The Curse of the Bills

While I was watching yesterday’s Lions-Packers game which turned out to be thoroughly anti-climatic, I got to thinking (always a dangerous thing!) Although Lions fans have suffered through years of ignominy, they have nothing on the Buffalo Bills and their supporters. The reason is because the Bills have had really good teams yet still have not won the Super Bowl, encountering quite a bit of bad luck along the way (Their 1964 and 1965 AFL titles were pre-merger). The Cubs get all the attention for being a cursed team and for good reason – black cats, goats and Bartman do not equate to World Series apparently – but let’s examine the case for the Bills.

Right off the bat is the distinction that the Bills are the only team in either the AFC or NFC to play in 4 consecutive Super Bowls spanning the 1990-1993 seasons (the good part) and the only team to lose 4 consecutive Super Bowls (the forgettable part). I don’t mean to rub it in but the first of those losses in Super Bowl XXV was against my Giants. Despite having a Hall of Fame QB in Jim Kelly and an erudite coach in Marv Levy (the Bill Belichick of his time), the game was decided on a last second field attempt. I still remember exactly where I was when Scott Norwood’s 47 yard kick sailed wide right. The following year, the Bills lost to the Redskins and Thurman Thomas somehow lost his helmut long enough to miss plays ( I still don’t understand how that could happen). Then came two consecutive Super Bowl losses to the Cowboys, leading to an everlasting hatred of the NFC East. I can’t imagine how it must feel to come up short in the biggest game 4 times in a row…

After a down period which Bills fans used to recuperate from the numbness, Doug Flutie of all people revived their fortunes in 1999. This euphoria, which was almost comparable to the present-day Tim Tebow hype, was short-lived as the “Music City miracle” game cut short their playoffs.  With no time on the clock, the Titans managed a lateral that may or may not have been an illegal forward pass. But, this being the Bills, of course the call went against them and the TD stood.

From 2001 to the present, the Bills have not made the playoffs despite trying their best in the free agent market, getting Drew Bledsoe on the downside of his career and Terrell Owens who brings his own curse to teams. The only notable thing from this period is that owner Ralph Wilson decided to play one game in Toronto per season in exchange for alot of dollars (US or Canadian!) While I wouldn’t consider this bad luck, it sure wasn’t the brightest move as the Bills essentially play a neutral-site game, giving up home field advantage each season until 2012.

Fast forward to this year and there was hope. Fitzpatrick turned out to be a decent QB, the running game is great with Fred Jackson, and despite some bad losses (eg the Jets), they did beat the Patriots! Of course, all that came to a grinding halt with the placement of RB Fred Jackson on IR. Until his injury, Jackson ranked 3rd in the NFL in rushing with 934 yards already and 6 TDs. He is an irreplaceable part of the Bills offense so honestly, I don’t know where they go from here because Fitzpatrick can’t win games on his own.

So, there you have it – the Bills are officially the Cubs of the NFL!

Philadelphia Eagles: living the nightmare

Excuse me if I sound a little grumpy (the Giants’ dismal loss to the Seahawks had me screaming at the TV 3,000 miles away in London) but I am so tired of hearing about so-called “dream teams”. Of course, it all started with the Big 3 in Miami who wasted no time in fanning the flames by predicting multiple NBA championships. It took awhile for them to gel but at least the Heat made it to Finals. The Eagles can only hope their highly unexpected 1-4 start doesn’t prevent them from even making the playoffs!

After an offseason spent signing high profile free agents such as Nnamdi Asomugha, Cullen Jenkins, Ryan Harris, Ronnie Brown and Vince Young, pundits immediately jumped on the “Super Bowl or bust” bandwagon. Interestingly, it was former Eagles’ QB Donovan McNabb who had the most honest reaction wondering why management didn’t spend money on big name receivers when he was taking the snaps. He shouldn’t feel too bad though because it’s a well-known fact that collecting star players doesn’t buy wins in the NFL. In fact, they only need to look across their division at the Washington Redskins for proof of that.

Take yesterday’s dispiriting 31-24 loss to the surprising Bills. As good as Michael Vick is, especially with his ability to scramble for significant yardage (somewhat lost in the debacle was that he passed Randall Cunningham as the all-time QB rushing leader), there is no getting around that the offensive line isn’t doing nearly enough to protect him for sacks and knock-downs. Vick threw for 4 interceptions yesterday, 3 in a brutal first-half performance, but the last was particularly painful because the receiver Jason Avant coughed up a sure first down as the Eagles were driving for the potential tying touchdown. In fact, Avant made another crucial error earlier by fumbling the ball away as the Eagles were trying to escape bad field position deep their own endzone. These are mental mistakes more than physical ones and are inexcusable for a team as lauded as the Eagles. Don’t even get me started on the offsides call on 4th down at the end of the game that allowed the Bills to take a knee on the ensuing first down. Everyone in the stadium and on TV knew what was coming but Ryan Fitzpatrick still managed to get Juqua Parker to jump.

Philadelphia Inquirer photo

Then, there’s the defense which ranks an atrocious 30th in rushing yards allowed giving Fred Jackson all sorts of space to make big runs. The announcers sounded like broken records as they pointed out a slew of missed tackles that would’ve cut the gains to minimal or even negative yardage. Even simple screen passes went for big plays as the middle of the Eagles’ defense is a weak spot which has been exploited by several teams already.

IndyStar photo

The Eagles have the potential to work themselves out of a jam, especially with Vick as QB: look no further than the Bills game when they were in position to tie the game late. The offense has the potential to be explosive but to be successful they need to simply focus better. Right now, the players are their worst enemy. With a crucial division game against the Redskins looming, they’d better work it out quickly or be known as one of the biggest busts in recent memory.