on the Texans 39 with 34 seconds left. Josh Allen completes a slant pass to receiver Cole Beasley and Beasley dives towards the first down, it appears that Beasley is short of the first down by a couple of inches so Sean McDermott sends out the field goal unit with no timeouts remaining. But after the ball is respotted the Bills actually have enough for the first down. With a running clock punter/holder Corey Bojorguez would have to spike the ball to stop the clock. Corey Bojorguez can tell his grandkids that he attempted a pass in a playoff game (yet in the most bizarre of circumstances). The Bills would run out of time and have to settle for the tying Stephen Hauschka field goal to send the game to overtime..
In overtime the Bills would force a stop and get the ball with only needing a field goal to win. The Bills would have a 3rd and 9 at the Texans 42 yard line and Josh Allen would run for for four yards setting the Bills up in a tricky situation to either try a 55 yard field goal or go for it. However, the Bills would not get that opportunity as right tackle Cody Ford would get called for a suspect to be nice Blindside block to stall the drive. The Texans would drive down the field on their following drive with the critical play being Watson completing a 34 yard pass to running back Taiwan Jones after two Bills would miss an opportunity to sack Watson, this would setup a Ka’imi Fairbairn 28 yard field goal for the 22-19 win. What a heartbreaker.
2020
March 11th 2020, Utah Jazz Center Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19, then his teammate Donovan Mitchell soon would also test positive for the virus. In response, the NBA would postpone the regular season indefinitely. Then the NHL would follow suit. Then March Madness would be cancelled. Before we knew it we would go over four months without competitive team sports being played. When sports returned, they would be played in empty arenas with no fans. It felt like watching competitive practices around the world. Sports wasn’t the same for a period of time. Football in particular. The Bills would play 13 of their 16 games in 2020 with the only spectators in the stands being card board cutouts of fans, random celebrities and household pets. That being said 2020 would be a banner year for the Buffalo Bills. Three things would line up to help the Bills to win their first AFC East title in 25 years…
- Tom Brady would leave the Patriots in the offseason. Tom Brady put out all of the tea leaves that he was leaving the Pats after the 2019 Season for us to see. First, Tom Brady would sell his Massachusetts home. 2nd, Brady started to have a soured relationship with Bill Belichick that tends to happen in a sports marriage after spending 20 years together. 3rd, Tom Brady put out a Hulu commercial for the Super Bowl that put out many clues of him leaving town (Brady fading into the shadows the big one to me). With Brady gone and the Patriots not having many weapons on offense to begin with the drop down to mediocrity was not surprising for the 2020 Patriots.
- The Bills picked up Josh Allen a #1 Wide receiver in a trade with the Vikings netting playoff legend Stefon Diggs. Diggs would lead the league in receiving yards with 1,535 total. Stefon Diggs was the first legitmate #1 Wide out the Bills had have since Eric Moulds left town after the 2005 Season. Diggs would help support the 3rd and biggest reason why the Bills would win the 2020 AFC East, Josh Allen…
- Josh Allen would have an td to int ratio of 15-2 with a passer rating over 98 over the final 11 games of 2019. However, Allen would take off into the elite of all of football in 2020. Josh Allen would set franchise records in passing yards (4,544) touchdown passes (37) passer rating (107.2) and the Bills as a team would set a team record by scoring over 500 points for the first time in club history (501 to be exact).
The Bills started the season at 8-3 and already running away with their division. But remember the last six games of 2004 when the Bills would go an unexpected 6 game run late in that season. In 2020 the Bills went from a good team to an historic one. Here was how their last five games went..
The Bills would win in a pseudo road game at the 49ers in Arizona 34-24 (couldn’t play the game in Santa Clara due to local COVID restrictions). The Bills then would beat the 11-1 Steelers 26-15, blast the Broncos 48-19, crush those hated Patriots 38-9 (with the evil mastermind Bill Belichick slamming a phone down on the sideline in frustration with a replay result, a pleasant sight for all of Bills Mafia to view), then smoke the Dolphins 56-26 (in a game with the Bills playing many backups and Miami needing a win to get into the playoffs, suck on that one swimming mammals!). With 202 points scored and a plus 109 point differential in the last five games (with Josh Allen throwing 15 touchdowns) the Bills would tie their franchise best in a 16 game season with a 13-3 record.
The Bills for the first time in 25 years would be hosting a playoff game but could fans be there? The Bills did not have fans at all during the regular season but for the playoffs New York Govenor Andrew Cuomo approved the Bills to allow 6,700 fans for the playoffs. Even with the fans spread out you could hear the fans roaring all game in two hard fought victories over the Colts and Ravens. The most memorable moment of the 2020 playoffs would be Bills safety Taron Johnson running back a 101 yard pick six of Ravens Quarterback Lamar Jackson to seal a 17-3 divisional round playoff victory. The only sad moment about this was that New Era Field wasn’t full for the Bills Mafia to collectively lose their mind in this moment. But twitter did explode regardless, and you know someone, somewhere jumped on their coffee table in celebration of the banner moment. For the AFC Championship game the Bills would be heading to defending Super Bowl champions Kansas City Chiefs to have a clash of AFC titans…
The Bills would lose 38-24 in a game that got away from the Bills in a hurry after the Bills held an early 9-0 lead. But as the wise man once said who cares. The 2020 Bills goal was to take a leap forward and they did that in grand style. Josh Allen just got a mega 6 year 258 million dollar contract extension to ensure that he won’t be going anywhere for a very long time. The Bills have an elite head coach for the first time since Marv Levy was on the sidelines. The defense led by Linebacker Tremaine Edmunds and Tre’Davious White is a top half at worst unit (probably a top ten unit in the league). The future is bright in Buffalo and maybe in 2021 the Bills for the first time may finally hoist that ever elusive Lombardi Trophy.
So what did we learn? As I stated in Part I, I have never been to Buffalo. I am not a Bills fan, I have only been to Bills games when they have played in other cities. Between the fans, the history and all of the weirdness of their history, this story fascinated me. I could not have been more privileged to tell it from my perspective. The Buffalo Bills as I’ve stated in previous Chapters are as human as any of us. They have had to fight for their survival throughout their existence. They have a large family that sometimes fights and is extremely strange and unconventional, but they’ve always embraced their own through victory and defeat. Their city and fans have always been there for them, even when their own owner and league has not been. Maybe some of you decided not to read this when you found out I’m not a Buffalonian. If so I understand, but if you did, I hope you enjoyed the ride. The Buffalo Bills are a great American story. Not just a great American Sports Story, but a great American Story. The Bills have never won a Super Bowl, they have only had four coaches ever coach more than four full seasons. Even with the lack of success many other organizations have had the Bills have developed one of the most loyal fan bases in all of football. When there is struggle there is triumph. The day will come when these words are said, “THE BUFFALO BILLS ARE SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONS,” when that ever sweet day comes. The late Van Miller will be screaming from above, it’s pandemonium!!