‘THE COLUMN’. By Jerry Sullivan

FROM THE JERRY SULLIVAN SHOW, BY JERRY SULLIVAN: 

THE COLUMN 

012920   

Last night, the Sabres returned from their 10-day All-Star break, refreshed and ready to make an inspired run toward the playoffs under the Great Communicator, Ralph Krueger. They had Jeff Skinner back in the lineup. They were playing a sorry Ottawa team that had lost 10 of 11 and hadn’t won a road game since Dec. 4. 

So how did our heroes respond to this rare opportunity to get a little momentum for a second-half run? In the usual fashion. They sucked. They got dominated. The Senators looked like one of the NHL’s elite, instead of a bottom-feeder, and toyed with the Sabres for much of the night in a 5-2 victory. 

Ottawa, which came into the game ranked 31st in the league on the power play, scored on its first three extra-man chances against Buffalo’s dreadful penalty-killing unit, which is tied for 28th in the NHL and barely better than the Red Wings’. 

Skinner had one shot on goal and three attempts and was minus-2 in his return from injury. He was about as relevant as he’d been before getting hurt, which put on hold the simmering discussion of him failing to live up to the 8-year, $72 million contract he signed after last season — because Jason Botterrill “had to pay him”, remember. 

Late in the game, with the Sabres trailing 3-2 and pressing for the equalizer, they got on the power play. Skinner wasn’t out there on the first unit. Mike Harrington dared to ask him why afterwards and he offered some fumbling non-answer about wanting to do whatever it took to help the team. 

Harrington then asked Skinner if the Sabres paid him to perform in just such situations, and again Skinner had no answer. Someone asked him about the team’s inability to generate any kind of attack early. They were outshot, 7-0, and didn’t get their first shot on goal until 8:45 into the game.  

Skinner said the Sabres weren’t able to sustain anything. No kidding. He said they got outplayed in the first period “for whatever reason.” He said they have plenty of time to make a playoff push, but need to play with “urgency.”

There you go, the same old hockey cliches, but no answers. How long has it been this way, watching the Sabres fail to perform and hearing players mutter the same all dull answers afterwards?

Jack Eichel, who has been in that situation too many times in his five years in Buffalo, said “Maybe we overlooked this game.”

Wow. I know Eichel has to come up with some kind of explanations. Hockey players are conditioned to talk about urgency and desperation and not having enough energy to start the game. But if this group could actually overlook any opponent or any game, they haven’t come as far under Krueger as people would like to believe. 

“It’s not good enough,” Eichel said. “If we want to make the playoffs, that’s not a playoff-caliber effort by us. You know that. I know that. Everyone in this room knows that.”

They still have eight of their next nine games at home, where they’ve been good this season. But does anyone really believe this is a playoff team? Sure, the analytics say they’re better than last season, especially five on five. But we’re talking about a very low bar here. How about raising the standard. 

They were the worst team in the league two years ago, in Jason Botterill’s first season as the general manager. They were the worst team in the NHL after Thanksgiving a year ago. They’ve been among the worst since a hot start this season. 

Linus Ullmark suffered a lower-body injury late in the game after his leg got twisted underneath him. We’ll know more of that later. Things will be even more dire if he’s out for an extended period — which would give them another excuse, anyway. 

The Sabres are 10 points out of a playoff spot. They’re also 10 points ahead of 30th in the league. If they go into a tailspin like they did a year ago, they could easily finish in the bottom half dozen of the league again. That’s progress?

Of course, if they get it together and put on a little streak at home in the next two weeks, they could hang around the fringes of the playoff race. They could play “meaningful games” in March, which has become some kind of standard of success with this team.

Really, is that what it’s come to for hockey fans? The Bills have raised the standard to the point where making the playoffs isn’t good enough anymore, because they have a program in place that is trending in the right direction and has become legitimately relevant in the NFL again. 

Sabres fans are merely hoping that their team isn’t hopefully out of the playoff race in the last month of the season — in a league where more than half the teams get in. That’s pathetic, a joke. That’s the Sabres. It’s really getting old. 

Krueger likes to talk about “keeping things small.” I get it, but seven years after the tank, shouldn’t Buffalo hockey fans be allowed to think big?

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THE COLUMN 

012820   

They had the opening media night at the Super Bowl on Monday. I’ll confess, I didn’t watch a minute of it. I despised it as a writer when they went to that televised format. Instead, I was looking ahead to the bowl that truly matters, Super Bowl 54. 

The Chiefs-Niners matchup is one of the most compelling in years, a fascinating contrast of styles. It’s a fabulous passing team with the game’s best quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, against a physical Niners team that likes to beat you in an old-school fashion — with defense and a relentless running attack. 

The Niners were second in the NFL in total defense and rushing. They’re only the third team in the last 40 years to rank that high in both and reach the Super Bowl. The others were the 1985 Bears under Mike Ditka and the 2014 Seahawks.

In the old days, it was commonplace for the top defensive teams to go far with defense and running. Nineteen of the  first 20 teams to reach the Super Bowl from 1966-75 finished in the top 10 in defense. It was a bygone time, with fewer teams, but the model for success was different.

Over the last 11 seasons, 10 of the Super Bowl participants didn’t even finish in the top half of the NFL in total defense. Teams went far with ordinary running games. The Pats won Super Bowls with Tom Brady throwing on virtually every down. 

But the model seemed to shift back this season. For the first time since 1992, the top four rushing teams were all among the eight in the divisional round. The Ravens broke the team rushing record. The Titans got to the AFC title game without throwing for 100 yards in either game. The Niners won the NFC championship with Jimmy Garoppolo attempting just eight passes and Raheem Mostert breaking the record for rushing yards a title game with 220. 

So in a copycat league, there will be a lot of scrutiny paid to this Super Bowl. Is it no longer a “passing” league, as we’ve been saying for years? 

The debate will rage if the Niners win next weekend with running and defense and a minimal reliance on the passing game. Maybe they’ll be like the Seattle team of five years ago, a No. 1 defense that couldn’t stop Tom Brady in the fourth quarter and didn’t run the ball from the 1 with the game on the line.

It’s still about the pass. Experience has taught me to pick the team with the better quarterback. There are exceptions. But I’ll go with Mahomes, the best QB in the sport. He’s in his second year as a starter. This is his first Super Bowl. But he’s a staggering talent who has already won a league MVP, thrown for 50 touchdowns in a season and performed at a high level in his first two postseasons.

Mahomes has 13 TD passes and no turnovers in four playoff games.  He has risen to the moment, as the great ones do. He rallied the Chiefs from 24-0 deficit in the divisional round, a 10-0 hole in the AFC title game. He  put 24 points on the board in the fourth quarter in a loss to the Pats in the title game a year ago.

Perhaps I’m underestimating Niners QB Jimmy Garoppolo. He finished fourth in the league in completion percentage (69.1) and third in yards per attempt (8.4), a vital statistic. His rating was 102. If Josh Allen puts together that sort of season in 2020, Buffalo fans will be dancing through the streets.

The question is whether Garoppolo can engage Mahomes in a shootout and come out ahead, the way Nick Foles did against Brady two years ago. In recent years, the Super Bowl has usually demanded that a quarterback go to a higher level as a passer, to be more than a game manager.

I’m not saying Garoppolo can’t do it. He had the best QB rating in the league in the fourth quarter. But he needs to prove it on the biggest stage. He won’t likely beat Mahomes and the Chiefs by handing off and making a bunch of safe throws. 

People say Mahomes profits from great weapons, which is true.  The Niners’  don’t compare. They have one wide receiver with 40 catches, rookie Deebo Samuel. They have an elite tight end in George Kittle, but in the heat of a close Super Bowl, their inferior cast of wideouts will be an issue.

I expect Mahomes to make enough plays against a Niners D that struggled late in the year against mobile quarterbacks. Mahomes is great on the move, which will give his receivers time to separate against the San Fran DBs and make big plays. 

The Chiefs’ defense is better than people realize. They have a quick front seven that penetrates well and will do a lot better with the Niners’ multiple running game than that sorry Packers defense did in the championship game. 

There are a lot of ways to win in football. Running and defense still matter. But I watched a lot of Bills teams go nowhere over the years with strong defenses and a top running game. It’s still about the quarterback.

Next week in Miami, Andy Reid will finally win his first Super Bowl because he was smart enough to call Sean McDermott on draft night and get Patrick Mahomes. You want to win Super Bowls,  he’s the best new model.

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THE COLUMN 

012320   

Zion Williamson made his long-awaited NBA regular-season debut last night. Those of us who love the sport knew it would be a limited appearance, like only seeing half a Broadway show or rock concert; but 165 credentialed media — six times more than for a normal New Orleans game — were fascinated to watch Zion just the same. 

For three quarters, it was a dud. Williamson, coming off a 13-week hiatus after tearing the meniscus in his knee on Oct. 21, was tentative and out of rhythm in his return. Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said Zion would play in short bursts, but there weren’t really any bursts, just awkward moves and turnovers. He had five in just his first 12 minutes.

Then, late Wednesday night, just as we were ready to rationalize this as a necessarily dreary debut, Williamson reminded us why he was the No. 1 pick in the draft and why this was the most anticipated NBA debut since LeBron’s first game 17 years ago. Over an astonishing 90-second stretch of the fourth quarter, Zion took our breath away. 

He was clearly a bit heavy and out of shape, at least by NBA standards. But in the fourth quarter, he finally got into a rhythm and was so good that Gentry couldn’t take him off the floor. A couple of times, Gentry had a sub ready at the table but pulled him back when Williamson scored again to electrify the home crowd and lead the Pels back.

Early in the fourth, Zion fumbled the ball away for his fifth turnover. He was clearly frustrated; you could see a disgusted smile on his face. Maybe he knew what was coming. He rose high for a rebound, made a nice outlet pass to Etwan Moore for a hoop that cut the Spurs’ lead to six and forced a Gregg Popovoch timeout.

Maybe Pop shouldn’t have given him a quick rest. When play resumed, Williamson took over. He hit a three-pointer on top. He caught a lob from Lonzo Ball and scored, showing his remarkable body control in the air. It was around the time when Gentry had pulled him earlier. No way. He pulled up from 23 feet and hit another three pointer. 

Gentry sent his sub back to the bench. Williamson grabbed a loose ball, went down and posted up San Antonio’s Jakob Poetl, who blocked his shot. Zion retrieved I and laid it in with his off hand, his right. Next trip, he drilled another three. The fans were going crazy. He had scored 13 points in 90 seconds. 

Williamson sank yet another three pointer and suddenly the Pelicans were ahead, 109-107. Gentry had a sub ready again and again pulled him back. Zion posted up and got fouled. Finally, he missed. He made one of two free throws. 

That was all. After a Pelicans timeout, Gentry had a little chat with his 19-year-old star and took him out. The Spurs quickly took over the game and won, 121-117. Gentry knew the questions would be asked and addressed it at the end of his post-game presser

“And no, he couldn’t go back in the game, so don’t go there,” Gentry said. “Just because the medical people said that was it.  I don’t think anybody would be happy about it if you were playing at the level he was playing at, and then all of a sudden you had to come out of the game. I’m not the brightest coach in the world, but I wasn’t gonna take him out in those situations unless I was told to.”

Williamson didn’t want to leave the game, of course. “It’s very hard,” he said. “I’m 19. Honestly, in that moment, I’m not thinking about longevity. I’m thinking about winning the game. So it was very tough.”

It’s true, the Pelicans need him. They’re now five games behind the Spurs, who moved into the eighth and final playoff spot in the West. The NBA needs him, too. TV Ratings are down about 15 percent, and while cable cutting is a factor, it’s more about the lack of star power. Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant have missed the entire season. Paul George has missed a big chunk. LeBron James is getting on in years. 

The league needs young superstars, and while Luka Doncic and Trae Young are dazzling in their second years, Williamson is the biggest thing to come along since LeBron. He has 4.4 million Instagram followers. He’s had more jerseys and tee shirts sold than all the first round picks in the 2018 draft. 

Zion’s amazing dunks were a big part of it, but it’s his all-around game that makes him so irresistible to watch. He’s a very good passer and remarkably quick off his feet. Defenses have to protect the lane when he has the ball, which creates openings on the perimeter — same as LeBron does. But it was his long-range shooting that stole the show in his debut. If he can do that on a regular basis, look out. 

Wait until Williamson settles in, losing a little more weight and gets into a rhythm over the whole games. I could see the Pelicans making a playoff run and sneaking into that eighth seed. If you think there was a lot of hype for his debut last night, imagine the buildup to a LeBron-Zion matchup in the first round. 

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THE COLUMN 

012220   

Derek Jeter was an overwhelming choice for the baseball Hall of Fame on Tuesday. Larry Walker finally squeaked in in his final year of eligibility. I’m happy for Jeter, one of the greatest player ever and a man I had the joy of covering in four World Series during my sports writing career. 

I’m thrilled about Larry Walker, who I’ve always felt was deserving of a place in the Hall. Walker was a great five-tool player. His .965 career OPS is the 15th highest of all time ahead of such legends as Mel Ott, Ty Cobb, Willie Mays and Alex Rodriguez.

Walker won three National League batting titles. He hit over .360 three years in a row. He won seven Gold Gloves in right field. Sure, he played most of his career in Coors Field, a haven for hitters, but the WAR stats say he’s one of the best outfielders ever and the eye test said he would have been a star where he played. 

Walker made in his 10th year of eligibility (the waiting period was recently decreased from 15 years to 10). He barely got over the barrier at 76.6 percent, six votes over the cutoff. In his first year of eligiblity, in 2011, Walker got only 20.3 percent of the vote. It took voters a decade to get past the fact he played at Coors and that his career was shortened somewhat by injuries. 

Sometimes, voters take time to come around. They review the evidence, consider all the factors, read what a player’s supporters say and revise their opinion over time. I appreciate a diversity of opinion and often rail about the way voters fall into line on votes for MVP and coach of the year and other awards in sports. 

I remember the year Steph Curry won MVP in the NBA and Steven A. Smith said they should revoke the credential of the person who didn’t vote for him. Really, you couldn’t believe that LeBron James or Kawhi Leonard was MVP? I’ll always defend a variance of opinion on an MVP debate.

Ordinarily, I wouldn’t be up in arms over that fact that one out of 397 voters didn’t put Jeter’s name on his — or her — ballot. There has only been one uninamious choice in history, Mariano Rivera. There were 23 voters who didn’t pick Willie Mays in his first year of eligibility. Nine left off Hank Aaron in 1982. In 2016, Ken Griffey got 437 out of 440 votes.

Voters are evolving. Many of the old customs are being abandoned. Writers have been known to snub players because they didn’t get along with them. Some leave obvious picks off to give lesser candidates a better chance. I knew voters who wouldn’t vote for a player in his first year out of principle. They didn’t think anyone deserved it on the first try. 

That’s ridiculous. That’s why I’d like to know why this voter decided not to put Jeter on his ballot. The way I see it, if you think a player is a Hall of Famer, you think he’s a Hall of Famer. You don’t wait a year because you think he needs to wait a year. Either he’s one of the all-time greats or he’s not. I had the same reaction the year Thurman Thomas didn’t get into the Pro Football Hall in his first year of eligibility. 

The regrettable thing is that there’s as much attention being paid to this one dissenting Jeter voter than there is to Larry Walker getting in — or Curt Schilling narrowly missing again. Whatever you think of Schilling’s personality or his politics, he deserves it. He got 70 percent and I suspect he’ll get in eventually. 

But everyone is asking. Who is the person who didn’t vote for Jeter? Something tells me he’s looking to draw attention to himself. That would truly be an outrage. I have to admit, I would like to hear the explanation — although I don’t believe every voter has an obligation to make his vote public and explain himself. 

I would actually respect it more if the person said Jeter was overrated as a fielder and clutch hitter and wouldn’t be as highly regarded if he didn’t play in New York. Anything but that tired argument that no one should get in the first time.

I love a good debate, and a healthy diversity of opinion. But in this case, I just don’t get it. 

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THE COLUMN 

012120   

The Chiefs have been installed as early favorites for Super Bowl 54. Kansas City is back in the Bowl after 50 years. That’s the longest stretch between appearances in the big game in NFL history. The Jets, who went the year before the Chiefs won Super Bowl IV, have gone even longer than the Chiefs did. 

In the fourth Super Bowl, the Chiefs and Vikings combined for 512 yards, by the way. Len Dawson threw only 17 passes in a 23-7 victory that day and was named the MVP despite throwing for only 142 yards with one touchdown and only one pass completion over 20 yards. Of course, it was a different game back then. Bob Griese won back-to-back Super Bowls with the Dolphins and threw a combined total of 18 passes in the two Super Bowls. 

I imagine 49ers fans are hoping their team could turn back the clock in Miami in two weeks and win the old way, without having to threw the football a lot. In Sunday’s 37-20 rout of the Packers in the NFC championship game, Niners quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo attempted only eight passes. 

That was the fewest passes ever attempted by a quarterback who played a full game in conference championship. Garoppolo was 6 of 8 for 77 yards. That’s reminiscent of Super Bowl 8, when Bob Griese went six of seven passing for 73 yards in a win over, yes, the Vikings. Miami had 53 runs for 196 yards and three touchdowns that day.

The Niners carried 42 times for 285 yards against Green Bay. Raheem Mostert set a title game record with 220 yards rushing for San Francisco. The Chiefs won with their featured back, Damien Williams averaging 2.6 yards a carry and with Patrick Mahomes leading them in rushing with 53 yards. 

So it looks like we have a classic contrast in this year’s Super Bowl: A Niners team that likes to punch you in the mouth the old way, with a power run game and strong defense, against a team with the best quarterback in the game, Patrick Mahomes, a guy who has averaged more than 300 yards passing a game and has 76 touchdown passes in his first two years as a starter. 

Maybe that’s why Vegas has installed the Chiefs as a slight favorite. They think the team with the best quarterback will win over a team that was second in the NFL in rushing and in defense — first against the pass. The line reflects public sentiment, and the public still believe that it’s a passing league. 

I tend to agree. I like the Chiefs. I’m not great at picking games, but when in doubt I had a rule to go with the better quarterback. In a Super Bowl, where teams often have to throw a lot to win, I’ll go with Mahomes over Jimmy Garoppolo. 

No offense to Jimmy G, he’s a good quarterback. He threw 27 touchdown passes, averaged 8.4 yards an attempt and completed 69 percent. He’s 21-5 as a starter. Mahomes is 24-7. This is a matchup of two winners, a terrific matchup. It should be close and high-scoring and good for the game. 

But if it comes down to the better passer, I have to go with Mahomes. He is the successor to Tom Brady as the best QB in the game, and I can’t forget how many times Brady had to take over playoff games and Super Bowls and wigames with his arm, even when the opposition knew he had to throw it. 

Brady threw 50 times to beat the Seahawks and 62 times against the Falcons in the two greatest comebacks in Super Bowl history. He threw 48 times for 505 yards in a loss to the Eagles, who won because Nick Foles couldn’t be stopped through the air. In his last 12 playoff wins, Brady averaged 44 pass attempts. 

That’s still where the NFL is today, it’s a passing league. Yes, the Pats won a low-scoring game last season — because a run-oriented team with a young quarterback couldn’t establish its ground game and had a mediocre game throwing the football. 

I can’t see the Niners winning without Garoppolo having a big passing day. Tennessee tried to beat the Chiefs with the old model and the game’s best running back and couldn’t keep up with the best quarterback in the game. This isn’t the Seventies. It’s 2020, I’ll take my chances with the best passer on the planet.

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THE COLUMN 

012020   

Sorry, I know Bills fans don’t like to be reminded. They’d rather dwell on what they have, not what might have been. 

But as I’ve said before, I’m not going to let go of the fact that the Bills passed on a chance to get Patrick Mahomes in the 2017 draft. 

Sure, Sean McDermott has done great things since becoming head coach three years ago this month. But history reflects that he blew it by trading the 10th overall pick to his mentor, Andy Reid, on the night of that ’17 NFL draft. 

You can rationalize by saying that Doug Whaley was the GM at the time. Come on. Whaley was fired the next day. The Pegulas had invested McDermott with unprecedented power, and the ultimate decision to move out of that pick and wait on a quarterback (the Bills also missed out on Deshaun Watson) was his. 

On the night of the deal, while people were gushing over McDermott for collecting draft assets, I pointed out that Reid was one of the most winning coaches in NFL history and you might at least want to give him some credit for knowing a potential star quarterback when he saw one.

That guy was Mahomes, who became league MVP in his first season as a starter last year and proved on Sunday that he’s the best quarterback on the planet. With all due respect to Lamar Jackson, there should be no debate on that.

Mahomes was magnificent in the AFC championship game, throwing for 294 yards and three TDs and scoring a fourth on a 27-yard scramble as Kansas City beat the Titans to reach their first Super Bowl in half a century. 

For the second week in a row, the Chiefs fell behind early, then went on a withering offensive assault. They trailed by 10 early before scoring five TDs in a span of six possessions. Mahomes reminded us it’s still a passing league, and that he is the best thrower — the best damn player, period. 

In the end, the Titans simply couldn’t stop him from making big plays with his arm — and on one unforgettable play, with his legs. And when Tennessee tried to contain Mahomes’ passing, it opened up the running game and KC wound up outgaining the Titans on the ground.

Mahomes is irrepressible, like a viper. With the Chiefs trailing, 17-7, he marched them 63 yards in just 2:36, rolling out to hit ex-Bill Sammy Watkins for a big play, then finding Tyreek Hill for a 20-yard TD with 4:03 left in the first half.

“Better not leave him too much time,” I thought. The Titans went three-and-out. Mahomes drove KC 86 yards in just 1:40. He made the play of the day, scrambling down the left sideline, cutting back to the middle, and spinning away from two tacklers inside the 5 for a 27-yard TD. 

You don’t hear a lot about Mahomes’ running. But he’s as dangerous a runner as Josh Allen. He’s a superior athlete, son of a Major League pitcher who could have played baseball at a high level. His godfather, former MLB pitcher Latroy Hawkins, says his best sport was basketball. Like a good point guard, Mahomes has great vision and a gift for improvisation. He also has the most vital tool, a great arm. Allen has a big arm, too. But Mahomes is in another universe as a passer. Bills fans can only dream that Allen will be as good throwing on the run.

Reid realized Mahomes was something special when he made that trade with Buffalo on draft night in 2017. He couldn’t have known how special, but the guy didn’t win more than 200 NFL games as an offensive-minded coach without knowing a great quarterback when he saw one. 

His vision was rewarded last season. Now the Chiefs are back in the Super Bowl after half a century and Reid has a chance to win his first Lombardi Trophy and put to rest his reputation for never winning the big one. 

In time, maybe McDermott will get there, too. Allen is a dynamic QB with great upside. Bills fans can take comfort in knowing that while they didn’t get Mahomes, that trade brought a Pro Bowl cornerback, Tre White, and a pick that helped land linebacker Tremaine Edmunds the next year.

Of course, anyone who suffered through the drought knows cornerbacks and linebackers only get you so far. As Andy Reid knew, wondrous things happen when you get the quarterback right. In Mahomes, the Chiefs got the best in the game.

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THE COLUMN 

011720   

Everyone knows the Bills were the only team to go to four consecutive Super Bowls — and of course, to lose all four. Over the years, the players and coaches from that team have taken a great measure of pride from that achievement, despite the obvious regret from never having won the ultimate NFL prize. 

But that also means, and doesn’t get mentioned nearly as much, is that the Bills are also the only team ever to win four straight AFC championship games. The Patriots got to eight in a row, and won the last three heading into this postseason, but couldn’t duplicate the feat

Those four games were among the best moments of my sports writing career. Three of them came at home, at what was then Rich Stadium. I thought I’d take a few moments to remember each of them as we get ready for this weekend’s two title games

Jan. 20, 1991: The first one was probably the most memorable. It was the first, of course, getting the Bills to their first Super Bowl. It was at the height of the Gulf War, and patriotism was high. I remember all the flags and the emotional anthem at Rich.

The Bills won, 51-3. They led, 41-3, after a remarkable first half. When the Chiefs scored 41 points in a row last week and scored 51 in a playoff game, it certainly brought back memories. It was a surreal day. I remember standing in the press box during halftime, watching the Scud Stud on TV. The game had become an afterthought. 

Jim Kelly threw for 300 yards exactly. Thurman Thomas ran for 138 yards; he had over 100 in all three playoff games that year; Kenneth Davis tied an NFL playoff record by rushing for three touchdowns  James Lofton caught two touchdown passes; Darryl Talley had two interceptions and returned one of them for a touchdown.

The Bills allowed each media member to purchase two Super Bowl tickets in advance in case they won that day. I ordered two for my next-door neighbor, Gary Pupaff, a season ticket holder who later was sports director at 97 Rock. Gary wanted to take his father, who had waited years to see the Bills in a Super Bowl, to the Bowl. 

One of my vivid memories is Gary — who had to weigh at least 350 pounds — jumping up and down in the lobby of the administrative building when I handed him the two Super Bowl tickets. I swear he was three feet off the floor.

Jan. 12, 1992: The most prolific offense in Bills history, at the height of the No Huddle offense, didn’t score a touchdown. They beat Denver 10-7. It was scoreless at halftime. The only Buffalo TD came when linebacker Carlton Bailey picked off a pass that was deflected by nose tackle Jeff Wright and ran it back 11 yards for a touchdown.

The No-Huddle managed just 213 yards against Wade Phillips’s defense. Kelly had only 36 receiving yards from his wideouts. But the defense saved the day. They knocked John Elway out of the game. Gary Kubiak relieved Elway and scored a late TD, but the Bills held on as the crowd held its collective breath.

My most vivid memory is of Cornelius Bennett in the locker room after one of his greatest games. With a bunch of national reporters standing around his locker, he looked up at me and said, “This man made me better.” Biscuit and I had had some rough times when I criticized him along the way. He even threatened me once.

Jan. 17, 1993: The only title game that was on the road, they dominated in Miami, 29-10, in a game that wasn’t that close. This was two weeks after the famous comeback with Frank Reich. I thought they should stick with Reich, but Kelly came back from a sprained knee and played well, though it was mainly a defensive triumph.

The defense dominated from a start. An early deflection and interception by Phil Hansen set the tone. Through three quarters, Dan Marino and the Dolphins had just 116 yards and six first downs. More than half their total yards were in garbage time, after the Bills went ahead, 23-3. 

The Bills rushed for 182 yards. Thomas was great with 96 yards rushing and 70 receiving. Kenneth Davis also had more than 100 scrimmage yards. 

1994, Bills 30-13 over KC at Rich Stadium. An angry Thurman Thomas sets an AFC championship game record by rushing for 186 yards rushing. Thomas had 208 yards from scrimmage that day. The Bills defense was great again in a title game, holding the Chiefs to 52 yards rushing, knocking Joe Montana out of the game and getting two interceptions and four sacks. 

My favorite memory of that game is that Thomas was still upset after the game. Thurman was famous for feeding off some perceived insult. I wrote during the week before that game that it would good if Kenneth Davis got 10 carries in the title game. Thomas was mad at me, he thought I was suggesting that Davis take his job.

Thurman’s big day didn’t prevent Davis from carrying — 10 times for 32 yards

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THE COLUMN 

011620      

The Las Vegas Golden Knights stunned the NHL on Wednesday by firing head coach Gerard Gallant, who led the Knights to the Stanley Cup final two seasons ago in their inaugural season — when he won the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year — and got the back to the playoffs a year ago.

General manager Kelly McCrimmin said the move was made because the team has underperformed this season. He thanked Gallant and assistant Mike Kelly, who was also fired, for the “real special moments” they had brought the new franchise. It was the seventh coaching change in the league this season, five for on-ice performance.

“It’s just the feeling that you have that a change might be needed,” McCrimmon said. He also said “Our team is capable of more than we have demonstrated this season,” 

What is it about losing to the Sabres that rings the death knell for NHL coaches? This is the second time a coach was fired this season right after losing to the Sabres. The Devils “parted ways” with John Hynes early last month after his team got waxed in Buffalo. 

It must be quite a source of pride for Sabres fans to know that losing to their team has become a last straw for opposing franchises. Sure, the Knights made the Cup final as an expansion team, but losing to Buffalo, the team with the longest playoff drought in the NHL, that’s simply unacceptable. 

Yeah, losing to this Sabres team is quite alarming for the opposition. Maybe them losing should create as much urgency as losing TO THEM. I know they’re on a rousing two-game winning streak. But the Sabres are 12-23 in their last 35 games. They have 35 games left this season. If they go 12-23, they’ll finish 33-49 — which was exactly their record a year ago. 

That would not constitute progress. It wouldn’t be a historic collapse like last season, when the Sabres lost 17 of their last 19 games in March and got Phil Housley fired. But it would be a very troubling development if this team went on another prolonged skid and finished near the bottom of the league again.

Sabres defenseman Colin Miller, who was a key member of that Vegas team that made the Cup final, had this reaction when approached by a couple of reporters after practice on Wednesday: “That happened? I didn’t know if the guys were kidding or not. I’m completely shocked.”

Yeah, I imagine it’s shocking to see what happened in Vegas dismissed as failure when you compare it to what the Sabres have done in the same time. While the Knights were making the Finals as an expansion team, the Sabres were finishing with the league’s worst record. While Vegas was making the playoffs again a year ago, the Sabres were the worst team in the league after Thanksgiving.

The Sabres fired Phil Housley as a result. And you’ll recall, when he was let go it put general manager Jason Botterill front and center as the man responsible for the team’s failures. 

If the team didn’t improve significantly under new coach Ralph Krueger, Botterill could be next to go.

At least, that was the feeling among some observers. I never felt Botterill was on an especially hot seat this season with the people who mattered. The Pegulas would not be inclined to replace the GM this soon and were willing to give him at least two more years. 

But shouldn’t general managers be held to a higher standard in a league that fires coaches this often? Aren’t they the ones who put the teams together? It was Botterill who hired Housley. He’s the one who drafted Casey Mittelstadt, and made the regrettable Ryan O’Reilly trade, which put him position to overpay Jeff Skinner, and did little to change the roster after last year’s collapse.

Shouldn’t the standard be a lot higher in Jack Eichel’s fifth season, with the Sabres on the NHL’s longest playoff drought? If the Sabres don’t make a serious challenge for the playoffs, it’ll be even worse, a total waste of a career year by the team’s superstar, a player they tanked for.

If anything, there should be less patience in Buffalo than in a place like Las Vegas. But that’s long been a problem with our sports teams, that we accept a lower standard than other organizations. 

There have been some encouraging signs under Krueger this year. The analytics say this Sabres team is much more efficient than last year’s. But it still comes down to wins and losses, and this group is still seven points out of a playoff spot heading into tonight’s game in Dallas.

After the two upcoming road games, the Sabres play nine of 10 games at home. If they’re still this far out of a playoff spot a month from now, it’ll be a very bad sign. I know they have injuries. So did the Penguins, and it didn’t stop them from winning without Sidney Crosby and pulling 14 points clear of Buffalo.

People say the goal is for the Sabres to play “meaningful” games in March, to at least have a sniff of the playoff down the stretch. That’s a pretty meager standard, if you ask me. Maybe it’s time to raise it. 

If they play over the next two months the way they did over the last two, it’ll be time to seriously consider if Botterill is the right man for the job. He absolutely belongs on the hot seat now and until this team actually makes the playoffs.

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THE COLUMN 

011520      

People think I’m a negative guy. I prefer to think of it as objectively critical. But it’s not as if all I do is rip teams and players and coaches. I’m actually a sentimental old guy who hopes for the best. I root for a good story and I root for people, too. 

Here are some people I’m rooting for these days:

I’m rooting for Andy Reid. You hate to see a coach get the label as a guy who never won the big one. Reid has 207 career wins in the regular season, the most of any NFL coach never to win a Super Bowl. It would be nice to see him break through and do it with the Chiefs.

I root for Serena Williams, as you probably know. She’s my favorite athlete, the best tennis player ever in my opinion. She’s 38 and is stuck on 23 Grand Slam wins, the most in the Open era and one behind that bigot, Margaret Court. Serena, who beat Jessie Pegula last week for her first WTA title in three years, hasn’t won a major since having a baby. It would be very moving to see her win one more Slam and hold her little girl at the ceremony.

I root for Matt Anderson of West Seneca, the best volleyball player we’ve ever produced and one of the best players in the world. Anderson will go to his third Olympics in Japan this summer. He has gone twice with the Americans and never won gold. The U.S. suffered a tough loss before the medal round in 2012 and lost in the semifinals four years ago, then Matt led them to a bronze. It would be a great Buffalo story for him to get a gold. 

I’m rooting for LeSean McCoy, who didn’t get on the field for the Chiefs last weekend. McCoy is the 22nd rusher of all time (165 behind O.J. Simpson), but has never played in a winning playoff game. Whatever you thought of him as a guy and a leader, LeSean gave the Bills some great years and it would be to see him get out there and have a couple of big runs for KC in the AFC title game — or maybe in the Super Bowl. 

I’m now rooting for the Dodgers. They have the longest playoff streak in baseball at seven years. But they still haven’t won a World Series since the Kirk Gibson series in 1988. They lost the Series in 2017 and 2018 — to the Astros and Red Sox, who were evidently stealing signs. It would be nice to see LA break through and win one the honest way, with Clayton Kershaw winning the clincher. 

I’m rooting for Larry Walker to make the baseball Hall of Fame this year in his 10th and final year of eligibility. Walker deserves it. He’s one of 21 players with career averages of .300-.400-.500 (batting average, on-base, slugging) , and was one of the best right fielders of all time. I don’t care if he played in Colorado and had a lot of injuries. He belongs, and early balloting shows the voters are finally coming to that realization.  

I’m rooting for Phil Mickelson this season. Mickelson turns 50 in June this year, a few days before the start of the U.S. Open. I’ve never been a big Lefty fan, but what a story it would be if he could win his first U.S. Open after hitting 50, and becoming the oldest player ever to win a major. It would be cool if he won any of the four majors, actually. 

I’m rooting for the Spurs to make the playoffs. Yeah, it’s their worst season under Gregg Popovich. But they’ve made the postseason 22 years in a row, and it would be nice to see them get in as an eighth seed. They’d probably run into the Lakers in the opening round. I’d kind of like to see LeBron James make another run to the NBA Finals, though. 

I’m rooting for Jack Eichel, who scored another amazing goal last night, to get to 100 points this season. He would be the first Sabre to do it since Alex Mogilny and Pat LaFontaine 27 years ago. He played for a dysfunctional organization, but he’s a supreme talent and it would be a nice milestone in his fifth NHL season. It would also be great to see him finally get into the playoffs, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. 

Oh, I’m rooting for Scarlett Johansson to win her first Oscar. She got her first TWO nominations this year. Also rooting for Marriage Story to win Best Picture. And OK, sorry to get negative at the end, but I’ll be rooting AGAINST the vastly overrated Irishman.

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THE COLUMN 

011420      

Three months ago at this time, the Houston Astros were flying high. They had won 107 games in the regular season, their third straight season of 100 wins. They were in the process of beating the Yankees in the ALCS, and they were the clear favorite to win the championship.

Since then, it has all come crashing down. Their assistant GM, Brandon Taubman, was fired after the ALCS for verbally abusing female reporters. They blew a 3-2 lead in the Series to the Nationals, losing the final two games at home. Gerrit Cole left in free agency after a career season that saw him go unbeaten for the last four months of the regular season.

But those seemed like minor annoyances after what happened Monday. Owner Jim Crane announced that he had dismissed Astros manager A.J. Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow for their roles in a sign-stealing scheme during the 2017 and 2018 seasons.

Crane had no choice. Earlier in the day, MLB announced that it had suspended Hinch and Luhnow for their roles in the cheating scandal. They also fined the Astros $5 million and took away their first- and second-round picks in the 2020 and 2021 drafts. 

Crane  said the “Astros will become a stronger organization because of this today.” I’m not so sure of that. This was a very bad day for baseball, a sport struggling with a myriad of issues, including an increasingly disaffected fan base. It was also an ominous day for the Red Sox, who are also under investigation for stealing signs and whose manager, Alex Cora, was the ringleader of the Astros scandal as bench coach in 2017.

The sentiment inside baseball is that the Astros got what they deserved and the penalty could have been even worse.  The MLB report talked of  an “insular culture–one that valued and rewarded results over other considerations, combined with a staff of individuals who often lacked direction or sufficient oversight …”

The Astros got nailed for outright arrogance and stupidity. Manfred drew the line on sign-stealing when he sent a memo to all teams on Sept. 15, 2017 — in the aftermath of the Apple Watch incident involving the Red Sox and Yankees — telling them that the misuse of technology to steal signs would result in harsh penalties, including the loss of draft picks. 

Manfred warned MLB front offices, managers and coaches to make sure such cheating didn’t happen on their watch. According to the report, Luhnow didn’t even “forward the memoranda and did not confirm that the players and field staff were in compliance with MLB rules and the memoranda.”

The Astros kept cheating. They used smart watches, cell phone, banged on trash cans, the video room, a center-field camera. The report referred to it as a player-driven scheme, but no players were disciplined because baseball knows the Players Association would challenge any player penalty and didn’t want this to drag on in litigation.

Ultimately, it’s an organizational failure, what the NCAA would call “lack of institutional control” when it comes down hard on college cheating. Manfred:

“While no one can dispute that Luhnow’s baseball operations department is an industry leader in its analytics, it is very clear to me that the culture of the baseball operations department, manifesting itself in the way its employees are treated, its relations with other Clubs, and its relations with the media and external stakeholders, has been very problematic.”

The Astros would not have been penalized if they had responded to the September, 2017, memo. Instead, Luhnow ignored it. He didn’t tell Hinch. Luhnow was one of the brightest minds in baseball. He led the Astros from the bottom of the sport to the pinnacle with a combination of analytics and shrewd deals and drafting. 

But his arrogance was his undoing. As it turns out, the assistant GM berating female reporters in the locker room was a sign of a deeper, more insidious problem. Baseball’s 2017 champion has been tainted and disgraced. Now the 2018 champion, the Red Sox, could be next. 

It’s hard to imagine that Alex Cora won’t be harshly disciplined. According to The New York Post, he is facing a significant suspension and fine for his role in the Astros scandal. Cora got a lot of credit for bringing together the players in Boston, for being a players’ manager. Evidently, he’s also a cheater. 

You know who you have to feel for, and who comes off looking good in this? The Dodgers, who lost to the Astros and Red Sox in both those tainted Series.

 

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THE COLUMN 

011320      

Every year during the drought, I watched the NFL playoffs through the prism of the Bills. They were never in it, but there was always some Buffalo angle to consider — a former player or coach doing well, or simply seeing what truly good football teams looked like. 

This year, we had to wait a week. But watching the divisional round over the weekend, I was back to the old pastime of connecting everything to the Bills. 

Watching the Titans stun Lamar Jackson and the Ravens on Saturday night, I thought back to the Bills’ loss to Baltimore at home last month. I’ve seen this defensive game plan before, I thought. The Titans crowded the run box, held the edges against Jackson early in the game and did a nice job on his receivers down the field. 

I also had this thought, which I imagine was shared by many Bills fans: Ryan Tannehill is playing in the AFC championship game? The same Ryan Tannehill who went 4-7 in his dubious seven-year career for the Dolphins, and rarely played well against the Bills? That guy? We laughed at him. He’d be the worst Super Bowl QB since Trent Dilfer. 

Jackson, meanwhile, had another rough playoff game after a regular season that will almost surely win him MVP. Jackson threw for 365 yards and ran for another 143, but never has a 500-yard game seemed so lacking. He was 31 of  59 passing and threw high and behind receivers all night. After committing just eight turnovers in the regular season, Jackson had two interceptions and a lost fumble and had a 63.2 rating, his second-worst of the season.

So Lamar is now 19-3 as a starter in the regular season and 0-2 in the playoffs. He was horrible in the Ravens’ wild-card loss to the Chargers as a rookie. Bills fans can take solace in seeing Jackson struggle in the playoffs, as Josh Allen had a week earlier. 

See, even the “unstoppable” Jackson found out that playoffs are a different animal. This game, fair or not, will revive the questions about the mobile quarterback model in the NFL. But remember, they’re young. Jackson just turned 23. He’s even younger than Josh.

Allen reverted to “Wyoming Josh” form in the critical moments of the Houston game, but he was very good for much of the game. Allen played better in his first playoff start than Jackson has in either of his postseason games — though I have to think Lamar would have produced more than one TD against that Houston D.

Of course, once the Titans stunned the Ravens, who became the sixth team ever win 14 games and not win a playoff game, I had this realization: They’re the sixth seed! The Bills actually would have been playing for the right to host the championship game if they hadn’t blown the wild-card game in Houston. 

Yes, no matter how bad things are for the Bills, there’s always new way for their fans to be tortured. It wasn’t bad enough for the Bills to squander a late 16-0 lead and lose to the Texans in the wild-card game, adding  another chapter to the chronicle of post-season woe.

No, they had to watch the Texans blow a 24-0 lead and lose to the Chiefs, 51-31, on Sunday. Patrick Mahomes threw five TD passes against a sorry Texans defense — four in the second quarter — as KC advanced to its second straight AFC title game with Mahomes as starter. 

I could hear bitter Buffalo fans sitting in front of their TVs: How in the world could the Bills fail to score a touchdown in the last 68 minutes against THAT defense? The Bills settled for field goals and it came back to bite them. The Chiefs scored a TD on seven consecutive possessions, for God’s sake.

There’s no guarantee the Bills would have fared any better  in Arrowhead, but no way the Chiefs would have shredded Buffalo’s defense the way they did Houston’s. The Texans were last in the NFL in yards per play allowed. They were the worst third-down defense of any playoff team in the modern era. It showed.

Look, the Chiefs don’t score 50 points — or perhaps even 30 — against the Bills’ second-ranked scoring defense. Of course, the Buffalo offense probably wouldn’t have reached 30, either. It wouldn’t have been as high-scoring or dramatic, but the Bills would have given the Chiefs and the country a closer game on Sunday. 

Bills fans have to live with the fact that their team was better for three quarters, and would have won if Allen had been a little better. He’ll improve, the question is how much. Because while you can win with Ryan Tannehill, what you really want is Patrick Mahomes. 

In the end, we were reminded how far Allen has to go. Mahomes threw for 321 yards and five TD passes. Watson threw for 388. I’ve said I’ll never let this go, so I’ll close by pointing out, for the last time this season, that the Bills passed them both up in the 2017 draft.

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THE COLUMN 

011020      

Bob Glauber of Newsday said on Thursday’s show that the NFL divisional playoff round is the best weekend in sports as far as he’s concerned. I’ll give him that. I always say the opening Thursday and Friday is the best two days in sports. But yeah, the Saturday and Sunday of the divisional playoffs is as good as it gets.

You get four great games with eight really good teams — four that earned byes and the right to wait a week and four who survived tough wild-card games the week before. I think there’s a distinct advantage in getting a week to rest, but there’s also an edge to be gained in playing a tough wild-card game and bringing in some momentum. 

All four teams with byes won in the divisional round last year, and it’s seven of eight in the last two years, so the home teams on byes are definitely favorites. 

Boy, do we have some good matchups this weekend. What we don’t have for the first time in 10 years is the Patriots, who hosted a divisional game nine years in a row before playing a wild-card game at home this year. Let’s take a moment to contemplate how incredible a feat it is for a team to do that, and be careful to write off the dynasty too soon.

There’s no Tom Brady, Drew Brees or Ben Roethlisberger in the divisional round, but some great young quarterback stories. Vote in our poll. I have to think the Baltimore-Tennessee game is the most intriguing of the four. You have Lamar Jackson, who has been the story of the league and is the likely MVP, against a Titans team led by Ryan Tannehill. It’s the best rising superstar against the best comeback story. 

Everyone is eager to see how Jackson’s dynamic game translates to the playoffs. This is also a clash of great running games. The Ravens broke the league record for rushing yards in a season and Jackson broke the QB rushing record. The Titans have the best individual rusher, Derrick Henry, who rushed for over 1,000 yards over the last eight weeks of regular season and had best rushing game since in five years against the Pats in wild card game.

Last year’s MVP, Patrick Mahomes, plays in the other AFC semifinal. It’s hard not to root for a Mahomes-Lamar title game, isn’t it. The Chiefs host the Texans, who rallied to beat the Bills last weekend. The game features the two quarterbacks who went 10 and 12 overall in the 2017 draft, after the Bills traded back and sent the 10th pick to Andy Reid.

The game at Arrowhead (love that name) features two veteran defensive edge rushers headed for the Hall of Fame. Terrell Suggs, the active sack leader , came to KC in December after being waived by Arizona. Suggs has helped a Kansas City pass rush that had been coming on this season. He’s in his 17th season and a veteran of 18 postseason games and will ease the loss of Emmanuel Ogbah and Alex Okafor to season-ending injuries.

As the Bills discovered, J.J. Watt is still dangerous after coming back from a torn pectoral muscle for the wild-card game. Watt is tied for fourth among active players in sacks with 96. Suggs is first with 139. 

Buffalo fans will be watching a couple of ex-Bills on the Chiefs. LeSean McCoy, the NFL’s third leading active rusher behind Frank Gore and Adrian Peterson, was ineffective the second half and hasn’t carried since Dec. 15. Reid wanted him fresh and he’s expected to play. Sammy Watkins has been a disappointment this year. He has 12 total catches in last six games, but he’s always dangerous.

We have a nice quarterback matchup in the NFC, too. It’ll be Green Bay hosting Seattle, Aaron Rodgers locking up against Russell Wilson. That’s Nos. 1 and 2 rated quarterbacks of all time; Rodgers is 102.4, Wilson 101.2. Each QB is looking to win a second Super Bowl.

Another former Bill, Marshawn Lynch, is back from retirement. Pete Carroll says Beast Mode, who has the most 15-yard touchdown runs n playoffs in history, will get more work … Packers have one of best two-way backs in the game, Aaron Jones tied for the NFL lead in touchdowns with 19 with the more celebrated Christian McCaffrey.

Can Minnesota pull the upset at San Francisco? Kirk Cousins finally broke through and won a playoff game at New Orleans last week. Niners QB Jimmy Garoppolo is 21-5 as a starter, but will be playing in his first playoff game. 

The Vikings are dangerous — if healthy. Running back Dalvin Cook and wideout Adam Thielen are among the top five in the NFL at their positions. Thielen says he’ll play despite an ankle injury. Remember, he had 100 yards receiving in the first eight games of 2018 — but has only three since, including last weekend’s 129-yard gem in the wild-card upset of the Saints. 

The Niners were second in defense and fourth in offense this season. George Kittle is the best tight end in football. He had 85 catches for 1,053 yards — and zero drops. But I don’t know if the Niners’ passing game is up to this test against a very good Vikings defense that was first in the NFC in takeaways and second in points allowed. 

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THE COLUMN 

010920      

THE COLUMN 

010820      

We’ve talked a lot on this show about expectations, and how Sean McDermott and Brandon Beane wanted to manage. Behind the scenes, Beane wished fans and media would understand they needed four years to get where they wanted to go.

Well, we’re officially into Year 4 now of the McDermott-Beane era. The memory of Saturday’s wild-card meltdown in Houston will linger for awhile, but expectations are rising to the highest level in more than two decades — and Beane knows it. 

Beane spent nine years with the Carolina Panthers, the last two as an assistant general manager from 2015-16. Three times during that stretch, the Panthers won 12 or more games and a division title.

All three times, they failed to finish better than .500 the next season: They dropped from 12 wins to eight in 2009; from 12 wins to seven in 2014; and from 15-1 to 6-10 in 2016, the year after going to the Super Bowl.

So the Bills’ GM knows how difficult it is to sustain excellence from one year to the next in the NFL. Beane had that in mind when he spoke to his players when they lost the wild-card game to put a crushing end to a 10-victory season.

“I mentioned that to them,” Beane said in his season-ending presser Tuesday. He said opposing coaches will measure themselves against the Bills. 

“‘’ So you’re going to get everyone’s best next season and you better prepare for it,” he told his team. “There’s no sneaking up on anyone or people underestimating the Buffalo Bills.”

McDermott was with the Panthers from 2011-16, so he also knows how an NFL team’s fortunes don’t always proceed in a linear fashion. He pointed out in his presser that only one of the teams from last year’s NFL divisional round — the Chiefs — will be among the eight teams playing next weekend.

Beane and McDermott held separate press conferences on Tuesdays. Beane’s went much longer, perhaps a sign that he has the more pressing job over the next six months. But both men emphasized that the work is far from done.

Many Bills fans won’t want to hear that after waiting 20 years to see their heroes win 10 games. They’ll be expecting even bigger things in the fourth year of Beane-McDermott and the third season with Josh Allen as the franchise quarterback. 

The Bills will be a chic pick to win the AFC East and make a Super Bowl run, whether Tom Brady stays in New England or not. It doesn’t matter that had one of the softest schedules in memory, or that they could be better and still slip to 9-7 or worse.

Beane will be under pressure to make his team better, and he knows it. The Bills have $88 million in cap space and nine draft picks. The expectation is that he can fill in the obvious holes — wide receiver, pass rusher, depth at running back and cornerback — and position them to take the next step. 

McDermott and Beane made it clear that they want to keep together their current roster as much as possible, to continuing building the culture and the “process”. 

That involves deciding which free agents to keep, which ones to pursue in free agency, and which positions to target high in the draft. McDermott spoke of an “urgency” to build on what they’ve achieved, not to become complacent. 

Beane said there’s a difference between urgency and recklessness. As usual, Beane tried to temper expectations. There’s generally more pressure on the coach to win. They keep track of his record. GMs are generally more deliberate.

Yes, they want to take the next step, Beane said, “You’re not going to see us go crazy”. He said they’re not one player away, and he’s right. He said they won’t change course. They’ll continue to build through the draft while “sprinkling” in free agents. 

“But I wouldn’t expect us to make some radical move to get us over the hump,” he said.

The biggest hump is the one in front of Allen. Look around the league and you’ll see that money and personnel genius and and supporting players aren’t enough if you’re not very good at the game’s most important position. 

Beane said that you don’t necessarily need an elite quarterback to win the Super Bowl, but it’s a lot harder without one. The lingering memory of Allen heading into his third season will be his second-half meltdown in Houston, when he played like a raw, rattled rookie in the biggest game of his life.

“You can talk about playoffs,” Beane said. “You can’t simulate it until you play it. Sometimes, Josh wants it so bad that sometimes he tries to do too much. That’s one of the things he has to work on, playing within himself. I think he tried to put all 45 other players on his back and do things that he shouldn’t do.” 

Beane said he believes Allen will be a better version of himself next year, and he has no doubt he’ll get over the hump. He has to believe it. His reputation is tied to Allen, his first big draft pick and the highest choice the Bills had ever used on a quarterback. If Allen fails, it’ll reflect mainly on the man who drafted him.

Fair or not, expectations will be soaring for Beane and the Bills next season. He and McDermott bought a lot of time and good will by reaching the playoffs well ahead of schedule in the first year. They got back this season ahead of schedule, based on many predictions. 

Next year, they’re supposed to be right on schedule as a playoff team and genuine contender. Beane understands that. He also knows they’ll have a target on their backs, and that fortunes in the NFL don’t always proceed in a straight line. 

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THE COLUMN 

010720      

Sean McDermott and Brandon Beane will conduct the year-end Bills press conferences this morning — earlier than they anticipated, no doubt. Here are some question sI would ask of the two guys if I had the room to myself today.

For Sean McDermott:

Should fans and media be careful not to raise expectations unreasonably for next season? You warned us not to overreact two years ago. You know from your time in Carolina how hard it is to sustain playoff seasons. They’ve won 10 games seven times in franchise history and didn’t finish above .500 the next year after any of them. 

Again on expectations. Is it fair to set them higher for Josh Allen in his third season as a franchise quarterback? Numbers don’t tell the whole story, but would it be acceptable if he finished last in the league in completion percentage for a third straight season? 

How can you justify giving Frank Gore eight carries and Devin Singletary only 13 in a playoff game, when Singletary had been your clear franchise back and averaged twice as many yards per carry over the second half of the regular season? 

How important is it to further upgrade the wide receiver position. John Brown and Cole Beasley had solid seasons after coming as free agents, but critics say you still do not have a true No. 1 receiver and your third receiver position was an issue all year.

Your clock management has been an issue, especially at the end of halves and games. You were especially conservative and inefficient late in the first  half Saturday at Houston. Do you think this needs addressing and how would you look to improve in the offseason?

For Brandon Beane:

The leading target for Josh Allen in his first wild-card game was a guy who was inactive for most of the season. In retrospect, do you regret not trying harder to add an experienced wide receiver at the trade deadline?

Considering Cody Ford’s struggles as a rookie right tackle, how will that affect your thinking on  whether to add another offensive tackle somewhere high in the next draft? Do you still see Ford as a tackle long-term? Are you looking to add even more depth to your offensive line in the offseason? 

If you had a first-round grade on a quarterback in this year’s draft and he was there in the third round, would you consider taking him? 

How about your more prominent free agents? Is there much chance you can re-sign Shaq Lawson and/or Jordan Phillips? As for Phillips, in general do you think teams tend to overpay for sack production and regret it later? 

How much do you worry about veteran leadership as you continue to build this roster? Lorenzo Alexander is retiring and Frank Gore will be 37 and seemed shot by the end of the season. That’s your two most veteran players. And if Gore is gone, how important is it to find depth at running back behind Devin Singletary?

 

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                                                                                                                                                      THE COLUMN 

010620      

Given, oh, 36 hours to process the Bills’ overtime loss to the Texans in the wild-card game, I’m still having a hard time believing what I witnessed on Saturday night. 

One thing I asked leading up to the game was that Bills fans not have to suffer through another of those heart-wrenching losses, an historic meltdown that would haunt them for years to come, like Wide Right, No Goal and Home Run Throwback. 

But that’s pretty much what happened. The Bills gave their fans a game that confirmed all their worst cynical, fatalistic impulses, a bizarre game that toyed with their emotions, carried them on a roller coaster ride of giddy highs and confounding lows — and resulted, once again, in a crushing and improbable playoff loss. 

They blew a 16-0 lead. Analytics said they had a 96.something chance of winning at one point late in the second half, and they lost anyway. 

All of Bills Mafia’s worst fears came to pass: The team panicked; the defense, after dominating for two-thirds of the day, gave up critical plays; the coaches made dubious decisions, including Brian Daboll’s insistence on giving carries to the geriatric Frank Gore; and worst of all, the bad Josh Allen reappeared.

They lost in overtime, 22-19. Naturally, they had to torture Bills fans to an astonishing degree along the way. Allen went to pieces under pressure on a late drive that could have tied the game, being called for intentional grounding on third down and taking a horrible sack on fourth. 

The Bills seemed done then, but the defense held and they had another chance. Allen took fans on another wild ride, making a colossally foolish lateral that could have been disastrous — Hero Ball at its worst — at the end of a big first down run. But he converted two big third down throws (against the worst third-down D of any playoff team since the merger) and they tied it on Stephen Hauschka’s 47-yard field goal (yes, 47).

That only prolonged the agony for Bills fans. They’ll be seeing Deshaun Watson escape Matt Milano and Siran Neal and throw that 34-yard pass to Taiwan Jones in OT for years to come. Yes, that Taiwan Jones, the guy who was a bit player for the Bills before being put on IR with a neck injury in the middle of the 2018 season. 

Watson’s Houdini act set up the winning field goal by Kai’mi Fairbairn, and it was on to next year. It’ll take time, but Bills fans will get over this. They always do. They’ll put this latest catastrophe behind them and take comfort in the fact that the Bills are on the right track. They got to the playoffs a year ahead of schedule. 

While they blew a great chance to win a playoff game for the first time in 24 years, they figure to have other chances in the immediate future. They have stability at coach and GM with Sean McDermott and Brandon Beane. They have $90 million cap space to improve a young and talented roster. The Tom Brady era in New England might be over at last.

In the end, of course, it gets back to Josh Allen. Heading into the season, it was his development as a franchise quarterback that mattered most. Regardless of the record, it would be progress if he improved as a passer and leader, if he became more accurate on his throws and more poised under pressure. 

He made big strides, but Saturday’s game was a reflection of his season, filled with encouraging highs and confounding lows. The numbers show that Allen was one of the worst quarterbacks in the league when pressured this season, and that fact came crashing home when Houston made its desperate rally in the wild-card game. 

Allen, who seemed so poised early in the game, came unraveled in the most critical moments. Yeah, it was high drama. I saw a few tweets from fans who said they didn’t care if Allen drove them nuts and was an imperfect hero. He’s their guy and they’ll take it. 

That’s an admirable sentiment, and I think Allen is going to make it as the Bills’ franchise quarterback. But that performance will be the lingering memory of Allen as we head into the offseason — of a remarkable but flawed young athlete who has to mature if the Bills want to get to the next level. 

There are no guarantees. Quarterbacks don’t necessarily improve on an upward plane in the NFL. Sometimes, they level off, or even regress. I didn’t think Allen was capable of melting down that way on Saturday. Yes, it was his first playoff game. He’ll learn from it. The question is how much, just how high the bar is for a guy with his shortcomings. 

Until he proves otherwise, you have to wonder if he’ll develop into a complete quarterback who can lift a team to a playoff win, the way Deshaun Watson did in this game. Allen apologists challenged the notion, but Houston won that game because they had the better quarterback. 

If Allen takes the next step, bigger things are in store. Most young teams have to endure one of these crushing playoff losses as they mature. You can take that philosophical approach to this loss and see brighter times ahead. 

Of course, after that meltdown on Saturday, I can understand how any long-suffering Buffalonian would believe this is their fate as Bills fans, and that while hope is eternal, that can only mean more heartbreak is ahead. 

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010320                                                                                                                                                            THE COLUMN

Today is the 27th anniversary of the Bills’ famous comeback against the Houston Oilers in the wild-card game on Jan. 3, 1993. Hard to believe it’s been that long.

Since the Bills are playing Houston again — Texans, not the Oilers — it’s a good time to reflect. In fact, the Buffalo News re-ran a series from the 20th anniversary on its website. I did the main stories for that retrospective, a long recounting of the game through the eyes of about a dozen people, including Frank Reich, Steve Tasker, Marv Levy and Bill Polian — and an account of how I went into the stands and was part of the crowd that day.

Here’s an excerpt from that column: I’ll pick it up from the point I went out in the stands to sit with old buddy Gary Pufpaff, who was my neighbor in Buffalo at the time and later the sports director at 97 Rock here. I wasn’t assigned to write a story that day for some reason. I was there to gather information for a column later in the week:

Things were happening so fast, it was impossible not to get caught up in it. Fans who had left the stadium were streaming back in. With each big play, the mood grew more exhilarating, almost hysterical. Everyone was standing, as I recall. Gary’s seats were in the back row, against a cement wall. I remember leaning back against the wall and soaking in the tableau unfolding in front of my eyes.

“I remember you coming down to sit with us,” said Pufpaff. “It was awesome. When you stepped out of the press box and came down to sit with us in Section B5, you suddenly became part of the bowl.

“There’s something to that,” Pufpaff said. “I’ve sat in the press box and been in the locker room, and that’s great. But once you’re in the bowl, something’s different. It was almost supernatural that day.”

Steve Tasker used the same word to describe the scene that day. “Supernatural.” There was a feeling of destiny, fate, whatever you want to call it. But once the Bills started coming back, there was an inevitable quality to it. The crowd was an otherworldly force, lifting the Bills.

Darryl Talley always talked about “plugging in” to the home crowd, drawing on the fans’ energy as if they were an electrical current. Many of the Bills I spoke to about the comeback used that word: electric.

We were all plugged in. Soon after joining the section, I started cheering. I wanted to be part of the life force, to be an active participant in a historic event. I wasn’t cheering for the Bills so much as for the moment, for the way sports can still reflect man’s most noble, resilient qualities.

After Frank Reich got the Bills to within 35-31, Pufpaff pulled off his cap and saluted the team he had spent 25 years rooting for. “I don’t care what happens in this football game now,” he said. “They’ve made me and this city proud forever.”

The Bills scored 28 points in that third quarter. People forget how quickly they got back in that game. The fourth quarter seemed almost anticlimactic by comparison. When Steve Christie kicked the winning field goal in overtime, the crowd reaction seemed muted, as if they (we?) had exhausted all their emotional energy.

When the game ended, I went to find another friend. Charles “Bud” Anzalone was a lifelong Bills fan who had suffered through the dark days of the 1980s. 

Anzalone was sitting alone in the upper bowl, looking out at the field in amazement. He, too, seemed almost too exhausted to speak.

“I was stunned,” said Anzalone, for editor of Sunday magazine and now a senior editor in UB’s Office of University Communications. “I had just witnessed this extraordinary event. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life, and that might be an understatement.

“There was this aura around Frank Reich,” he said. “We saw him as this angelic, almost religious figure. The fact that he pulled that off was like evidence of the infinite. It was like God reached down and put his thumbprint on it that day. 

We took a lot for granted in the Super Bowl days. The four years went by so swiftly, you barely had time to stop and appreciate them. Now, after 13 years without playoffs, it’s hard to remember when victory was a given, when the near-impossible could occur.

That game was a reminder of life’s possibilities. Players from that time tell their children about it, use it in speeches, summon the memory in tough times. Fans, too.

“Yes, that’s one of the tales that fathers tell their sons and daughters,” Anzalone said. “One of the Buffalo tales.”

Even 20 years later, it’s a monument to perseverance and hope, to the infinite quality of belief. When it seems the Bills will never be relevant again, it helps to remember that blessed things once occurred inside that bowl.

I’m not a fan, but I can understand the desperation among Bills lovers for the good times to return. The anniversary of the comeback is a chance to honor the memory, to reconnect with the essential, foolish belief that lies in any true fan’s heart.

Twenty years ago today, the Bills proved that even when things seem bleakest, you never know what might be coming next. Who can say they won’t come back again?

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010220                                                                                                                                                            THE COLUMN

Back in the 1980s, when the NBA was rising to prominence in the Bird-Magic era, there were some memorable times in the media hospitality suite at the league hotel at the Finals. It got a little wild at times. I can recall the head of PR warning us to tell us to tone it down. 

Of course, the PR executives used to party with us. On occasion, David Stern even stopped by to drink with the writers and tell stories into the wee hours. That’s my most vivid memory of the commissioner back in those innocent days, as a man who understood the power of media and public relations and being a league that knew how to have fun.

Stern died on New Year’s Day at 77 after a brain hemorrhage he suffered on Dec. 12. The NBA and the sports world mourned him Wednesday night. Before the Knicks game in New York, where Stern presided at the league office for 30 years, they honored him and talked of his “immeasurable influence” in making the NBA a model for pro sports. 

I’m among many who consider Stern the greatest commissioner in sports history. Rick Welts, the president of the Warriors and a man who worked for Stern from 1982-99, called him the “single most important individual” in league history. 

He could be right. I know that most of the writers who partied in that hospitality suite at the Finals — at times charging $800 bottles of Dom to the NBA — wrote the big feature on Stern at some point, talking about his vision and his role in launching the NBA into an international phenomenon.

Stern became commissioner in 1984, when it was a league with an image problem. It was perceived as drug-infested, too black. Its Finals had been telecast on tape delay. Stern saw the possibilities. He expanded the business model, negotiated a historic bargaining agreement with the players, which included shared revenue with the players, making them financial partners while creating the first salary cap in pro sports. 

The league began to promote its players, guys like Julius Erving and Isiah Thomas, as well-spoken and well-dressed role models. Stern pushed through a tough anti-drug policy. He pushed for the Olympics to allow NBA players and was instrumental in creating the 1992 U.S. Dream Team that won gold in Barcelona.

Dallas owner Mark Cuban, who sparred with Stern was fined nearly $2 million over the years for complaining about officiating, had a great respect for Stern.

“David had a global vision that recognized that technology would make the world a smaller place and the NBA was better suited to reach every continent than any other sport,” he said.

The Dream Team was the expression of that vision. Stern pushed for it despite resistance from league owners and some media. The league has become a global giant since then. We found out during the recent Hong Kong controversy how big business had become for the NBA in China. On opening night this season, there were 108 international players from 38 nations on NBA rosters. College hoop rosters have become a lot more global, too.

Stern’s NBA always seemed first in pushing social change. He launched the WNBA and the developmental league. When Magic Johnson tested positive for HIV in 1991, Stern stood up in the face of social ignorance and allowed Magic to play in the All-Star Game and for the Dream Team in the 92 Olympics. 

“We changed the world,” Johnson said. 

The other superstars agreed. Shaquille O’Neal tweeted of Stern: “The best commissioner to ever do it. Michael Jordan said “Without David Stern, the NBA would not be what is it today. His vision and leadership provided me with the global stage that allowed me to

Stern wasn’t perfect. He could be difficult to work with, a bully at times. There were a couple of player lockouts during his time. But in the end, the league and players came out richer than ever, because the business of the NBA never stopped growing and expanding under his leadership.

When he retired in 2014, Stern said he didn’t believe in legacies. Just wanted to be remembered as a guy who ran the show when “the league grew in popularity, became a global phenomenon and the owners and the players and the fans did very well.”

He certainly did that.

___

123119                                                                                                                                                               THE COLUMN

In retrospect, it seems pretty pointless for the Bills to have played Josh Allen in the season finale against the Jets on Sunday. 

Allen played two series. He threw a few simple flat passes, went 3 of 5 passing for 5 yards on two possessions and walked off the field as the Bills punted the ball away. The main objective seemed to make sure he didn’t get hurt. He shouldn’t have played at all.

There was little chance that Allen was going to gain any meaningful momentum from that brief experience, that he was going to benefit from starting fast. But I could certainly understand why Sean McDermott would want to give Allen a chance to get off to a good start. Because it’s been a long time, and it’s an ongoing problem. 

The Bills’ offense has been dreadful at the start of games for most of the season, and it’s been particularly poor down the stretch as they faced a string of the NFL’s top defenses. They didn’t score a touchdown in the first quarter in their last eight games. In their six losses, they scored points in the first quarter only once — because they ran a fumble back to the Pats’ 31 on the game’s opening possession and settled for a field goal.

Allen has been very good late in games, especially on fourth quarters. But the offense has struggled to get going early. They haven’t scored a TD on their first two possessions since the Washington game. I charted their opening two possessions for all 16 games and it’s not a pretty picture. 

On those 32 drives, they have punted 17 times, one of them blocked for a TD. They have eight field goals and two touchdowns. They gave it away three times on turnovers and twice on downs. Josh Allen hasn’t made many big plays in the air on those possessions: He’s 55 of 98 passing for 558 yards, an average of under six yards an attempt.

They need to do better in a road playoff game against a Texans team that has an explosive offense and averages 24 points a game. Houston’s defense is weak. They’re 28th overall, 29th against the pass, last in yards per play against at 6.1 yards a play. 

You can make big plays against this defense, and Allen will need to make some unless the Bills’ defense shuts down Deshaun Watson. A franchise quarterback needs to rise up in playoff games. I’m not saying he needs to win a shootout, but they could be in trouble if the Bills bring their popgun offense out for the first part of Saturday’s playoff game. 

With 33 seconds left in the first half against the Pats two weeks ago, Allen had 19 yards passing. In a loss to Baltimore two weeks earlier,  he was 4 of 13 passing for 12 yards with two minutes left in the first half. You don’t won playoff games that way. Allen and the offense need to find a rhythm early and he knows it. 

Allen admitted after the New England game that he’s slow to get mentally involved in games. “Whether it’s eagerness or anxiousness or just pregame jitters, I’ve got to find a way to get rid of that,” he said. 

A franchise quarterback can’t be anxious at the start of playoff games. I don’t think Deshaun Watson will be overeager on Saturday. The guy carried his team to a national championship at Clemson. He’s played big games before. I don’t imagine Tom Brady and Drew Brees and Russell Wilson will be overhyped at the start of games this weekend.

If the Bills do nothing on their early possessions against a mediocre Texans defense on Saturday, they might find themselves in a hole they can’t escape. This isn’t the Jets or Bengals or Dolphins. This is Watson and DeAndre Hopkins, a formidable offense that scored 28 in a home win over the Patriots a month ago. 

Houston has allowed 31.7 points a game in its six losses. J.J. Watt isn’t going to transform them into a great defense. Good offenses score against them, early and often.  Allen can’t wait half the game to get into rhythm. They don’t need to score 30, but the offense has to be a lot better than its last playoff game two years ago, when they scored 3. 

___

 

123019                                                                                                                                                               THE COLUMN

The final day of the regular season was a memorable Sunday for two of the oldest players in the NFL, and two of the best guys I’ve ever had the privilege to cover in Buffalo.

Lorenzo Alexander played what was likely his final home game in a 13-6 loss to the Jets at New Era. A meaningless game? Don’t tell Alexander it had no meaning. He’ll remember it as long as he lives.  Imagine standing there on the field as your daughter sings the national anthem in front of more than 50,000 people.

Zoie Alexander, who is 11, did it to surprise her dad, who watched with his wife and the rest of his family. He said he was thinking to himself, “Don’t forget the words, don’t forget the words.” But she nailed it. Lorenzo called it one of his proudest moments as a father. His own parents were there to see it.  He said a few of his teammates had tears in their eyes.

Midway through the first quarter, Sean McDermott gave the Alexanders and the home crowd another emotional moment. He called timeout and took Lorenzo out of the game, so he could have one final chance to be loved by the fans. It was a fine gesture by the head coach, who recognized how vitally important the leadership of Alexander and his former teammate, Kyle Williams, were in the “process” of building a winner in Buffalo. 

Later, Alexander said it was all about the playoff game in Houston next week, and how much he would love to win a playoff game for Bills fans who have waited 24 years to experience a playoff win. He’s never played in a winning playoff game. He’s 0 for 4.

Ryan Fitzpatrick has never been in a playoff game. He’s 37 years old, six months older than Alexander, and has played 156 games. He won’t be in the playoffs again this year, but on Sunday he finally won a game against the Patriots in Foxborough, throwing a 5-yard TD pass to Mike Gesicki with 24 seconds left to give the Dolphins — a 17-point underdog — a stunning 27-24 win, forcing the Pats into the wild-card round next weekend.

Fitz threw for 320 yards. He has now passed for 300 yards five times against New England. But he had waited a long time to beat Tom Brady in New England. In 2012, he threw for 337 yards at Gillette in a 37-31 Bills loss. He drove his team toward a winning TD that day, too, but threw an interception in the end zone with 23 seconds left when T.J. Graham ran the wrong route on a play he had never run in practice.

After that game, Fitz was as down as I ever saw him. He wanted desperately to win a game for the Bills there. Don’t write this Jerry, but this could have been a franchise-changer. I think his time in Buffalo was growing short, and that if he had won that game, the Bills might have kept him in 2013. Looking back now, I have to wonder how differently things might have been if the Bills had won that game. 

Three years ago, I saw Fitzpatrick in the locker room after the regular-season finale in New York, when he beat the Bills in his final game with the Jets. He told me he was retiring that day, that the Jets were probably going to move on and he’d had enough. He’s still going. He played two years in Tampa and moved on to Miami, his eighth NFL team. 

I don’t see him quitting now. Unlike Alexander — who is the Bills’ nominee for Walter Payton Man of the Year for the third year in a row — Fitz will likely keep playing. Why would he quit now, when he’s still playing at a high level and lifting his team to improbable wins. I imagine a lot of his Buffalo fans were happy to see him get a win that has eluded the Bills for two decades — a win over Tom Brady in Foxborough. 

Fitz texted me Sunday night, while I sat at the bar with a bunch of the Bills writers, having a traditional beer after the final home game. He said he was celebrating with all of Miami and he’d get in touch in the morning. He promised to come on the show soon.  

 

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122719                                                                                                                                                               THE COLUMN

Have you heard? Jets safety Jamal Adams went on a conference call this week and said the team from New Jersey means business in the regular-season finale at New Era Field on Sunday? Meaningless game? Hah! 

“Yeah, we’re coming after them. We huntin’ man,” Jamal Adams said on a conference call. “It’s a playoff game for us. We heard they’re going to start their starters. That’s good. We’re looking forward to the matchup. I can tell you that.”

Gee, isn’t this touching. Adams and his guys want to treat this like a playoff game, something the Jets haven’t experienced since Rex Ryan was the head coach. They huntin, huh? I’m sure Bills fans will be really wired for the big showdown. 

I remember at the start of the season when we thought this game might actually matter. Back then, most national prognosticators had the Jets finishing .500 or better and finishing ahead of the Bills in the AFC East. There seemed a good chance it might have playoff ramifications for both teams. 

Sadly, Adams and the Jets didn’t keep up their end of the bargain. Bitter Jets fans are laughing at Adams and saying it would have been nice if the team treated games like it was a playoff situation when it actually mattered. 

You know, like the day they got blown out at home by the Browns, or when they lost on the road to the Dolphins. Oh, and that 22-6 humiliation at the Bengals — Cincinnati’s only loss in a season which will get them the top pick in the draft — it’s too bad Adams and the Jets didn’t treat that like a playoff game. 

Oh, and how about the time the Jets basically quit on their coach, Todd Bowles, last year in a 41-10 home loss to the Bills and Matt Barkley? Yeah, and we’re supposed to believe they’ll rise up in the final game of a lost season for Adam Gase, a coach who sneers at fans and critics by saying, “I’m rich as f—-?”

Adams said he heard the Bills will rtheir starters. He seemed a little indignant at the notion, as if it were an insult to the proud New Jersey Jets, a source of motivation. Too bad. I don’t recall Marv Levy worrying about other teams’ feelings back in the Super Bowl days when he rested guys in meaningless finales. 

Sean McDermott said Tuesday that he had decided to play his starters on Sunday. 

“We talked about it,” McDermott told the media. “Brandon [Beane] and I continued to discuss it yesterday, this morning and we talked to the team. We are going to play majority of the guys and they are going to practice this week and they are going to play. To go into detail on who exactly, it would take the whole roster and it would take some time so with respect to your time, I’ll tell you that the majority of the guys are going to play but not all of them. Josh [Allen] will play and we will go from there.”

Earlier, McDermott had been evasive, saying, “There are certainly a lot of things to consider. Some of it is the injuries, some of it is us improving as a football team … We certainly respect the Jets and the opponent this week. Everything we do … is about us improving as a football team.”

Sure, improving is important. The Bills have done a lot of improving this season. But respecting the Jets has nothing to do with it. Going all-out against the Jets won’t improve anything. What matters is being as healthy as possible for an actual playoff game — the one the Bills will play the following weekend at either Houston or Kansas City. 

The truly vital work this week will be done by Bills staffers who are busily scouting the Texans and Chiefs.  If Houston wins and Kansas City loses, the Texans get the third seed and the Bills go to KC. Otherwise, it’s Bills at Houston. 

McDermott is taking the diplomatic approach. You never want to admit you’re not playing to win, that you’re tanking a game, or a season. You have a limited number of players, so naturally most of your regular starters have to play. But starting and playing regular minutes are different things. Remember the Patriots playing Brady a half in the 2014 finale, then sitting him for the rest of the day?

That’s what will happen on Sunday. Allen will start, but there’s no way he plays the whole game, or does much running. I expect they’ll give T.J. Yeldon and Duke Williams a lot of reps, to limit the chance of injury for Devin Singletary, John Brown and Cole Beasley. 

There’s no way Mitch Morse should play against the Jets. They need their most valuable offensive lineman in top shape for the playoff game.

Defensively, they should limit the playing time of their stars as much as possible. Their special teams have several linebackers who don’t see a lot of action on defense. Get them out there and reduce the chance of Matt Milano and Tremaine Edmunds getting an injury that could compromise them in the wild-card game.

Adams says the Jets will be “huntin”. Maybe he was being dramatic, but you take it seriously when the sleazy Gregg Williams is the defensive coordinator. Williams was behind the notorious bounty hunting scandal, remember. 

Williams paid defensive players to hurt the opposition when he was with the Saints? Does anyone doubt he’ll be urging his players to lay dangerous hits on the Bills’ players Sunday? I don’t. 

Let the Jets pretend it’s a playoff game. The Bills can wait until next week. Job one for McDermott this Sunday: Protect your players.

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122619                                                                                                                                                               THE COLUMN

Just imagine if you will: Matt Barkley starts for the Bills against the Jets this Sunday in a meaningless game at New Era. He goes 24 for 32 for 287 and two touchdowns with no interceptions in a blowout win. Then the Bills decide to start him instead of Josh Allen in the wild-card game on the road next week. 

That actually happened 20 years ago. The Bills were locked into the fifth seed going into the regular-season finale. Rob Johnson came off the bench, had a big game against the Colts, and suddenly he was no longer the backup. They pulled Doug Flutie, who had led the Bills to a 10-5 record, and made Johnson the starter for the playoff game. 

We’ll never know for sure who made the call to change quarterbacks, an unprecedented move in NFL history. Whether Wade Phillips was ordered to do it by Ralph Wilson or decided on his own, it was still a brutal decision. The Bills lost the Music City Miracle on a disputed call later the following week and went into a 17-year playoff drought.

Some believe it was a Flutie curse that sent the franchise into what became the longest drought in professional sports. I attributed it to a chronic dysfunction that went right to the top, to the owner. At any rate, it’s good to remember how far this franchise has come, and a little hard to believe it’s been 20 years since Wade pulled Flutie for Johnson.

I’m just trying to offer a little perspective, to help Bills fans appreciate what they have right now. In retrospect, that game in Tennessee represented the end of an era, the final playoff game in a wondrous run that saw the Bills play 21 playoff games over 12 seasons between 1988 to the first week of 2000 and reach four straight Super Bowls. 

That fateful game in Tennessee was the end of something. But the wild-card game that the Bills will play a week from now — in either Houston or Kansas City — feels like the start of something. Yeah, they made the playoffs two years ago in the first season of Sean McDermott and Brandon Beane. But this is the first playoff game with Allen, the successor to Jim Kelly as a true franchise quarterback, and perhaps the beginning of a special time.

We know one thing for sure. Terry Pegula isn’t going to persuade McDermott to make Barkley the starter if he has a big game against the Jets on Sunday. 

But it’s useful to remember that no game is meaningless, even if the primary objective is not getting any important players hurt. This will be the first time in 20 years that the Bills play a finale with their playoff spot assured, and with nothing on the line but winning an 11th game for the first time since that win over the Colts in early January of 2000.

A week from now, the Bills will try to win a playoff game for the first time since 1995. It was Dec. 30, 1995, a 37-22 rout of the Dolphins on a day when the Bills rushed for 341 yards — in Don Shula’s last game as an NFL coach. The Bills have lost their last four playoff games, including of course that historic game which ended in Home Run Throwback. 

I know I’m getting ahead of myself here. There’s a final home game against the Jets on Sunday. I know they’ll want to rest guys, but maybe Josh Allen can get his 10th rushing TD of the year. Devin Singletary could get to 1,000 scrimmage yards. Cole Beasley needs three catches for 70, which would give the Bills two guys with 70 in the same year for the first time since 2002. 

Anyway, it’ll be a fun day at New Era on Sunday, the first home game since they clinched a playoff spot. The Bills Mafia showed up at the airport after the big win in Pittsburgh. Now they can all show up at the stadium to celebrate the playoff berth — and hope that everyone gets out of the Jets game healthy. 

As history reminds us, you can never take anything for granted at a time like this.

___

121919                                                                                                                                                               THE COLUMN

In past years, this might be the time when I put together a list of the most horrifying Bills losses in New England during this millennium. 

No longer. Today, I will not dredge up bad memories of the McKelvin fumble, the Troy Brown interception of Drew Bledsoe; the Holcomb sack fumble; Fitz getting picked off in the end zone on the final play when T.J. Graham ran the wrong way; or Dick Jauron being unable to get the challenge flag out of his pocket. 

No, for once it’s not about the Bills’ grisly past against the Pats, but their promising present and future. On Saturday in Foxborough, for the first time in the Tom Brady era, they play the Pats in a late-season game with actual playoff significance. 

The Bills haven’t finished a season better than three games back of the Pats since 2002, which is also the last time they had were still alive in the AFC East with two games left. They have never beaten Brady in New England in a game that mattered. 

But on Saturday, they could tie the Pats for first place in the division with a victory. That would force New England to beat the Dolphins in Week 17 to win the AFC East for the 11th straight year, and 16 out of 17. It still staggers me to write those facts down. 

The Bills are a touchdown underdog, but that seems more a nod to history than the current reality. The Bills are rolling. They have the hottest defense in the NFL. Under Sean McDermott, they’ve held Tom Brady to a total of 3 touchdown passes in five games.

They’ve lost all five, of course, but it would surprise no one if the Bills won on Saturday. The balance of power is shifting in the division. After nearly two decades of dysfunction and disappointment, the Bills finally appear ready to battle the Pats on even terms and be a consistent contender in the AFC East. 

Brady and Bill Belichick have tormented Buffalo for two decades. But they can’t go on forever. The Bills’ franchise quarterback, Josh Allen, is 19 years younger. Their rising head coach, Sean McDermott, is 22 years younger than Belichick. 

The Bills have a rookie running back, Devin Singletary, who has been more productive than any Pats back this season, and better than their first-round disappointment, Sony Michel. They have $90 million in cap space to address the offense in the offseason. 

Yes, the Patriots have a historically good defense, one that embarrassed Allen in the first meeting this season and could very well shut him down again on Saturday. But the Bills have a younger defense, with a budding star at all three levels: Pro Bowl cornerback Tre’Davious White, linebacker Tremaine Edmunds, defensive tackle Ed Oliver. 

You can never underestimate Brady, Belichick and the Patriots, of course. People have predicted their demise before. Remember 2014? But time and logic are unbeaten foes, and it can’t go on forever. At the very least, the Bills appear on the verge of competing with the hated Patriots on an even level — of finally qualifying as a legitimate rival.

It really doesn’t matter if the Bills win on Saturday, or if they pull off the improbable by winning the division. What matters is that they’re a live underdog, one that has the nation’s attention and respect, and that the Pats know they have a real fight on their hands. 

It’ll feel kind of like a playoff game on Saturday at Gillette. Oh, and they’ll be in a real playoff game in January, too. And you never know, they might wind up playing one against the Pats sooner than anyone could have imagined.

 

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Two years ago, on the day after the Bills chose Tre’Davious White in the first round of the 2017 NFL draft, LaShawnita Ruffins said her son was “cut from a different cloth.” 

Standing on the turf at New Era Field during a photo shoot at the stadium, Ruffins glowed and talked about how she never had to pester White to go to school as a kid in Shreveport. Louisiana. He was the top kid in his class, valedictorian at Green Oaks High. 

White’s mom said she never had any problems with Tre’Davious. The only problem was getting him out of the gym at night. “Last person in the gym!”  she said. “It’s dark, Come on Home. Then he’s up in the morning, jogging down the sidewalk. 

“It’s motivation to other kids, and they’re going to see it here in Buffalo,” Ruffins told me that day. “That he’s a hard-working, humble young man. And he’s going to lift the defense. He’s going to set the bar high.”

She was right. Her boy set the bar high and he continues to raise it as the best player on one of the NFL’s best defenses. And on Tuesday, Tre’Davious White was selected to his first Pro Bowl, becoming the only Bill picked for this year’s AFC squad and the first Bill selected since 2017. 

I loved that image of White running down the sidewalk in the morning as a kid to get to school and start the day. Anyone who has watched him with the Bills in his three seasons has gotten to know his amazing energy and love for the game. 

White has given the team a lock-down cornerback and a personality, an exuberant and infectious presence. He did snow Angels in the Indy game as a rookie, exhorted the crowd during the defense’s numerous stands, picked up a Ravens game sheet two weeks ago when it blew onto the field and pretended to read it. 

The guy has a sense for the moment, and he’s been a fitting face of the franchise, a confident and defiant kid who has helped build a new mindset for a team that had missed the playoffs 17 years in a row before his arrival. 

We still wonder if the Bills missed on a Hall of Fame quarterback in the ’17 draft, but there’s no question they nailed the pick. Who knows? They might have drafted a Hall of Fame corner.

“I’m excited about it,” White told the media after being chosen. “I feel like this should be my second or third one, but it is what it is. It’s good to finally get in and be recognized by your peers and your fellow coaches and everybody around the league for what you do, so it’s pretty cool.”

You have to love that sort of attitude, that it should be his second or third time. Two years ago, he said he should have been the first or second corner taken in the draft. He has enormous self-confidence, and beats himself up after a bad performance. In his rookie season, he told me he was personally responsible for two Bills losses. 

He has the highest standard for himself, and for his team. He’s a leader and a team guy. He felt several of his teammates could have joined him on the Pro Bowl team.

“Oh, for sure. Jordan Phillips, he’s leading the [Bills] in sacks. Jordan Poyer, Tremaine [Edmunds]. I could go on and on,” White said. “There’s no guy on our defense that just stands out. Anybody on any given Sunday can make a big-time play.”

The Bills reportedly have several Pro Bowl alternates, so there’s a good chance White will have company. But on Tuesday, the voters acknowledged what fans in Buffalo have known for some time — that Tre White is a star, the best player on his team, lifting the defense and setting the bar higher than it’s been since the Super Bowl years.

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Drew Brees threw four touchdown passes in the Saints’ 34-7 rout of the Colts on Monday night, passing Peyton Manning for first all-time in TD passes with 541. Manning held the previous record of 539. Brees broke the record with a 5-yard TD pass to tight end Josh Hill in the third quarter. 

Oh, Brees also passed Tom Brady along the way. Brady has 538 touchdown passes in the regular season. These stats, of course, do not include postseason. If you include playoffs, Brady is far and away the career leader. It’s hard to imagine anyone catching The Greatest of all Time in the overall department. 

Brady tweeted his congratulations to Brees after the big moment: “Congrats drew!! Couldn’t be more deserving. Passing Peyton in anything is an incredible achievement and your records will be tough to beat! But it’s worth trying.”

He’ll try. The question is, at age 42, is Brady finally in legitimate decline and how much longer will he be setting records in the NFL? Yes, here we go again. All the way back to 2014, critics have been looking for him to lose it. All he’s done since then is win three of his six Super Bowls and cement his legacy as the GOAT. 

But he can’t play forever, and as we get ready for the Bills’ big nationally televised game at New England on Saturday, you have to wonder if Brady is finally nearing the end of his time as an elite NFL quarterback. Some would argue that he has been in serious decline for more than a year now. 

Over the last four weeks, Brady has been particularly ineffective. He has completed only 50.3 percent of his passes for 203 yards a game. Over that stretch, he is averaging just 5.5 yards a pass attempt. Yards per attempt is one of the most important measures of quarterback play, and that figure would be dead last in the league over a full season.

Clearly, Brady’s receivers haven’t been a lot of help. His first-round rookie, N’Keal Harry, doesn’t have a catch over 12 yards. Phillip Dorsett doesn’t have a catch of more than 15 yards since October. The Pats have lost two out of three, and Brady was visibly frustrated on the sidelines in the Houston game, exhorting his teammates to do more to get open.

The numbers tell the story of a quarterback who is trying to win with short throws. Brady is second in the league in pass attempts at 40 a game. He’s ninth in yards, though, and 26th in yards per attempt at 6.3 yards — his lowest since the 2002 season. 

Who is 25th in yards per attempt? Josh Allen. We’ve talked all year about Allen’s inability to make throws down the field. Over his last four games, Allen is averaging 6.2 yards a throw and 175 yards a game. But we talk about his emergence as a franchise guy, not that he’s a game manager who is being carried by his defense. 

Well, it’s a different standard for the best of all time, and that’s only fair. We’re not supposed to make excuses for Brady. Sure,  he misses Rob Gronkowski. His young wideouts haven’t emerged. At times it seems Bill Belichick has conspired against his legendary quarterback to prove that he’s the most important reason for the six Super Bowls. 

But this isn’t a new phenomenon. The numbers say Brady has been slipping since last season, when he had his highest interception total, lowest touchdown rate since 2013, and his fewest yards per attempt and yards per game and lowest passer rating since 2014. 

A year ago, Brady’s average attempt traveled 7.6 yards downfield, 24th in the NFL. His average completion went 5.6 yards, which ranked 23rd. His typical throw travels to a point 1.1 yards in front of the first-down marker, which ranked 21st. There was an exotic stat that said he was 27th in throwing passes into tight windows.

Of course, winning is the most important stat, and the Pats are 11-3. Brady was good enough last year to win another Super Bowl. People act as if he was a passenger, but in three playoff games, he averaged 318 yards passing and 7.6 yards a pass attempt.

Maybe he’ll rise up again in the big games. But after watching the Bills defense dominate against Dallas, Baltimore and Pittsburgh, it’s hard to imagine Brady lighting them up on Saturday. And it’s not as if he’s played that well against the Bills lately. 

Brady has started five games against the Bills since Sean McDermott became head coach. He’s averaging 216 yards passing, with three touchdowns and five interceptions. His longest pass in those five games, over 20 quarters of play? Thirty-two yards. 

The thing the Bills haven’t done is beat him. Brady hasn’t lost to the Bills in a game that mattered since 2011. He’s never lost to them when playing a full game at Foxborough. He’ll be favored on Saturday, of course. But evidence shows it won’t be so much Brady looking to win the game for New England, but making sure not to lose it.

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Some of the big picture questions are still there. Like, how good is Josh Allen, really? And is the Bills’ offense good enough to win a road playoff game?

But that didn’t matter to exuberant Buffalo fans after the Bills gutted out a 17-10 victory at Pittsburgh on the NFL’s Sunday night showcase,  clinching their second playoff berth in three years and their second in 20 years. 

Sean McDermott and Brandon Beane would be the first to tell you this team still has a ways to go. But it’s important to remember what the goals were in August. If they played meaningful games in December and Josh Allen made solid progress, the season would be considered a success. Well, you can now call it a rousing, unqualified success. 

On Thanksgiving, they announced themselves to the nation in their first Turkey Day appearance in 25 years. Sunday night, they reinforced that message, coming from behind in the fourth quarter to win and clinch in their first game in 12 years in the Sunday night spotlight. This time, they made the playoffs with two weeks to spare; they didn’t need an Andy Dalton miracle.

It wasn’t pretty, or easy. When is it with this bunch? But they got the job done against a Pittsburgh team that had won seven of its last eight to get back in the playoff chase. The Buffalo defense was superb — again — limiting the Steelers to 229 total yards, the fewest by Pittsburgh since the 2013 opener.  

Josh Allen did just enough to win in another uneven performance. He was 13 of 25 passing for 139 yards, the third time in four weeks under 200. But he ran for the game’s first touchdown and hit tight end Tyler Kroft for a 14-yard touchdown for the game-winner with 7:55 to play. 

The Bills are 10-4 for the first time since the 1993 season — the last of the four Super Bowl years. They’re also 6-1 away from New Era Field. This is the first time they’ve won six road games since ’93. They’ve never won seven road games in a season. 

They would have to win next week at New England to reach that milestone, and to keep alive their hopes of winning the AFC East. They’re one game behind New England, but the Pats have the tiebreaker. The Bills have never beaten Tom Brady in Foxborough in a game that really mattered. 

But at this point, how could we rule anything out for this resilient young team? Certainly they’ll be a live underdog in a wild-card playoff game on the road. That would most likely be at Houston after the Texans knocked off the Titans on Sunday.

Devlin “Duck” Hodges, an undrafted rookie, was over his head against the NFL’s third-ranked pass defense. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, who has done a terrific job under trying circumstances this season, has said of Hodges, “Just don’t kill us.” That’s a pretty low standard, one he failed to reach  against an elite Buffalo defense. 

Tre’Davious White was sensational, with two interceptions. He left the game with a shoulder injury in the first half, but came back and didn’t seem to miss a beat. Linebacker Tremaine Edmunds, playing in a game against his two brothers, was a force. 

Aside from another early third-quarter lapse, the defense was extraordinary. White picked off an ill-advised pass by Hodges back across the field and returned it 49 yards, setting up a game-tying field goal by Stephen Hauschka. They picked off Hodges four times in a row, including two late, desperate drives into Buffalo territory. 

There were, as is often the case, some head-scratching moments from the offense. After the second White interception, the Bills had a first-and-goal at the 8, the Bills ran three consecutive plays that lost a combined 10 yards — two runs by Frank Gore and one by Devin Singletary. 

Why Gore gets 10 carries at this point is a mystery. Since the start of November, here are his numbers in 6 of the 7 games: 11 carries for 15, 5 for 12, 11 for 27, 9 for 11, 4 for 6, and 10 for 15. Not good enough. They had to settle for a game-tying field goal by Stephen Hauschka.

But how many times have we seen Allen rise up in difficult circumstances to make the big throws in the clutch? You have to give him that. But if the real story of the season was Allen’s development, whether they made the playoffs or not, you have to say that the results are still inconclusive.

For now, though, it’s enough to know they got to the playoffs a year ahead of schedule. Ten wins with two weeks to go. Playoffs. A game at New England next week with the division still at stake. I don’t know if they’re good enough to win at the Pats, or on the road in the playoffs. 

But I don’t think anyone will feel comfortable playing this Bills team right now. When was the last time we could say that, a week before Christmas? 

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THE COLUMN

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My former sports editor, Lisa Wilson, and I used to have this inside joke when I was preparing a column for Sundays during Bills season. Wilson, who is now NFL managing editor for The Athletic, would ask what my column was for Sunday. I would often reply, “Big game today.”

Well, let me say it. “Big game Sunday.” For the first time in 12 years, the Bills are in the NFL’s most prestigious spot — the national Sunday night game, the NBC marquee matchup with Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth and Michele Tafoya. Twelve years. Since Sunday Night Football became a thing in 2006, they’re the only team that has been on only once.

The Bills haven’t won on Sunday night since 2000, when they beat Tennessee in the opener at the Ralph the year after the Music City Miracle. They’ve lost seven in a row on Sunday nights (they’ve also lost seven straight on Mondays). The last appearance was in 2007, when they lost at home to the Patriots, 56-10. They’ve scored a total of 61 points in those seven games. It’s no wonder they haven’t been invited back since George Bush was President. 

But they hadn’t been in a Thanksgiving game in 25 years, and they announced themselves to the world a couple of weeks ago. That got them flexed to a Sunday night. The country took notice. They wanted to see more. Then they played in the prime 1 p.m. spot last week against the Ravens and the offense laid another egg. 

Now they have another chance to show America that special things are happening in Buffalo again. No one circles the wagons like the Buffalo Bills right? They have a chance to clinch a playoff spot against the Steelers, who have been featured 33 times on Sunday Night Football since 2006, while the Bills have been given the privilege once. 

The Bills also have a chance to win 10 games for the first time in 20 years — yes, since the year they lost on Home Run Throwback — and get to 10-4 for the first time since 1993, the last year of the Super Bowl run. 

So yeah, it’ll be Big Game Today — or Tonight — and the big question is which Bills team will show up. More to the point, which offense? The one that averaged 401 yards and 28 points during a three-game winning streak, or the one that fell flat on its face at home last week against the Ravens and had just 209 yards in a 24-17 loss that wasn’t that close?

More specifically, which Josh Allen? After a breakthrough performance on Thanksgiving, Allen regressed again against Baltimore. He couldn’t complete a deep throw, he was unsteady against the blitz, he got sacked six times, he had the fewest rushing yards of his two-year career. He looked like a confused rookie out there. 

The Bills need to see the resilient Josh Allen, the one who bounces back from tough games, who learns from them. If he announced himself to the nation in Dallas, he needs to show the country on Sunday night how he picks himself up from a rough outing. The Bills have not lost two games in a row in more than a year. 

We know the defense will hold up its end of the bargain. In consecutive games, the defense played very well against the top two offenses in the NFL. They shut down the Cowboys for 50 minutes in the middle of the game. They held Lamar Jackson and the Ravens to their fewest yards of offense since Jackson became the starting quarterback a year ago.

There’s no way that the Steelers should do as well with Devlin “Duck” Hodges at quarterback. He’s a nice story. He’s also a third-string rookie from Samford. Not Stanford, Samford. Not the university in Palo Alto, California, but the one in Homewood, Alabama. 

Hodges can throw the football. But there’s a reason he wasn’t drafted. If the Bills can hold Tom Brady to his worst game in a decade and Jackson to his worst game as a starter, they can take care of a guy named Duck. Hodges should spend most of Sunday night trying to duck away from the Bills’ front seven. 

Bottom line: A rising franchise quarterback, taken seventh in the draft, the highest ever for a Buffalo quarterback, can’t lose to an undrafted third-stringer. Sure, it won’t be easy. The Steelers lead the NFL in sacks and takeaways. The Cowboys had a good defense, too. If Allen really is turning a corner, he has a solid, efficient game on Sunday night. 

Big game. Big moment. Allen has to play big, big enough to beat Duck Hodges, anyway.

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THE COLUMN

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THE COLUMN

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When Gerrit Cole was 11 years old, he attended a World Series game in 2001 between the Yanks and Diamondbacks. The next day, he got his picture in a newspaper holding a sign that said: “Yankee Fan Today Tomorrow Forever.”

Well, it took awhile. The Yankees drafted him out of high school in 2008, but he went to UCLA instead. They wanted to trade him for two winters ago, when he was a young ace for the Pirates. But the Astros got him instead. He wound up beating the Yanks in this year’s ALCS. 

Before his start in that ALCS at Yankee Stadium, Cole was asked about being a Yankee fan as a kid. The California native said he had attended seven Yankees games as a youth. His favorite players were Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera.

“I always enjoyed coming here,“ Cole said that day. He called Yankee Stadium a great stage, a “great place to play some exciting baseball.”

Cole will be pitching there full-time now. He signed with the team of his youth yesterday, agreeing to a nine-year, $324 million contract with the Yankees, easily the largest contract ever for a pitcher. We were right. The Stephen Strasburg contract a day before (seven for $245 mill) was just an appetizer. Two years younger at 29, Cole also got a deal that takes him through his 38-year-old season.

It’s certainly worth it in the short term. Cole didn’t win the Cy Young last season. His Houston teammate, Justin Verlander, did. Even Verlander said he had never seen anything quite like Cole was season, when he became the sixth American League pitcher ever to post a sub-2.50 ERA with 300 strikeouts. 

Counting the postseason, he was 24-6 with a 2.39 ERA and 373 strikeouts. He struck out a batter in 73 straight innings at one point, believed to be a record. He had his 300th strikeout before his 200th inning pitched. Cole has a 97 mph four-seam fastball, a nasty slider and a nice knuckle-curve. He has great control and has gotten better every year. 

Cole makes the Yankees the clear favorite to win the World Series in 2020. They won 103 games and got to the sixth game of the ALCS without a true ace. Now they have Cole to top a rotation with Luis Severino, Masahiro Tanaka and James Paxton, along with a lineup that hit 306 home runs and one of the best bullpens in baseball.

In the end, going to his favorite team at that price was too good to pass up. His agent, Scott Boras, said Cole was persuaded during five conversations with Hal Steinbrenner, and it helped that the Yankees brought Andy Pettitte along to regale Cole with stories about pitching in New York. 

This is bad news for the Red Sox and Astros and Angels — who desperately wanted Cole — and the rest of the sport. For the first time since signing C.C. Sabathia in 2008, the Yankees opened their checkbook for a top-line free agent. 

The critics will be howling Evil Empire again, summoning the memory of George Steinbrenner, crying that they’re trying to buy a championship again. Yankee haters will have to take comfort in knowing that the pressure will be squarely on them again, and anything less than 100 wins and a title will be seen as a failure. 

I’m sure Yankee fans — Sal Maiorana, Kevin Massare, my son Jack — will take it. They’re tired of losing to teams with better aces in the postseason. The Yanks won 103 with an injury-riddled roster and a shaky starting rotation. 

It’s scary to think how good they’ll be with Gerrit Cole taking the mound every five days. That 11-year-old kid is finally a Yankee. Today, and tomorrow … maybe not forever, but for a good long time. 

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THE COLUMN

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The Sabres return home to KeyBank tonight to play the defending Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues. It will, of course, be Ryan O’Reilly’s first trip back to Buffalo since winning the Cup and the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP last June 12 in Boston.

I imagine there will boos for O’Reilly, who is a villain in many fans’ eyes for talking his way out of town after the 2017-18 season. There’s been a classic attempt by Buffalo fans to rationalize his departure, to put it all on O’Reilly rather than the organization itself.

O’Reilly said he had lost some of his passion for hockey with the Sabres, that he and the team had grown too accustomed to losing. Funny, Jack Eichel said similar things about the team getting used to losing a few weeks ago. People took it as the young captain simply stating the obvious in an understandable burst of frustration after a loss. 

But O’Reilly leaving was more an indictment on the franchise than the player. The Sabres tanked to get a high pick in 2015. The fans and some media went along for the ride. They cheered when the team was losing, nodded approvingly at the Pegulas’ insulting treatment of Ted Nolan and Pat LaFontaine, agreed that Jason Botterill had to trade O’Reilly.

The O’Reilly deal turned out to be one of the worst in NHL history, an utter humiliation. Whether they “had to trade him” is a matter of conjecture. What’s not debatable is that the team hasn’t recovered from the trade, that the Sabres have been suffering from a lack of a second-line center, team defense and secondary scoring ever since. 

But maybe tonight can be a departure for the organization, a chance to show O’Reilly and the defending Cup champs that they’ve moved on, and that the Sabres are again on the rise with Jack Eichel, who is having a career season, and new coach Ralph Krueger, an unconventional choice who seems to have his team moving in the right direction. 

Yeah, tonight the Sabres could win their second game in a row for the first time since Oct. 22. Last year, of course, they went more than 100 days before putting together a two-game winning streak on the final day of the season. O’Reilly wasn’t the only one who got too accustomed losing for a team that had treated losing intentionally as a strategy. 

They’ve been showing signs of life lately. They have points in six of their last seven games. They’re in third in the Atlantic, one point behind Florida. OK, so three of those were overtime losses, but when you have the longest playoff drought in the league, that qualifies as progress. They finally won in overtime against Krueger’s old team in Edmonton and took three of six points on the recent Western trip.

Beating the Blues tonight would be a welcome sign to their skeptical fans that the Sabres are a legitimate playoff contender under Krueger, that they’ll not only play meaningful games in March, but be playing in a first-round Cup series in late April for the first time since 2011 — the year Terry Pegula bought the team and made winning the Cup their sole reason for existing. 

Beating St. Louis would be a powerful statement — or as big a statement as an NHL team can make before Christmas. Critics thought the Blues would come back to Earth after winning the first Cup in their 52-year history. They haven’t. They’re leading the Western Conference, though they hit Buffalo on a two-game losing streak.

O’Reilly, last year’s playoff hero, has one goal in his last 13 games. Meanwhile, the Blues are a skating Mash unit. Four of their top 12 forwards are out with injuries:

Vladimir Tarasenko, their best scorer, went out with a shoulder injury in late October and won’t be back until April. Alex Steen is still out after spraining his ankle a month ago. Sammy Blais hurt his wrist three weeks ago and is out for at least another month. Oskar Sundqvist is out with a foot injury, though he’s been practicing. 

The Blues won a Cup because they could roll out four lines and were a tough, resilient team for two memorable months. But at some point, playing short has to catch up with a team, and it seemed in recent losses — a 3-0 loss at Pittsburgh and a 5-2 home defeat against the Maple Leafs a few nights ago — that the injuries are catching up to them. 

The Sabres are the more talented team tonight, and they’re at home. They’re coming off an emotional victory at Edmonton for their head coach. This is the sort of moment when you show your home fans, and the hockey world, that you mean to be taken seriously. 

Of course, it’s also the kind of setting where Sabres fans have grown accustomed to seeing the worst. Ryan O’Reilly wasn’t the only one. 

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THE COLUMN

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When you’ve covered the Bills for more than two decades, you start to feel like you’ve seen every game before. 

I have to say, Sunday’s 24-17 loss to the Ravens at New Era felt like too many other discouraging losses of the recent past— games in which the defense played its heart out, but the offense couldn’t keep its end of the bargain, when a heroic performance by the Buffalo D was wasted in defeat. 

Maybe we were a little too quick to anoint Josh Allen’s arrival as the franchise quarterback, to declare he had turned a corner. That’s the problem with the interminable search for the savior. There’s a natural tendency to over-react to every game, to attach toomuch significant to a single win or loss, or a brief run of seeming competence. 

It’s never as good or bad as it seems. And it was pretty bad against Baltimore. Operating against a Ravens defense that blitzed him all day long,  Allen regressed again. He was 17 of 39 passing for just 146 yards, his fewest yards in more than a year. The Bills had 3.07 yards per play, the lowest of any team in the league in Week 14. 

Coach Sean McDermott and his players said there are no moral victories at this point, and they’re right. Ten days after a win in Dallas on Thanksgiving, one that announced the Bills to the world as a serious playoff contender, they lost to a Ravens team that had won eight in a row to establish itself as a Super Bowl favorite.

They played well enough to win. The defense was extraordinary, holding Lamar Jackson and the high-octane Baltimore offense to the fewest total yards all season. Still, it wasn’t good enough. When you’re 9-4 for the first time in 23 years and a near-lock for the playoffs, you don’t go looking for comfort in a loss. You can’t have it both ways. 

What did we learn about the Bills on Sunday that we didn’t already know? We know their defense is good enough to beat anybody. We know McDermott can get them ready for a tough opponent. We know the offense and Allen are a work in progress and don’t make enough plays down the field in the passing game. 

Allen’s receivers weren’t much help, dropping four passes and failing to get open on a consistent enough basis. The offensive line had a rough day against the blitz. 

But he fell into his old bad habits against the blitz, giving up on plays too soon and not stepping up in the pocket to create space and deliver timely throws.  

This from ESPN: Allen was 7 of 24 and was sacked six times on the 30 times he was blitzed. He was 1 of 15 on throws that traveled at least 15 yards downfield, that one his 37-yard completion to Dawson Knox in the fourth quarter.

“It looked like he was under duress throwing the ball,” said Ravens cornerback Jimmy Smith. “He didn’t know where he was going to get hit and was kind of jittery in the pocket at times.”

Jittery is a good way to describe the Buffalo offense. There was little rhythm or flow. They went three-and-out on three of their first four possessions, four-and-out on the other. After scoring a field goal on their opening possession of the second half to get within 17-9, they went three-and-out on three straight possessions that ended in punts. 

They came to life late, and had a chance to tie late. However, Allen’s pass over the middle for John Brown on fourth-and-8 from the Ravens 16 was broken up by Marcus Peters. It would have been a storybook finish, but the offense wasn’t worthy of such an ending. They didn’t deserve it. They weren’t able to find solace in a loss. 

Do you think the offense let the defense down, I asked rookie Devin Singletary?

“Yup,” he replied. 

Naturally, the defensive guys wouldn’t go there. Lorenzo Alexander talked about complementary football. He said no one played his best game and they didn’t do enough as a team to win. It’s true, the defense could have done more.  Jackson’s 61-yard TD strike to tight end Hayden Hurst on the third play of the second half was a killer.

But the defense certainly played well enough to win and to gain further respect in the eyes of the nation. In consecutive weeks, the Bills have held down the teams ranked first (Dallas) and second (Baltimore) in the NFL in total offense.

If the Ravens are the best offensive team in the league, the Super Bowl favorites, what does that say about the Buffalo defense? They’re a Super Bowl-caliber unit, one that could play with anybody. Of course, we’ve said that before in Buffalo.

Alexander has a lot of experience answering questions about the offense letting them down. Remember the wild-card game in 2017, when the defense played out of its mind and lost to the Jags, 10-3, when the offense couldn’t carry its weight. Or the Patriots game early this season, when they harassed Tom Brady into his worst game in more than a decade — and Allen was worse? Or last year’s Monday night loss to the Pats? 

I could go back in time, but you get the point. It had to be demoralizing, especially when you had started to believe they were beyond such things, and that Allen had turned the corner. After this, is there any doubt that the the Bills’ offense could go on the road for a playoff game and lay an egg, wasting a great defensive effort?

How far have we come, really?

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THE COLUMN

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I’d hate to detract from the Bills’ heroic win over the Cowboys on Thanksgiving — one I called their biggest in more than two decades — but it doesn’t look quite as dramatic after Dallas melted down again last night against the Bears on Thursday Night Football. 

The victory in Dallas is suddenly less of a statement game, but their eighth win over a team that currently has a losing record. Consider this a public service, a chance for the Bills to play the no-respect card and feel they’re not being taken seriously enough.

Sunday, now this would be a major statement game. If the Bills can beat the high-flying Ravens, who have won eight in a row and are considered the favorite to win the Super Bowl, skeptics would have no choice but to consider them a championship contender, not simply a dangerous team that might win a playoff game or two. 

It’s not often that a 9-3 team is a five and a half-point underdog at home. But they’re underdogs for a reason. Baltimore is a very scary team, a physical team, a blend of old-school power football and the modern franchise quarterback model in Lamar Jackson, who is on pace to rush for 1,300 yards and throw for 33 touchdowns.

Think about that for a moment. Jim Kelly holds the Bills’ record for TD passes in a season with 33. Imagine Jim Kelly and Thurman Thomas rolled into one player. That’s kind of what the Bills are facing on Sunday. Oh,  they also have to deal with Mark Ingram, an actual running back who is on pace to rush for over 1,100 yards and is averaging 5 yards a carry. 

The Ravens averaging 208 yards rushing a game, almost 100 yards above the league average of 111 per team per game. They’re on pace to break the NFL record for team rushing and have more than 700 yards more than the next team, the Niners.

“I don’t think there’s really been a defense that’s cracked the code to this point, so to speak,” said Bills head coach Sean McDermott, who has the daunting task of figuring out a way to slow down Jackson and the Ravens. “It’ll be a big week for us as a team, but also a big week for our defense.”

McDermott is right. This is a great opportunity for his defense to make a statement, to do what the Patriots and Niners couldn’t do — stop Jackson and the Baltimore running game and beat the Ravens, who lead the NFL with 406 points. Only one other team in the AFC, the Patriots, has scored even 300. The Bills have 257.

The Bills are third in the league in total defense, third against the pass. They’ve allowed only 44 passing touchdowns in McDermott’s 44 regular-season games as head coach. But they’re only 22nd in the NFL in yards per rush allowed at 4.5. 

They’ve done better against the run in recent weeks, but the memory of their mid-season troubles against runs between the tackles lingers. The Dolphins, Redskins, Eagles and Browns all had great success running inside. The Bills have had some puzzling lapses in run defense during McDermott’s three seasons as coach.

This will be their biggest test so far. In our poll this week, respondents said interior run defense will be the key. That sounds right. The Ravens watch film, they’ll see what Adrian Peterson and other backs did between the tackles and try to punch the Bills in the mouth early and often. 

Of course, they also have Jackson, who will attack the edges if the Bills cheat toward the middle. The Bills’ best hope is to play man-t0-man pass defense, crowd the box and dare Jackson to beat them with the pass. He makes big plays in the passing game, but doesn’t throw that often or effectively outside the numbers. 

The key should be the play of Buffalo’s young linebackers, Tremaine Edmunds and Matt Milano. At times, you have to guess against Jackson. They have a tendency to overplay at times, so guessing right will be a big key. They’re a bit undersized and have trouble getting off blocks on occasion, so the Ravens will go right at them. 

It’s hard to see the Bills shutting down the Ravens entirely. They’ll get their yards and score 20 points or more. The big question is whether Josh Allen and the Bills’ offense can keep up against the Baltimore defense, which gets overshadowed by the offense but is very good and physical. Getting Devin Singletary going will be vital.

In the end, I expect the Bills to be competitive and make a statement about their ability to hang with a title contender. But the Ravens’ extraordinary running attack will be too much. They also have a big edge in another area: Kicker. Justin Tucker is good for three field goals and I see the Ravens winning, 23-17. 

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THE COLUMN

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Last year, in the season opener, the Bills went to Baltimore and got blown out, 47-3. Nathan Peterman and Joe Flacco were the starting quarterbacks. It was over almost as soon as it started. The Bills trailed 26-0 at halftime. Peterman went 5 for 18 passing for 24 yards with two interceptions and finished with a 0.0 quarterback rating. 

Josh Allen took over and went 6 of 15 for 74 yards in his debut. Boy, it seems like a long time ago — for both teams. Lamar Jackson came off the bench and went 1 of 4 passing. The Ravens scored six TDs that day. Five of the guys who scored are no longer on the team. That includes John Brown, who is now on the Bills. Willie Snead is the only Raven who scored that day who is still playing in Baltimore.

Here’s the Bills’ starting offense from the opener last year: Peterman at quarterback; LeSean McCoy was the tailback; they started three wide receivers: Zay Jones, Kelvin Benjamin and, get this, Jeremy Kerley ( don’t even remember him being a Bill). 

Charles Clay at tight end. The offensive line, from right to left: right tackle Jordan Mills, right guard John Miller, Ryan Groy at center, Vlad Ducasse at left guard, and Dion Dawkins at left tackle. So Dawkins is the only one of the 11 offensive starters who is still on the Bills one year later. Ten of the defensive starters were the same, by the way.

It’s it’s amazing how utterly the Bills have transformed their offense in one year. They needed to get better and Brandon Beane went to work. He rebuilt the offensive line, brought in some competent wide receivers, drafted a running back and a couple of tight end, and got rid of LeSean McCoy, whose agenda simply didn’t fit into the plan.

Most of all, Beane made this Allen’s offense. It’s no coincidence. By clearing out so many players, the Bills made it easier for Allen to assert himself as a leader, and most important of all, to make strides as a player and a playmaker. And how far he’s come in one year.

Last year at this time, the Bills were 4-8. They had scored in single figures five times. Allen had five touchdown passes on the season. LeSean McCoy led the running backs in touchdowns with two. Chris Ivory — remember him — had one. 

“I remember the opener last year,” Allen said Wednesday. “We got our butts whipped. I remember the rain coming down … It seems like so long ago. It was my first NFL game, real game action. We were down a lot, but I still remember going out there and trying to make plays for my team. Nothing has changed in that aspect.”

Nothing has changed, and everything has changed. Yes, Allen is still channeling his head coach, talking about going 1-0 every week and focusing on the task at hand. But over the last three weeks, he has made the sort of strides the Bills and their fans have been hoping for — and on Thanksgiving, he announced himself to the world in his best game yet.

“It’s kind of surreal to now be in the position I’m in,” Allen said. “I feel like it’s night and day as far as football perspective, knowledge of the game, knowledge of my own offense. But I’m not anywhere near where I want to be.”

Is must be a bit surreal for Bills fans to see how quickly the nation has caught on. The Ravens game will be the national game for most of the country at 1 p.m. That’s largely because of Lamar Jackson, but the fact that the Bills are a game behind Baltimore and coming off that win in Dallas makes this the game of the day in the NFL. 

So essentially, that means the Bills will be a national game four times in a row: On Thanksgiving in Dallas, this week against the Ravens, a flexed game in Pittsburgh a week from Sunday night, and then the Saturday afternoon game in New England on Dec. 21.

“We don’t really care about the spotlight or any of these prime time games,” Allen said. “I guess it’s flattering to know they’re putting us in these windows now. But as a team, we really don’t care. We’re still trying to go 1-0 each week and game plan and prepare like any other week.”

That’s nice to hear. As Allen said, he and the team are nowhere near where they want to go. But this isn’t any other week, it’s the biggest we’ve seen in Buffalo since Kelly and Marino. Last year’s opener seems like a million years ago, doesn’t it?

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THE COLUMN

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The Carolina Panthers fired Ron Rivera yesterday, with a month left in his ninth season as the head coach. Secondary coach Perry Fewell will be the interim coach. Fewell, of course, served the same role 10 years ago for the Bills — and should have gotten a permanent gig somewhere along the line. 

Four years ago, Rivera took the Panthers to the Super Bowl. They had a losing record the next year, returned to the playoffs in 2017, and dropped back to a losing season a year ago. They’re currently 5-7 and in the midst of a four-game losing streak. 

As Carolina owner David Tepper said, “It was time.”

You never know how long your time will be as an NFL coach. Maybe that’s why most of them are so tight and careful and act as if there’s calamity waiting around every corner. This shows how fleeting success can be in the league. 

Sean McDermott, who went to the Super Bowl as Rivera’s defensive coordinator and lived through the ebbs and flows in Carolina, will no doubt have some things to say about that later this morning in his weekly presser. Rivera was, by all accounts, a good man. You could tell by the response on Twitter how respected and loved he was by his players. 

Now he and the Panthers have “parted ways,” as it said on the ESPN crawl. They try to avoid the word “fired” nowadays, as if using some euphemism like parted ways or separated or moved on somehow softens the blow. 

There are now only 12 head coaches who have been in their current jobs longer than McDermott, who has coached 44 regular-season games. That’s right, he’s in his third season and he’s already in the top half of head men in seniority at their current job. Jon Gruden, Bruce Arians and Adam Gase have coached more games, but are on their second jobs.

Dan Quinn could be in trouble in Atlanta, just three years after taking the Falcons to the Bowl. Jason Garrett has been a consistent winner in Dallas, but he could be gone even if the Cowboys win the NFC East. Doug Marrone got Jacksonville to the AFC title game two years ago, but he’s on one of the hottest seats in the game. Tough gig, head coaching.

So next year, there’s a good chance McDermott will be in the top 10 in current seniority. Bills fans should feel fortunate to have a head coach with such security. The franchise has been searching for continuity and competence in the position since Marv Levy retired after the 1997 season.

If McDermott coaches through next season — which is pretty much a certainty — he will be the longest-serving head coach since Levy. Dick Jauron lasted three and a half years (57 games). Wade Phillips, Gregg Williams and Chan Gailey were all done after three seasons, Mike Mularkey, Rex Ryan and Marrone after two. 

We’ve joked about the Process and the Culture and all those coaching buzz words that McDermott uses. No one is joking now at 9-3. The players have bought in. McDermott has created a strong team chemistry and belief in a rising young squad. It all starts with Josh Allen, a franchise quarterback who channels his head coach.

McDermott and Brandon Beane have the Bills ahead of schedule, headed to the playoffs and suddenly threatening the Patriots in the division in their third season. Games are being flexed. The nation is taking notice. But the coach won’t let them get ahead of themselves. After that historic win in Dallas, Allen said it was no statement, simply win No. 9.

They haven’t arrived yet, by a long shot. That’s McDermott’s message and he won’t stray from it. The fall from the top can be very swift in the NFL, so it’s best to live in the moment and keep plugging and never, ever take winning for granted.

Ron Rivera could tell you that, and I’m sure McDermott will remind us later today. 

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THE COLUMN

120319

Well, it’s December in the NFL, which means it’s time for the latest playoff projections on the national game telecasts. Late in the Monday Night game between the Seahawks and Vikings, they showed one of those playoff updates for the NFC. 

I had to chuckle when I saw the item on the far right, the teams that were still “In The Hunt.” Remember a couple of years ago, when Sean McDermott kept reminding us that the Bills were in the hunt and we ridiculed the rookie coach? He was right. They were in the hunt at 5-5 and 6-6 and 7-7 and end the drought on that Andy Dalton miracle.

We were reminded last night that the Bears are in the hunt at 6-6. The Eagles are in the hunt at 5-7. I don’t know how comforting it is for fans of those teams, which might be the biggest underachievers in the league this year. All those years when the Bills managed to be in the hunt in December, fans in Buffalo saw it as faint hope, a sign of mediocrity.

From 2001-17, the Bills were 6-6 at this point in the season seven times. They were 5-7 another four times. We know this is the first time they’ve been 9-3 since 1996. Do you how many times they were simply above .500 at this point during those 17 years?

Once. The Bills were 7-5 in 2014. That was the year when they upset the Packers at home to get to 8-6, still in the hunt, then went to Oakland and lost to a 2-12 Raiders team. 

I don’t mean to dredge up bad memories at a wonderful time for the Bills. I just want to remind people how rare this is, to have a team that’s not just mathematically alive in a league of parity, but good and relevant and a threat to make noise in the playoffs.

They’re not just in the hunt, they’re practically in the playoffs. I consulted the New York Times playoff machine — which I’ve never done before — and found the Bills had a 95 percent chance to make the postseason. They could actually clinch this weekend if they beat Baltimore and the Raiders, Texans and Colts all lose.

It’s over 99 percent if they go 10-6 with a win over the Steelers, 95 percent if they lose the next three and beat the Jets in the finale. Heck, the Times machine says they could lose their final four, finish 9-7, and still have a 51 percent chance to make the playoffs. But that’s too horrible to even contemplate. 

The point is, sit back and enjoy it. The Bills are ahead of schedule, and it’s time we stopped dwelling on their easy schedule. They’re a factor, close to a lock for the playoffs, one of the hot teams in the league. They’re relevant for the first time in two decades and the most important thing is, they could be a factor for the next decade to come.

That’s what happens when you get the quarterback right. That point was hammered home again while watching the Seahawks beat the Vikings last night. Everyone is ready to hand Lamar Jackson the MVP, but Russell Wilson’s team is also 10-2 and he’s got to be back in consideration after being the frontrunner a month or so ago.

Wilson has completed 67.4 percent of his passes for 3,177 yards with a league-leading 26 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. Jackson is completing 66.6 percent for 25 TDs and 5 interceptions. I’ll concede that Jackson’s rushing — he needs 63 yards on Sunday at New Era to break Micheal Vick’s record for a quarterback — puts him a notch ahead.

But all Wilson does is win, and it’s not like he has Pro Bowl receivers every year. Since he arrived in Seattle in 2012, the Seahawks have had a winning record every year and made the playoffs six out of seven seasons. They missed at 9-7 two years ago — the season when the Bills had the same record and broke a 17-year drought. 

Seattle is 85-38-1 with Wilson, who has started every game in his career. Seattle hasn’t had a three-game losing streak in his seven seasons. Among quarterbacks who have played 100 games, he is fourth all-time in winning percentage in regular season and playoffs combined, behind Tom Brady, Roger Staubach and Joe Montana. 

This is what happens when you get the quarterback right. Get the right franchise guy and you can win for a decade or more. It seems the current model for a franchise QB is a mobile, athletic guy with a big arm. Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen fit the model. The adult version is Russell Wilson, and he’s far from done. 

Allen and Jackson are just getting started, and they collide on Sunday at New Era. I can’t recall being this amped for a December home game since Jim Kelly and Dan Marino were going at it, when we took being in The Hunt for granted.

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THE COLUMN

120219

My, what a wild Sunday that was! One of the great things about the Bills not playing is you get a close look at the rest of the NFL, and it was Bizarro World on my TV screen.

The Dolphins, Redskins and Bengals won. The Patriots lost. And perhaps most amazing of all, the Bills had the Dec. 15 game at Pittsburgh game Flexed. To Sunday night, the most prominent prime position of all, with Al Michaels on the call, an honor they haven’t been worthy of since the 56-10 debacle against New England here 12 years ago.

Yes, if the Bills were looking for some national recognition, they got it over the last four days. They stunned the Cowboys on Thanksgiving in the most watched program since the Super Bowl, more than the Oscars last February. It had the second-highest audience of any regular-season NFL game since a Pats-Giants game in 2007. 

So the Bills will wind up having three national games in their last five. Earlier, their penultimate regular-season game at the Patriots had been Flexed to 4:30 on Dec. 21. Of course, they’ll have a fourth game in six weeks if they make the playoffs — unless they happen to win the AFC East and earn a first-round bye. 

What?  Did I say they could win the division? The Patriots have won 10 in a row, 15 of the last 16. The Bills haven’t even finished better than three games behind the Pats in the AFC East since 2002. Win the division? Bobby, am I getting out of control here?

Well, why not? The Bills are only one game behind the Patriots. They play at New England. They’re tied at 6-2 in conference record. So their fate is in their own hands. The Pats play the Chiefs next week. They looked awfully vulnerable Sunday night against the Texans, falling behind 28-9 before putting up some garbage time offense and losing, 28-22.

The Ravens, who beat 10-1 San Francisco earlier in the day, now have the advantage for top seed in the AFC over the Pats. Tom Brady threw for 326 yards, but the Pats offense was brutal for much of the night. He was 7 of 19 passing for 82 yards in the first half. According to ESPN Stats & Information research, the 36.8 completion percentage matched the lowest in a first half in Brady’s 20-year career (minimum 15 attempts). 

Brady had a lot of time to throw last night, too, more than usual. But guys weren’t getting open enough, as he reminded his teammates in an emotional sideline scene during the first half. We’ve seen that from Brady before and watched the Pats catch fire and roll to the Super Bowl. I know we say this every year, but this feels different. 

Brady after the loss: ”We’re battling, we’re trying as hard as we can, hopefully we can make enough plays and be the best we can be. All remains to be seen. You can make a bunch of predictions and so forth, but that’s not what it’s about. It’s about going out there and doing it.”

They’re “battling”, “trying hard”. This is the Patriots we’re talking about, not the Jauron Bills. Is it so difficult to imagine the Bills going into New England and doing what they did to the Cowboys on Thanksgiving? The Buffalo defense is better than Houston’s. Remember, Brady had his lowest-rated performance in 13 years when the Pats won here in September.

We’ve come a long way in one week. But I suppose seasoned Bills fans, who are conditioned to keeping their hopes low and being wary of success, could be a little torn right now. This is the best Bills team in more than two decades. If Josh Allen has figured it out, they’ll be a factor in the division and the AFC for years to come.

But they’re ahead of schedule. This is all gravy. They control their own destiny right now, but it’s their long-term destiny that really matters. Fans should just enjoy the fact that it’s December and they have a legitimate shot at the division, at the Patriots.

Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. After all, the Pats aren’t even the team to beat in the AFC anymore. That team is coming to town on Sunday. How big does Bills-Baltimore look right now?

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THE COLUMN

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Well, I hope Joe Schmoe in Wyoming was impressed.

I said the Bills didn’t need to win this game. They needed to play well, to show the world they were a relevant football team, one that’s worthy of its record and to be taken seriously as a playoff team. They had to distinguish themselves for once on the national stage and not leave their fans and the country muttering, Same Old Bills.

They did a lot more than that. The Bills announced themselves to the football world in a convincing 26-15 win over America’s Team in A T & T Stadium. It was a stunning performance, one that could push Dallas coach Jason Garrett onto the unemployment line. It should also elevate Sean McDermott onto any short lists for NFL coach of the year.

The defense had one of its frequent slow starts, allowing the Cowboys to march to a TD on their first possession. They proceeded to trample all over the carpet in Jerry’s House over the next 50 minutes, outscoring Dallas 26-0 from the ‘Boys early TD to their garbage-time touchdown late in the fourth quarter. 

The Bills showed up for their first Thanksgiving Day game in 25 years and announced themselves to the nation. No one will take them lightly now. After this game, would it shock anyone if they beat the Ravens a week from Sunday at New Era? Does anyone doubt whether they could go on the road and win a wild-card playoff game?

They’re 9-3 for the first time since 1996, which was Jim Kelly’s last year as the quarterback. This felt like the biggest win since Kelly retired. That includes the win that got them into the playoffs two years ago, when they were a far weaker team. Bigger than the home win over the Packers five years ago, or any win during the playoff years with Doug Flutie. 

Thursday’s win seems more meaningful, not so much for what it says about where they are in the present, but where they could be going. 

The main reason, of course, is Josh Allen. The Bills and their fans have been waiting for a true franchise quarterback since Kelly left. We’ve said since last spring that this season was all about Allen’s development. Having him play this way on the big stage, in the biggest spot of his young career, raises things to a new and different level.

Allen was sensational in his first national TV appearance as the Bills’ quarterback. He was 19 of 24 passing for 231 yards and one touchdown and no interceptions. He ran for 43 yards and his weekly highlight TD run. Allen now has 11 TD passes and one pick in his last seven games, plus four rushing touchdowns.

But it goes beyond numbers with Allen. It was his command of the moment, his audacious competitive personality, that lifted the Bills and jumped off the TV screen. You could sense him rising to the moment, engaging mentally and emotionally with the big game. He played his best game, and that made it the most important Bills win in more than two decades.

“It’s just number nine,” Allen said after the win, channeling his head coach and his teammates, who had downplayed the relevance of playing well in front of the nation.

But it surely seemed bigger. A true franchise quarterback lifts his team in difficult circumstances, on the road, against the top teams. Allen did it Thursday. He lifted his team. He proved again that no moment is too large. How long has it been? Did Tyrod Taylor or Ryan Fitzpatrick or Trent Edwards ever seize the moment on the road this way?

The most telling moment of all came just before half, with the game still tied 7-all. The Bills faced fourth-and-1 at the Dallas 30. Allen, ready to sneak for the first down, fumbled the snap. But he alertly reached down, snatched the ball out the pile and lunged forward for the first down. 

On the telecast, Tony Romo said that’s why Allen’s teammates love him. He’s right. Allen is a killer competitor, and his guys respect him for it. So do the fans, who have admired Allen’s physical courage from the start and hoped his passing skills would catch up.

“Superman,” defensive end Jerry Hughes told Tim Graham in the locker room afterwards. “I’d never seen a quarterback drop a sneak, pick it up and fight off eight defenders while he was Eurostepping to get the first down. It was honestly Superman. I can’t wait to watch it again.”

I’m sure Bills fans won’t get tired of watching that play soon. Or the play after the fumble, when John Brown took a pitch from Andre Roberts on a double reverse, stopped and tossed a perfect spiral to a wide-open Devin Singletary for a 28-yard touchdown.

That gave the Bills a 13-7 lead. Stephen Hauschka missed the point after. He continues to be a major issue. But they poured it on from there. The Buffalo defense, once again worthy of elite status, stifled a Dallas offense that was leading the NFL and had averaged 475 yards and 30 points in its previous five home games. 

One thing I learned during the Bills’ Super Bowl run was that great individuals make the difference, that a half dozen or so big plays determine a lot of games. The Bills have that kind of team now. Allen made the big throw to Cole Beasley and the signature TD run. Singletary scored the winning TD. Ed Oliver had a crucial strip sack. 

It’s time to stop dwelling on the Bills’ soft schedule and acknowledge that they’re a very good team, one that’s good enough to beat any team in the league. They’re ahead of schedule. Their own management showed that when Brandon Beane didn’t make a move at the deadline.

Going into the season, most of the local media had them winning nine games. I had them for 10. But even if they were 8-8, if Allen made strides at quarterback, the season would be an unqualified success. They’re already at nine. 

There’s no telling how far they might go this season, because on Thanksgiving Day, with the eyes of the nation on them, this Bills team seemed to be growing up before our eyes. They’re on the rise, and so are expectations. I can’t wait ’til next year. Hey, I can’t wait until December.

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THE COLUMN

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The pressure is diminished this week, you could say. The game on Thanksgiving in Dallas isn’t being labeled a “must-win”: for the Bills, like the contests against the Dolphins and Broncos the last two weeks against inferior AFC foes.

No, they don’t need this game to make the playoffs. It’s not a conference game. They only need two of the last five to get to 10 wins, and the way things are going, it might only take nine wins to get in, like. It did two years ago. 

But you could certainly characterize it as a “must play well” situation. The Bills are 8-3, coming off an impressive home throttling of Denver. They’re slowly gaining respect around the NFL as a legitimate playoff team and one that could possibly make some noise in January. 

Still, there are a lot of skeptics. They’ve benefited from a ridiculously easy schedule (though they have beaten a team with a winning record now that Tennessee is 6-5). They haven’t beaten a team with a quarterback of any consequence. They could use a solid performance to validate themselves.

Micah Hyde said they don’t care if the eyes of the nation are on them. It doesn’t matter what Joe Schmoe in Wyoming thinks. I don’t buy it. I think the players desperately want to show the world that they’re relevant, a team that’s worthy of its record, one that deserves to be taken seriously as a playoff contender.

They have a chance to do that in their first national Thanksgiving appearance in a quarter century. That Bills team lost to Detroit the year after its four-year Super Bowl run ended, when a great team was in decline. The nation knew Jim Kelly and Thurman Thomas and Andre Reed and Bruce Smith. 

This Bills team can introduce itself to the football-watch world. This is Josh Allen’s first national TV appearance as the Bills’ quarterback. He was injured when they lost to the Patriots in Buffalo a year ago. It’s a chance to leave America talking about Allen, and Tremaine Edmunds and Matt Milano and Devin Singletary.

What they can’t do it put on another dreadful performance in a national game. It has not gone well when the nation’s eyes are on them in recent years. They didn’t score a touchdown last year against the Pats, or in the 10-3 loss to Jacksonville two years ago in their first playoff game in 17 years. 

The Bills have lost their last seven Monday Night games, they’re last seven Sunday night games. The last two times they played on Thursday night, they got embarrassed by the Jets. It’s no wonder the TV people don’t want to put them in the national spotlight, and that football fans have a tendency to ignore them.

Here’s their big opportunity. Turkey Day, with the country settling in for an NFL game after the meal. I don’t imagine they feel a duty to entertain, but they can’t lay an egg again. They don’t have to win the game, but they can’t leave the nation — and their own long-suffering fans — saying Same Old Bills. 

Allen seems to have turned a corner as the franchise quarterback. He has accounted for two or more touchdowns in seven straight games, the first Bill to do that since Kelly. He has 10 TD passes and one interception in his last six games. Let’s see him go engage Dak Prescott on an even level Thursday.

The defense is third in the NFL behind the Pats and Niners. They were second a year ago. They’re legit. They shut down Tom Brady. But they haven’t beaten a team with an elite quarterback in more than a year, and there are lingering questions about their ability to stop the run after their mid-season struggles.

There’s growing talk about Bills supporters that Sean McDermott should be on the short list of Coach of the Year candidates. He and his staff have a chance to back that up on Thanksgiving. Brian Daboll can stir memories of the Kelly no-huddle if his offense has a big day. Leslie Frazier and McDermott can remind people that they’re among the top defensive minds in the sport. 

The Cowboys have not beaten a team with a winning record this year. They’re leading the NFC East, but they’re in a crisis, with Jerry Jones openly criticizing Jason Garrett and perhaps on the verge of pulling the plug. There’s a lot of pressure on Dallas to play well in front of their temperamental owner and a national audience. They could be ready to go to pieces.

The Bills are the kind of team that could push the Cowboys over the edge — if they live up to their reputation as a team on the rise. It’s sitting there for them on Thanksgiving, like a turkey ready to be carved. 

For once, in the national spotlight, they can’t be the turkey. Show the world you’re for real, Bills. For starters, you could actually score a touchdown. 

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THE COLUMN

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OK, I give up. Lamar Jackson isn’t just the Most Valuable Player in the NFL. With apologies to Christian McCaffrey, and the old Tom Brady, he is the best player in the game. From what I saw Monday night, it’s not really even close.

Jackson got his chance in the national spotlight on Monday Night Football in La La Land last night, and he didn’t disappoint. He put on a dynamic, dominant and near-perfect performance in the Ravens’ 45-6 rout of the Rams. 

This wasn’t the Dolphins or the Bengals. It was a Rams team that went to the Super Bowl last season and boasts one of the top defenses in the league. It didn’t matter. Jackson and the Ravens ran around and through them, scoring 40 points for the third straight week and making a compelling case for themselves as the Super Bowl favorites with their seventh consecutive win. 

Jackson was amazing. He was 15 of 20 passing for 169 yards and five touchdowns, completing over 70 percent and rating over 100 for the fourth game in a row. He didn’t have an incompletion in the first half. Jackson rushed eight times for 95 yards, giving him 876 and putting him farther ahead of pace to break Micheal Vick’s record for rushing yards by a quarterback in a single season.

It’s hard to believe Jackson is the same quarterback who played so poorly in a wild-card game against the Chargers last January that home fans were booing him and calling for Joe Flacco (not to mention a lot of us doubters in the media).

But Jackson worked tirelessly in the offseason. He and his coach, John Harbaugh, believed he could be an elite quarterback in the NFL. Their faith has been evident for the sports world to see during an astonishing November run by the Ravens, who are now 9-2.

After a stunning TD run a couple weeks ago, Harbaugh sat next to his young quarterback on the sidelines and told him this: “You changed the game, man. You know how many little kids in this country are going to be wearing No. 8 playing quarterback the next 20 years, because of you?” 

“I can’t wait to see it, when I get older, Jackson said. “Right now I want to get to the Super Bowl.”

He’ll get there soon if the Ravens continue to start games the way they did Monday night. They scored TDs on their first two possessions, taking a 14-0 lead late in the first quarter and giving them an astounding 99-24 edge in first quarter this season. 

Wade Phillips had no answers. On Baltimore’s third play, Jackson kept the ball on an RPO and dashed 16 yards around right end for a first down. Mark Ingram was pounding away between the tackles and before you knew it, Jackson was zipping a 6-yard TD pass to rookie Marquise “Hollywood” Brown for the first touchdown.

Jackson isn’t putting up gaudy yardage numbers in the passing game. He doesn’t need to. But his footwork and decision-making and ball placement are much better in his second season. Josh Allen has made significant strides, but this kid is off the charts. The TD was Jackson’s 17th in the red zone this season without a turnover.

The Ravens got it back after another 3-and-out by the Rams against a very good Baltimore defense and Jackson went back to work. After a couple of big runs put them into LA territory, the Ravens faced a fourth-and-1. There was no hesitation. Harbaugh, who knows his analytics, ran Jackson on a keeper and he made the first down easily. The Ravens were 11-f0r-15 on fourth downs after that play. Jackson then made a perfect read against Cover 3, threading an 18-yard TD pass to Brown down the seam for a 14-0 lead.

The Ravens, who led the league in scoring before Monday’s game, are now averaging 35 points a game. They’re on pace for 561. Only one team, the 2007 Patriots, ever scored more. 

Over the last four games, they’re averaging 43 points.  That includes 37 against a Pats team that has given up an average of 8.0 points to its 10 other opponents. Holding them to 35 would be an achievement at this point. The Ravens come to Buffalo a week from Sunday. If the Bills want to show the world they’re an elite defense, they’ll get their chance. 

Maybe some defensive genius will figure out Jackson and the Baltimore offense. But Bill Belichick and Wade Phillips didn’t have any answers. As John Harbaugh said on the sideline a few weeks back, this kid Lamar Jackson is changing the game. 

The fact that he lasted until the last pick of the first round of 2018 draft suggests there really aren’t any geniuses in the sport. 

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Well, there’s always something to quibble about. The Bills had 12 penalties. They struggled in the red zone after two long early drives. There was some slapstick clock management late in the first half, when the Bills spiked the ball, then had to call timeout, took a delay of game penalty and squandered any chance of getting a field goal before halftime

But it’s a good thing when you can quibble about imperfections in a big win. The Bills took care of business again, thrashing the Broncos, 20-3, in their most complete performance of the season. They moved two full games ahead of their closest competitors in the AFC wild-card race. The Bills are 8-3 for the first time since 1996 and have three days to enjoy it before heading to Dallas for a Thanksgiving Day game. 

This was another must-win game against a team with inferior quarterback play. Watching Brandon Allen stumble around, it’s hard to believe people really thought Denver was going to win this game. It wasn’t a shock to see the resurgent Bills defense dominate. But the Bills offense was different story, taking on a Denver defense that was ranked fourth in the NFL.

Before the game Sunday against the Broncos, rookie running back Devin Singletary, walked up to his ageless mentor, Frank Gore, and declared, “Let’s go get those 46 yards!”

Gore was 46 yards away from passing Barry Sanders for third on the NFL’s all-time rushing list. But he had another milestone on his mind.

“Let’s go get your first 100-yard game!” he told Singletary.

It seemed like a tall order. Denver came in with the league’s fourth-ranked defense. Over their previous six games, they had allowed an average of 78 yards rushing. One week earlier, they had held Minnesota, the NFC’s top rushing attack, to 37 yards. Undaunted, the Bills rushed for 244 yards — more than twice Denver’s average. 

With the Bills once again running a no-huddle offense for coordinator Brian Daboll, they  ran all over Denver from start to finish, without a single running play of more than 27 yards. 

A week earlier, they had dominated the Dolphins in a 17-point win. But as fearless as it seemed, it came against a very bad team. Skeptics were waiting to see what Josh Allen and the offense would against the Broncos — the start of a five-game run against teams all ranked in the top 11 in scoring defense.

They passed the test. Allen was solid again, throwing for two touchdown passes, including a 34-yarder to John Brown that was his completion all year that traveled 30 yards in the air, and an early throw to Cole Beasley when Allen hung tough against a blitz.

But it all started with the run game. Gore had 65 yards and passed Sanders for third on the career list with 15,289 yards. Allen had a couple of his usual ridiculous scrambles. And yes, Singletary had his first career 100-yard day, busting for 106 yards on 21 carries, an average of 5 yards a pop.

Gore has continued to encourage Singletary, even as he was losing snaps and carries to the kid. And Singletary — who has the nickname “Motor” never said a discouraging word earlier in the season when Gore was getting more of the work despite Singletary’s gaudy rushing average.

“The rookie and the vet, man!” Hyde said. “That’s the type of guy Frank is; it goes to the character of the man. He’s made a lot of plays in his career, but he gives Motor tips and clues on how he can get better. Motor is getting tips from a legend who’s going to be a Hall of Famer.”

Singletary, at 5-7 and 203 pounds, is perceived as an elusive runner, a scatback. But he’s maturing as an inside runner who takes punishment and fights for extra yards. 

Singletary didn’t have a run over 11 yards. He had runs of 11, 10, 10, 10, 9 and 8. At some point, you knew he was going to bust a big one. There have been several plays lately where you felt Singletary was very close to taking one all the way.

That’s why you keep feeding a player of that ability. Singletary now has 490 yards rushing on 84 carries, a 5.8-yard average that’s second in the NFL only to Lamar Jackson and the highest of any running back in the league with 80 carries. 

“I’m always very confident,” said Singletary. “I’ve just got to keep working, really. I feel I’m getting better, week in and week out. And I’m trying to build on that.”

You get that sense about the offense as a whole, that it’s still evolving. But they had 424 yards against a defense (they had exactly 424 the week before against Miami) that boasts two Pro Bowlers (Von Miller, Chris Harris Jr.) and was expected to give the Bills a serious test. Of course, it’s hard to win when your offense manages 134 yards and your third-string quarterback, Brandon Allen, is out of his depth.

There’s no need to apologize for 8-3, though. We know they’ve beaten a bunch of sad sack quarterbacks this year, with Ryan Fitzpatrick the class of the bunch. But it’s not such a bad thing when critics are withholding praise. If people are holding them to a higher standard, well, the Bills are, too. 

“I mean, until we play a perfect game, you haven’t seen our best,” said left tackle Dion Dawkins. “There will always be mistakes, but we’re heading in the right direction.”

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THE COLUMN

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Deshaun Watson did what the great ones do last night: Coming off perhaps the worst game of his career — and his worst since he beat the Bills last season — Watson threw for 298 yards and led the host Texans from behind for a 20-17 win over a tough Colts team, putting Houston back in first place in the AFC South. 

Watson, by the way, was 4 for 4 on throws that traveled 30 yards or more in the air.

Indy fell to 6-5, so they’re now two games behind the Bills in the loss column for the second wild card. The Bills could very well play the AFC South champion on the road in a playoff game, assuming Buffalo finishes fifth and the South winner has the worst record among the four conference champs. 

That seems a likely outcome. I wasn’t blown away by either team Thursday night. I’m a big fan of Watson. He’s a playmaker and winner. He has Will Fuller back. But the Texans have a weak offensive line and their run defense is average and they miss J.J. Watt. The Colts are well-coached and have a great offensive line and solid defense, but they’re nothing special.

The Bills would be a deserved underdog in a road wild-card game. But it’s not like they’d have no shot. The good teams all have serious flaws in a down year in the AFC — and that includes the Patriots. But I’m getting ahead of myself here, I know.

First, the Bills have to take care of business and get in the playoffs. That means at least splitting their final six games, a demanding stretch in which they face five of the NFL’s top 11 scoring defenses over the next five weeks. It begins at New Era Field on Sunday against a 3-7 Broncos team that is top 10 in the league against the run and the pass. 

I guess you could say this is a must-win game, every bit as vital as the win over the hapless Dolphins a week ago. If they lose to a bad Denver team at home, it’ll revive serious doubts about this team’s playoff prospects heading into games at Dallas on Thanksgiving and back home against the Ravens ten days after that. 

This isn’t Miami on Sunday. It’s a dangerous Broncos team — one I picked to be in the playoffs, I must admit — that will be looking to keep its hopes of a winning season alive. They’re very good on defense, led by rush linebacker Von Miller and cornerback Chris Harris, two Pro Bowlers from a year ago. 

Josh Allen will need to build on last week’s rousing performance against a solid opponent. His five top-rated games this season have all come against defenses rated in the bottom half of the league. Over his last four games, Allen has thrown eight touchdown passes and no interceptions, with four rushing TDs. That’s a pretty impressive run.

Allen needs to play another efficient game, avoiding turnovers, but at some point it would be nice if he actually completed a deep throw to keep teams honest. Brian Daboll should stay up in the booth and continue to play fast and aggressive with his offense, giving Allen quick reads and allowing him to get all his receivers involved in the game early.

Defensively, the Bills are facing another weak quarterback. The fact is, our old friend Ryan Fitzpatrick is the best quarterback they’ve faced this year. Brandon Allen might be the worst — which is saying a lot when you consider they played against Dwayne Haskins in his first ever start and Sam Darnold when he had mono.

Allen is a marginal NFL player. Denver is near the top of the list of teams that could actually benefit from putting Colin Kaepernick on the field. Allen was a sixth-round pick of the Jaguars in 2016. He spent his rookie season as third string and never played a game. He was subsequently waived twice by the Rams before landing with the Broncos this season.

In two games, Allen is completing 49 percent of his passes. He will be the second-best Allen on the field Sunday. There’s no way he should have success against a Bills secondary that is third overall in passing yards and yards per pass play. The Bills should be able to stack the box against the run against Allen and avoid having another dubious day against the rush.

The Broncos’ offensive line is a mess, so the Bills should be able to get pressure again after coming alive a week ago. Denver will be up against it on offense. Drew Lock, their quarterback hope of the future, is not expected to suit up with an injured thumb. Brent Rypien, an undrafted rookie, will likely be the Broncos’ backup Sunday.

If that name rings a bell, Rypien is the nephew of former Redskins quarterback Mark Rypien, who was the MVP of Super Bowl 26 against the Bills. You don’t want to get me started on that game.

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THE COLUMN

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One day after an embarrassing night at KeyBank, Sabres fans had some news to crow about on Wednesday. Mike Babcock, who spurned Terry Pegula and the Sabres when he signed as coach of the Maple Leafs, was fired as Toronto’s head coach early in his fifth season.

This is always a source of consolation for suffering Buffalo fans: You can usually point to someone who’s worse off. When Josh Allen was struggling this season, Bills fans could take comfort in the fact that most of the other guys in the 2018 draft class, Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen and Baker Mayfield , were having trouble, too.

The Maple Leafs are a mess right now. The Sabres have lost eight of nine? Hey, the Leafs have lost six in a row this season, and they were a chic pick to get to the Stanley Cup finals this season, putting even more pressure on Babcock. The Sabres are having issues on defense and special teams? Toronto has given up the second most goals in the NHL; they have the 27th-ranked penalty kill and are 18th on the power play.

So Babcock is gone, as hockey watchers figured if the Leafs struggled. Maybe the Sabres got a break when Babcock chose Toronto in May of 2015. Remember those times? Babcock was supposedly signed, sealed and delivered to Buffalo for the most money ever paid to a head coach. Tim Graham tweeted back then that Pegula had even planned the press conference.

I wrote this at the time: “All that remained was for Babcock to wake up Wednesday and tell the world he was doing what was best for his family. He was going to work for Terry Pegula. Then came the shocking reversal. Just when you thought Pegula was going to win another fight with Toronto, Babcock jumped over the border. He picked a major metropolis over a city where people get excited when there are two or three cranes rising over the downtown landscape. This was a crushing blow for Pegula and Co.”

Babcock wound up going to the Leafs for eight years and $50 million, doing wonders for coaching salaries.  Pegula and his fans were livid. They settled for Dan Bylsma, who lasted two years. The Leafs didn’t win their first Cup since 1967. They didn’t even win a playoff series — although they did make the playoffs the last three years. 

So in the end, it was no great loss for the Sabres. But that doesn’t make it a win. They’re on their third coach since the tank. Dan Bylsma didn’t work out and Phil Housley was a disaster. They’re on their second general manager, which brings us to the main point of this column: Jason Botterill. If the Leafs could pull the plug on Babcock, it reminds us that no one is safe for long in the NHL. So how safe is the GM’s job in Buffalo right now? 

When Babcock chose Toronto over Buffalo, the thinking was that the Sabres were actually farther along in a possible rebuild. They had Jack Eichel and Sam Reinhart and Rasmus Ristolainen. They got 81 and 78 points in Bylsma’s two years, which got him and Tim Murray fired. Then Botterill came along to fix things and things got worse. 

Botterill hired Housley and his team finished last. They were the worst team in the league after Thanksgiving last year. They’re a track wreck again and lost to the team with the worst record in the NHL the other night at home. Botterill is still feeling the sting of Ryan O’Reilly being traded for peanuts and winning the Cup in St. Louis. 

Before the loss the other night, Botterill met with the media and admitted he has been looking for help at forward. He has a lot of problems. People says he’s drafted well, but his first draft pick, Casey Mittelstadt, has been awful and Rasmus Dahlin has regressed. He didn’t do enough to change an underachieving roster that’s grown very stale. 

When Botts fired Housley and made an unconventional coaching choice in Ralph Krueger, the prevailing thinking was that he had put his job on the line. It was all on him now. You couldn’t blame Housley. If the Sabres didn’t get appreciably better, Botterill could be next out the door. 

The Leafs hired Sheldon Keefe as head coach, which surprised no one. He was perceived as the coach in waiting in Toronto and was said to be high on the Sabres’ list when they whacked Housley Do you think the Babcock firing could put even more pressure on Botterill to get the Sabres right, and to show he got the coach right this time?

His job should be on the line. It’s year three, year five of Jack Eichel. There are no more excuses. Botterill has done a dreadful job of filling in around his young stars. He blew it on Housley. He got abused on the O’Reilly deal. He did nothing to improve his team last year when it faltered, and made cosmetic changes this offseason when drastic moves were needed.

That doesn’t mean he’s on a blistering hot seat. I can’t predict the Pegulas, who have a history of leaving failing people in their jobs for too long. They’re also impulsive at times, so it’s hard to say how they’ll react if the Sabres continue to embarrass them. It might come down to losing the fans, which was the case when you could barely give a ticket away late in Housley’s first season. 

So laugh at the Leafs while you can. They have more talent and now they have their rising young coach. The Sabres play home and home with Toronto next Friday and Saturday. Watch those games and get back to me on which franchise is actually better off.

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THE COLUMN

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Before Tuesday night’s game at KeyBank Center, Sabres general manager Jason Botterill met with the media in the back of press box. You might have thought there was something new to discuss. But as the old saying goes around here, it’s basically Same Old Sabres.

Mike Harrington asked Botterill why suffering fans wouldn’t think this season is becoming a repeat of a year ago. The general manager said, “I’d just say that’s something we have to prove — that it’s not,” he said.

Well, they have a lot to prove, if last night’s game is any indication. The Sabres were awful, a ghastly reflection of last year’s historic collapse. Playing against a Wild team that came in with the worst record in the NHL, the Sabres looked like the worst team in the league in a 4-1 stinker. They looked a lot like the team that was the worst in the NHL after November last season, and the worst in the league for the entire 2017-18 season. 

That’s consecutive 4-1 losses against the Blackhawks and Wild, who finished sixth and seventh in the Central last season. The Sabres, who led the league at the end of October, have lost eight of their last nine. The last time they beat a team not currently in seventh or eighth in its division was on Oct. 14. 

They’re now six points out of last. Botterill has issues. He has too many defensemen, which was the case coming into the season, and not enough forwards. Injuries are exacerbating the problem. He admitted that he’s been “actively looking” to find a forward. Having other teams know he’s desperate can’t do much for his leverage. Of course, we know he’s running scared of any big deal after getting embarrassed by Ryan O’Reilly last season. 

Same old Sabres? They’re even more top-heavy offensively than last season. Until Brandon Montour scored with the goalie pulled late Tuesday night, they had gone eight full periods without anyone but Jack Eichel scoring a goal. They’re soft and thin and don’t create anything by going to the net and being tough to play against. 

Jimmy Vesey has no goals and two assists. Has he been “Sabreized”? Casey Mittelstadt has no points in 11 games. He doesn’t have a plus performance in that time. He’s basically invisible — unless he’s committing a brutal giveaway like he did on the first Wild goal last night. Mittelstadt turns 21 in a couple days. How much longer can age be an excuse?

Jeff Skinner, who got an eight-year, $72 million contract last offseason — because, let’s face it, Botts had no choice— has one goal this month. He has eight goals, but for $9 million, you should expect 30 goals. He’s on pace for 51 points, roughly what he had for Carolina two years ago when they decided they could live without him. They were right. 

The power play, which was great early in the year, has been dreadful. It’s 0 for 21 and 2 for its last 37. The penalty killing has allowed a goal in six straight games, succeeding on only 68 percent, and been among the worst in the league. 

You think opposing coaches watched some films and figured some things out? Where’s the Ralph Krueger genius now? I haven’t heard much about the innovations he brought over from the soccer world lately. If he’s such a master motivator, how come his team is demonstrating the same soft character during tough times this season?

Krueger was supposed to be a great mentor to the kids, someone to help them become better pros? Then how come Rasmus Dahlin has regressed? His offensive production is way down and his defensive play has been terrible at times. OK, he’s only 19, but you can’t blame Phil Housley anymore. And why hasn’t Mittelstadt evolved under the new coach?

Eichel has been very good — though a lot of his heroics have come against bad teams and his defense leaves something to be desired at times. But he tried to be a leader last night when he picked a fight in an obvious attempt to fire up his teammates. It got the Sabres a man short for four minutes, but you figured it would light a fire under his guys. 

“Obviously things haven’t been going our way,” said Eichel. “Just trying to spark some energy.”

There it is, things not going their way. It’s the same old athletes’ fallback — that it’s something happening To Them, not their own chronic failure. This isn’t luck, it’s not bad breaks, it’s a dysfunctional organization that has been wallowing in its own ineptitude since the Pegulas bought the team in 2011. 

Terry Pegula said their sole reason for existence was winning the Stanley Cup when he bought the team. They’ve only been champions of repeating their own mistakes and not understanding how to win. You look at this team and see so many of the same faces who collapsed last season and wonder, why are they still here?

Same old Sabres. Same as it ever was. 

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THE COLUMN

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I know the Bills have a big game this weekend at New Era against the Broncos, who should be looking to make amends for blowing a 20-0 halftime lead in a loss to the Vikings on Sunday. This might shape up as another — everyone together now — must-win game.

But I’m guilty of looking ahead, which I’m sure goes against Sean McDermott’s process. I’m really looking forward to the two games after Denver, which just might be against the teams who meet in the Super Bowl in February: Yeah, the Cowboys and Ravens. 

Dallas is one of the most dangerous 6-4 teams I’ve seen. After a distressing loss to the Jets, the Cowboys have won three of four and scored 35 or more points in three of them. They have a plus-89 scoring ratio, second in the NFC to only the Niners, who haven’t played nearly as difficult a schedule. 

The Bills had 424 yards of offense in Miami on Sunday, their most in a year. The Cowboys are averaging 445 yards a game this season, No. 1 in the NFL. The Ravens are second. The Cowboys are first in yards per play, second in passing. Dak Prescott leads the league in yards with 3,221, on pace for nearly 5,000. I think he’s going to get the $35 million. 

Why aren’t people talking about Prescott for MVP? There’s more talk about his little hip move than his MVP chances. 

The Cowboys are loaded defensively, too. They’re eighth in scoring defense, ninth in yards per play against, seventh against the pass. They play at the Patriots next Sunday, by the way. So we’ll find out a lot about both teams that day. Maybe the Pats can wear them out so the Bills have a better chance to pull the upset on Thanksgiving.

Then, 10 days later, the Ravens come to Buffalo. Baltimore is the best team in the NFL right now. That’s the prevailing thought after their dismantling of a very good Houston team on Sunday. The Ravens have won six in a row, they’re averaging 40 points a game in their last four. They’re first in the league in scoring offense, fifth in scoring defense.

Lamar Jackson is the talk of the league, an electric quarterbacking talent. He’s on pace to break Micheal Vick’s record for rushing yards in a season by a quarterback. The Ravens are averaging 203 rushing yards per game. At that pace, they would break the 1978 Patriots’ record for rushing yards in a season. Bills fans note, that’s a 16-game season. The 1973 Bills still hold the record for rushing yards per game the year O.J. went over 2,000.

Jackson can throw the ball, too, as he’ll be quick to remind us. He has 19 touchdown passes, seven in his last two games. He has thrown only five interceptions, none in his last five games (sound familiar?) and he hasn’t been sacked more than once in a game since Week 5. He’s now neck and neck with Russell Wilson for MVP. 

So in a season of pretty dreary football games, in which the Bills haven’t put their best game  out there against a good opponent, we’ll find out a lot against the Ravens and Cowboys. They haven’t lost two games in a row all season, so if they can get one of those two as an underdog, it’ll do wonders for their chances of getting into the playoffs. Wawrow tells me the win over Miami was “convincing.” It didn’t convince me of anything. 

Stopping a historically inept Miami running game did very little to assuage concerns about the Buffalo run defense, which had been gashed consistently in the previous four games. If they can hold Jackson and Mark Ingram below their averages on Dec. 8, we’ll know that McDermott and the guys are truly figuring out their “gap integrity” issues. 

If Josh Allen can be productive and efficient against the Baltimore and Dallas defenses, it will be an encouraging step in his development. His three best games have been against Miami. He’s beaten one quarterback rated 25th or higher this season, and Marcus Mariota lost his job. Let’s see him engage two of the league’s top MVP candidates in a shootout. 

The Bills don’t think the world respects their record. There’s good reason for that. If they want to get the public’s attention, if they want skeptics to take them seriously as a contender this season and down the road, they’ll get their chance very soon. 

It’ll be nice if come February, Bills fans are watching the Super Bowl and can say, “Hey, they gave this team a run.” First, of course, they need to take care of the Broncos, who are fourth in the NFL in total defense right now. 

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THE COLUMN

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Well, the Bills got their “must-win” in Miami on Sunday, beating a bad Miami team, 37-20. This game was as predictable as the loss at Cleveland. Oddsmakers weren’t buying into them at 6-2, and they didn’t have much faith in Miami despite a two-game winning streak. 

The fact that the Dolphins could win two in a row says more about the state of the AFC than their competence as a team. Still, they took care of business and got to 7-3 for the first time since 1999. Oakland and the Colts won, so they remained a game ahead in the battle for the second wild-card spot in the AFC. 

They’re still an average team, but they beat the teams they’re supposed to beat. Must-win or not, a loss would have exposed them as a total playoff fraud. The Bills now have seven wins against teams with an aggregate record of 15-55. It’s hard to imagine any team in history has gotten to seven wins in the first 10 games against a softer schedule. 

Not to take away from a rousing and heroic Bills victory — and a rousing speech to the team by Tremaine Edwards on Saturday night — but my main takeaway from Sunday is that it’s too bad Josh Allen can’t play against the Dolphins every week.

Allen had one of the finest games of his young career at Hard Rock Stadium, completing 21 of 33 passes for 256 yards and three touchdowns — and rushing for a fourth TD — as the Bills brushed off the Dolphins, 37-20. 

That makes three times the Bills have scored 30 points with Allen at the helm. All three came against Miami. He has tossed three TD passes twice. The other was in last year’s finale vs. the Dolphins, when he had three TDs passing and two more on the ground. His three highest-rated passing games: All vs. Miami.

So we have to be wary about drawing conclusions off Dolphins games, especially when they’re in an undeclared and not entirely effective campaign to tank the season for a high draft pick. By the way, is it no longer “Tank For Tua” now that Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa has injury issues. Bust for Burrow, anyone? 

The Dolphins aren’t even the worst team in the NFL. It’s stunning to think the Bills have beaten two worse teams — the Bengals and Redskins. But Miami was brutal. Right now, they have the worst running game I’ve ever seen. Their pass blocking stinks. Their defense had Bills receivers running wide open all day. Hey, as you know I’m fond of Ryan Fitzpatrick, but you have issues if he’s your salvation.

But it was an encouraging step for Allen. I said Friday the only significant result was him having a dominant performance, and he obliged. Allen was poised and accurate. He made plays in the pocket after reverting to bailing out too soon in recent weeks. It was game he desperately needed, one where he was physically dynamic and not a game manager. 

Allen didn’t throw an interception for the fifth game in a row. Overall, His ball placement was as precise as it’s ever been. His prodigious arm strength was on full display when he found John Brown in stride with a laser along the right sideline for a 40-yard touchdown that made it 13-0 early in the second quarter. 

It was his longest touchdown pass since the 38-yarder to Brown that beat the Jets in the opener. The Bills haven’t made enough big plays in the passing game this season, which is one of the main reasons they haven’t been able to put away bad teams and nearly lost to the Jets, Bengals and the first game with Miami.

Things get more challenging from here. Their next five games are all against teams ranked in the top half of the NFL in scoring defense, the stat that matters most. Denver is fifth, Dallas sixth, the Ravens ninth. We’ll know a lot more about Allen and the offense a few weeks from now. 

If they can win two of those three games, they’ll be 9-4 and in terrific shape for a playoff berth. The Broncos come to New Era Field next week. Considering their dysfunctional offense, that could be the easiest game of the next five. So you might consider this another “must-win”, like the Dolphins game.

They’ll need to be sharper to beat the better teams. At times, they seemed to lose focus against the Dolphins. The normally efficient pass defense blew a couple of coverages. The special teams fell asleep on an onsides kick and allowed a kickoff return for a TD. They weren’t alert when the Dolphins scored a touchdown with the Wildcat later on.

One of the softest 10-game schedules imaginable is now behind them. They didn’t prove anything we didn’t already know on Sunday. They’re an average team that is still finding its way and can beat the bad teams. 

Things get a lot more difficult now, and we’ll find out if the Bills have more in them. Too bad they don’t have any more games with Miami.

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THE COLUMN

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Well, the Bills play at Miami on Sunday. Remember when they used to be a big deal, when this was considered one of the great rivalries? What, you were born in this millennium? I can’t recall the last time a Bills-Dolphins game was truly significant in the second half of a season, when both teams were good and had something meaningful on the line. 

The Dolphins are bad, despite their little two-game winning streak, a team that is tanking for the top pick in the draft and has Ryan Fitzpatrick fiddling with the plan. Maybe management should hire someone to sneak into practice and whack him in the knee with a metal baton, the way Shane Standt did to Nancy Kerrigan 25 years ago. 

The Bills and Dolphins haven’t finished over .500 in the same season since 1999. Yeah, 20 years ago. The Bills haven’t won a playoff game since beating the Dolphins after the 1995 season, in Don Shula’s final game. The Dolphins haven’t won a playoff game since 2000. They haven’t been in the AFC title game since losing to the Bills at home in 1992. 

Oh, for the days of Brian Cox spitting at the Buffalo fans and flipping them off! Thurman Thomas scoring on Monday night and firing the ball against the wall in the back of the end zone! Shootouts in the snow between Jim Kelly and Dan Marino. Come on, Kyle Orton vs. Ryan Tannehill? Trent Edwards vs. Chad Henne? Gus Frerotte vs. Kelly Holcomb?

They’re calling this a must-win for the Bills. If they could lose to Ryan Fitzpatrick and a tanking team, how legitimate a playoff contender could they really be? It would be a disastrous loss, one that would put their playoff chances — which seemed fairly certain when they got to 5-1 — in serious jeopardy. 

But are there really any must-wins in the NFL, especially in the AFC this year? The conference is so bad this season, anything could happen. The Steelers lost at Cleveland last night to fall to 5-5. Was that a must-win for Pittsburgh? Maybe for the Browns. 

The Bills have six wins against teams with a combined record of 12-44. Were those all must-wins? If they lose at Miami, will the Denver game next week be a must-win? The Bills gave up 135 points in three weeks two years ago, fell to 5-5, and still managed to get into the playoffs. You never know in this game. It wouldn’t shock me if the Bills lost in Miami and won in Dallas. There are no great teams in the NFL nowadays.

Anyway, don’t we already know what the Bills are this year? They trailed at home in the fourth quarter against the Dolphins and winless Bengals, and in the opener at the Jets. They’re an average team in a down year in the conference. Will it prove anything if they go down there and win a close game? Would it be a surprise if they lost?

I’m not saying it wouldn’t be an embarrassment, bad loss. The Dolphins are down to their third running back, Kalen Ballage. He’s averaging 2.1 yards a carry. They’re average slightly better than that on the ground in the last month. If the struggling run defense can’t get it together against this bunch, it will really be time to wonder about them. 

The only scenario that would be truly significant is if Josh Allen could go down to Miami and have a dominant passing performance against one of the worst defenses in football. He had the best game of his career against Miami in the finale last season, remember. Allen had his only three-touchdown passing day and ran for two more.

Of course, the Dolphins had nothing to play for that day. They were running for the bus, running toward the tank. If Allen can have that kind of performance in a road game, with the critics questioning him and his head coach bolting out of press conferences, this game can be a real step forward for the presumed franchise quarterback and his team. 

Because let’s face it, there are no must-wins for a team that doesn’t know about its franchise quarterback. The only necessity is that Josh Allen develop into a true franchise quarterback, that we know if he’s the guy. We won’t know this Sunday, and most likely we won’t know at the end of this season, whether they make the playoffs or not. 

How can there be must-wins when your own management doesn’t believe the team is a genuine contender? If this was a season of must-wins, Brandon Beane would have made a move to improve the team at the trade deadline. There apparently wasn’t any urgency, because they won’t really believe Allen and the team are ready to make a real run.

That’s fine. Next year is the year we find out for sure about Allen and the Bills. For now, spare me any talk about must-wins against bad teams. From what I’ve seen through nine games, the Bills are nothing more than an average team trying to find its way. 

Sunday doesn’t figure to change any of that. 

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The Sabres are finally back in action tonight for the first time since their two-game Sweden swing. They host Carolina tonight on a five-game losing streak. They haven’t won a game in 20 days, partly because they’ve played only two games in their last 12. 

After a fast start which saw them get at least one point in nine of their first 10 games and surge to the top of the NHL, the Sabres have gone 1-5-1 and fallen to 10th in the East. 

Granted, it’s early. We’re not even one quarter of the way through the season. But much like the Bills, the Sabres are facing a little crisis, a team that will find out how good it really is during a daunting stretch on the schedule. Are they a genuine playoff contender, or a fraud, a team that got hot early and benefited from a pretty easy early schedule?

This is the first early crisis for new head coach Ralph Krueger, a master motivator who is supposed to maintain a competitive equanimity and confidence in his squad and prevent it from going into prolonged funks like those in previous years. 

Last year at this time, the Sabres were two games into a 10-game winning streak that proved to be an illusion. They got to 17-6-2 before it all fell apart, and they went 16-33-8 the rest of the way. Who are they, really? The team that started off hot, or the team that lost five in a row. Are they more like the team that won 10 in a row last year, or the one that went to pieces and was the worst team in the league the last two-thirds of the season?

I’m sure Buffalo fans would settle for something in between, an average to good team that stays in the playoff race deep into the season. Say they average, oh, 1.1 points a game in the remaining 65 games of the season. That would put them at 91, which would keep them in the race and be a 15-point improvement.

That would also be their first 90-point finish in nine years, so I can’t blame fans for being skeptical. They’ve been teased before. There are encouraging signs that this team won’t collapse like last years. They’re more responsible defensively, a little deeper, better coached.  On the other hand, they have some of the same essential issues as a year ago.

It starts with an alarming lack of secondary scoring. Last season, Jack Eichel, Jeff Skinner and Sam Reinhart scored 90 of the team’s 221 goals, or 41 percent. This year, that trio has combined for 23 of the Sabres’ 49 goals, which is 47 percent. They also have seven from Victor Olofsson. So four skaters have 61 percent of the goals. It’s a problem.

By the way, though he’s scoring goals, Jeff Skinner isn’t quite living up to that $9 million salary. He has 10 points. A year ago at this time, he had 19 points and was plus-11. He’s a flat zero right now. He’s on pace for 48 points, more along the line of the 49 he had his last year with the Hurricanes. If this seems harsh, well, it comes with the territory.

Casey Mittelstadt has disappeared again. During the recent run of six losses in seven games, he doesn’t have a point. He has two shots on goal in seven games. He looks physically overwhelmed at times. If the kid is going to play 13 minutes and do virtually nothing, might it be a good idea to send him to Rochester to develop into a useful player? 

Jimmy Vesey, a decent scorer at even strength with the Rangers, doesn’t have a goal. Zemgus Girgensons, Johan Larsson and Kyle Okposo all have one goal, same as last year. Conor Sheary hasn’t scored in nine games, Marcus Johannson in eight. Rasmus Ristolainen doesn’t have a goal and has been ordinary on defense. Olofsson has one even-strength goal.

The power play, which carried them early in the season, has leveled off an is two for its last 17. Meanwhile, while the team has been good about avoiding penalties, analytics show that the penalty killing has been among the worst in the NHL. 

They’re a little dinged up too . Vladimir Sobotka will miss a month or more with a “lower body” injury suffered on a Nikita Kucherov hit last Friday against the Lightning in Sweden. Johansson has an upper-body issue — believed to be minor — and didn’t practice Wednesday. Curtis Lazar has been summoned from Rochester for tonight’s game against Carolina, which has won nine in a row against the Sabres going back to March of 2016.

The goaltending has been solid, but not as good lately. Carter Hutton and Linus Ullmark found their level as the season went on last season, so there’s justified skepticism about either of them being able to be a top-level goalie. 

They’ll be tested, along with the rest of the squad, during a challenging stretch of 10 game over the next 17 days. They have three games in four nights. Ottawa comes to town on Saturday, then the Sabres go to play Patrick Kane and the Blackhawks in Chicago on Sunday. They have a tough 3-game road trip at Boston, against the surging Panthers, and at Tampa Bay. Then it’s Calgary and two against the Maple Leafs to finish the month. 

We learned last year not to judge a team at the end of November. But this team has earned our skepticism. If they don’t start playing better, they could be 6-8 points out of a playoff spot come December and be digging out of a hole a third of a way into the season. 

As if it, one year after winning 10 games in a row, they’re halfway to a 10-game losing streak. Krueger and his team need to put a stop to it, starting at KeyBank tonight.

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THE COLUMN

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Here’s a fun stat for you: During the Bills’ 17-year playoff drought between 2000 and 2016, the Cleveland Browns had a worse overall record. That’s right, the Browns have been the biggest joke in the NFL during this millennium, not the Bills. 

Cleveland hasn’t been in the playoffs since 2002. They haven’t won a playoff game since after the 1994 season, they year Vinny Testaverde beat Drew Bledsoe and the Patriots on New Year’s. That’s one year longer than it’s been since the Bills won one. The Browns won eight games only once since then, when they went 10-6 in 2006. 

They’ve had 30 quarterbacks since coming back to Cleveland in 1999.

This year was going to be different, after they surged to seven wins a year ago in Baker Masyfield’s rookie season. They had a new quarterback, a new head coach in Freddie Kitchens, a new superstar receiver for Baker in Odell Beckham Jr. 

The Browns were a chic pick to win or make the Super Bowl this season. They were the subject of magazine cover stories. They did a lot of talking. Mayfield got a bunch of national commercials. In Vegas, they took more Super Bowl bets on the Browns than any other team in the league. Baker took a shot at disgruntled running back Duke Johnson in camp, saying, “You’re either on this train or not.”

Well, the train has run off the rails. The Browns are 2-6. They’re still the joke of the NFL. Mayfield leads the league in interceptions. He has been surprisingly indecisive and inaccurate. He’s ranked 32nd, ahead of only Sam Darnold. Their defense is 20th in points, 21st in yards per play, 29th in yards per rush allowed. Beckham is 126th in the league in red zone targets this season with three.

Things just keep getting worse. Mayfield threw a snit at a veteran reporter during the week. He shaved twice on Sunday, before and after a loss in Denver. He gave a depressing presser after the game. The way the media reacted, you would have thought he’d shaved points.

Meanwhile, safety Jermaine Whitehead, who had a couple of crucial missed tackles in the game, sent threatening and racist tweets out right after the game and was promptly cut. The scene in the locker room in Denver was described by one writer as “bizarre.”

Kitchens, who was hired as head coach with no experience because of his bond with Mayfield, has been a disaster. The Browns lead the league in penalties. They’re third in turnovers. They lack discipline and detail. Kitchens has been a bad game manager. His challenges have been as bad as Sean McDermott’s. He ran a draw on fourth-and-9.

And yet, the Browns are favored over the Bills on Sunday in Cleveland. The Browns are 2-6, 0-3 at home. The Bills are 6-2, 3-0 on the road. Doesn’t matter. The Browns opened as a 3-point favorite, which says the oddsmakers and the public believe these teams are essentially even. Four games ahead, but the world thinks the Bills are equal to a joke team. 

Despite all evidence to the contrary, there’s a lingering belief that this Browns team still has possibilities, that it could make a run. And despite the 6-2 record, there’s a lot of skepticism about the Bills as a true contender. There’s good reason for that. Their six wins have come against teams with a combined record of 9-41.

Of course, the team’s own management shares that lack of faith. By not adding any talent at the trade deadline, Brandon Beane and Sean McDermott told the fan base and their team that they don’t feel they’re close, that they’re half a dozen players away from being a Super Bowl contender, not one player. Why wouldn’t the general public agree?

Micah Hyde said he was sick of apologizing for 6-2 after the win over Washington last Sunday. He said they were 2-6 at this time a year ago. Yeah, they don’t need to apologize. But money talks and if the Browns are favored, that’s because the supposed smart money says an inflated record is about to collide with an underachiever on Sunday in Cleveland.

You don’t need to apologize for 6-2, Micah. But if you’re being treated like a 2-6 team, the best way to send a message is by beating 2-6. If you want to shut up the doubters, beat a team that’s gone off the rails and is ready to be tipped over completely. 

The Browns are the biggest joke in the league. You don’t want to lose to them and remind the world that for two decades, the Bills have been a close second.

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THE COLUMN

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In our Thursday poll, respondents didn’t seem very optimistic about the Bills’ long-term chances this season. By a margin of about two to one, they voted that the Sabres were more likely to win a playoff series than the Bills are to win a playoff game. 

Well, they have good reason. There’s little the Bills have done this season to suggest that they’re the sort of team that could go on the road — a near-certainty if they get in, considering the Patriots will go 14-2 or thereabouts — and win a wild-card game in January. 

The Bills have a good defense, maybe very good, but the notion that they’re bordering on the elite and could carry an average offense in the playoffs has been challenged over the last two weeks, when they were pushed around by the Dolphins and Eagles in successive home games. They’ve allowed touchdown drives of 70, 60, 59 75, 68, 83 and 71 yards over the last two games. Also a 71-yard drive that ended with Tre White intercepting Fitz in end zone.

The offense has been a disappointment. I remember how encouraging it was in preseason when they were spreading teams out and attacking with the pass and Josh Allen looked like he was ready to take a big step forward. But the offense has stumbled at the start of games all season. Lately, it seems the main objective is limiting Allen’s turnovers. 

I know it’s only Allen’s two seasons, but as my comparison of the Bills quarterbacks showed, he hasn’t yet separated himself from the cast of mediocrities who preceded him. Two years ago, the Bills were far and away the lowest-scoring of the 12 playoff teams when they broke the drought. This year, they’re easily the lowest-scoring team of any in the league that currently has a winning record. 

They have been especially disappointing at home. The Bills have trailed in the fourth quarter in all four games. They were behind with under five minutes left against the winless Bengals, and early in the fourth against the winless Dolphins. The fact that Allen led heroic late comebacks against two teams in competition for the first pick in the draft is not exactly cause for celebration. It would be nice to see the “clutch gene” against a good team.

They also trailed with under four minutes left against the Jets. They’ve beaten five teams with a combined seven wins. Yes, you’re supposed to beat the bad teams, but you’re also supposed to crush them once in awhile on your home field. The Bills have yet to play a game in front of their beloved home crowd in which they make a resounding statement. 

So here come the Redskins on Sunday, a team that might be as bad as the two winless jokes. That depends on who plays quarterback. Case Keenum is a proven commodity, but if he’s hurt they have to roll out rookie Dwayne Haskins, who doesn’t seem ready to play in the NFL and is looking like a first-round reach along the lines of our old friend EJ Manuel.

The Bills need to assert themselves once and for all at New Era Field and look like the superior team for an entire game. They need to play 60 convincing minutes against a bad opponent and look like the playoff contender the standings say they are. 

Because over the first four games, they looked like an average team. Average teams slip by bad opponents, as they did to the Bengals and Dolphins, and fall short of the legitimate contenders, as they did against the Patriots and Eagles. Last week, they lost to an angry and inspired Philly team. They need to be the impassioned and motivated team on Sunday. 

They do look like an average football team, which is no disgrace at this point. Their management said as much with its actions at the trade deadline, when they didn’t make any moves to improve the roster for a playoff push and possible post-season run. 

By not adding, Brandon Beane and Sean McDermott told us, and the team, that they don’t believe they’re ready for a serious run. So they weren’t going to sacrifice valuable assets to chase an unlikely goal. I don’t buy the notion that they couldn’t have made some tweak to the roster. It seems to me they want people to understand that next year is the real year.

Still, they’re two games ahead in the chase for the second wild card. They’ve teased us this way before and proved unworthy to the task. After the Washington game, they’ll have three home games left — and five road games, six if they get in as a wild card.

It’s time for them to rise up at home and look like a real playoff team. If they don’t take care of business on Sunday, it’ll be only natural to wonder if they’ll come back to Earth when the schedule gets more daunting, and if another second-half collapse is in the cards.

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THE COLUMN

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Watching the Nationals come back to win that Game last night in the World Series, it took me back to some remarkable seventh games I covered in my sports writing career. I didn’t cover many. Here are the five most memorable. 

One. The Twins beat the Braves, 1-0 in 10 innings in the old Metronome as Jack Morris pitched a complete-game shutout. Imagine a starter doing that today. Gene Larkin won the game with a pinch sacrifice fly in the 10th. A young John Smoltz pitched 7 1-3 shutout innings for the Braves, who were first Southern team ever to play in the Series.

I consider it the greatest World Series ever, and I’m not alone. The home team won all seven games. Five of the games were decided by one run. Kirby Puckett’s home run in the 11th, well after midnight and five minutes before my deadline, won Game 6. Puckett made an amazing catch against the left-center field fence earlier. 

I’ll never forget the noise and the loud music in the Metrodome. It was deafening.

Two. On April 29, 1997. In the first seventh game ever played in Buffalo, in what was then Marine Midland Arena. Derek Plante beat Ron Tugnutt at 5:24 of overtime to win it and sent the Sabres on to the second round. Steve Shields was in net for the Sabres after Dominik Hasek’s controversial knee injury in Game 3 at Ottawa.

Plante also scored the game-tying goal 6:29 into the third period. Donald Audette scored the other Sabres goal. They went on to lose to Philly, 4-1, without Hasek in the second round. Ted Nolan was fired after the season and replaced by Lindy Ruff.

Three. On May 22, 1988, I covered the famous Larry Bird-Dominique Wilkins shootout in the seventh game of the second round of the playoffs in the old Boston Garden. Talk about deafening. Bird scored 20 of his 34 points in the fourth quarter, nine in one stretch of 1:58, one hoop while falling down. Wilkins had 47 for the Hawks. 

People tend to forget that Kevin McHale had 33 points that day, and Doc Rivers had 16 points and 18 assists for Atlanta. Like the ’97 Sabres, the Celts were down 3-2 in that series.

Four. Oct. 26, 1997. The Indians are three outs from winning their first World Series since 1948. But Jose Mesa gives up a run in the ninth — on a Craig Counsell sacrifice fly — and the Marlins win it on Edgar Renteria’s single in the bottom of the 11th. 

It was Cleveland manager Mike Hargrove’s 48th birthday. He decided to pitch Jaret Wright in the seventh game. Wright tossed 1-hit ball over six innings and Cleveland had a 2-0 lead, just like the Astros last night. But the Marlins battled back. Tony Fernandez booted a potential double play ball with a man at first and one out in the 11th, leading to the winning run. 

I’ll never forget Fernandez sitting forlorn at his locker after the game. He had hit a 2-run single early in the game to give the Marlins the lead.

Five. May 10, 2001. This was the second seventh game ever played in Buffalo, and again it was 3-2 in overtime. But this time, the Sabres lost as Darius Kasparaitis wired a long slap shot past Dominik Hasek at 13:01 of overtime for the win. Robert Lang had tied it midway through the third period. 

That Sabres team could relate to this year’s Astros. They lost the first two at home, won the next three, and lost the next two. The last three games were all 3-2 overtime games. They were 78 seconds from winning Game 6 when Mario Lemieux scored a cheap goal to send that game to overtime. I remember Kasparaitis skating to center ice and doing a belly flop after the goal — his first of the playoffs and the last he ever scored in postseason.

It was Hasek’s last game as a Sabre. I remember how fast he bolted from the post-game locker room. Owner John Rigas had to move his car because he was blocking Hasek in.

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Look, I know it’s only halfway through the second year. It can take several years for a franchise quarterback to develop. Look at Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota, who went 1-2 in the 2015 draft. Mariota has lost his job to Ryan Tannehill in Tennessee. Winston, who lost to Tannehill on Sunday, is playing his way out of a job at Tampa Bay.

But is it time we conceded that the 2018 quarterback class was not as good as people first believed? Certainly, it seems like a gross exaggeration to have called it the best class since the great class of 1983. Yeah, it had five highly hyped QBs taken in the first round. But this has a long way to go to measure up to those guys.

To refresh your memory, John Elway, Dan Marino and Jim Kelly all were taken in the first round that year and made the Hall of Fame. Also taken in the first round were Ken O’Brien, Tony Eason and Todd Blackledge. I’m wondering if this year’s class might wind up more like O’Brien and Eason than the three guys who made the Hall. 

In fact, the 2018 class has a long way to go to catch up to the class from one year earlier. Yeah, in 2017 Patrick Mahomes went 10th — with a pick that Sean McDermott traded to his old buddy, Andy Reid — and Deshaun Watson went 12th. If you had a draft of all the players in the NFL right now, those guys might go 1-2 overall. Mitch Trubisky went second to the Bears, but you can’t win them all. 

Things aren’t going so well for the quarterbacks from 2018. If you redrafted the class, the first pick might be Lamar Jackson, who went with the last pick of the first round to the Ravens. Baker Mayfield surely wouldn’t go first overall again. Sam Darnold went third overall to the Jets, Josh Allen seventh to the Bills. Josh Rosen went 10th to Arizona.

Maybe it’s too early to rate the class, but we can check out the ratings of the quarterbacks halfway through Year Two. Darnold is 32nd and last in the NFL at 66.2. He’s thrown seven interceptions the last two weeks. He said he was “seeing ghosts” when he was miked up in a prime-time meltdown against the Patriots a couple of weeks ago. 

I’d say Darnold has a long way to go to catch Kenny O’Brien in the pantheon of Jets quarterbacks. 

Baker Mayfield is 31st at 67.8, one spot ahead of Darnold. He’s tied for the league lead in interceptions with Winston at 12. That’s about as many commercials as Mayfield has. Imagine how many endorsements he’ll have if he actually starts winning games. It’s become tiresome to even make fun of the guy. 

Rosen isn’t even rated in the top 32. He’s on his second team and has lost his job to Ryan Fitzpatrick. Rosen has the worst rating of the 50 quarterbacks who have thrown at least 100 passes this year. And to think, a lot of us in the Buffalo media wanted the Bills to draft the guy. What did we know? 

Josh is rated 28th. Imagine if he hadn’t made such a great leap in his accuracy. Heading into Sunday’s game, there was a stat that said he was the highest-rated quarterback on passes under 20 yards. He still hasn’t completed a pass that traveled 30 yards in the air. This would be great if we were evaluating Chad Pennington or Tony Eason. 

Allen has fumbled 8 times and thrown 7 interceptions. His yards per attempt is tied for 27th; his completion percentage, while much improved, is still 28th. That doesn’t strike me as great progress. The standard for quarterbacks continues to get higher. 

That brings us to Lamar Jackson, who has been a revelation for the Ravens this season. He’s rated 16th at 94.1. Yeah, it takes a lot to be in the middle of today’s quarterbacks. Jackson is completing 63.1 percent. Not bad for a running back, as he would say. He’s making big throws, too. His 7.7 yards per attempt is tied for 10th. He has 11 touchdown passes and five interceptions, the best ratio among the draft class. 

Oh, and Jackson is 10th in the NFL in rushing with 576 yards, averaging 6.9 yards a carry. He’s on pace to run for 1,312 yards, which would shatter Mike Vick’s record of 1,039 rushing yards by a quarterback in a season in 2006. 

Not sold on Jackson as a thrower. He was 9 of 20 at Seattle on Sunday and had nearly as many yards rushing as passing. In his last four games, he’s averaged 197 yards passing. Of course, over the same four weeks, Josh Allen has averaged 186 through the air. 

Jackson is making more big plays, and he’s also 5-2 for Baltimore, which is leading the North. There are parallels between Allen and Jackson. I don’t hear people complaining about Jackson running too much. Are they changing the perception of the position, or are their coaches managing their limitations and coaching to their athletic gifts? 

I still prefer the guys who combine great athletic skill and passing. Passing still matters most. That’s why I prefer Mahomes and Watson , from the great quarterback class of 2017. From what I can see, none of the guys from 2018 are, well, in their class. Never mind 1983.

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Well, I guess you could see this coming. The national critics hadn’t been kind to the Bills, despite their hot start. Someone said they might be the worst 5-1 team in history. 

The Bills looked exactly like that against an angry and motivated Philadelphia team. They looked like an impostor, a team that had benefited from one of the weakest schedules imaginable through six weeks and hadn’t beaten a single team with a winning record.

They were outplayed, out-hit and outcoached by an Eagles team that was rocked by internal strife, reeling from a blowout loss to Dallas and supposedly playing to save its season. Philly dominated on both sides of the ball and ran the Bills defense off the field in the fourth quarter in a 31-13 thrashing. Carson Wentz was the better quarterback, outplaying Josh Allen. But it was the soft play of the defense against the run which was most alarming.

Allen was honest about it. He said the Bills got punched in the mouth and didn’t have a sufficient answer. He was speaking about the whole team, but it mainly applied to the defensive front. For the second straight week, the vaunted defense got punched in the mouth and was lacking for an answer. The Eagles rushed for 216 yards (156 in the second half), mostly by running straight through the middle of the Buffalo line.

“It’s one game,” said defensive end Shaq Lawson. “It’s one game. We’ll watch the film tomorrow and do better next week.”

It was more than one game. Miami had abused the Bills’ defensive line the week before, rushing for 109 yards and piling up 381 yards of total offense. I imagine the Eagles coaches watched the film of that Dolphins game, and maybe some of the other games in Sean McDermott’s three-year tenure when his run defense was dominated at the point of attack.

Over the last two weeks, the Bills have allowed touchdown drives of 70, 60, 59, 75, 68 and 83 yards. There was also a 71-yard Miami drive that reached the Bills’ 2-yard line the week before but ended when Tre’Davious White intercepted Ryan Fitzpatrick in the end zone.

This wasn’t a terrible, tanking team. The Eagles were missing half a dozen injuries and had two practice squad players starting, had enough quality players to stand up to a Bills team that wasn’t nearly as good as its record. 

Maybe it wasn’t simply missing Matt Milano that hurt them against the Dolphins. Star Lotulelei, the $50 million free agent, has been brutal. Phillips got hurt. He wasn’t on the field with the goal-line defense in the third period. He gave way to Kyle Peko. Rookie Ed Oliver seemed undersized at times, linebacker Tremaine Edmunds overpowered.

The Bills hadn’t allowed more than 21 points all season, or more than 27 since a 41-9 home-field thrashing against the Bears last Nov. 4. The 218 rushing yards was the most in a home loss since giving up 298 to the Saints in a 47-10 loss in 2017 — part of a meltdown that saw them giving up 135 points over three weeks in McDermott’s first season as coach.

This had a similar feel, of  a presumed elite defense being smacked in the face and exposed. It was sobering, more so because Allen was so bad trying to lead them back. He’s been good coming back from deficits in the fourth quarter, but he was sadly lacking Sunday — and it was his fumble in the second quarter that turned the game around. 

They’re still in good shape, of course. The Raiders lost, so the Bills are two games to the good in the race for the second wild card. They have a soft schedule,  starting with 1-7 Washington next week at home. There’s a good chance the Bills will get to 6-2 for the first time since the Super Bowl era. In fact, they haven’t been 6-4 through 10 games in any season since 2000, when Bill Clinton was President. Sunday was the 17th time since then that the Bills have had a chance to get to six wins in the first 10 games. They’re 0-17.

So while this is no reason to panic, Bills fans have history to haunt them. They remember when 5-2 looked so promising in 2008 and 2011 and even two years ago, and they didn’t win 10 games. As Josh Allen said, this was a shot to the mouth, a blow to their pride, and  a troubling reminder to anyone who wonders if they’re more than just an average team. 

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THE COLUMN

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It’s been a strange year in the NFL. Some surprise teams that weren’t expected to contend, like the unbeaten Niners, the Colts without Andrew Luck and the Bills, who were seen as a 6-10 team in Vegas before the season and could get to 6-1 on Sunday against the Eagles.

There are several teams that have underachieved badly, relative to their preseason expectations. As I pointed out in the summer, an average of five teams each season improve or decline by at least four games. There are numerous example of that. Sometimes, teams like the Browns and Jets, aren’t nearly as close to contention as people anticipate.

I went back over a Sports Illustrated preseason prediction and as I figured, there are lots of teams that were expected to be playoff contenders and haven’t lived up to it. Here are five that have struggled and are at something of a crossroads heading into this week’s games.

It starts with the Bills’ opponent, the Eagles. Connor Orr of SI had them at 11-5, a playoff team, clearly the best in the NFC East. They’re 3-4, coming off a blowout loss to the Cowboys, and their locker room is in disarray. 

There has been criticism of quarterback Carson Wentz. Malcolm Jenkins, one of their leaders, had to deny he was the anonymous source of the Wentz criticism. Lineman Lane Johnson said they have issues with discipline, guys coming to meetings late. Some players are hobbled by injuries, others have simply been playing below expectations.

Philly is 27th in points allowed, 23rd in total defense. They’re in the bottom half in yards per pass and yards per rush, and tied for fourth in giving the ball away, more than the Bills. It’s a likely must-win in Buffalo for a team that could be imploding just two years after winning the Super Bowl. You think they miss Frank Reich a little? 

The Falcons were also picked for 11-5 and an NFC South title. Atlanta is 1-6. There’s talk about Dan Quinn’s job being in jeopardy. Julio Jones gave an impassioned speech in which he defended Quinn after last week’s 37-10 loss to the Rams. They’ve lost five in a row and just traded popular wideout Mohamed Sanu to the Pats. 

They’ve given up the most points in the league, more than 30 a game, yes, even more than the Dolphins. They lead the NFL in penalties. The Falcons host Seattle on Sunday and need to upset the Seahawks to preserve any hope of a winning season.

The Chargers were picked to win 10 games and make the playoffs again out of the AFC West. They’re 2-5, coming off an embarrassing loss in which Melvin Gordon, finally back after his holdout, fumbled at the goal-line in the final seconds against … Coach Anthony Lynn apologized after they lost to the Broncos a couple of weeks ago. 

Philip Rivers is on pace for over 4,000 yards passing for the seventh year in a row, but the Chargers are scoring a touchdown less a game. They’re 26th in rushing, which doesn’t help. They’re at the Bears on Sunday, so it’s not getting any easier.

SI had the Steelers winning the AFC North at 10-6. The Steelers are 2-4. Losing Ben Roethlisberger for the season crushed their hopes. They’re hosting Miami on Monday night (the Dolphins in prime time?), so they can get to 3-4 and keep their hopes alive. But they’re down to third-stringer Devlin Hodges at quarterback. Pittsburgh could be out of it by the time they host the Bills on Dec. 15. 

What can I say about the Browns that hasn’t been said before? They were picked to be 9-7 by Orr of SI. Some had them going to the Super Bowl. They’re 2-4. They’ve been blown out by the Titans and Niners. Baker Mayfield has thrown the most interceptions in the league and is 30th in passer rating. 

Cleveland could turn its season around by upsetting the Patriots in Foxborough on Sunday. Of course, by Sunday evening Mayfield could be seeing ghosts, like Sam Darnold the other night. Did I fail to mention that SI had the Jets winning nine games and finishing ahead of the Bills?

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THE COLUMN

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I’ve been thinking about something Mike Harrington said on the show the other day. Mike said he was puzzled by all the angst among Buffalo sports fans about the Bills and Sabres, who are both off to their best starts in eight years. 

Why not just sit back and enjoy it,  he asked. Well, it’s understandable if Buffalo fans are a little reluctant to believe in their teams this early in a season. They’ve been fooled too many times before and they’re wary about putting their hearts out there. The last year both teams started out 5-1, neither made the playoffs. We all remember what happened to the Sabres last year after they had the best record in the NHL at Thanksgiving.

But he does have a point. There’s a lot going well in Buffalo sports right now, and my feeling is you enjoy it while you can. Yes, years of disappointment can make you suspicious of success. Still, there are reasons to believe that the parallel runs of our two major sports team could be real and sustainable. Even I’m fighting the cynicism. 

First of all, each team has a franchise player. How long has it been since we could say that. Whatever you think of Josh Allen — and there’s ample reason for doubt — he looks like the best chance for a franchise quarterback since Jim Kelly. He’s easy to root for, he gets Buffalo and its fans, and he seems to have a gift for the clutch moment. 

Meanwhile,  Jack Eichel is off to a great start and looking like the star that the Sabres felt they were getting when they tanked to get him or McDavid. He looks like the first home-grown star since the days of Pierre Turgeon and Phil Housley. 

Both teams have a young defensive franchise player, too. The Bills have Tremaine Edmunds, a physically gifted 21-year-old linebacker who will only get better with time. The same goes for Rasmus Dahlin, the Sabres’ 19-year-old D man who like Edmunds has suffered some growing pains but is wise beyond his years and a budding star. 

There’s also rising young talent on both teams: Sam Reinhart and Victor Oloffson for the hockey team, Tre’Davious White and Ed Oliver and Matt Milano on the Bills. 

Both teams appear to have capable head coaches who have solidified their locker rooms and get their teams well-prepared, Sean McDermott and Ralph Krueger. Both have competent young general managers, a refreshing change from some of the dysfunctional characters who ran the teams in the past. 

Look, I know it’s early. Both teams have flaws. The players, coaches and management still have to prove they can elevate the teams to the next level — to move beyond base competence and become legitimate contenders on an annual basis, the way it was when I came to Buffalo three decades ago.

Remember when making the playoffs wasn’t a dream, but an expectation? Between 1988 and 1999, the Bills and Sabres combined for 21 playoff appearances in 12 seasons — 11 by the Sabres and 10 by the Bills, including four straight Super Bowls. 

It has been 20 years since both teams made the playoffs in the same year. The Bills, of course, went 17 years without a playoff berth. The Sabres have the longest drought in the NHL at eight years. If not for a miracle pass by Andy Dalton at the end of the 2017 season, Buffalo would have the longest drought in both sports. 

Boy, it would be refreshing if both teams made it this year, after two full decades. I imagine a lot of fans, who have been conditioned by years of disappointment, would settle for at least one. 

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THE COLUMN

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Tonight begins the best week on the sporting calendar. For as many as eight days — depending on how long it takes to determine the MLB champion — all four of our major sports will be in their regular seasons. 

Assuming the World Series goes at least five games, next Sunday night all four sports will be in action at the same time. How do you decide between a pivotal Series game or the Packers at the Chiefs? At least you won’t miss Patrick Mahomes, who is hurt. Oh, the Lakers play that night, too. I’ll have to record stuff and be up early Monday. 

I’ve spent the last 30 years in an NFL-NHL town, but basketball and baseball are my two favorite sports. Tonight, the NBA regular season gets under way with two games: The Pelicans, without Zion Williamson, at the defending champion Raptors, without Kawhi Leonard. Then it’s the Lakers, with Anthony Davis and LeBron James, as the technical road team against the Clippers, with Kawhi. I think that’s a conference final preview. 

Oh, and the World Series starts tonight in Houston with Game 1. It’s Max Scherzer, a three-time Cy Young Award winner, against Gerrit Cole, who should win one this year. The Nationals, playing in their first World Series in their 51-year history, against an Astros team that’s seeking its second title in three seasons and the heaviest favorite since 2007.

It’s only fitting that in a year when MLB broke the overall strikeout record for a 14th straight season, the Series would feature some of the most dominant pitchers in the game. Houston has Cole and Justin Verlander, who were 1-2 in baseball in strikeouts this year — and top two in wins and ratio too. The Nationals’ Stephen Strasburg, Max Scherzer and Patrick Corbin were 6-8-10 in MLB in strikeouts. 

That’s why I don’t understand why Washington is such a heavy underdog in the Series. Granted, Cole has been virtually unbeatable this season. He hasn’t lost since May. The Astros haven’t lost a game he started since July. But it’s mainly about starting pitching at this point of the season, and you don’t often see a team with three dominant starters on one team like the Nationals have. 

The Astros deserve to be favored. Their lineup is clearly better and more experienced than Washington’s. They have the same basic lineup that hit 15 homers against the Dodgers two years ago in the Series. George Springer hit five home runs in that Series. They have a post-season stud in Jose Altuve. They can run and hit and field and will be tough to beat. 

But I’d gladly take the Nationals at the longest odds in 12 years. If Strasburg, Scherzer and Corbin are on their games, they can hold down the Astros bats and keep them in games. Remember, the Yankees had good chances to beat the Astros but couldn’t produce against an average Houston bullpen. The Yankees’ staff wasn’t nearly as good as Washington’s and they could have won that series if their hitters had shown up. Brett Gardner, Edwin Encarnacion and Gary Sanchez were a combined 7 for 63 with 33 strikeouts. 

The Nationals are a good and patient offensive team. They were second in MLB in on-base percentage — to the Astros — and tied for the NL lead in hitting. Like the Astros, they have an MVP candidate at third base in Anthony Rendon. Houston has Alex Bregman. They’re a fast team that led the NL in stolen bases. They have one of the best young players in the game in Juan Soto, who turns 21 in a couple of days. 

Washington’s bullpen has been a major weakness this season. But the pen has been much better in this postseason. The Nationals also have a fourth starter in Anibal Sanchez who has performed like an ace in the playoffs. So if the starters pitch to their ability and get games to the seventh or deeper, the pen won’t be nearly as vital as it was to the Yanks. 

Look, I respect the Astros. They deserve to be the favorite. But beating the Yankees made them appear like a bigger favorite than they really are. They had to go five games to beat the Rays. Their bullpen has been shaky in the postseason. Like the Yankees, the Nationals have patient hitters who go deep in counts and can wear down pitching staffs. 

People talk as if the Nationals are some surprise sleeper. They have the best record in baseball over the last five months. Since falling to 19-31 on May 23, they’ve gone 82-40. They’re 8-2 in the postseason, and they’ve been remarkably resilient. 

The Nets were down 3-1 in the eighth inning of the wild card game against the Brewers and won. They were down, 2-1, to the Dodgers in the NLCS and came back. They were two runs down and two innings from elimination in Game 5 of that series and came back to win in 10 innings — hitting two homers off Clayton Kershaw to tie it in the eighth. 

That doesn’t sound like the biggest underdog in a World Series in 12 years. Houston deserves to be favored, but this should be a great Series, a long one. My biggest question about the Nationals is whether they’ll lose their edge after a week off. But I like them here. 

In seven. 

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THE COLUMN

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Remember last Friday, when I mentioned that Keyshawn Johnson interview after the Patrick Mahomes injury? On ESPN, Johnson was talking about which teams might jump through that wide-open window in the AFC race.

He rattled off the names of four or five teams that he considered serious threats to New England in the AFC. The Bills weren’t one of them. I could just imagine Buffalo fans getting up in arms at this national outrage.

But on Sunday at New Era, the Bills showed why the critics aren’t taking them seriously as a contender. No one thought the tanking Dolphins had a chance. The only question was whether the Bills would score 50 points. Would Josh Allen have his first 300-yard passing day? Would the defense shut them out? 

No, they turned in another shabby home performance against a winless opponent, rallying for a 31-21 victory. They took care of business in the end. Allen had a big second half, completing 10 of his last 11 passes for two TDs and running for another. 

They were a 17-point favorite, the largest for a Bills team since the 1993 Super Bowl season. Miami’s roster is one of the worst in recent memory. They entered the day last in the NFL in both scoring offense and defense. The Dolphins were on pace to shatter the modern record for most points allowed in a season, and the fewest points scored in a 16-game season. 

Given a chance to roll and validate themselves, they renewed doubts about their worthiness as a playoff contender. Granted, they’re 5-1, alone in second place in the conference behind the Patriots. But if you want to be taken seriously, you have to be judged by a higher standard. 

Sorry, this win doesn’t measure up. It raised more questions than answers. The biggest question is whether they’re more like other Bills teases — the 2008 and 2011 teams come to mind — than people want to believe.

For the better part of 40 minutes, the Bills were out-hit and outplayed and outcoached by the worst team in the NFL. The offense settled for three field goals. The defense allowed consecutive 75-yard touchdown drives to a team that entered the game averaging 8.4 points a game. 

Allen was 6 of 15 passing in the first half. He barely got his wideouts involved against a defense that was averaging 9.2 yards a pass attempt. No team has given up 8.0 yards a pass for a full season in 37 years. 

He threw behind people and had a pass batted in the air at the line of scrimmage. Allen missed badly on a couple of deep throws, missing one on which John Brown had a step on the defender and would have been gone. Allen hasn’t completed a pass that traveled 30 yards in the air all season. 

We’ve seen Allen stumble through games before. It was the play of the defense that was especially troubling. Ryan Fitzpatrick, playing on the field where he created the “FitzMagic” legend in 2011, led the Dolphins on three touchdown drives. He threw a critical interception, which is classic Fitz, but he’s a better quarterback than Allen right now.

Overall, the Bills played like a team that wasn’t ready to be a huge favorite or taken seriously as a contender. Yes, the wins all count. But the five teams they’ve beaten have a combined record of 5-24. That includes two winless teams (Dolphins, Bengals) and the one-win Jets. They trailed both the Jets and Bengals with under five minutes to play and were losing to the Dolphins early in the fourth quarter Sunday. 

Buffalo fans have suffered through some miserable play at New Era this season. They booed the team off the field after that wretched first half, and with good reason. 

They were playing soft and stupid. The Bills entered the day tied for first in the NFL in pre-snap penalties. They had holding penalties from three different offensive linemen in the first 20 minutes. Overall, they had nine flags for 83 yards.

McDermott said they didn’t play up to their standard in the first half. Allen agreed. But what is their standard exactly, and how come they fail to live up to it so often? What was the standard in that first half at the Jets, or the third quarter against the Bengals and Giants? Is the standard to play well only after stumbling against bad teams and then pulling it out in the end?

Allen got credit for another fourth-quarter comeback Sunday. It’s starting to ring a little hollow. These aren’t heroic comebacks like Tom Brady in the Super Bowls. It’s Josh Allen bringing them back from crises largely of his own making.

Buffalo have waited more than two decades for a team that reaches the standard of a true contender. The Bills should make the playoffs. They could win 10 games without beating a single team that finishes with a winning record. 

The Bills haven’t won 10 games in 20 seasons. That’s astonishing in a league of such parity. History teaches us you can win 10 games and be barely better than average.

If the national experts aren’t taking them seriously, it’s because they know a legitimate contender when they see one. They’re not sure what to make of the Bills. Can you blame them?

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THE COLUMN

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Sometimes, when I’m looking for some entertainment, I get on Twitter during Sabres games. It’s never dull following Mike Harrington. Reading his exchanges with fans can be a pastime unto itself. Last night, Mike spent a lot of time defending the Sabres on a night when they were winning 3-0 on the road in the second of back-t0-back games. 

People were ripping the Sabres, calling it their worst game of the year, calling them lucky. And look, they did struggle at times in their own end. They gave up 47 shots, had to kill a 5 on 3, looked as if they were just hanging on in the third period. 

But it’s a good sign when the Sabres are getting criticized for winning a road game and getting to 6-1-1 on the season. It’s a lot better than starting 1-5-2, as they did two years ago in their first season with Phil Housley as coach. There are times in the NHL when you have to look at the big picture, and Thursday looked like progress to me.

The fact is, they responded after their worst game of the season the night before, when they fell apart after taking an early 2-0 lead at Anaheim. They won, 3-0. It was their first shutout at the Kings in 35 years. Overall, their first eight games have been more impressive than the 10-game winning streak they put together last November.

Again it’s early. We’re a tenth of the way into the season. The fans who were engaging Harrington on Twitter are justified in being wary about buying in. But there were three promising early season developments that we’ll continue to monitor as the season wears on.

One, they came out strong after being physically dominated the night before. That’s a promising sign under new coach Ralph Krueger. He’s supposed to be a motivator, someone who won’t allow adversity to persist and one loss to turn into a streak. They played a bad team yes, but they jumped on the Kings. 

They lost to all the bad teams during the collapse last season. One sign of a good team is beating up on the bad teams, acting like you’re the superior team. That’s something we need to see more of from the Bills, who have struggled against some bad teams in their 4-1 start. They need to jump on the Dolphins Sunday and make them look like the worst team in the NFL. 

The second encouraging sign was Casey Mittlestadt busting out with a career game — two goals and an assist. Secondary scoring is a huge concern with the Sabres, and Mittlestadt’s lack of production had moved him out of second line center consideration. He’d had just one multi point game since last November. He had a career-high three points before the second period was three minutes old last night. 

Third was the goaltending. Carter Hutton was sensational. He notched his second shutout in a row and has gone 128:36 since last goal. I think think Hutton is an average goalie. But maybe he’s one of those athletes who hits a peak late in his career, like Lorenzo Alexander of the Bills. Whenever you’re ready to bury Hutton, he plays this way again.

Hutton was very good early last season, too, remember. The Sabres goalies were at the top of the NHL during the winning streak. Then they came crashing to Earth. Now they’re fourth in the league in save percentage, second to the Bruins in the early going. 

The question, once again, is whether they’re for real this season, and whether fans can take the Sabres seriously after getting fooled a year ago. They have what I like to call a well-earned skepticism. The Sabres have the longest playoff drought in the NHL. There’s good reason to be wary, to guard against getting too excited about a small sample.

But there are promising signs. Coaching matters. Krueger is making a difference. He’s mixing lineups. Last night, he tweaked his power play. He doesn’t seem to be taking anything for granted. He knows as well as anyone that this team is a work in progress.

Fans are whining when they’re winning games. It reminds me of what I hear on the talk shows in Boston. They want the standard to be higher.  That’s a good sign, indeed. 

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This Bills-Dolphins game got a lot more interesting at around 11 o’clock Wednesday morning when Miami head coach Brian Flores announced that Ryan Fitzpatrick would be starting instead of Josh Rosen on Sunday at New Era Field. 

Of course Fitz is starting. You can’t make this stuff up. Eight years ago last week, Fitzpatrick outplayed Michael Vick at what was then Ralph Wilson Stadium as the Bills got to 4-1 to stay tied for first with the Patriots in the AFC East. So with the Bills at 4-1 and off to their best start since that 2011 season, Fitz will be will standing in their way Sunday afternoon.

How many times have we seen this before? Just when you think Fitzpatrick is done starting games, he rises up again. It’s hard to believe it has been seven years since he left the Bills because they wouldn’t give him a chance to at least compete for the starting job in 2013. He still thought he could be a starter, that he had a lot left. He was right. 

Since then, Fitz has started 60 games in the NFL. He started 53 for the Bills. He has stated for the Titans and Texans and Jets and Bucs and now the Dolphins. He’s thrown six touchdown passes in a game since leaving, four TDs six other times. He’s thrown for 400 yards in a game five times, including three in a row last year. He broke Joe Namath’s record for touchdown passes with the Jets four seasons ago. 

Yeah, it’s always dangerous to underestimate the guy, because you never know when the next big game is coming, when the FitzMagic might reappear. He might light it up, the way he did on a Thursday night here for the Jets in 2016, or throw three interceptions in a quarter. One thing is for sure, the guy has never been boring, or afraid to think big.

That’s what endeared him to Bills fans back in the day. Fitz always contemplated the improbable. He lacked the big arm or the great athletic ability of the top quarterbacks, but he had the confidence of a superstar. As I wrote on the day he left town, he had “an inflated sense of himself as a gunslinger, which only exacerbated the problem when he insisted on attempting tough throws that were beyond his capabilities.”

His biggest flaw might have been his own enormous self-confidence. His belief exceeded his talent. “He refused to settle, to accept low expectations,” I wrote at the time.

Maybe that’s why Buffalo was so fond of him, because at a time when the city was supposed to be happy just to have a team, Fitz allowed them, ever briefly, to think bigger. The town needed more of that, and seven years later, Buffalo finally seems to have a team that justifies that kind of belief, one with the talent to match Bills’ fans hopes.

People thought I was too kind to Fitz back in the day — although I did advocate moving on from him during the 2012 season. There was truth to that. It was hard not to have a soft spot for a thoughtful, intelligent guy who appreciated the media and never had a harsh word to say about his teammates. He really was the ultimate pro, one of the good guys.

I’ll never forget Fitz coming to the media room after a tough loss on Dec. 4, 2011. He opened his remarks by offering condolences on the death of my dear friend and News colleague Allen Wilson, who had died of leukemia the day before. It was a decent gesture and he couldn’t imagine what it meant to those of us who loved Allen so well. 

He was always a good guy to root for, and you have to feel for Fitzpatrick, being part of a Dolphins team that is tanking for the first draft pick and is on pace to be the worst NFL team in the modern era. He deserves more than that. It’s been a joke in Miami that they have to be careful, because Fitz could mess up the tank by winning games. 

He almost did it last week, when he came off the bench and led the Dolphins to two late touchdowns and came within a dropped two-point conversion pass of beating the Redskins in the final seconds. Everyone I’ve talked with says they have no shot this week, and it’s hard to see them getting anything going against this Buffalo defense.

Having Fitz start could be the best thing for them. There might be a tendency to look past Miami. But seeing Fitz out there under center in Buffalo, reminds them of a time when he made them believe that anything is possible.

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The Bills are back at practice today, getting ready for the Dolphins after a much-needed bye week. It was a good bye for a lot of reasons, considering the number of aches and pains they had coming out of the Tennessee game. 

But it was also timely because it gave Sean McDermott extra time to get his team mentally prepared for Miami. It’s always easy to refocus when you have an extra week off. It doesn’t matter who is next on the schedule. The guys are raring to get back out there. This makes it difficult to look past any opponent. 

Really, how long has it been since we said that about a Bills team — that they have to be careful not to look past anybody? For two decades, they were generally that team. How many times have we wondered if the upcoming opponent (the Pats for example) might be taking the Bills too lightly because of some looming threat on their schedule?

I’m sure McDermott won’t let that happen to this team, although it will be tempting for them to look past their old rival (remember when this was an actual rivalry?). The Dolphins are winless. They’re bad. They’re tanking. They suck. It has to be hard to take a team seriously when they’re not even doing it themselves. 

The Bills are favored by 16 and a half points. That’s the biggest point spread for a Bills team since 1993, the last Super Bowl year. It’s only the 11th time they’ve been favored by 14 points in franchise history. All of those were during the Super Bowl run. You worried about them looking past teams quite often back in those days. 

As bad as the Dolphins are, my advice to the Bills would be simple: You’re not good enough to look past anybody. Get over yourselves. You were losing with under five minutes to play against the Jets and Bengals. The Bengals are 0-6. The Jets just won their first game. You haven’t beaten a team with a winning record. The four teams you beat are a combined 5-18. 

They haven’t beaten anybody yet. OK, so you could say that about most of the top teams in the league right now, starting with the Patriots. I wouldn’t be comparing myself to the Patriots. Bill Belichick is the standard for treating every opponent as if it’s the second coming of the Lombardi Packers. 

If I’m McDermott, I show my team film of the Dolphins marching down the field under Ryan Fitzpatrick in the final moments of last week’s game against Washington. With 2:02 to play, Fitz took the league’s sorriest offense from its own 25 and drove them to a touchdown to pull the Fish within a point, 17-16, with 10 seconds to play.

They weren’t looking to tie and force overtime. They went for the win. Fitzpatrick’s two-point conversion throw failed and the Redskins held on, 17-16. 

The Dolphins held Washington to 13 first downs, 311 total yards and 2 of 11 on third down. The Redskins have a bad offense, but Miami’s defense is capable of putting up a fight on Sunday. The Bills’ offense isn’t good enough to take anything for granted. Josh Allen is the 29th rated quarterback in the league, and one of the most turnover-prone quarterbacks in the NFL. He can’t take any game or opposing defense for granted. 

Here’s another thing I tell my team if I’m Sean McDermott. Last September, an 0-2 Bills team went to Minnesota as a 16.5 point underdog, the biggest spread in an NFL game in five years. The Bills hadn’t been that big an underdog in a game since 1984. 

The Bills, who had been outscored 78-23 in their first two games, stunned the unbeaten Vikings, 27-6. They were leading 17-0 before the game was 10 minutes old. 

Before the game, I’m sure the Minnesota players said they weren’t looking past the Bills. Any given Sunday and all that stuff. Every team says that. But teams take other teams lightly in sports all the time. It’s natural. The Bills need to take Miami seriously.

In fact, the best way to approach this is to take the tank as an insult to the sport. They want to lose for the top pick in the draft. Give ‘em what they want. 

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When I got back from Rhode Island on Monday night, I ran into my old friend Rex Carr at the Glen Park. You know Rex, he’s the crusty middle-aged guy who fancies himself Buffalo’s greatest sports fan. As the insurance ad says, he knows a lot, because he’s seen a lot. 

I can’t tell you how many times Rex has sputtered over his beer and told me he’d sworn off the Bills or Sabres, or both. He’s had his heart broken too many times, he says. Never again. Then he gets sucked in by some promising rookie, or a big free agent acquisition like Mario Williams or Terrell Owens, or the tank, and finds himself believing again. 

Well, he’s all in on the Bills again. Rex has bought into the process. He likes Brandon Beane and Sean McDermott, admires their dull competence. Despite some obvious reservations, he loves Josh Allen, calls him a “real Buffalo guy” and thinks he’s the best quarterback since Jim Kelly. He couldn’t be fonder of Lorenzo Alexander if he were his own son. 

The Sabres, well, Rex isn’t so sure. His feelings are a little too raw where the hockey team is concerned. When your team has the longest playoff drought in the NHL, you become wary. He canceled his seasons after last year’s collapse. The memory of Ryan O’Reilly skating around with the Cup is still fresh in his mind. He remembers how they fooled him last November, when he actually started to believe they might have turned the corner.

He told me the Sabres are like the Democrats. After all their years of bumbling, he still wants to believe they can win big again. He’s desperate for some sign of integrity and hope. But he’s been burned too many times. He’s grateful for the Pegulas. But he thinks they’re over their heads owning two major sports teams. 

Again, look at the evidence. 

But Rex is wavering, I can tell you. He kind of likes the new coach, Ralph Krueger. He said maybe that’s what this town needed, a different idea, a smart guy who could bring a fresh perspective to the hockey team after that cipher, Phil Housley. The guy spoke at the World Economic Forum, for heaven’s sake. He must know how to run a power play.

When is it OK to buy in again, that’s what he wanted to know. He remembers the 10-game winning streak, which was an illusion. They were the worst team in hockey after Thanksgiving last season. How could a team be so good and so brutal all in the same season. How do you open your heart again so soon after that? 

Should he wait until Thanksgiving, at least? Christmas? They’re 5-0-1, their best start in 10 years. Well, they fell apart in 08-09, too. They missed the playoffs that season. They also missed in 2011-12, which was the last time they started 5-1. Now that you mention it, the Bills also started 5-1 in 2011 and they missed the playoffs, too. 

Bills fans have plenty of sorry history to guide them. But they have an abiding faith, an unconquerable capacity for belief. At one point, Rex turned from the TV, where he was watching Aaron Rodgers get harassed by the Lions, and he told me: 

“It feels different this time.”

How many times have I heard that one? But maybe he’s right. The Sabres are 5-0-1, first overall in the league again. Krueger has all four lines going. Victor Olofsson has been a revelation. Colin Miller and Marcus Johansson seem like very solid additions. The high-end players, Jack Eichel, Sam Reinhart and Jeff Skinner, are all playing at a high level. The goaltending has been solid. The power play has been the most potent in the league.

But it’s only six games. That’s roughly the equivalent of one game in the NFL. Rex said he’s hopeful, but he’s not ready to buy season tickets again just yet. The same guys who quit on Housley last year are still out there. They could fall apart again when things get tough.

Let’s see how they do on this Western road trip, Rex told me. As Botterill points out, they’re one of the youngest teams in the NHL. If they can bond on a trip, they could really be on to something. If they could just get three of six points out West, it’ll be a step forward.

But imagine if they sweep out there, Rex said. They’ll come home to play San Jose, looking to open the season with a 10-game point streak. Last year, the 10th straight win came at home against — San Jose. 

You know what, he said — flashing this look of longing I’ve seen too many times before —  it could be an omen. 

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I have to begin today’s column with a correction. Yesterday, I got a little giddy and said the Bills could host a wild-card game if they finished with the third or fourth-best record in the AFC. It assumed they could finish behind the Patriots and still get a home game.

Of course, that’s not the case. You have to win your division to host a wild-card game. The two wild-card games go on the road in the first week. Honest mistake, but I guess it shows how far we’ve come in five weeks if we’re talking about the Bills hosting a playoff game.

Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself here. The Bills are still a work in progress. Keep in mind, they were trailing with under five minutes to play this season against the Jets and Bengals, two teams that have still yet to win a game. 

But they’re in far better shape than anyone could have imagined back in August. The AFC is a mess and they’re second overall in the conference behind the Patriots and Chiefs. They’re two games clear of the Chargers, Browns, Titans and Jaguars, teams that were considered rivals for one of those two wild-card berths. 

Andrew Luck retired. Big Ben Roethlisberger is out for the season. Sam Darnold still hasn’t played since being diagnosed with mono. Heck, even the Patriots look vulnerable. Did you see who Tom Brady was throwing to Monday night against the Giants?

The point is, the window is wide open. It has to be a consideration at One Bills Drive. I know Brandon Beane and Sean McDermott believe in the process, in building slowly through the draft and winning by developing their own guys. It’s going well. If Josh Allen is for real, they’ll be a contender for the next decade or so. 

But sometimes, you need to seize the moment. When the window is wide open, when opportunity is screaming and circumstances are falling your way, you have to go running through it. I’m not saying Beane should do anything stupid and mortgage the future, but if he can make a move or two to bolster his roster for a playoff run, he should consider making a deal by the trade deadline, which is Oct. 29 at 4 p.m.

The most pressing need, as I see it, is at wide receiver. The offense is in decent shape. It’s 10th in yards and will get Devin Singletary back soon. Overall, Josh Allen has made promising strides. But they’re not making big plays down the field — or even attempting many. Allen hasn’t completed a pass that traveled 30 yards in the air. 

John Brown and Cole Beasley have been as good as advertised, though Brown hasn’t done much deep. But the other wideout has been a wreck. Zay Jones was traded. Robert Foster, one of the top deep threats in football last December, doesn’t have a catch. Duke Williams is a fan darling and had a great debut against the Titans, but he’s not a guy who stretches defenses. They need to do better to take advantage of Allen’s big arm. 

Beane should at least kick the tires on a wideout. The two causing the widest speculation are the Vikings’ Stefon Diggs and the Bengals’ A.J. Green. Diggs stepped away from the team last week, saying things “obviously not” OK and raising speculation that he wanted to be traded. On Wednesday, he denied that he wanted to be traded. The Pats are said to be interested. But Peter King wrote that he doesn’t think Diggs will be moved.

A.J. Green could be available. He’ll be a free agent after the season and new coach Zac Taylor said Green, who has been out all year with an ankle injury, isn’t going anywhere. But Green is 31 and Cincinnati is off to its worst start in 11 years at 0-5. The Bengals would have to consider moving a receiver who is past his prime. 

The Bills value their assets highly. But a second-round pick for Diggs or Green or a similar talent wouldn’t be unreasonable. They’ve built in a lot of young talent through the draft in the last three years. They have a budding young star at all three levels of the defense in Tre White, Tremaine Edmunds and Ed Oliver. They have the presumed franchise quarterback in Allen and a dynamic running back in Singletary. 

Package a second-rounder and maybe the fifth they got for Zay Jones and see if they can fortify the roster for a real playoff run. There’s no telling how far they could go in a down year for the AFC. With their best defense in 20 years, there’s no telling how far they could go with a reliable offense. They were a blocked punt from beating New England. 

Beane and McDermott talk about being fierce competitors. A great competitor knows when the opposition is weakened and it’s time to pounce. This is one of those times. The process might have moved ahead a year of schedule. If so, the Bills need to move and act like a team that could make a run to the AFC championship game. 

It’s not a time to be timid. 

You know who’s looking to add and in the market for a wide receiver? The Patriots.  They know their championship window is closing with Tom Brady and that he needs more weapons. Meanwhile, the Bills’ window is wide open. Do they want to compete with New England right now or not? 

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I have to admit, when the Canadiens scored twice in the third period tie the game last night at the Arena, I had flashbacks to a year ago, when the Sabres seemed to blow two-goal leads in the third period every other night. Are they doing it again, I wondered? 

Well, maybe this year is different. The Sabres had some shaky moments in their own end on Wednesday night, but this year’s team seems to have a more resilient, aggressive mentality under new coach Ralph Krueger. They also have some solid new players. And in overtime, Marcus Johansson wired home a one-timer on a feed from Colin Miller to give the Sabres a 5-4 victory and lift them into first place in the Atlantic Division with seven points.

OK, I know it’s early. It wouldn’t be like me to overreact. But you have to exult when you have a chance in Buffalo sports. It’s hard not to see parallels between our two major pro franchises, which have been entwined in dysfunction almost from the moment the Pegulas became owners more than eight years ago.

In fact, this is the first time both the Bills and Sabres have been 3-1 or better at the same time since 2011. Sure, neither made the playoffs that year, but you’ll have to indulge me. Remember, if not for a miracle pass by Andy Dalton two years ago, both Buffalo teams would have the longest playoff drought in their respective sports. 

This it the most optimistic I’ve been about the franchises as a tandem since the Pegulas bought the Sabres eight years ago. The standard is admittedly low, but both teams appear to be making strides and demonstrating a rare, refreshing sense of competence.

It’s still early. By now, we know to be wary about hot starts. They’ve teased their fans too many times before. But you also can’t ignore what you see with your own eyes. The Sabres are a flawed but talented and promising group. They ought to be talented; they have more players drafted in the overall top 10 than any other team in the NHL.

Like this year’s Bills, they’ve opened the season with a more assertive, attacking mentality, a determination to dictate to the opposition. There’s a sense that the coaching staff knows they have better talent and intend to use it. Their high-end players are playing at a high level and the additions are making significant contributions. 

They still give up too many good scoring chances. They’ve been bad in their own end for long stretches of both of the last two games. Rasmus Ristolainen and Jake McCabe had some really rough moments. The Sabres gave up a goal seconds after Jeff Skinner made it 4-2 early in the third, then what seemed an inevitable tying goal later.

But they kept pushing. At the very least, they figure to be entertaining — maddeningly so at times. It was significant to se them play this way in the  first two home games. They need to win back some of their fans. Last night’s announced attendance of 15,383 was the lowest in years for a Montreal game and a sign that some fans aren’t buying in anymore.

Still, Buffalo fans don’t ask for a lot. They simply need the team to play as if it cares, which wasn’t the case down the stretch last season. I do think fans in this town need to stop accepting a lower standard of their teams. At least Botterill and Pegula realized their mistake with Housley and moved on to their third coach in four years. 

They look better under Krueger. It wouldn’t be hard to be better than last season. I picked them for 88 points, which is more than a lot of experts did. If they keep this up, they should sneak into the 90s and contend for a wild-card spot. It won’t be easy. They’re in the best division in hockey and there’s little chance of them finishing in the top three. 

But I see them battling for seventh or eighth and having a shot at the playoffs.Again, they have the talent. Their high-end players are playing at a high level. Jack Eichel was sensational on Wednesday night and looks like a guy who’s tired of losing and embarrassing himself in his fifth season. Victor Olofsson, two years removed from the Swedish league, has been a revelation. He’s building on his fine AHL season and NHl audition last March, adding a pure goal scorer to a team that was in desperate need for secondary scoring.

I like what I see from Krueger so far. They said he was a great communicator, and it seems he’s gotten through to some guys. The power play has been phenomenal, a sign he knows a thing or two about hockey tactics. He’s rewarding solid effort. He gave Larsson-Girgensons line significant time late in the third period against Montreal.

They’re still a shaky defensive team, and they’re going to struggle against the more talented offenses. But if they keep pushing the action and playing more freely in transition, they’ll make it hard for opposing defenses and they’ll continue to draw penalties. 

That’ll help, they have eight power play goals in four games, the most in the league. They had 46 all last season, so they won’t be able to rely on the man advantage every night. Things will level out, and they’ll eventually find their level. 

But one week into a new season, there’s reason to believe their level might be a little higher than expected. Like the Bills, they’re giving their fans hope. It’s about time. 

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Well, the Bills are on a timely and well-deserved bye week. That means no Media Day, no opportunity for me to ask Sean McDermott if he would be disappointed if his defense finished 18th in points allowed. 

I figured it would be a good time to take a breath and run through some five-game superlatives. It’s been a fascinating five weeks, and I’m more convinced than ever that they’ll win 10 games for the first time in 20 years and advance to the postseason. By the way, they’re giving up 14.0 a game, on pace for a franchise record.

OK, Most Valuable Player so far: I couldn’t decide, so I’m giving it to both starting safeties, Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer. I don’t have to look at their individual stats. All I know is teams don’t even bother trying to throw the ball down the field. Only one catch of 30 yards by a wide receiver. The Bills are second in the NFL with 10 completions of 20 yards.

The Bills are third in the NFL in passing defense, third in yards per pass against. They were first in passing yards and third in yards per pass attempt a year ago. The pass defense is elite and the two safeties are the main reason. I could see either in the Pro Bowl. 

“We’re not here to make statements; we didn’t play our best football,” safety Micah Hyde said Sunday. “We gave up seven points and I felt like we played a bad game. We gave up some big plays late in the game when we should have gotten off the field.”

Let that statement sink in for a minute. 

The league MVP? I’d have to go with Christian McCaffrey of the Panthers. 

Best Moment of the season thus far for the Bills: I’m going with the 49-yard pass and run from Josh Allen to rookie tight end Dawson Knox with 4:25 left against the Bengals at New Era. The Bills had blown a big lead and fallen behind. That play basically won them the game. Great moment in the home opener.

Best moment in the league: I’ll go with Will Lutz’s 58-yard field goal as time expired to give the Saints a 30-28 win over the Texans in the opener. That was also the game where the Texans played prevent and allowed Drew Brees to get into position for the kick.

Bills unsung hero. I’ll go with right guard Jon Feliciano. He’s been a revelation on a refurbished offensive line that has become at least adequate after being a mess a year ago. He’s provided the sort of flexibility that really helps a line in flux in today’s NFL. He went in and played center last week when Mitch Morse got hurt and hold very well.

Feliciano also brings a nice edge to the team, though sometimes he’s a little close to the edge. The same goes to Jerry Hughes, who could be my unsung hero on the defense. He’s not getting the sacks, but he’s getting consistent pressure and creating room for other guys to wreak havoc against opposing passers. JOE B says he’s been their best defensive player.

League unsung hero: Niners defensive tackle DeForrest Buckner. He’s been a force in his fourth NFL season for the surprising Niners, who are unbeaten at 4-0. The San Francisco defense is third in the NFL and first in the NFC. 

Buckner, the seventh overall pick in the 2016 draft, had a breakthrough season last year with 17 tackles for loss and 20 quarterback hits. He still went largely unheralded. But if the Niners keep this up, he’ll be in the Pro Bowl and a candidate for defensive player of the year. 

Bills Offensive MVP. I have to go with John Brown, who has given them a legitimate No. 1 receiver and proved that he’s more than just a deep threat (in fact, I’d like to see them throw the ball to him downfield more). 

Brown is 12th in the league with 390 receiving yards. He had one of the biggest catches of the season, a TD late to beat the Jets, and has been a consistent performer in the clutch; he’s tied for sixth in the NFL in third down receptions for first downs. 

Most disappointing player so far for the Bills? It would be Zay Jones, but he’s gone and no longer our favorite whipping boy. So it would have to be Robert Foster, who was one of the most effective downfield receivers a year ago and has disappeared this season. Foster doesn’t have a catch. 

That lack of a deep threat for Josh Allen is a concern as we move ahead. They need to establish that threat in the offense to keep opposing defenses honest. 

Most disappointing player in the NFL? Baker Mayfield, of course. Mayfield is 33rd in completion percentage, ahead of only Josh Rosen, and 32nd in quarterback rating, ahead of only Luke Falk and Rosen. He leads the NFL with 8 interceptions, one more than Allen.

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With so much going on in sports right now, and the Bills coming up on a bye week, this is a good time to clear out the old attic and “Column as I see ‘em”.

How about those Browns? Cleveland was the chic pick to reach the Super Bowl this season after winning a whole seven games last season in Baker Mayfield’s rookie season. Mayfield, who did a lot of talking in the offseason, was being discussed as a possible NFL MVP. 

Uh, did you see them Monday night against the Niners? The Browns got destroyed, 31-3. They’ve lost by 30 to the Titans and now 28 to the Niners. They’re 2-3 and in those three losses, they have scored a grand total of 29 points. 

Mayfield lit a fire under Richard Sherman and the Niners by refusing to shake their hands at midfield before the game at Levi Stadium, a stunt that Sherman referred to later as “some college sh—”. He called it bush, ridiculous and said “believe me, that’s gonna get us fired up.” Oh, Sherman had an interception against Mayfield in the game.

It sure looked that way. Mayfield was 8 of 22 passing for 100 yards and two interceptions. He got sacked four times. His passer rating: 13.4. It was the fewest yards and the worst completion percentage of his career. If Josh Allen had done that, people might be wondering if he was regressing, and if maybe Cleveland overdrafted him. 

If the Browns, who gave up 275 rushing yards, were 1 of 11 on first down and averaged 3.9 yards per play, are a Super Bowl contender, what does that makes the Bills, who are now two games ahead of them in the AFC? We’ll find out more when the Bills go to Cleveland on Nov. 10. The Browns play Seattle, Denver and New England in their next three games. They could easily be 3-5 when the Bills come to town. 

**By the way, San Francisco is now 4-0. The Niners are the lone unbeaten team in the NFC and one of two with the Patriots. They came into Monday night second in the NFL in defense behind the Patriots and looked like it against the Browns. Nick Bosa, their rookie defensive end, had a monster game with two sack and three tackles for loss, and had some fun at Mayfield’s expense in the process.

Bosa, the second pick in this year’s NFL draft, hadn’t forgotten how Mayfield planted an Oklahoma flag at Ohio Stadium when the Sooners played at his Ohio State team two years ago. He was ready Monday night. After sacking Mayfield to force intentional grounding with 10 seconds left in the first half, Bosa ran down the sideline toward his team bench and planted an imaginary flag in the ground. 

Bosa also said he spent much of the night screaming “Ba-ker, Ba-ker” and telling Mayfield to “pick it up, we want a challenge.” Bosa said Mayfield didn’t respond much.

Looks like the Browns aren’t the only team that does a lot of yapping. But the Niners have good reason. It looks like they’re for real, maybe the Super Bowl favorite in the NFC. We’ll find out how real next Sunday when they play at the Rams. 

**Yankee fans have to feel encouraged after watching the Pinstripers sweep the Twins in the ALDS. For one thing, the Astros lost to the Rays and now lead only 2-1 in their series. And Houston’s massive edge in starting pitching suddenly doesn’t seem so great. They’re pitching Justin Verlander tonight on 3 days rest. The farther that series goes, the more it helps New York. And as Yogi Berra would say … it ain’t over ’til it’s over.

Luis Severino wasn’t great, but he threw four shutout innings in the 5-1 clincher at Target Field on Monday. He got out of a bases-loaded, no outs jam in the second. The Yanks don’t get a lot of credit for their defense, but the D was terrific. 

Meanwhile, former Cy Young winner Zack Greinke looked awful on the Astros’ 10-3 loss at Tampa, giving up three homers and six runs in 3 2-3 innings. Greinke is now 3-5 in postseason in his career with a 4.58 ERA. The ‘Stros are still imposing with Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole at the top of the rotation, but I don’t see any Big Three. 

**A lot of NHL experts figured the Hurricanes would crash back to Earth after breaking their 10-year playoff drought and reaching the conference finals a year ago. But Carolina is off to a 3-0 start and atop the East. The ‘Canes play at Florida tonight. 

**Jonquel Jones was looking like the WNBA Finals MVP after her 32 points, 18 rebound performance in Game 2. But Jones was held to only nine points Sunday as Connecticut lost at home to the favored Mystics, who got Elena Della Donne back from her back injury and moved to within a game of their first league title. Jones needs to bounce back with another big game tonight if the Sun wants to extend the series to a decisive fifth game.

**Jon Feliciano has been one of the unsung heroes of the Bills’ 4-1 start. He has been much better than expected as the starting right guard and his versatility has been a big help on an improved offensive line. On Sunday in Tennessee, Feliciano took over for Mitch Morse when Morse left the game with an injured ankle.

**After the first two games of the season, I said the Sabres were starting to remind me of the 2005-06 team. Last night, they looked a lot like last year’s Sabres. Long season. 

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For months now, I’ve been saying that this Bills season was all about Josh Allen. It’s true, quarterback is the most important position in football, and Buffalo has been waiting for a true franchise quarterback since Jim Kelly. Ultimately, the fate of the franchise for the next decide or so will depend on whether Allen is the real deal.

But it’s starting to feel like an insult to the defense to say it’s all about Allen. Right now, it sure seems like this season is about the Bills defense, an elite unit which is one of the best in the NFL — if not THE best — and one of the finest in the team’s 60-year franchise history.

Sean McDermott’s D played another outstanding game on Sunday against the Titans, limiting them to 252 total yards, sacking Marcus Mariota five times and not allowing a completion of more than 23 yards to a wide receiver. 

Through five games, they’re second to the Patriots in yards per game, second against the pass; second in points allowed, the most vital defensive statistic of all. They came in third in yards per play against at 4.5, it was 4.7 against the Titans. I’d call this a trend.

The Bills’ defense has set such a high standard, it’s a surprise when a team sustains any sort of drive against them. In the first half, Tennessee went three-and-out on four of its first five possessions. The Titans had 91 total yards at halftime. They had six plays for minus-15 yards on two successive possessions. Mariota was under siege all day against a withering Bills pass rush — in part because the secondary was blanketing the Titans’ wide receivers. 

Corey Davis (two catches, 28 yards) and A.J Brown (two for 27) were hardly a factor. That’s become a trend against the Bills in the McDermott era, top receivers on other teams having subpar games against the Buffalo defense. The longest pass to a wide receiver all year is 32 yards. Opposing quarterbacks don’t even bother throwing deep against them. 

Against the Jets, they didn’t allow a play of 20 yards all game; shut the Giants down after an opening TD drive; Andy Dalton didn’t complete a pass in the first quarter; harassed Tom Brady into his worst game in over a decade; and on Sunday, sacked Mariota five times and held the Titans to 91 yards on 25 plays in the first half, including 0 for 6 on third down.

It doesn’t seem to matter who lines up on defense. Levi Wallace has been a revelation at right cornerback. Jordan Phillips had fallen to fourth on the tackle depth chart. He had three sacks against the Titans after a standout game against the Pats. Tremaine Edmunds was a force in the middle again.

During the first Wednesday media conference, I asked McDermott if he would be disappointed if his defense finished 18th in points allowed, as it did in 2018. He laughed and said he took them one game at a time.

But you know he expected to be a lot better on the scoreboard. Given an improving offense, with Allen a year older and surrounded by a competent line and receivers, they were bound to give up fewer points than the 23.4 they allowed last year.

I figured that number should drop to below 20 a game at the least, and they’ve done much better than that. In fact, they haven’t allowed more than 17 points in any game, the first time they’ve done that in five straight games since the 2003 season. They’re allowing 16.0 points a game, a full touchdown less than they did a year ago. 

They have a great defense, a defense that could take them far. You can argue that they haven’t played any top offenses yet. But remember, that Titans team scored 43 points at Cleveland at 24 at Atlanta. Look at what they did to Tom Brady.

At times, the defense seems worn down by the offense’s periodic stumbles. Three of the last four TDs they’ve allowed, going back to the Bengals game, came after Allen interceptions. The Titans started their TD drive Sunday at the Bills’ 38 after a pick. 

But the defense rose up when it mattered most. They didn’t allow a first down after the Titans reached their 41 with 8:02 to play on a Henry run and an accompanying horse-collar tackle penalty on Lorenzo Alexander.

You could say they got a little good fortune when Mariota’s foot went inches over the line of scrimmage on the pass that would have given the Titans their only lead of the game. Imagine that, an illegal forward pass being a huge factor in a Bills-Titans game. It seemed like celestial payback for “Home Run Throwback” in the playoff game 20 years ago.

McDermott admitted after the game that his defense got a break. He said his mentor, Jim Johnson, always told him it helped to be lucky. But there’s nothing lucky about that Buffalo defense. It’s the real deal, better than last year’s, or the one that got to the playoffs, or better than any Bills defense I’ve seen since … well, since 1999, the year of the Music City Miracle.

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Bobby, if I seem a bit slow this morning it’s because I was up late last night, flipping between the channels from the lounge chair in my TV room. It was a great night for sports, one of the best in months, with three of the major sports going — everything but the NBA. Later this month, there will be days when all four are in action. Got to love October.

The 5 o’clock NLDS game was a beauty. It had a little bit of everything. Yeah, the usual serving of home runs and strikeouts, but I realized why I love this Cardinals team. They’re a little bit of a throwback. They run — they had the most steals in the NL — and take the extra base and play really good defense and have a deep pitching staff. 

I love how you can discover obscure players in the postseason. St. Louis has this speedy young center fielder, Harrison Bader, who doesn’t hit much but can spark a team. The Cards tied the game 1-1 when Bader beat out an infield single, got sacrificed to second, stole third (first all year against Dallas Keuchel) and raced home on a grounder.

Wow, that’s the kind of baseball we old-timers love to see. Shades of Vince Coleman and Lou Brock. 

Anyway, St. Louis tied the game 3-3 in the eighth, scored four times in the ninth and held on as the Braves, who have now lost nine post-season games in a row, scored three on homers in the bottom of the ninth. That ninth inning made one thing clear: Bullpens could be the most important factor in this postseason. Good news for Yankee fans?

By the end of the baseball game, the Sabres were into their season opener at Pittsburgh, and things went very well under new coach Ralph Krueger. They won their first opener in seven tries, and looked terrific doing it. After all Krueger’s talk about playing aggressive and with pace and confidence, they backed it up in a 3-1 win over the Penguins. 

Look, it’s only one game. We learned last year after that 10-game winning streak not to get too excited about this team. But it was an encouraging beginning. I think they played better Thursday night than in any game during their 10-game winning streak last year. 

They jumped on the Pens early and never really let up. Their quickness and skill were evident, and let’s face it, they do have a lot of skill on the roster. They had more odd-man rushes than we’re used to seeing. Rasmus Dahlin scored a highlight film goal on a gorgeous feed from Conor Sheary to make it 3-1 late in a dominant second period.  

The goaltending was solid with Carter Hutton. The Pens seemed a step behind for much of the night. The power play looked great when they took the lead for good — both units controlled the puck and created chances. They dictated play for most of the game, which was a continuation of the late preseason.

Krueger was pumped up afterwards. It was his first game in more than six years and he was proud to see his team express his vision of hockey, which I had been waiting to see. Maybe he’s more than some master communicator, an actual hockey coach with far more expertise than Phil Housley. Again, we’ve learned not to over-react to fast starts in Buffalo hockey (we’re already wondering about the Bills). But hey, it’s a start. 

Speaking of football, with the first baseball game winding along — it took 4:07 to play nine innings and the Sabres impressing, I was flipping over to see the Rams and Seahawks. You know I hate the Thursday night games, but this was two 3-1 NFC West teams with dynamic head coaches in a significant early showdown, and it didn’t disappoint. 

You know I love Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson. He’s a future Hall of Famer and one of the most underrated players in the NFL. He led his team to a 30-29 win, tossing the winning TD with 2:30 left on fourth-and-goal from the 5. On the big play, he ran forward, froze the defense and hit a wide-open Chris Carson for the win. 

Wilson was 17 for 23 for 268 yards, 4 TDs and 0 interceptions. He has the most fourth-quarter comebacks and game-winning drives since entering the league in 2012. He has the highest fourth-quarter passer rating of any QB with 500 pass attempts since 1991. Maybe this is the year he wins MVP. And he’s still only 30. 

Oh, there was an NLDS game, too. I’ll confess, I fell asleep before it ended sometime after midnight. Of course, I had it recorded. I love pitching, and it was a pleasure to watch young Walker Buehler of the Dodgers at work. Buehler gave up one hit and no runs in six innings, out dueling Patrick Corbin, who tossed 3-hit ball and allowed one earned through six. 

Predictably, Washington’s bullpen fell apart late in a 6-0 loss. Some 21-year-old kid named Gavin Lux, who didn’t debut until September, hit a pinch homer in his first ever post-season appearance. I watched it this morning and it was a thrill. 

Boy, do I love sports in October. I can’t wait for the weekend.

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On Wednesday night, the St. Louis Blues finally got a chance to celebrate the first Stanley Cup before their home fans before the NHL opener against the Caps. They raised the championship banner, played their victory song “Gloria” and skated around the ice with the trophy they brought to Missouri for the first time in their 52-year history.

Tonight in Pittsburgh at PPG Paints Arena, the Sabres will begin their 50th season as an NHL franchise. They’re still looking for their first Stanley Cup — though first, they need to snap the league’s longest playoff drought, and the longest in team history, which currently stands at eight years. They were the worst team in the league after Thanksgiving, and have had the NHL’s worst record in three of the last six seasons. 

They have the spirit of St. Louis as inspiration, evidence that anything can happen in sports. After all, the Blues were dead last in the league last January, only to catch fire and surge into the playoffs with 99 points. Then they went all the way to win their first Cup, upsetting the Bruins in a convincing Game 7 in Boston.

Of course, the Sabres also have the memory of Ryan O’Reilly, who won the Selke Trophy as playoff MVP one season after Jason Botterill shipped him to the Blues. O’Reilly, who had lost his zest for winning with a losing franchise, became a vivid reflection of the Sabres chronic run of dysfunction, dating back six years to the start of the tank.

Not much has changed since last year’s meltdown, though there’s another new head coach, Ralph Krueger, and some mildly promising additions to the roster. Many of the players who were at the middle of last year’s epic collapse are still here in the Golden Anniversary campaign. Vlad Sobotka, who scored five goals after coming over in the O’Reilly trade, supposedly resurgent and playing on the second line. Zemgus Girgensons, Johan Larsson and the $6 million man, Kyle Okposo, reunited as the fourth line. 

Most remarkably of all, defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen is still a Sabre. Ristolainen was dead last in the NHL with a minus-41 rating last year. Only one other player was minus 30 or worse. He has the worst plus-minus of any player in the league in his six seasons. Even Risto felt he needed a change of scenery and was likely to be traded away.

But he’s still here, and when I saw O’Reilly celebrating in St. Louis last night, it struck me that he is the main reason Ristolainen is still in Buffalo. They shopped him,  but other general managers knew the Sabres wanted to move him. And the main reason Ristolainen is still here, I suspect, is that Botterill didn’t want to risk another O’Reilly giveaway. He was afraid to be embarrassed again before the hockey world. 

Making wrong-headed moves has become the default mode for the Sabres under the Pegulas. Losing on purpose. Leaving general managers and coaches and players in place too long. Running Pat LaFontaine out of town. Giving up on Dan Bielsma too soon. Showing too much faith in an unproven and incapable coach in Phil Housley.

The Sabres don’t have much to sell in the fifth year of Jack Eichel, who has never played in a playoff game. Neither has Sam Reinhart, or Jeff Skinner, or Ristolainen, or Casey Mittlestadt. They’re among eight Sabres who were taken in the Top 10 of the NHL draft, the most of any team in the league. 

You’d think expectations would be higher at this point. But the Sabres have once again managed to lower the standard and make simply competing for a playoff spot some kind of achievement. Really, this is the seventh season since the start of the tank in 2013-14. Shouldn’t making the playoffs be the minimum expectation by now, the way it was when I got to Buffalo 30 years ago and they were losing in the first round?

Well, it looks like they’re selling a new head coach — Ralph Krueger, who hasn’t been a head coach in the NHL in more than six years and was snatched away from the soccer world. Krueger is seen as a master motivator, a communicator, an intelligent man who did wonders in a short international tournament a few years ago. Maybe he’ll unleash the winner in Eichel and Skinner and Reinhart. Maybe he’ll save Ristolainen.

I went to college in Missouri, where they finally raised their first Cup banner last night. The Show-Me State. I’ve been watching the Sabres for three decades. You have to show me. A year ago, I said they would finish with 81-86 points. It seemed like a low bar at the time. It turned out I was too kind. They wound up with 76. 

When I look at this roster, and so many of the same soft underachievers from a year ago, I see little reason for optimism. The conference has gotten better. The teams who missed the playoffs but finished higher in the East a year ago have improved. The Atlantic is the best division in hockey. The Sabres haven’t finished above sixth in the last six years.

I’ll be kind and tick my prediction up to 88 points this year. Last season, it took 98 points to reach the playoffs. That seems like too big a hill to climb with this team. Maybe Krueger can get them to 90 and come off like a genius. 

That’s where we are, folks, in year five of Jack Eichel. MiredB in the NHL’s longest playoff drought, with being in the hunt in March seen as an encouraging sign, as progress.

___

THE COLUMN

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Back when I was on the Bills beat with Vic Carucci, I had this running joke. Whenever there was any flicker of trouble with the team, I’d tell him, you know what this could be?

We’d look at each other and smile and one of us would say: Crisis?

Well, it’s too soon to raise the crisis flag. The Bills are 3-1, alone in third place in the AFC. They’re still in good position to win 10 games and challenge for a playoff spot. The defense is elite and making a case to be the best in the NFL. The offense is ranked eighth and the passing game is up 60 yards a game over a year ago. 

But in a sport that invites over-reaction, we could at least be on the verge of a mini-crisis in Bills Land. If they lose at Tennessee next Sunday — regardless of who plays quarterback — it will take a lot of steam out of their 3-0 start, dropping them into a muddle of teams with two losses in the conference and raising new doubts about their playoff worthiness.

There was a lot to like in the first quarter of the season, but there are definite concerns. Every team has concerns in a league designed for parity, in which half the playoff field tends to change from year to year on average.

Here are five areas of concern as we head into the second quarter of the season:

One: It always comes back to the quarterback. We said this season was all about Josh Allen and coming off his worst game as a pro and a lingering head injury, we’re back to where we were heading into his second season, wondering how good he really is. 

The possibility of a concussion is troubling enough. But Allen’s play on Sunday was brtual, a reversion to his Wyoming days. Yes, the Patriots are on a historic defensive run. But Allen was supposed to be past the point where you could make him look like some skittish rookie. 

It’s a copy cat league and you can be sure other coaches will go to school on what Bill Belichick and his staff did Sunday. They’ll blitz Allen, put a spy on him to keep him in the pocket, and force him to make difficult throws on the move. Allen has yet to complete a pass that traveled 30 yards in the air this season. That’s a huge concern for a kid whose big arm is supposed to be his greatest asset, and a threat to keep opposing defenses honest.

Two, the offensive line, particularly the right tackle position. Rookie Cody Ford was drafted as a tackle, but has struggled and rotated with Ty Nshekhe. Ford has looked better at guard, but if he can’t play tackle that looks like a reach of a draft pick. Meanwhile, Quinton Spain hasn’t been very good at left guard. 

The interior of the line, including center Mitch Morse, had a rough day against the Patriots. The notion that the O line was trending to be a top 10 unit, after a couple of good games against bad defenses, looks like a gross overreaction. They’re struggling to be average.

Three, the special teams have been mediocre under new coach Heath Farwell. It was negligent for them to fail to correct issues that were evident to the Pats coaches on film. It resulted in a blocked punt — only the second by the Pats in Belichick’s 20 years as New England coach — that cost the Bills the game. 

Corey Bojorquez is at the bottom of the league in punting average. He won a training camp battle of mediocrities and his hold on the job is tenuous. Reid Ferguson had a low snap on the blocked kick. They’re averaging only 5.5 yards on 12 punt returns. Stephen Hauschka has missed two field goals already and looking a little shaky again. 

Four, lack of production at the third wide receiver. Zay Jones has his defenders. Yes, he’s a very good blocker. Yes, the Bills brought in two wideouts above him in John Brown and Cole Beasley. And Allen’s lack of accuracy affects him at times. But it’s hard to justify four catches for 69 yards four weeks into the season. 

Jones doesn’t get enough separation. He drops too many passes. If the Bills hadn’t traded up to get him at 37 in the 2017 draft — with JuJu Smith-Schuster, Calvin Samuel and Alvin Kamara still on the board — you wonder if he would even be on the roster. Of course, the other options haven’t distinguished themselves. Robert Foster has disappeared. Isaiah McKenzie has three catches. Andre Roberts has one in two games. 

Five, game day coaching. Sean McDermott has had a problem with clock management and bad challenges since becoming an NFL head coach. He needs to get better. On Sunday, he seemed to let his emotions get the best of him when he challenged a borderline pick that he thought was offensive interference.

It was a long shot and left the Bills without any timeouts or challenges early in the fourth quarter of a game in which they might have been vitally needed later.

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THE COLUMN

100119

I know there’s a lot to discuss about the NFL right now. The biggest question by far in Buffalo sports is whether Josh Allen will clear concussion protocol in time to play next Sunday at Tennessee. Oh, and the NHL season gets under way on Wednesday. The Sabres make their regular-season debut under Ralph Krueger on Thursday in Pittsburgh.

But today, it’s the first day of October, and it’s about baseball. The playoff begin and for those of us who still consider baseball our national pastime, it’s the best time of the year. There’s a wild-card game tonight. The remarkable Brewers at the Nationals. Winner goes on to the NLDS against the Dodgers. Loser goes home. Milwaukee without Christian Yelich, who is hurt, and Washington, who somehow managed to survive without Bryce Harper.

On Wednesday, it’s the AL, with Tampa Bay, which won 96 games, at Oakland, which won 97. Two lightly regarded team that had sensational years but had the misfortune of playing in the same divisions as the Yankees and Astros. The winner gets Houston in the ALDS.

It seems a little cruel, six months of struggle and achievement, from early April to late September, and then one game to fight for survival. You could argue that at least the wild-card teams have a chance. But it’s over so fast. I remember the most famous one-game playoff in baseball history: The Bucky Dent game, when the Yankees and Red Sox finished tied with 99 wins and had to settle it in one game at Fenway. 

The current system, with a second wild card and one-game playoff, began in 2012. So this is the eighth year of the one-game wild card playoff. Is there anything more unforgiving and  forgettable than a team that loses this game. I’d almost forgotten that the Yankees won it the last two years. Only one wild-card team has made the World Series during that time — the 2014 Royals, who went 8-0 to reach the Series before losing to the Giants in 7.

I know the baseball season is too long as it is. But I’d like to see a best-of-three playoffs. There was a time when they played best-of-three tiebreakers. That famous Bobby Thomson homer in 1951 was the decisive game of a best-of-three for the National League pennant. Ah, there’s that word again. Pennant. I love it when teams win the pennant. 

They could cut the regular season back to 160 games and add two games for the wild-card games. So there would be two fewer games. Big deal. With homers and strikeouts rising every year, it wouldn’t affect the statistics all that much. I’d rather have more than one chance to see teams like the Rays and A’s in October. 

As for the playoffs: I like the Astros and Cardinals to get to the World Series, and the Astros to win it all. It’s been a memorable season for the Yankees. Yes, I’ll be rooting for them, as I do every year as soon as the Red Sox are out of it. The Yankees and Twins should be fun, a matchup of the only teams ever to hit 300 home runs, but they always beat the Twins in October. They’ve beaten them 10 times in a row in postseason going back to 2004. 

I don’t trust the Twins’ pitching. There’s talk they might even start Randy Dobnak at some point. Yeah, Randy Dobnak, who was pitching for the Utica Unicorns two years ago and who pitched six one-hit innings against the Tigers on Sept. 25 — then got married three days later. He had no idea he’d be in the Majors at that point in the season.

Now that you mention it, this is a little scary for Yankee fans. This Dobnak story is the kind of thing that makes you think this Twins team is fated to go far. The Yankees’ leading winner, Domingo German, is out of the playoffs because of a domestic violence allegation. The Twins have a guy who started the year at A ball and just got married. Just sayin.

Anyway, I don’t see anyone beating the Astros, who have a great rotation that will be tough to beat in the postseason. Prepare yourself for a record siege of strikeouts in October. Houston has two former Cy Young winners — Justin Verlander and Zack Greinke — and a guy who should win it this year, Gerrit Cole, who is on one of the most astonishing runs in history. 

Cole has allowed 2 runs of fewer in 18 of his last 20 starts. The Astros have won his last 13 starts. He has double-digit strikeouts in nine straight starts, a Major League record. His 13.8 strikeouts per nine innings was also a MLB record. He struck out 326 batters, the most by a righty since Nolan Ryan in 1977. Good luck to Giancarlo Stanton, Gary Sanchez and Aaron Judge if they have to face this guy in an ALDS. 

The Dodgers are in the postseason for the seventh year in a row, the most of any team by far. They lost the last two World Series and it would be nice for them to break through. But somehow, they manage to fall short every year. Something tells me the Cardinals, who were under .500 on July 12 and surged to 91 wins and the NL Central title, are going to maintain that torrid pace in October. 

Jack Flaherty and Dakota Hudson are two of the best pitchers you’ve never heard of, and both did their best work in the last two months. The Cards were second in the NL in ERA. I could see Paul Goldschmidt having a huge October. Maybe it was Mike Shildt’s stirring speech in the locker room after they clinched the division. I get worked up this time of year. 

Anyway, it begins tonight in Washington. Big news in Washington that doesn’t involve impeachment. I’m all in. Of course, I’ll probably fall asleep.

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THE COLUMN

093019

Last week, I said the Bills could play their best game of the season and still lose to the Patriots on Sunday. I was wrong. If they had played their best game, they would have won. The defense played that well. If they had gotten close to average performance from Josh Allen and the offense, they would have upset the Pats and been unbeaten today.

Instead, the offense played its worse game of the season. Yeah, worse than against the Jets, or in the third quarter against the Giants and Bengals. They put together a complete stinker in a 16-10 loss to New England, as Allen had a rough afternoon before leaving the game after a hit to the head by defensive back Jonathan Jones early in the fourth quarter.

Allen had led the Bills to fourth quarter comebacks twice in their 3-0 start. But we’ll never know if he could have once again rescued them from a deficit that was largely of his own making. What we do know is that Allen was the main reason for the loss at New Era, as he played his worst game of the season and all things considered, his worst as a pro. 

Let’s not sugarcoat it. The kid played like a scared rookie. His stats — 13 for 28, 153 yards, no touchdowns, three interceptions — doesn’t even reflect how bad he was. Allen was guilty of all the perceived shortcomings that followed him out of Wyoming and into the NFL. He was inaccurate, overzealous, he held onto the ball too long at times and bailed out of the pocket too often at others. He fumbled the ball for the fifth time in four games. 

He threw high, he threw low, he threw off his back foot. Maybe the worst throw of the day was a simple throw to the left flat that wasn’t even close early in the game. Allen completed three passes in the first half. He was 0 for 5 at the point where the Pats blocked a Cory Bojorquez punt and returned it for a touchdown and a 13-0 lead.

At one point, offensive coordinator Brian Daboll was speaking animatedly to Allen at the Bills bench after an interception, pointing to his own head. It turned out to be a bit of foreshadowing. Allen’s head became a big issue later when he took that brutal hit to the head on a scramble, knocking him out of the game and into concussion protocol.

The Jones hit was a big story afterwards. No Bills loss is complete if fans aren’t complaining about the officials. Senior VP of officiating Al Riveron told Vic Carucci the hit didn’t warrant disqualification. I agreed. Allen was running. He didn’t slide and as Riveron said, he turned toward Jones, who was low and made the sort of dangerous hit common in these situations — worthy of a penalty but not intentionally vicious enough to get thrown out.

That didn’t stop the predictable complaining from the Bills, who said it would have been much different had it been Brady. Maybe so, but you’d never see Brady in that situation, scrambling in the open field and exposing himself to a serious hit to the head. 

Brady played his worst game in 13 years, one of the worst of his career, and he still managed to outplay Allen — and Matt Barkley. The Bills wasted a terrific game by their defense, and by veteran running back Frank Gore, who had 109 yards on 17 carries and became the fourth NFL player to rush for 15,000 yards in his career. 

This felt like so many discouraging losses during recent years, with the defense putting up a heroic effort and the offense coming up empty. It reminded me of the 10-3 loss to the Jaguars in the playoffs two years ago, or the loss on Monday night to the Pats a year ago, when the defense stymied Brady for most of the night and the offense did nothing. 

Naturally, Lorenzo Alexander said the defense needed to do more. He says that every time. The Bills could lose 7-0 on a pick six, hold a team to negative yards, and he’d say the defense could have done more. That’s part of being a leader. I suspect in his private moments, Alexander is wondering how much more the defense has to do, and how long it will be before the offense is able to hold up its end in one of these games. 

The coaches didn’t exactly shine, either. McDermott wasted a timeout on a futile challenge, leaving his team with no timeouts or challenges down the stretch. Daboll sent out his big package on third-and-goal from the 2 on the series when Barkley relieved Allen. The Pats easily stuffed Gore. Then a fade to Zay Jones on fourth down — a play that had little chance. Jones was abysmal and doesn’t warrant the playing time he’s been getting.

Well, it’s only one game and they’re 3-1. At least they became the first team to score a TD against the Pats defense this season. Allen isn’t the first quarterback to be dazed and confused by Bill Belichick’s squad. As I said last week, they didn’t need this game. They still have a good chance to win 10 games and contend for the playoffs in a watered-down AFC.

But we were supposed to be past the point of rationalizing bad performances. Allen was supposed to be ready to at least be respectable against the Pats, especially at home. This was a troubling effort,  and we can only hope that he doesn’t have a concussion that will keep him out of the Tennessee game and beyond. 

The NFL invites overreaction, but after one quarter of his second season, here are the numbers for Allen: Completion percentage, 60.3, 29th in the NFL; quarterback rating, 69.6, 31st. The Bills are tied with the Giants for the lead in giveaways with 10. They’re tied with Washington and Miami in interceptions with seven. 

After an uneven but successful start, this felt like a step back for the young franchise quarterback, one that raises the same essential question we had heading into the season: 

How good is Allen, really?

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THE COLUMN

092519

As you might have heard, there’s a pretty big game at New Era Field on Sunday. The Bills will take on the hated New England Patriots in a battle of 3-0 teams. It’s the only matchup of 3-0 teams this weekend. First place in the AFC East will be on the line. 

The Bills, who are 3-30 against Tom Brady — the most any NFL team has lost against one quarterback — have a chance to beat him in a game that matters for the first time since 2011, when the Bills beat the Patriots at home, 34-31, and picked Brady off four times.

We don’t see this kind of matchup very often. Actually, we’ve never seen it. This will be the first time in Bills history that two 3-0 teams will go at it. If the Bills win this game, they’ll be the talk of the league, and well on their way to the playoffs (OK, I know they started 4-0 in 2008 and finished 7-9 for the third year in a row.) This year feels different. 

In fact, do you know what’s great for Bills fans? They don’t really need to win this game. Most everyone checked this one off as a loss at the start of the season, figuring they had a good chance to win the first three and upsetting the Pats would be a bonus. New England is one of only three teams on the Bills’ schedule that are .500 or better at this point. They could win 10 games and not beat a team that finishes with a winning record. 

Think of it this way: They could play their best game of the season and still lose. I don’t mean to bow to low expectations, but it’s true. They’re 3-0 and could be 1-2 if a couple of plays had gone the other way — heck, 0-3 if they Giants had gone to Daniel Jones earlier. 

The Pats are the defending Super Bowl champions. They’re on perhaps the hottest run of defense in NFL history. They have the best quarterback in history and a head coach who is certainly on the short list of the best men ever to carry a clipboard. Yeah, they’re three victims are a combined 0-9, but they’re the team to beat in the NFL once again — even with Rob Gronkowski sitting home in retirement. 

So enjoy it, Bills fans. It’ll be a wild, crazy environment at New Era on Sunday. The 12th Man will be out in force, screaming at Brady and hurling imaginary sex toys at him. But you’ll have the rare, reassuring sense that this game is gravy, that it’s more a measuring stick for where the team stands than a necessary win on the path to the playoffs. 

The Patriots haven’t allowed an offensive touchdown this year, the first time a team has done that through three weeks of the season in the Super Bowl era. On Sunday, they’ll look to become the first team ever to not allow a TD in five straight. They haven’t allowed a first-half point all season and in their last five games — which includes last year’s AFC title game and Super Bowl against the NFL’s two top-scoring teams, the Chiefs and Rams. 

They’ve allowed only one first-half touchdown in eight games, the equivalent of half a season. That included a 24-12 win over the visiting Bills in Week 16, when the Bills finally scored a TD on a Josh Allen-Zay Jones pass with 1:08 left in the game. The Bills had gone 15 consecutive quarters without scoring an offensive TD against the Pats to that point.  

So simply scoring in the first half will be an achievement. This will be a good test for Allen and an improving offense, against a team that shut down Patrick Mahomes, Jared Goff and Ben Roethlisberger in the first half during their defensive run. I imagine Brian Daboll has been saving a few things for his old boss and mentor, Bill Belichick. 

On a base level, it comes down to Allen vs. Brady. No Bills quarterback has stared down Brady and won since Ryan Fitzpatrick in 2011, when Fitz threw for 369 yards. That’s the last time a Bills quarterback threw for 350 yards in a win. So while Allen needs to tame his riskier tendencies, he needs to be a little like Fitz to beat Brady on Sunday.

Go ahead, root your hearts out against Brady. He’s tortured Buffalo for nearly two decades. He has the most wins of any quarterback in Buffalo in the last 20 years — and that includes the Bills’ quarterbacks. He’s ripped our hotels, called out the Bills mafia … though he’s also looked a little confused at times against Sean McDermott and Leslie Frazier’s defense. In his last four games against the Bills, Brady has averaged 234 yards passing with three TDs and four interceptions.

Brady is an easy guy to despise, especially if you’ve lost to him 30 times. Hate him if you must, but as a sports fan, you should also appreciate him. He’s the best ever to play, so relish the chance to watch him play, the way you did Dan Marino and Joe Montana and John Elway. I know it seems like he’ll play forever, and Brady is still on top of his game at 42. But you never know when it’ll be your last time to see him play in person.

Enjoy the game, and please, no dildoes.

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THE COLUMN

092419

Sometime this morning, the Buffalo media will have the first of its twice-a-season conference calls with Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. I was part of these calls for 20 years, and it’s the most unfulfilling and frustrating exercise in journalism — trying to get anything remotely expansive out of the Hoodie, who makes saying nothing an art form.

Generally, Belichick drones on about the virtues of the Bills and their players, mentioning as many players as he can by name, praising the coaches staff, the city, everything but the maintenance staff. One year he mentioned former wideout Josh Reed when Reed was no longer on the team. He could make a winless team seem like a cross between the 1972 Dolphins, 1985 Bears and 1962 Packers on one of these conference calls. It doesn’t matter that he’s 30-3 against the Bills in his career with Tom Brady as his quarterback.

I hope someone will at least  try to get in a question on Antonio Brown, who spent 11 days with the Patriots, scoring one touchdown in his only game, before they cut him last Friday. A Sports Illustrated investigation told of Brown’s history of stiffing people who provided personal services to him and revealed  “intimidating” and threatening texts he sent to a female artist that could have made him subject to discipline under the NFL’s personal conduct policy. 

Of course, the Patriots had continued to employ Brown days earlier despite accusations of sexual assault and rape from a woman who had worked as Brown’s trainer. Evidently, the Sports Illustrated story pushed the Pats organization over the edge. Why they signed him in the first place, ignoring Brown’s long and troubling trail of bizarre and allegedly unlawful behavior, is a question that remains to be answered.

Last Friday, after the SI story broke, Belichick spent roughy three minutes and 30 seconds on Friday with the Pats media, deflecting questions about Brown before bolting from the interview room. Five hours later, the Patriots released Brown, who ripped them on social media.

It was typical Belichick. But he took his condescending attitude toward reporters to a new level before Sunday’s game against the Jets. When CBS veteran reporter Dana Jacobson asked him what had been the final straw with Brown on the pre-game show, Belichick offered a terse “no comment” and proceeded to glare at Jacobson in what has widely been characterized as a “death stare.”

Belichick was asked after the game why he had decided to cut Brown: “Yeah, we’ll just focus on today’s game,” he said. 

And you wonder why so many people despise the Patriots. Belichick was widely criticized on social media for his reaction to Jacobson’s question, which was a legitimate one and might have been avoided if the Patriots had provided any explanation for their decision, aside from the cliched assertion that they were “moving in a different direction.”

Fans deserved more than that. The Patriots took an ill-advised chance on Brown, the latest troubled player on whom they brought to the team. It was reasonable for the media to expect some sort of answer. As Jacobson said later, she was just doing her job. Belichick could have graciously and humbly described the team’s putting its faith in Brown and provided some small insight into the decision to finally give up on him. 

According to Ian Rapoport, New England claimed it wouldn’t have signed Brown if it had known about the Taylor lawsuit. But they still started him in a game and had him participating fully in practice afterwards. They were going to start him for a second consecutive week until the SI story broke about the texts. 

This is the Patriot way. No one in the organization has publicly taken responsibility for the way they handled Brown’s situation. The questions are legitimate. There was an inconsistency in the way they dealt with Brown — handling a rape accusation and the allegation of threatening text in different fashion. Instead, they act as if it’s some indignity for the media to expect an answer, or at least an honest show of humility. Yeah, right.

Tom Brady went on Boston radio and made some rambling comments about hate and love and a “negative culture” and essentially making society and social media the real villains here. Come on, dude. 

Actually, I’ll be glad when the Antonio Brown thing is behind us. The focus this week should be on two 3-0 teams, with first place in the AFC East on the line. Belichick won’t be kidding when he says the Bills have a formidable defense that has caused problems for Brady in the recent past. This will be the Bills’ biggest home game in years, and the only matchup between 3-0 teams in Week 4. 

But if the Antonio Brown debacle continues to hover over the Patriots, generating more disdain for the most polarizing team in sports, they have no one to blame but themselves. 

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THE COLUMN

092319

Remember last week, Bobby, when I told you there might be only two AFC teams that were clearly better than the the Bills? Well, there are three unbeaten teams remaining in the AFC after three weeks: The Patriots, the Chiefs and the Bills. 

But how good are the Bills, really? Are they like other Buffalo teams that got off to promising starts in this millennium, only to be exposed as impostors  later? Or are they a legitimate playoff contender, a team that figures to win at least 10 games?

We’ll find out a lot next weekend when the Patriots come to town. Belichick’s guys waxed the Jets, 30-14, and shut them out in the first half. That makes five consecutive games in which the New England defense hasn’t allowed a point, going back to the first half of the AFC championship game last year against the Chiefs.

That’s a pretty low bar, scoring a point in the first 30 minutes next week at New Era. The fact is, the Bills could be more impressive in defeat next Sunday than they were in victory yesterday — going to sleep in the second half and nearly suffering a soul-crushing loss before rallying in the final moments behind Josh Allen to survive, 21-17.

But there are plenty of questions about the Bills after this win. For one thing, they haven’t exactly played a tough schedule. Their first three victims have a 1-8 record — and it would be 0-9 if the Giants hadn’t staged an amazing rally from an 18-point halftime deficit to beat the Bucs, 32-31, in the first NFL start for rookie quarterback Daniel Jones. 

Just think: If the Giants had done the wise thing and started Jones from Day 1, and if the Jets and Bengals could have gotten one late defensive stop, the Bills could be 0-3 right now. That’s how narrow the margin of victory can be in today’s NFL, where there’s very little to separate about 25 teams in a rather mediocre and unpredictable league. 

Of course, it generally gets back to the quarterback. I still think the Bills would be better off if they’d drafted Deshaun Watson or Patrick Mahomes in 2017. Allen led another rousing comeback on Sunday, using his legs and his arms to march the Bills 78 yards to the winning touchdown with 1:50 left. On one big scramble, Allen did a Houdini-like escape job. The kid seems to thrive in a crisis, which is a very encouraging sign for the future. 

Allen has made tremendous strides so far.  He has completed 64 percent of his passes for 750 yards, which puts him on pace for precisely 4,000 yards over a full season. He led yet another fourth-quarter comeback — albeit from a deficit largely of his own making.

But he’s still making those dangerous, confounding throws into coverage — “Hero Ball” plays in the current parlance. He opened the door with one of his signature awful throws midway through the third quarter, making a reckless throw over the middle of the field that was picked off by Darius Phillips and returned to the Bills’ 22.

On the series after his interception, Allen failed to see the safety shifting over and made another dubious throw down the field that could easily have been picked off.

Then there’s the Buffalo offensive line, which is better then last year’s remedial unit but not nearly as good as some critics would have you believe. They’re below average in pass protection and had Allen under siege and scrambling for much of the afternoon.

The Bills did everything they could to put this game on a platter for a bad Bengals team. The good news is that, unlike teams during the drought, they pulled it out at the end. But there were still plenty of troubling signs. For the second week in a row, they played sloppy with a lead and showed their age, looking like an immature team that wasn’t used to playing with a big lead, one that felt it could put things on cruise control against an inferior opponent.

McDermott reminded us afterwards that “it’s tough to win in this league.” But he’s right. Any team can rise up if you give them an opportunity. The Bengals were dreadful for more than a half. But Andy Dalton has won a lot of games in the league and if you allow him to get into a rhythm, as the Bills did in the second half, he can get on a roll.

The Bills controlled the ball for 23 minutes in the first half, outgained the Bengals by 181 yards by halftime, ran 27 more plays and still only led 14-0. Anyone who lived through the drought had a bad feeling. In any sport, if you allow a team to hang around too long, they usually rise up and make a game of it. 

OK, so I’m nitpicking. That’s how it goes when you’re a contender, when you’re supposed to be good. In today’s NFL, all teams have flaws. The true contenders acknowledge their flaws, learn from them and rise above them. Do you think Patriots fans are celebrating a 3-0 start?  I’m sure people are fretting on talk radio in New England, worrying about the offense and Tom Brady’s weapons. Bill Belichick says they have work to do. 

That’s how it goes when excellence isn’t a hope, but an expectation. Any small sign of decline is fair game for criticism. The Patriots don’t measure themselves against mediocrity, but again their own lofty standards. When you’ve won 10 games in 16 straight season, a hot start doesn’t seem like such a big deal. It’s business as usual. 

The Bills should win 10 games at the least. Think of it this way: They haven’t played the Dolphins, who are tanking. If you assume those two wins, that means they only have to go 5-6 in the other 11 games to win 10. That’s certainly achievable. The defense is one of the best in the league and Allen is playing better than most critics could have expected.

They’re playing to a higher standard now. But I wonder if the outside world takes them seriously and believes they’re ready to be a real contender. At times on Sunday, the Bills played like a team that felt it had already arrived, instead of what they really are: An improving but immature bunch, with a lot left to prove.

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THE COLUMN

092019

Bobby, is it possible for a quarterback taken in the sixth round of the NFL draft to become a star and to transform the fortunes of a franchise? What was the name of that guy who took over for the Patriots after falling to the sixth round in 2000?

OK, so I’m not saying Gardner Minshew is going to be the next Tom Brady. But the mustachioed QB from Washington State has taken Jacksonville by storm and become a national sensation after playing just three games in his rookie season and replacing injured Nick Foles as the starting QB.

Minshew, who marched the Jags to a potential tying touchdown last Sunday — Doug Marrone tried for a game-winning 2 point conversion that failed — went 20 of 30 passing for 204 yards, two TDs and no interceptions in his national prime-time debut as strife-ridden Jacksonville drilled the Tennessee Titans, 20-7, on Thursday night.

He’s doing what he did a year ago in his only year at Washington State, when he passed for 4,776 yards and won the Johnny Unitas award as the nation’s top senior or fourth-year quarterback. The Mississippian led Washington State to a school record 11 wins and passed for 470 yards in his first game. Minshew led all of FBS in passing attempts, completions and yards.

Why did he last until the sixth round? I don’t know. Why did Brady, the best quarterback who ever lived, last until the sixth round. Minshew was the 178th pick of the 2019 draft, by the way, 12 choices after the Chargers took Easton Stick, currently third string for the Chargers behind Philip Rivers and Tyrod Taylor.

Minshew is 6-1. The knock on him coming out of college was that he was a one-year wonder (like Cam Newton?) who had limited arm strength and height, short-hopped too many passes and didn’t play in a system that allowed him to make difficult reads.

OK, but watch this kid play quarterback. He’s sure dynamic. He’s not afraid to fling it. The Jaguars were deep in their own end and Minshew was throwing from his own end zone. He showed good footwork in the pocket, sliding up to find room to throw and making quick decisions on the move. Some of his shorter throws seemed to lack touch and sailed a little high, but it’s hard to argue with the results. 

Minshew dropped one throw in perfectly to Dede Westbrook in the left corner of the end zone, who muffed what would have been a touchdown throw. 

He’s blowing up on social media, which is to be expected in today’s culture, which embraces any fresh sporting sensation. The Minshew mustache is a big hit, as it was at Washington State. Look on-line and you’ll see his face superimposed on Uncle Rico, the would-be quarterback brother in one of my favorite movies, Napoleon Dynamite.

He’s been dynamite, all right, and he might just save Doug Marrone’s job. Five days ago, Marrone was getting roasted for the decision to go for two points and the win, instead of playing for overtime. He had a blowup on the sideline with star cornerback Jalen Ramsey, who asked to be traded later in the week. Ramsey played every defensive snap in Thursday’s win, but he’s still expected to be moved before the Jags play their next game.

But the Marrone and Ramsey dramas were forgotten in the flush of Thursday’s win. No one was talking about the fact that Jacksonville, which reached the AFC title game two years ago, had lost 12 of 14 regular-season games coming into the night. They were talking about Uncle Rico — I mean, Gardner Minshew.

It’s early, they’re only 1-2. But Minshew has lifted a team from despair before. Last season, Washington State and its fans were reeling after projected starting QB Tyler Hilinski killed himself the previous January. Enter Minshew, who had transferred after being a backup for two years at East Carolina (he began his career at Northwest Mississippi Community College.) He originally committed to Alabama in February, but figured he would never see the field. Mike Leach convinced him to come to Pullman for a season.

By the end of the year, they were calling it a “miracle season” at Washington State, where Drew Bledsoe was once a star. Minshew threw 36 touchdown passes to 10 different receivers. He threw for a school record seven TDs in a 69-28 win over Arizona.

So the talent was there. But in a draft where a 5-10 Kyler Murray went first overall, he lasted to the sixth round. Late Thursday night, on the NFL Network set after the big win, Minshew didn’t seem all that surprised by it all.

“Nothing’s changed,” he said. “I’m the same guy now who got booed off the field at ECU and didn’t have any scholarships out of high school. I’m the same guy who’s sitting here right now … I get more and more confident with every rep I take.”

“It’s something I believed for a long, long time, when not a lot of people did.”

The NFL season got a little more interesting Thursday night. The league needed this. Drew Brees and Ben Roethlisberger are hurt. Andrew Luck retired in August. There’s a legion of new young quarterbacks, including the Bills’ Josh Allen, looking to take the league to an exciting future. Now you can add Gardner Minshew to the list. 

Some day, they’ll be asking which QBs were drafted ahead of Minshew as a trivia question — the way they do with Tom Brady.

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THE COLUMN

091919

My weekly question for Sean McDermott was simple enough at Wednesday’s media day: I know you don’t like to look ahead, but how can you not notice with all the events happening in the conference — Luck going down, Big Ben going down, Darnold getting sick — that the path to the playoffs is getting a little clearer for you guys?

The Bills coaching wasn’t buying. Predictably, he said nothing even remotely expansive. In fact, McDermott even suggested that he wasn’t even aware of all the adversity befalling other teams in the AFC. He did say that other people had occasionally texted him to bring him up to date on news involving his NFL competitors. 

Well, that’s McDermott. He said he’s only worried about what’s in front of him. The process. One game at a time. Getting one percent better every day. A laser-like focus on getting his team better and putting all their focus on themselves and the task at hand.

It doesn’t make for great copy, but it can make for a great football team. He can be frustrating to deal with, but he believes in what he’s preaching. And do you know who else believes it? His players. Talk to the guys in that locker room and it’s like listening to McDermott. To a man, these guys channel their head coach. They recite his cliches, sing the same song, walk to the same dull, determined drummer:

I interviewed five members of the Bills on Wednesday and they all echoed their coach’s sentiments. They’re not worried about 2-0, or the fact that several of their competitors around the AFC are suffering major setbacks. 

Lee Smith: “We’ve played two football games. We’re not worried about top 10 this or that … just focus on doing your job and that 1-0 mindset and doing your job instead of worrying about all the silly stuff … I don’t think it’s necessarily that we don’t want to look at the big picture, but the longer you’re in this league you understand that if you’re not zoned in on the Bengals, that becomes a problem.”

John Brown: “I’m not worrying about winning 10 games now. I’m worrying about one game at a time. We’re worrying about the Bengals right now. I’m not looking that far ahead.”

Lorenzo Alexander: “I’ve been on teams that were 2-0 and didn’t make the playoffs. We were winless when we went to Minnesota and won, you know what I mean? So you never let your guard down …  The minute you don’t respect an opponent, or look past an opponent, or other teams that maybe suffered some injuries, those teams will jump up and bite you.”

Micah Hyde: “It’s too early … it’s a long season. We got to take them game by game.”

Isaiah McKenzie: “We haven’t played our best football. We still got a lot to learn, a lot of games to play. You just got to go to practice every day and get one percent better every day.”

OK, I get it. You can’t get ahead of yourself, get too high or too low. There are only 16 of these games and you have to treat every week as precious in the NFL. It’s all part of the process of becoming a genuine contender and, well, who is going to argue if the players who go out there on Sunday are parroting their head coach and buying in?

We wouldn’t talk about chemistry and team unity in sports all the time if it was just some fanciful notion. It matters, and if the Bills are channeling their head coach and focusing on every day, every single practice, trying to get that 0ne percent better every day, I imagine it’s helping them to win, and they’re not going to deviate from the script now. 

A little more from Lee Smith: “I think the Sean McDermotts of the world, the Lorenzo Alexanders and the guys who have been in this business long enough understand that it truly has to be a 1-0 week. We’ve been around long enough to know that looking into the future isn’t the way you win. You win by using all your mental energy on the Bengals. 

“If we waste a second of mental energy worrying about who in the hell has the flu around the league thehat doesn’t allow us the best chance to win this week.

I’m sure Bills fans are on board and encouraged to hear it. They’ve seen a lot of teams get off to quick starts, only to see it evaporate into another 7-9 or 6-10 season. They’ve bought into McDermott’s process from the start and wanted desperately to believe he could make a difference in Buffalo, that he and Brandon Beane could deliver a legitimate winner.

Sure, it would be nice to get more provocative quotes from the Bills players and head coach, if we’re going to do the Media Day dance every Wednesday. But fans don’t care about reporters getting juicy quotes. They care about their team, which looks to me like the best Bills squad in 20 years, since the last time they won 10 games 20 years ago.

As John Brown said, they’re not thinking about 10 wins, or 2-0, they’re thinking about the Bengals, who would love to put an upstart team in its place at New Era on Sunday. I imagine the Buffalo fans will happily go along, and be at their frenzied best on Sunday.  They know each game is a separate experience to be cherished.

One game at a time is the right way to go. But you can’t tell me that deep down, the coaches and players don’t notice the adversity that’s happening around the AFC,  and that while it’s not wise to get ahead of yourself, the path to the playoffs is wider than ever.

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THE COLUMN

091819

Granted, they’ve won two games against two struggling quarterbacks, one who was apparently playing with mononucleosis (Sam Darnold) and the other who was on the verge of losing his job to the sixth pick of the NFL draft (Eli Manning). 

But it has certainly been an encouraging start for the Bills’ defense, which finished second in the NFL in yards allowed and first against the pass a year ago and could be even better this season. The Bills are currently sixth in yards, sixth against the pass and — perhaps most vital of all, third in yards per play against at 4.5. A year ago, by the way, they finished third in yards per play against at 4.9. So I’d call that a trend. 

The defense has its weaker moments, like the Giants’ opening drive last Sunday and a couple of their poor efforts against the run a year ago. But they’re trending to be an elite defense in the league. The most important stat of all is points allowed. They’re fifth after being 18th a year ago, when a remedial offense was a major impediment on the scoreboard.

The Bills have a lot of talent on Sean McDermott’s defense. They have a budding young star at all three levels: Tre’Davious White at cornerback, Tremaine Edmunds at middle linebacker, and rookie Ed Oliver at defensive tackle. Oliver has been a force, albeit an inconsistent one, on a defensive line that is better than it was a year ago in Kyle Williams’ final year in Buffalo. 

Pressure from the front is the single most important factor in defense in the NFL nowadays. Quarterback is by far the most critical position and making the QB uncomfortable the biggest factor for a D. The Bills have been getting consistent pressure this season. According to ESPN stats, they’re sixth in the time opposing passers are getting to throw at 2.61 seconds, improved from 2.78 a year ago. 

Sixth in pressuring the passer, sixth in yards, sixth against the pass — I’d say there’s a connection. The Bills have five sacks, tied for 13th in the NFL, on pace for four more than a year ago, when they ranked 26th. But as McDermott and the players keep telling us, it’s about more than sheer sack numbers.

“There’s different things we look for. Sometimes numbers and sacks don’t always tell an accurate story,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said. “Most of the time, there’s more to it than just sacks.”

The Bills are only 23rd against the run. Teams that commit to the run have had success against them in McDermott’s time in Buffalo. But aside from that opening drive against the Giants, the run defense has been solid and the defensive front is more than holding its own.

Brandon Beane has constructed a deep defensive line with eight players who are getting regular playing time in McDermott’s rotation. Trent Murphy, recovered from injuries that dogged him last year in his first season with the Bills, has been a revelation. Shaq Lawson, healthy and eager to prove himself in a contract year, has been a consistent force. Second-year tackle Harrison Phillips has worked his way into equal time with Star Lotulelei.  Ed Oliver looks as good as advertised. Jerry Hughes has been, well, Jerry Hughes. 

The secondary is among the top half dozen in the game, and they’re a sturdy bunch. The four starters — White, Micah Hyde, Jordan Poyer and Levi Wallace — played all 70 snaps against the Giants. So did Edmonds and Matt Milano. Injuries are a part of football, but if this defense avoids major injury, it should be one of the top units in the NFL. 

I imagine the home fans will be wired to see them for the first time at New Era against the Bengals this weekend. It’ll be interesting to see them work with the 12th Man advantage, which has always been primarily a defensive phenomenon. With the crowd making it hard for their former cult hero, Andy Dalton, to hear signals, it’ll be difficult for the Bengals — currently second in the league in passing — to function at a high level. 

McDermott, of course, talks about the process and how he’s taking them one game at a time. He believes the defense has a lot to improve on before it can be considered elite. Channeling his coach, Harrison Phillips took the same modest line on our show this week. 

But the Bills’ defense is good, one of the best in the NFL, and with a functioning offense, certainly good enough to carry a team to the postseason.

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THE COLUMN

091719

I don’t know who I feel sorry for the most: Dolphins fans, first-year head coach Brian Flores, quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick … all right, it’s probably my guy Fitz. I know I don’t feel sorry for Minkah Fitzpatrick. The Dolphins traded Minkah Fitz, the safety who was the 11th pick of the 2018 draft, to the Steelers yesterday for a first-round pick.

Anyway, it’s truly regrettable what’s going on right now in South Florida, where the Dolphins are tanking and early favorites to become the worst team in NFL history — yes, even worse than the 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who went 0-14 as an expansion team under old John McKay.

Those Bucs were truly bad. They were outscored on the season, 125-412. That’s an average margin of 29-9, or 20 points a game. They were shut out five teams and didn’t score more than 20 points in any game. Steve Spurrier was the quarterback. He had 7 TDs and 12 interceptions. Their leading receiver, Morris Owens, had 390 yards in receptions.

But they were an expansion team. Miami is a once-proud franchise that won two Super Bowls, that had a coach named Don Shula, the all-time leader in NFL wins. They used to be fixtures in the playoffs, when they tormented the Bills in the 1970s and were tormented by them during the Dan Marino-Jim Kelly era.

Now they’re an embarrassment. Those old Bucs were outscored by 20 points a game. This year’s Dolphins have been outscored by 46 points a game through two weeks. That’s right, they’ve been outscored, 102-10, by the Ravens and Patriots.  Only one other team has allowed 102 points over the first two games of the season: The 1973 New Orleans Saints, who finished 5-9. That ain’t happening to this team, which had many of its players calling agents to ask to get shipped out of town after the 59-10 loss to the Ravens in the opener.

At one point in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s 43-0 loss to New England, the Pats had more yards in interception returns than the Dolphins had in total offense. Miami was 2 of 15 on third downs, averaged 3 yards per play, threw four interceptions (three by Fitz, one by Josh Rosen) and had a long rush of 9 yards.

Poor Brian Flores, what’s a coach to do? If he loses every game, he’ll be criticized for not getting his team to rise up in difficult circumstances. If he wins too many games and costs them the No. 1 pick in the draft, he’ll be ripped for winning too much. 

You know what that reminds me of? Ted Nolan. Yeah, remember how Nolan caused problems by winning too much at one point during the Sabres’ tank years, how he got guys to play hard and won games, forcing the Sabres to strip down their goaltending and get the tank heading in the proper direction in the run for Conor McDavid or Jack Eichel?

I’m sure you remember, and that’s what I’d say to the Dolphins and their fans and media, many of whom are giddily going along for the ride. Be careful what you wish for, or tank for, because losing on purpose in the chase for a franchise-changing player isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, and can take a lot longer than you might anticipate.

The Sabres began tanking in the 2013-14 season, the year they began with Ron Rolston as coach and re-hired Nolan. Seven seasons later, they’re still waiting to get back to respectability. They’ve finished dead last in the NHL three times. They’ve finished eighth, eighth, seventh, eighth, eighth and last year all the way up to sixth in the division. 

Last night, the Sabres played their first preseason game at Penn State. Jack Eichel scored the game-winner in overtime. Maybe this is the year, in Year Five, when Eichel finally plays like a true superstar and leader and leads Pegula’s squad back to the postseason. It’s about time, don’t you think?

But that still won’t make the tank worth it. Seven years is a long time. One player doesn’t radically transform a franchise (ask Edmonton) in hockey and unless you get an elite, Hall of Fame-caliber quarterback, it doesn’t do it in the NFL, either. The Browns tanked, too, and we still don’t know if Baker Mayfield was the best QB in his draft class. 

One thing tanking does is change the discussion away from how a franchise got so bad in the first place, making losing a strategy and leading some fans and media along by making the tank a form of entertainment. It’s a cynical tease and anyone who falls for it gets what he deserves. 

As we’ve found out in Buffalo, losing on purpose can create a toxic culture, one that can’t be fixed with one supposed generational player. Losing seeps into the locker room, creating a malaise among the players. Five years after the tank, Ryan O’Reilly lost his passion in Buffalo, got shipped out of town and became the hero of a Cup champion in St. Louis. 

So be careful, Dolphins fans. Instead of cheering for the tank, ask how you got here in the first place — was it giving Ryan Tannehill a misguided contract extension, making bad draft picks, hiring the wrong men in personnel and coaching along the way? 

You shouldn’t be encouraged and hopeful about your hapless loser. You should be angry and ashamed, and prepared for a longer road back than you imagine. Trust me, I’ve seen it in Buffalo, where a once-proud hockey team is still trying to dig out. 

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THE COLUMN

091619

Last week, Giants head coach Pat Shurmur created a mini tempest when he said that while  evaluating quarterbacks before the 2018 NFL draft, he had seen Josh Allen as a guy who had a chance to be a starter in the NFL. 

To the Bills and coach Sean McDermott, it was perceived as an insult to their franchise QB. A tweet of Shurmur’s comment was visible on the TV screens around the facility at One Bills Drive late in the week. McDermott wasn’t happy that the news had gotten out, but it was clear that he had used Shurmur’s slight to motivate Allen and his team. 

Whatever the motive or the impact, Allen got back at Shurmur. He showed the Giants and the world that he’s developing into a pretty good NFL quarterback — not a mere starter but a star. Allen passed for 253 yards and a touchdown, and ran for another, as the Bills scored a convincing 28-14 win over Shurmur’s Giants at MetLife Stadium. 

The Bills are now 2-0 before playing a home game for the first time in their 60-year history.  Allen completed more than 60 percent of his passes for the second straight week, and became the first Bills quarterback to throw for 250 or more yards in consecutive wins since Ryan Fitzpatrick did it in Weeks 2 and 3 of the FitzMagic run in 2011. 

Allen remains a work in progress, but in the first two weeks he showed the development that the team and its fans were hoping for in his second NFL season. He showed poise in the pocket, made accurate throws under pressure, scrambled judiciously and spread the ball around to his improved cast of offensive weapons. 

Carrying over his fine play from the second half of the opener, Allen completed seven passes in the first quarter, to seven different receivers. He was 5 of 5 for 52 yards on the Bills’ second drive, a 75-yard TD march that tied the game, 7-7, and ended with Allen scoring on a designed quarterback sweep around right end.

The Bills  went 70 yards for a go-ahead TD on their next possession, with Allen converting two third-down throws to John Brown and another to Cole Beasley. Management has given him weapons, and he’s showing what he can do with reliable NFL receivers. The third drive went 98 yards, culminating in Allen’s inside toss to Isaiah McKenzie for a 14-yard score on a well-designed play from coordinator Brian Daboll, who was at his best in the early going.

Daboll and the coaching staff have demonstrated faith in Allen from the start of the exhibition season, putting in aggressive game plans that emphasize Allen’s prodigious athletic gifts and show a willingness to attack opposing defenses through the air. 

They allowed Allen to throw from his own end zone on second-and-9 early in that 98-yard drive. Allen stood in the pocket, looked to his right, freezing the defense, then looked back to his left and delivered a 15-yard strike to John Brown for the first down. 

It wasn’t perfect. The offense sputtered, gaining a total of 20 yards on four possessions after getting ahead 21-7.  They played like a team that’s not accustomed to playing with a lead on the road. They had false starts, sacks, a bad throw by Allen. They’ll need to be more consistent against the better defenses — the Pats in Week 4, for example. 

There are things you don’t know about a quarterback until he confronts crisis. During his young career, Allen has demonstrated an ability to come up with a big play to meet the urgency of the moment — like when he scrambled away from a hard rush and zipped a 17-yard pass to Brown on third down with the Giants making a minor run in the second half.

Two games into his second season, Allen is showing the kind of awareness that you expect from a true franchise guy, and that you can never really judge until you see him over time in real NFL situations. One thing you can say is the kid has a keen awareness of his role as the face of the franchise in Buffalo. 

During his press conference after the win, Allen was asked by a Giants reporter to comment on the chance he might have ended up in New York in the draft.

“I am in New York,” Allen said with a knowing smile. “Then, seconds later, he pointed to the questioner and added, “One New York team,” a reference to the fact that the Giants and Jets reside in New Jersey.

Well, if Bills fans didn’t love Allen before this, they’ll be positively wild about him now — especially if he keeps winning games. Buffalo people love an athlete who embraces the town, who understands what it means when a player gets the connection between a loyal, long-suffering fan base and its team. 

I can just hear the fans when Allen walks out of the tunnel before the home opener against the Bengals on Sunday, shouting “One New York team, One New York team!” 

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THE COLUMN

091319

OK, it wouldn’t be like me to over-react, to get ahead of myself early in a Bills season. We’ve seen them get off to good starts too many times, only to see things go to pieces later. But here’s an obscure stat that could bring hope to Bills Mafia: On Sunday, for the first time in their history, they can get to 2-0 before playing their first home game. 

Think about that. If they take care of business in their return trip to MetLife Stadium, the Bills will be unbeaten with eight home games left — and two games against the hapless Dolphins. At that point, who wouldn’t be ready to jump on the Salty Sully Bandwagon, convinced that the Bills were headed for double digit wins for the first time in 20 years?

Yes, it’s a long season, and the Patriots and Chiefs look as formidable as ever. But circumstances in the AFC have been falling Buffalo’s way lately, compromising some of their main competitors and enhancing their chances of at least getting one of the two conference wild cards and their second playoff appearance in three years. 

On Thursday, the Jets announced that quarterback Sam Darnold had been diagnosed with mononucleosis and would be out indefinitely. Le’veon Bell had an MRI on his shoulder yesterday. Though the test revealed no major damage, it looks like Bell’s return from a year’s hiatus will be more trying than expected. 

Trevor Siemian will play quarterback for the Jets in Monday Night’s game against the Browns at MetLife. Adam Gase reminds us that Siemian has a winning record as a starter, but the Browns will be hungry after getting blown out by the Titans in the opener. 

After that, the Jets go on the road agains the Patriots and Eagles, then play the Cowboys and Patriots again. They could start the season 0-6.  So a team that many people felt was further along than the Bills in its rebuild looks like a remote possibility to make the playoffs. The Bills are better, as we found out last Sunday. 

The Colts, of course, are without Andrew Luck, who suddenly retired late in training camp. They played well with Jacoby Brissett, but lost their opener. Sorry, they’re not going anywhere. That knocks out a team that took one of the AFC wild card spots a year ago. 

The Steelers and Browns, two chic picks to make the playoffs, both lost by 30 points in their openers. Maybe it’s time to stop pretending that the Steelers are still some elite franchise. Mike Tomlin is on the hot seat. His defense is average. Ben Roethlisberger is old. Say what you will about Antonio Brown, they’re not remotely the same offense without him. I could see the Bills defense going into Pittsburgh in December and shutting them down.

Denver was one of my choices to make the jump this season. I’m not so sure after what I saw on Monday night. Joe Flacco looked ordinary. That vaunted pass rush couldn’t unsettle Derek Carr. They made the Raiders look like a playoff contender. If they don’t pull it together in a hurry, they’ll be 0-2 after running into that Bears defense on Sunday.

The Jaguars were another popular team to bounce back two years after getting a competent quarterback to replace Blake Bortles. But Nick Foles broke his collarbone in a home loss to the Chiefs and is on injured reserve. He can’t be back until Week 11 at the earliest. 

The vaunted Jags defense has people calling it overrated after Patrick Mahomes shredded them on Sunday. Our old pal St. Doug Marrone will be out of a job if rookie Gardner Minshew can’t save the day as Foles’ replacement. Gardner Minshew?

Maybe all the Browns love will dissipate after that embarrassing performance against the Titans in the opener. Time will tell if that loud-mouth Baker Mayfield is the best quarterback in that supposedly great 2018 draft class. I’ll take the ’17 class with Deshaun Watson and Mahomes — and despite Mitch Trubisky. 

That goes for Lamar Jackson, too. Nice job in the opener against a tanking Miami team. Let’s see Jackson play that way against teams that don’t have half the players calling their agents and trying to get out of town, teams with good defenses. Let’s see how he does against the Bills’ secondary at New Era Field on Dec. 8.

Listen to me, sounding like some shameless Bills fan and Pegula shill. It’s early, I know. It’s the Bills, I know. But this is an objective observation: The field around the Bills in the AFC is getting compromised right and left. The playoff race is wide open and for once, it’s OK to expect them to make a real run at 10 wins and a playoff spot.

During the drought, when bad Bills teams were hanging around and making the heroic run to 7-9, I often said their best friend was the utter mediocrity of the rest of the NFL. That’s what made a 17-year playoff drought so confounding, that the league is constructed to allow even average teams to get in the playoffs on a regular basis, and they couldn’t get there.

That’s even more so right now. The mounting troubles of a mediocre AFC are pushing the Bills forward as a legitimate playoff contender. I see two teams that are clearly better than them — New England and the Chiefs. Maybe the Chargers. But it’s right there for the Bills. I picked them to win 10 and didn’t even include the opener at the Jets. 

They were a legitimate playoff contender heading into training camp. The events in the conference are making it even more so. If they win at the Giants on Sunday, people around the NFL will be saying it, too. 

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THE COLUMN

091219

On Wednesday, our poll raised the question, ‘Should Devin Singletary be the Bills’ featured back?’ By a 94 percent margin, perhaps the largest in the poll’s history, the fans responded with an overwhelming “Yes.”

So I figured I’d pose the question to head coach Sean McDermott in his press conference at Media Day. Who is your number one running back?

“Frank Gore, and then we bring in Devin and then we bring in T.J.,’’ McDermott said.

Not content with that answer, I pressed him on the matter a couple of questions later. Gore is No. 1 on the depth chart, but is he your featured back? I mean, you could start a guy, but have someone else come in and take the bulk of the work. 

“Now we’re getting into the weeds a little bit,” McDermott said. “Featured back? No. 1 back? How about just running back? We’re just trying to win games, that’s who our featured back is.’’

Pressed on it further by Leo Roth of the Rochester D&C, McDermott made it clear that he has a pecking order and that Gore, the NFL’s leading active rusher and No. 4 on the all-time list, is his No. 1.

“We have a depth chart and he’s (Gore) listed at No. 1 and no disrespect to the question, we’re trying to win games and whoever is going to carry the load, whether it’s matchup wise, game plan wise, or health wise which sometimes comes into play, we have confidence in all three of those guys.’’ 

Fine, but let’s not forget that on the night of the draft, after the Bills took Singletary in the third round and raised questions about the team’s running back order, Brandon Beane quickly asserted that LeSean McCoy was the team’s number one running back, a clear attempt to massage McCoy’s ego and quell any running back controversy.

McDermott echoed the general manager’s comments. Yes, McCoy got the first touch in training camp. He was the nominal starter. Then they got a long look at the rookie and cut McCoy at the end of the preseason. And made Gore the starter. 

So it’s clear what’s going on here: Once again, McDermott is deferring to his veteran, showing respect for Gore’s stature as the team’s elder statesman and a likely Hall of Famer. But Devin Singletary is the featured back. He made the clear when he led the Bills’ stirring comeback win at the Jets in the opener, exploding for 94 yards from scrimmage in the second half and finishing with 98 total yards — on just nine carries. 

Beane raved about Singletary after drafting him. Experts felt the Bills needed other positions more at the draft. But the Bills knew what the kid could do. They knew he could become an instant factor at a time when rookie running backs, including guys drafted in later rounds or not at all, become featured guys right off the bat. 

Singletary told me in the locker room Wednesday that the Bills made him no promises about playing time. It was just “Welcome to the NFL,” he said.

“I was just excited to get to the NFL and get the opportunity to showcase my talents,” Singletary said. “I just came with the mindset and come to work. However it played out was how it played out.

“My mindset was it doesn’t matter where I go, as long as I get an opportunity. I’m going to be ready to work, whether it’s first or whether I’m undrafted.”

Singletary looked up to Gore and McCoy, two of the best runners ever, and he learned. Lee Smith says it was evident right away that the NFL wasn’t too big for the kid. He answered questions about his receiving ability early and he was poised to make an impact

It’s understandable that McDermott would want to defer to Gore. He’s a proud veteran and has always been a starter. McDermott is a football coach, always looking for an edge. It can’t hurt to have opposing coordinators wondering which back will be more prominent in the attack. Why not keep them guessing?

Gore averaged 4.6 yards a carry last season and is still an effective inside runner. He could certainly go out and set a tone as the starter. But Singletary is their breakaways back, their secret weapon. He’s a dynamic two-way threat who fits best with the more aggressive, attacking offense Brian Daboll is trying to establish.

McDermott is sensitive to his team culture. He has a healthy mix of youth and veterans, guys like Lorenzo Alexander, Lee Smith and Gore who he describes as “connectors” for his message in the locker room. He believes in Gore and says his featured back is anyone who helps him win games.

But it’s the new featured back who could take Josh Allen and this offense to a new level. If you watched Singletary spark a win in his NFL debut, you know the answer. 

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THE COLUMN

091119

Well, it never ends, does it? Yesterday, our poll was whether people thought that Antonio Brown would finish the season with the Patriots. It was 59 percent yes, which reflected to some degree the fact that voters wondered about Brown’s erratic behavior. 

Well, later on Tuesday, one day after Brown signed with the Patriots, two days after he forced his release out of Oakland, a federal lawsuit was filed in the Southern District of Florida accusing Brown of raping Britney Taylor, a woman who worked as his trainer.

Maybe we ought to post that poll again, Bobby. 

This case could drag out for a long time in court. It involves incidents that occurred in June of  2017 and May of 2018. Taylor, who met Brown when they attended Central Michigan together claims, Brown sexually assaulted her  twice during training sessions in June 2017 — exposing himself and kissing her without her permission, and on another occasion, while they were streaming religious material, he started masturbating behind Taylor and ejaculated on her back.

Taylor ended the working relationship, but returned later when Brown apologized. She claims in the lawsuit that on May 20, 2018, Brown forced her onto a bed, pushed her face into the mattress and “forcibly” raped her.

Taylor released this statement: “As a rape victim of Antonio Brown, deciding to speak out has been an incredibly difficult decision,” Taylor, 28. “I have found strength in my faith, my family, and from the accounts of other survivors of sexual assault.”

In the statement, Taylor said she would cooperate with the NFL. This will be a difficult case to prove in court, and would drag out for months if not years. But the NFL does its own investigation and Roger Goodell has the power to discipline under the league’s personal conduct policy, regardless of the outcome of criminal proceedings. Five years ago, the NFL hired specialists to help in investigating claims of domestic violence.

Keep in mind, Goodell suspended the Cowboys’ Ezekiel Elliott for six games for a sexual assault accusation, though Elliott was never charged. Though the woman lied about one allegation, the NFL determined that she told the truth about three other assault claims against Elliott. 

Of course, the league also suspended Tom Brady, Brown’s new teammate, for four games for allegedly deflating footballs before an AFC championship game. They take sexual assault claims much more seriously, especially in the age of the Me Too movement. Experts say the delay in reporting will make Taylor’s case tougher, but the passage of time didn’t save Harvey Weinstein, or Catholic priests, or other sexual predators from being held to account.

Brown, of course, denies “each and every allegation” in a statement released by his lawyer, Darren Heitner. Heitner said Brown will not only clear his name but take remedies to protect other pro athletes from false accusations. He suggest that Taylor is motivated by money.

The Patriots released a statement saying they do not condone sexual violence and won’t comment further while the league conducts its investigation.

This is a bad, bad look for the Patriots. It’s hard to imagine that they knew these charges were coming. Owner Robert Kraft is still facing two counts of soliciting prostitution from a case in Florida last winter. Kraft has to be reeling at this development, one day after signing Brown — and having Tony Dungy express disappoinment in him on national TV.

Again, this is one of those he-said, she-said issues. Taylor’s lawyer admitted that she and Brown had consensual sex on one occasion. But this is Antonio Brown, whose behavior was the story of the NFL preseason. Until yesterday, you could at least say that for all his erratic behavior, at least he wasn’t guilty of any offenses against women. Now this. 

Jerry Jones tried to get Roger Goodell fired for the Elliott six-game suspension in 2017. He’s going all-in to make a run at the Super Bowl this season. You don’t think Jones, one of the most powerful owners in sports, will be making a stink about the Patriots behind the scenes to get the league to come down hard on Brown, regardless of what happens in the criminal courts?

For now, the season will go on. Brown will get on the field and start catching passes from Tom Brady. This gives Bills fans — and Pats haters everywhere — one more reason to despise New England. They’ll take hope in what is becoming more obvious by the day, that in this Antonio Brown drama, things will continue to get worse. 

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THE COLUMN

091019

This past Saturday, the Oakland Raiders granted Antonio Brown his wish and released him, voiding $30 million in guarantees in the process. In the immediate aftermath, I heard a national NFL expert on the radio asking if this might be it for the troubled seven-time Pro Bowler. What team would take the risk of signing him now?

Hours later, the Patriots signed Brown to a one-year, $15 million deal. Say what you will about the guy. Call him a clown, a diva, a bad teammate, a divisive influence. In the last two months, he posted on-line photos of blisters on his feet, refused to use a new helmet, posted on Instagram asked for his release and might have broken state law by posting a video with a recorded phone call with Raiders coach Jon Gruden.

Maybe, as critics have suggested, his odd behavior is the result of some kind of head trauma. On one hand, his actions have been bizarre and erratic. But he’s also a very shrewd and calculating  man who orchestrated his own way out of Oakland.

As ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reported,  “Antonio Brown during the week actually sought advice from social media consultants on how he could accelerate his release from the Raiders.”

In the end, Brown got what he wanted. It cost him millions, but he landed with a Super Bowl champion. The Patriots got what they wanted, too. Keep in mind, they had reportedly offered a first-round pick to the Steelers for AB when he fell out of favor in Pittsburgh. But the Steelers didn’t want to trade him to their biggest AFC rival and dealt him to Oakland for less.

It’s no wonder Bills fans — and Pats-haters everywhere — are so outraged by this turn of events. The Evil Empire has done it again. They got one of the NFL’s most notorious characters, again a wide receiver, with the confidence that they can rehabilitate him and make him a functioning and productive weapon for the best quarterback of all time, Tom Brady. 

Bill Belichick has done it before. Randy Moss was 30 years old and a tainted figure, a presumed locker room cancer, when the Pats acquired him from — yes, the Raiders — for a fourth-round pick at the 2007 draft. Moss fit in, all right. He scored 23 touchdowns that season as the Patriots went unbeaten before losing to the Giants in the Super Bowl. 

Josh Gordon was out of football for two full seasons for a drug problem. After one game last season, the Browns finally gave up and traded him to New England, which gave up a fifth-round pick. It was seen as Gordon’s last chance. He was terrific, catching 40 passes for an 18 yard average. Brady threw for 100 more yards per game when Gordon was on the field. 

Gordon left the Patriots in late December because of mental health issues. He missed the entire postseason. The Pats won the Super Bowl, anyway. Gordon returned to the team last month and had three catches for 73 yards and a touchdown in New England’s 33-3 rout of Pittsburgh in the opener on Sunday night. 

Watching Brady carve up the Steelers, completing at least 3 passes to five different receiver and finding wideout Philip Dorsett for 95 yards and two touchdowns, skeptics asked, do they really need Brown? It certainly didn’t look as if the Raiders missed Brown on Monday night when Derek Carr went 22 for 26 passing in an opening win over the Broncos. 

But let’s be serious. Brown is one of the best receivers of all time. Over the last six seasons, he averaged 114 catches and 1,500 yards and 12 touchdowns. Apparently, the Raiders were better than people expected. Jon Gruden wanted Brown and catered to him to the very end because he felt he could win with him and desperately wanted him in his offense.

The same goes for the Pats, who wouldn’t invest in Brown if he didn’t think they could help them win a seventh Super Bowl. They have a lot of weapons, but you can never have enough targets for Brady. Who knows if Gordon will keep his head on straight? Julian Edelman is 33 and missed all of 2017 with an injury. They no longer have Rob Gronkowski to function like an extra wideout.

Belichick gets production from three rotating running backs, so you know he can find uses for an elite wide receiver. Sure, Brown will have to prove he can fit into the selfless New England culture. Brady said “the clock is ticking” as far as getting Brown up to speed. It doesn’t always go well. Chad Ochocinco never fit in when he went to the Pats at 33 in 2011. 

But Brown is in his late prime and should still be a big factor if he can subjugate his raging ego. He was a durable star in Pittsburgh, missing only four games in the last six years. Last year, of course, he abandoned the Steelers in the final week. His resentments toward JuJu Smith-Schuster were petty and juvenile. 

It’s easy to root against Brown, even easier now that he’s in New England. Bills fans will boo him unmercifully when the Pats come to New Era on Sept. 29. Just remember, you wanted him, too. Bills fans were giddy when it seemed Brown might come to the Bills. When he went cuckoo in Oakland, people felt better off without him. But the thought of Brown helping the Pats win an 11th straight AFC East title is taking Pats-hatred to an even higher level in Buffalo.

There’s good reason to be jealous of the Patriots’ culture. For two decades, it has been the inverse of the Bills’ dysfunction. But the best way to fight their culture is to build your own, and the Bills seem to be doing that. Some day, maybe they can be the destination for twisted talents like Brown and Gordon, the place malcontents go to resurrect their careers and to show the world they can still be part of a winning, cohesive team.

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THE COLUMN

090919

Well, it certainly wasn’t a work of art. Josh Allen turned the ball over four times in the first half alone. The Bills took advantage of some brutal place-kicking and a key injury to Jets star linebacker C.J. Mosley. Allen will need to be a lot more consistently poised and precise if he wants to be a true franchise quarterback for a true title contender. 

But in the end, Allen got the job done, rallying the Bills from a 16-0 deficit to a stirring 17-16 victory at the Jets in the season opener. No matter how ugly, a road win over an AFC East foe is a big step. They’re 1-0 and tied with the Patriots — who once again look like the best team in the NFL — atop the division.

But one day, if the Bills evolve into a genuine contender and Allen becomes the kind of quarterback who deserves those comparisons to Jim Kelly, we’ll look back on Sunday as the moment when the kid QB and a young team began to arrive. As Sean McDermott said after the comeback, it was a resume-builder, the kind that can allow you to look in the mirror and say, “I’ve done this. I’ve come from behind on the road against a division rival.”

It was the Bills’ biggest fourth-quarter comeback in 22 years, since Todd Collins led a rally at home in 1997, the first post-Kelly season. Considering that it was a season opener, in the latest installment of the Allen-Sam Darnold rivalry, in a season of such high expectation, this one seemed far more significant.

There were a lot of heroes. The defense was magnificent, justifying its high rank from a year ago. They sacked Darnold four times, got consistent pressure on him, batted down several passes at the line of scrimmage, and didn’t allow a rush of more than 12 yards or a pass play as long as 20. The secondary lived up to its reputation as one of the NFL’s finest. 

But the big star of the day was rookie running back Devin Singletary, who arrived as a dynamic offensive weapon when the team needed him most. When the Bills fell behind 16-0 in the third quarter, it looked like one of those signature meltdowns of recent years, when a stellar defensive effort went to waste because of a bumbling, dysfunctional offense. 

The Bills had scored in single digits in opening road losses in their previous three seasons — at Baltimore in a 13-7 loss in 2016 and a 47-3 humiliation last September, and a 10-3 loss at Carolina in Sean McDermott’s first season as Bills head coach in 2017. 

When Allen was going to pieces early, you could just hear Bills fans howling and wondering if backup Matt Barkley might actually be a better option than Allen. It was bad enough to summon ugly memories of Nathan Peterman.

But a 5-7 rookie from Florida Atlantic was ready to flip the script. The question is, what the heck took the coaches so long to give him a chance? Singletary was limited to just one catch for 4 yards the first half. Later, he said he was thinking that a football game is four quarters. 

Luckily for the Bills, he was right. Singletary had 94 yards from scrimmage in the second half, most of it during the comeback. He busted for 20 yards on his first career NFL carry with 6:36 remaining in the third quarter. The man they call “Motor” cruised for 12 and 15 yard runs on the drive, which cut the Jets’ lead to 16-10. He had 19 yards on the winning drive, including a 12-yard catch one play before Allen found John Brown for the winning 38-yard TD with 3 minutes to go.

I wanted to see the Bills throw early and often, rather than play conservatively against a Gregg Williams defense. Brian Daboll called 18 pass plays before they had their first running back carry — by Frank Gore — at the end of the first quarter. At one point in the first half, Allen had three turnovers and his backs had four combined touches.

It was encouraging to see Daboll establish an attacking mindset and dictating to the D, treating Allen like a real weapon and a franchise QB. But he got a little carried away and would have been wiser to mix in more runs, especially when you consider how dynamic Singletary was when he finally got a chance.

But I imagine we’ll see a lot more of Singletary now. That’s the main thing. I said all along that you don’t draft a running back in the third round if you don’t expect him to be a major factor right off the bat. Le’Veon Bell had 23 touches for 92 scrimmage yards Sunday. He became the fastest player in history to 8,000 scrimmage yards for his career. 

Singletary had 98 yards on nine touches. 

He outplayed a star who sat out all last season and got a four-year, $52.5 million contract from the Jets. Singletary is a $753,000 cap hit as a rookie. When I pointed that out on Twitter and asked for comments, I got more than 2 thousand likes. I think Bills fans like their new Motor. And even though it wasn’t pretty, I’m guessing they really like their team.

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THE COLUMN

090619

Well, the NFL season kicked off on Thursday night and it wasn’t exactly an offensive circus. The Packers beat the Bears at Soldier Field, 10-3, and it might have been the worst nationally televised offensive show since another 10-3 game you might remember — the Bills playoff loss at Jacksonville in the wild-card game two seasons ago.

The teams combined for 467 yards. The Packers had 47 yards rushing, the Bears 46. Neither team had a rush over 10 yards; there was one pass completion of 30 yards. We all hate preseason and want fewer games. But this showed how rusty offenses can be when they have so little real work with their starting quarterbacks in the preseason. Two years ago, six teams scored in single digits in Week 1. I could see another opening week like that one.

Some other observations from the NFL opener: 

Aaron Rodgers is still an elite quarterback, and if he’s healthy the Packers are better than the Bears and a playoff team. Rodgers got off to a slow start against a great Bears defense. Green Bay had minus-12 yards in the first quarter, their worst offensive first quarter in 25 years. But Rodgers found his rhythm in the second quarter, making quick reads duress and going 11-for-15 for 132 yards in the second as the Pack took control of the game.

At 35, Rodgers is still a great athlete, smart and poised and agile in the pocket. Watching him, you’re reminded how vital it is to have an experienced QB in today’s NFL. He’s got amazing awareness. He ran the play clock down toward zero with cool efficiency. On one play, he popped up after a sack pointing downfield and gesturing to the officials about a hold against a defensive back. He was right. It was a key first down. The guy still has it.

Many coaches don’t want their quarterbacks throwing from their own end zone, especially late with a lead. Rodgers threw from his end zone after a play fake froze the defense in the fourth quarter — and found a receiver open down the middle for a key first down. 

Mitch Trubisky is an average quarterback and the reason the Bears will regress despite a top defense. The Packers didn’t respect him down the middle of the field, allowing them to creep up and contain the running game and force punts on nine of Chicago’s first 10 possessions. Trubisky isn’t nearly as good as Rodgers under pressure. Late in the game, with the Bears facing third-and-10 from the Green Bay 15, he floated up a duck in the left corner of the end zone for an easy interception. The Bears had two delays of game penalties.

Punting matters. Keep that in mind, Buffalo fans, as the Bills struggle to find an answer at the position. Green Bay drafted a punter, J.K. Scott, in the fifth round of the 2018 draft. It’s rare for a kicker to go that high, but the Alabama product showed why he was worth it when he booted a huge 63-yard punt late in the game to pin the Bears back. 

The officials continue to justify their existence by calling every conceivable penalty on punts and kickoffs. One of my pet peeves, which I tweet several times during every NFL game, is the “obligatory block in the back or holding call on a punt.” There were several Thursday night. I get tired of seeing a flag and hearing the ref say, “During the kick … “

You can’t watch a real game, with good defenses, and not be reminded how hard it is to play quarterback and what’s facing Josh Allen in his second season. These defensive fronts are fast and go after quarterbacks to force them into quick decisions. It’s not as easy to deliver those quick slants over the middle as fans would like to believe.

There’s a reason the average team completed 65 percent of its passes last season, an all-time high. There are more short, low-risk throws than ever (one reason catch percentages are up among wideouts). It’s important to have running backs who can catch. That’s a big reason TJ Yeldon made the team. It’s the one skill the Bills wanted to see in Devin Singletary before deciding he warranted a big role in this offense. 

It was encouraging to see only one pass interference challenge in the opener. It was an easy call for the officials to allow the original call to stand. The contact was marginal. And they did catch the one blatant offensive interference call. In preseason, there were 15 challenges for interference by coaches and every call was upheld. Maybe coaches will just give up.

Do you think coaches borrow from Bill Belichick? Cordarelle Patterson is now a receiver for the Bears. But Matt Nagy lined him up at tailback on a third-and-one. Remember Belichick using Patterson as a gadget player last season? 

I like Cris Collinsworth on NBC. A lot of people don’t, they think he’s a know it all. I like the fact that he’s not afraid to be critical and have an opinion. People gushed about Tony Romo last year for knowing what plays were coming. Romo is very good. But I like Collinsworth more. I prefer someone with a critical edge to a playcaller.

Jaire Alexander, the second-year Packers cornerback, is going to be a Pro Bowler. The Bills’ Tre’Davious White is developing into a shutdown corner. I like Alexander a little more.

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THE COLUMN

090519

What do you know? We get some real live pro football tonight. The Packers and Bears kick off the 100th season of NFL football tonight on NBC. Where else would the 100th season begin but at old Soldier Field, with the Bears, who began their long history in 1920 as the Decatur Staleys, who finished second to the Akron Pros that year under George Halas.

The Staley opened with a 20-0 win over the Moline Universal Tractors that year. They shut out 10 of their 13 opponents. The Akron Pros shut out 10 of their 11 opponents and battled Halas’ Staleys to a 0-0 tie in the final game, earning the title of what was then called the APFA. The Buffalo All-Americans were third at 9-1-1. They also tied the Akron Pros 0-0 in their final game that inaugural season. 

I’m guessing there wasn’t a lot of passing back then. It wasn’t until 1933 that they legalized the forward pass from anywhere behind the line of scrimmage. Yeah, the sport sure has changed a lot in 100 years. Last year, the average NFL team attempts 552 passes.

It promises to be a fascinating season. There are a lot of questions looming as we get ready for the centennial campaign. Here’s 10 of the most pressing ones:

We can start with tonight’s game. How good are the Bears, really? They won 12 games last year, the most since their last Super Bowl year in 2006. They lost their playoff game to the Eagles as Cody Parker missed a big kick. How long until new kicker Eddy Piniero costs them a game. The defense is great with Khalil Mack, but how good is Mitch Trubisky? 

Will they be like the last three Bears teams that won big. The Super Bowl team went 13-3, then fell back to 7-9 the next year. They won 11 games in 2010 and slipped back to .500. They did the same thing in 2012. Remember, every year on average five NFL teams decline by at least four games in the standings. 

Two, what about the Patriots? Are they finally ready to come back to the rest of the AFC East? Rob Gronkowski, who appeared on the Tim Graham Show on Wednesday, is retired. They lost starting center David Andrews for the season with an injury. Rookie wideout N’Keil Harry is on injured reserve with an ankle injury. Tom Brady is, well, 42 years old. Of course, we’ve been asking this question for more than a decade now. Keep this in mind: The Patriots’ defense could be its best since the Tedy Bruschi days. 

Three, are running backs worth the big money? They might be a dime a dozen, but the Cowboys just gave Ezekiel Elliott a record $90 million over six years. Le’Veon Bell sat out a year and got $13.125 million a year from the Jets. People have said both deals were nuts. Do you think the Rams regret giving Todd Gurley four years, $57.5 million. How about the Cardinals and that 3-year, $39 million payout to David Johnson? 

Running backs aren’t the only ones who need to justify big salaries. How well will Antonio Brown do with the Raiders and Jon Gruden when the real bullets fly. Brown has averaged 114 catches and over 1,500 yards the last six years with the Steelers. But he’s getting on in years, he has bad feet and helmet issues and become the league’s champion diva. Here’s what Brown posted on Instagram yesterday after being informed that he owed the Raiders $54,000 in fines for time missed in training camp: 

WHEN YOUR OWN TEAM WANT TO HATE BUT THERE’S NO STOPPING ME NOW DEVIL IS A LIE. EVERYONE GOT TO PAY THIS YEAR SO WE CLEAR.”

Oh, and speaking about divas, how about the Browns and Odell Beckham Jr. and Baker Mayfield. Mayfield said Wednesday that Beckham and his wide receivers should be “licking their chops” if they get one on one matchups against the Titans in the opener. Mayfield said it would be disrespectful to cover his top guys one on one. Boy, imagine if Tennessee pulls the upset in the opener. What’ll happen to all the Cleveland hype then?

Will the Dolphins go 0-16? How long before Ryan Fitzpatrick flings his way back onto the bench and they turn to Josh Rosen as the sacrificial lamb? They’re tanking, which means the Bills have two wins on the belt and need to go only 8-6 against the rest of the sked. 

How about the Chiefs? I expect a drop back in Kansas City. But people have underestimated Patrick Mahomes before. Maybe it doesn’t matter who lines up with that guy. He could be one of those quarterbacks, like Brady, who makes skill guys better. They upgraded the Chiefs defense, but it still could be a problem. Tough schedule, too. 

What about the new pass interference rules? Will it be the fiasco everyone has been predicting? I imagine so, because NFL coaches won’t be able to resist the temptation to seize every possible edge. Get ready for a lot of goofy highlights on Sunday night. 

Who’s the best team in the NFC? Are the Rams and Saints due for a step back? I like the Eagles. Carson Wentz could be the MVP if he stays healthy. Philly has one of the top three offensive lines in the game, a solid defense and a top head coach in Doug Pederson. Can you believe Jason Peters is still starting at left tackle, at 37 years old. 

Finally, is Josh Allen ready to make the leap. Will he lead his team to a four-game improvement in his second season as the Bills’ franchise quarterback, as Deshaun Watson, Jared Goff, Wentz and Mitch Trubisky did in their second years? 

Here in Buffalo, of course, that is the biggest question of all. 

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THE COLUMN

090419

In an hour or so, I’ll be heading out to Orchard Park for the first regular-season Media Day of the season. Sean McDermott will address the media at around 11:20. I’m sure he’ll be a few minutes late, as usual. I’ll try to get there early, just to reacquaint myself. 

Yeah, I took a year off from the media activities at One Bills Drive last year after leaving the local newspaper. It wasn’t by choice, and there were times when I was happy not to be sitting there, asking leading questions and rolling my eyes while McDermott gave evasive answers and did hit best to essentially say nothing, like any dutiful football coach.

But I did miss it. I like being in the middle of the media scrum. Like any athlete, I would say it’s the camaraderie, being with the other reporters, that I missed most. That media room is our locker room. It’s where we talk trash about our fantasy teams, argue about the relative merits of the players, take turns transcribing quotes, tease John Wawrow. 

It’s always tough getting an expansive response out of Sean McDermott — or most of the Bills players in the open locker room session afterwards. LeSean McCoy was the ultimate diplomat, and he has this soft and halting speech that drove you nuts. Josh Allen is like young McDermott. Try getting anything remotely provocative out of that kid. 

Ditto for Tremaine Edmunds, who is now the spokesman for the defense. 

Anyway, I’ll sit a couple rows back on my return, defer to the regulars and be content to get in one question for McDermott in the opening presser, which generally runs about 20 minutes. But after a year away, I need work, more reps. So here’s what I’d ask the head coach if I was able to ask every single question at McDermott’s session later this morning.

“Coach,” … wait a minute, I don’t ever address the coach as coach. 

“Sean, Jerry Sullivan of the Jerry Sullivan Show and the Niagara Gazette … “

“Welcome back, Jerry. I thought you retired.”

“Thanks, Sean. Good to be back. You were’t getting rid of me that easy.

“Anyway, one ESPN writer listed you as the coach on the hottest seat this season. Did that amuse you? We local guys know that you’re secure as could be with the owners. But do you feel a little bit of pressure to show significant improvement here in your third year?”

“Sean, every year on average five NFL teams improve by four wins or more. Why should the Bills not be expected to be one of those teams this season? Last year, you and Brandon warned people not to expect too much too soon after making the playoffs in your first year. Do you worry this year that fans’ expectations are too high?”

“Sean, you just cut a player who was a team captain last year and the last offensive player who was  on the team before you got here. Do you think this team will miss LeSean McCoy’s leadership?”

“Sean, it’s pretty clear that the Dolphins are taking this season. Does that make you feel like you have already have two wins in the bank? Obviously, their head coach says he would never tolerate such a strategy, despite management’s actions. He said it would disrespect the game. But we’ve seen it here with the Sabres. It happens. Could you in good conscience take part in something like that?”

“Sean, you were second in defense in yards last season but 18th in points allowed. How much have you spoken with the defensive players about the fact that defensive ranking doesn’t matter all that much if you can’t keep teams from scoring. Would you be disappointed if you didn’t at least finish in the top half of the league in points allowed?”

“Sean, the Bills have been bottom five in the NFL in pass attempts the last two years and attempted the fewest in the league over the last 15 years combined. Can you win in today’s game by being run heavy and not throwing the ball more? You were part of a Panthers team that was 27th in attempts one year and went 15-1.”

“Sean, how can you ensure that your defense, which can be so good at times, avoids the sort of brutal lapses it had in your first two seasons — like the three-game stretch allowing 45 points a game in the middle of the 2017 season and the poor start a year ago?”

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THE COLUMN

090319

Well, Shady McCoy is no longer a Bill. The Chiefs snatched him up after he was cut on Saturday. I’ve said before that you have to give Andy Reid the benefit of the doubt in his dealings with the Bills. Maybe he’s right. It could be that McCoy has something left.

But cutting McCoy was the right move for the Bills, and for the Pegulas. He had outlived his usefulness. This is Sean McDermott and Brandon Beane’s team now. They left no doubt by cutting Shady loose. He was the last remaining offensive player from the Rex Ryan era just three seasons ago. There are only three guys left who played for Rex — Lorenzo Alexander, Jerry Hughes and Shaq Lawson, all defensive stalwarts for a defensive coach.

More significantly, this is Josh Allen’s team now. The Bills want him to be the unquestioned leader of the offense, with the voice and stature and command suited for a true franchise quarterback. McCoy didn’t fit in this scenario. I said that in late April, when I said the Bills should cut McCoy and get out of the way of Allen and rookie Devin Singletary.

McCoy was in the way. Yes, he was a warrior who would play hurt at times for his team. He was also a proud, self-centered player with a side agenda. He stuck out like a sore thumb in the McDermott culture. As I said back in May, he would have been in Allen’s way.

You can’t discount the fact that McCoy was still hounded by off-field domestic issues that cast doubt on his character. You have to wonder if the Pegulas, who have fired people for lapses of personal behavior, were embarrassed by him.  He recently paid $55,000 to an off-duty cop in connection with a brawl in a Philadelphia bar in 2016. 

But this move also made perfect sense as a football move. You don’t draft a running back in the third round if you don’t plan for him to have an immediate impact. I’ve said since the draft that Singletary would lead the team in rushing. Now there’s little doubt that the kid will be a major factor and I see him going over 1,000 scrimmage yards as a rookie.

Reid thinks McCoy has a lot left in the tank, but he declined in a big way the last two seasons. Last. year, his 3.2 yards per carry was 48th out of 49 qualifying backs in the league. A year earlier, he had declined by 1.4. yards a rush, the biggest one-year decline of any 1,000-yard rusher in league history. 

It’s fashionable to blame the Bills’ offensive line last year and a poor offensive cast. There’s truth to that, but Shady was a shade of his old self in 2017. He had these rushing games that year: 12 for 9 yards; 14 for 21; 12 for 25; 11 for 10. Those games came with Richie Incognito and Eric Wood still around. McCoy put the Bills into a lot of second-and-11 situations two years ago, making things that much harder for Tyrod Taylor. 

The Bills picked up Frank Gore, the NFL’s leading active rusher, and T.J. Yeldon, a former top pick who looked better than McCoy in preseason. The writing was on the wall for McCoy, despite Beane and McDermott’s claims to the contrary. This should remind us that general managers and coaches are masters of prevarication. We should judge them by their actions, not their diplomatic dodges in press conferences. 

You have to wonder why Beane didn’t move McCoy last season, when the Bills were out of contention and there were teams who needed running backs — the Eagles, in particular. Remember all the talk about how much they could get in return, the ludicrous suggestion that they might get a third-rounder? I would have taken a sixth-rounder at the time. We’ll never know if Beane could have gotten something for Shady at last year’s deadline — or this summer. Wouldn’t it have made sense to move him, rather than cut him for nothing?

You have to conclude that McCoy had very little value on the trade market. Last week, Beane got draft assets for Wyatt Teller and Russell Bodine, two offensive linemen who likely would have been cut by the Bills. He sent Bodine, a bad center, to the Patriots. That’s pretty amazing, Bill Belichick trading for Buffalo’s castoffs. 

Yes, Andy Reid and Bill Belichick, the two leading coaches in career NFL wins, invested in players who no longer fit in the Bills’ plans. Fans ought to be encouraged by that. Beane’s reputation is still tied to Josh Allen, but he deserves credit for taking a team with a bloated salary structure and systematically reshaping the roster, shedding overpriced veterans, drafting young talent and building in depth on both sides of the ball. 

They were certainly deep enough to send McCoy on his way. Shady gave us some Sundays to remember. He could be a charmer when he was in the mood, a charismatic guy in the good times. But he was out for himself, more interested in his Hall of Fame chances than being a selfless leader on a young team on the rise. 

McCoy has the most rushing yards of any active running back who never won a playoff game, second all-time to O.J. Simpson. Wouldn’t it be something if the Chiefs run into the Bills in the playoffs in January?

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THE COLUMN

083019

The Bills came from behind to beat Minnesota, 27-23, in their final preseason game on Thursday night at New Era. They finished 4-0 in the exhibitions for the first time ever. 

What does it mean. Very little. In eight playoff seasons under Marv Levy, the Bills did not have a winning preseason record in any of them. 

Yes, it was actually pretty exciting. The Bills scored three times in the last four minutes to beat the Vikings. Marcus Murphy scored on a 79-yard punt return. Victor Bolden recovered a fumble by Tyree Jackson in the end zone. Jackson, who played the entire game, hit David Sills with an 8-yard touchdown pass with 8 seconds left for the winner.

Great. That’s a lot of eights. None of those guys will be on the active roster when the season begins on Sept. 8. Jackson was brutal for most of the day, but wound up 22 for 33 for 175 yards — Peterman numbers — and ran for 78 yards. He did it against guys like himself, Minnesota third-stringers, most of whom will be on the street in two days. Boy, was that Vikings defense horrible in the final five minutes.

Exactly one year ago today, the Bills rallied from a 27-3 deficit to a 28-27 win at Soldier Field in the preseason finale. McCarron was emotional afterward. He called it one of the finest moments of his football career. Two days later, the Bills shipped him to the Raiders for a fifth-round draft pick. 

That cleared the way for Nathan Peterman to be the opening-day starter. Peterman, as you might recall, completed 33 of 41 passes for 431 yards in the 2018 preseason. Is there any greater reminder not to over-react to what happens in these August exhibitions? It didn’t matter, except that it resulted in further embarrassment for Sean McDermott.

You know what matters? The fact that the starters didn’t play and no one got hurt. 

It matters that Mitch Morse is out of concussion protocol. The Bills will be pretty healthy by NFL standards heading into the opener against the Jets. Yeah, they’ll miss Quinton Spain for awhile and it was tough to lose EJ Gaines. But this team has depth and is in a lot better shape when it comes to health than a lot of contenders. 

It matters that after having the worst collection of wide receivers in the NFL last season, the Bills have to match some tough decisions at the position this year. OK, so there’s no one you’d take in the top four rounds of a fantasy draft, but they’re deeper and better. Watch what happens to Duke Williams or Ray Ray McCloud if they get cut by Saturday’s 4 p.m. deadline. Some team will snatch them up. 

It matters that Josh Allen and Cole Beasley developed a true chemistry in camp and the preseason games. Beasley will be a frequent target for Allen over the middle this season. He averaged 83 targets the last three seasons in Dallas. I see over 100 this season. 

It matters that McDermott and Leslie Frazier have the most defensive line depth this team has had in years, despite the absence of Kyle Williams.If Ed Oliver is a force from the start, they’ll get the sort of inside push they need to make Jerry Hughes a Pro Bowl caliber edge rusher. 

It matters that Shaq Lawson seems motivated to have his best year. Rookie Darryl Johnson, a seventh-round pick, has been a revelation as a pass rusher and special teamer. He’s a lock to make the team.  It matters that Ed Yarbrough could play so well on Thursday and not be good enough to make this defense. 

You know what matters? The way Brian Daboll attacked in the first two preseason games. That was a good sign. It wasn’t that they won, but the attitude they displayed. What matters is that this team expects to win this season, and that public expectations are also high. I think they should win 10 games and challenge for a playoff spot. 

I suppose you could argue that the Bills established some kind of winning attitude from sweeping the preseason. If they were 0-4, people would be wondering if it was the same old thing, a sign of bad things to come. But most fans would be comforting themselves by saying, it doesn’t matter. It didn’t matter when they were good. 

It doesn’t. The only record that matters now is 0-0, the one they’ll take to MetLife Stadium for the opener on Sept. 8. Winning the finale in dramatic fashion will be a faded memory. Really, had you forgotten that McCarron finale? How much did that game matter when they got blown out with Peterman at Baltimore in last year’s opener. 

What really matters, I suppose, is that they’ll have the right quarterback playing this year when the real games begin, and that, preseason or not, this team looks ready. 

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THE COLUMN

082919

Well, the Bills play the Vikings at New Era tonight in the fourth and final preseason game. These exhibitions are meaningless ripoffs, but the fourth one is the worst of all. The starters don’t play and there are very few rosters spots at stake. The chief objective is not getting anyone hurt. There is really no story for the media to tell.

I’m always rooting for the best story, so rather than dwell on Thursday night’s snoozer, I contemplated some of the story lines I’d like to see during the Bills regular season — which can’t get here fast enough. It could be a fascinating season for Bills, one of the best stories in years, as they attempt to win 10 games for the first time in 20 years and make a playoff run.

Here’s five compelling stories I’d like to see unfold along the way:

Week 2 at the Giants: Eli Manning was horrible in the opener, going 14-for-40 with four interceptions in a blowout loss at Dallas. He winds up with an 0.0 rating. Shades of Peterman in the 2018 opener.  Pat Shurmur stuns the league by turning the job to rookie Daniel Jones, who is coming off a stellar preseason after being the controversial sixth pick in the draft by general manager Dave Gettleman. 

So Josh Allen is the experienced quarterback on this day at MetLife. It’s a great chance for the Bills’ defense, which was average in the opener at the Jets, to make a statement against Jones and Saquon Barkley, who had 275 scrimmage yards in the opening loss.

Week 7 vs. Miami: After a bye, the Bills return home to New Era with a chance to get to 4-2 against the Dolphins and their starting quarterback — yes, Ryan Fitzpatrick. Fitz, playing for his eighth NFL team, has screwed up Miami’s plan to tank for a high pick by starting the season on fire for the second season in a row and leading the Fish to a stunning 3-2 start.

Fitz vs. Josh Allen. You knew it would come to this at some point. Bills fans wrote this one down as the most likely win on the schedule coming into the season. If they lose to Fitz and fall to 3-3, it’ll be an utter embarrassment. Which Fitz will show up, the guy who lit up the Bills for the Jets on Thursday night in 2015 here? Of the guy who threw three interceptions at New Era in the finale that season with a playoff spot on the line?

Week 10 at Cleveland: The Browns are 3-5, coming off an embarrassing loss at Denver. They’ve been drilled twice already on national TV night games. The darlings of the offseason are unraveling. Odell Beckham Jr. is complaining about not getting enough targets. Baker Mayfield leads the NFL in interceptions and is well behind Daniel Jones in quarterback ranking. Some fans are even calling for Garrett Gilbert to be QB.

The Bills, who haven’t played on the road in more than a month, are 5-3 and looking to get to six wins before their 11th game for the first time since 2000. Josh Allen is having a good year and people are now wondering if he was a better pick than Mayfield. Oh, and Kareem Hunt returns for the Browns after serving an eight-game suspension.

Week 13 at Dallas on Thanksgiving: Ezekiel Elliott came back in week 11 so he could accrue a season toward free agency. He rushed for 200 yards two weeks in a row and after starting 5-5, the Cowboys are 7-5 and making a playoff run as they enter the nationally televised Turkey Day game. Their defense leads the NFC, so it’s a big spot for Josh Allen.

The Bills are also 7-5 and making a run. They haven’t been 8-5 in a season since 1999. The defense is ranked No. 1 in the league and looking to make a statement before the nation. Which of the NFL’s top defenses will break first?

Week 17 vs. the Jets: The Bills and Jets are both 9-6, and both over .500 going into the finale for the first time in 2004. In a tight AFC playoff race, the tiebreakers say the winner of this game will get into the postseason with 10 wins. How many stories will be written, harkening back to that fateful ’04 finale against the Steelers here in Buffalo?

Sam Darnold has been terrific in his second season. He has 30 touchdown passes and was named a backup for the Pro Bowl. Josh Allen has been up and down as a passer, but has a great chance to strike a blow in his budding rivalry with Darnold. Devin Singletary has taken over as the featured back, and he’ll be looking to outplay Le’Veon Bell, who is on pace to go over 2,000 scrimmage yards in his return to the NFL for the Jets. 

Start the damn season.

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THE COLUMN

082819

OK, my fantasy football draft is tonight. Should I burden the audience with fantasy talk today? Is fantasy football important enough, with all the real news of the football world to deal with? Is it fantasy too trivial? Is it beneath me? Of course not. To some people, fantasy football is bigger than the actual game. So why not dedicate one show to this great pastime?

Hey, many  the show’s best friends are in the league. Matt Fairburn of The Athletic is the Commissioner. Matt Bove, Matt Parrino, all the Matts but Damon. Joe Buscaglia is in the league; Jonah Bronstein; John Wawrow; Jon Scott.

 Tim Graham, who is going to stop by today. Josh Reed; Jonah Javad, still in the league from Dallas; Mike Rodak, drafting from Alabama; Marcel Louis-Jacques, the rookie who replaced the hated Rodak at ESPN. Jay Skurksi from the News. 

That’s it. It occurs to me that every person in my fantasy league has been a guest on the show, or hosts it. Actually, I’m not sure about Javad. Did we have him on last year? Let’s get him on the line. It’s not as if there are things some major questions down in Dallas. 

I have countless questions heading into the fantasy draft. I always do. It’s not the same as baseball, where I study year-round and know every player and it’s a more sheer statistical sport, where numbers and trends tend to carry over from one year to another.

Football is very volatile and unpredictable. Touchdowns are pretty random. Julio Jones has 201 catches over the last two seasons, but only 11 touchdowns. Eric Ebron had 12 last year. James White had 11. I have the 11th overall pick. Would I take Jones at 11?

There’s so many polarizing characters in football. How high do you take Antonio, now that he’s no in Pittsburgh with his good buddy, Ben Roethlisberger? Would I take him at 11? He’s averaged 114 catches and 1,500 yards and 11 touchdowns the last six years. How do you not take him high? But who knows how he’ll do in Oakland with Derek Carr? And what about his shredded feet and his issues with his helmet? Can you trust the guy?

Hey, it’s fantasy, where character rarely matters. 

How high do you draft Ezekiel Elliott? Will Jerry Jones back down and pay him? I wonder if Javad will take a run at him? What if you risk a high pick on him and he doesn’t even play? Ask people who drafted Le’Veon Bell last year? And how high does Bell go? 

How about Melvin Gordon? Will he sign? Or Todd Gurley, who has 40 touchdowns combined over the last two years. Will he even be worth a first-rounder with the knee?

How much attention should I pay to preseason statistics? I mean, they’re not meaningless. What preseason information matters? Targets? Usage? 

How high do I draft a rookie running back? I took Barkley fourth last year and didn’t regret it. One year, I stunned my league by taking Edgerrin James sixth overall and he had 2,000 combined yards as a rookie and oh, I won my league. 

My son is my assistant manager again. How much should I defer to him? He tends to not overthink things, like a typical 21 year old. Is he a millennial, by the way? He insisted we draft Andrew Luck the year he missed the whole season. But last year, Luck paid off.

How high do I draft a quarterback? The position goes really deep and you can get a good starter late. But there’s separation between the top two or three guys and the middle. You can wait too long? Do I trust Bobby and overdraft Tom Brady? 

Do I take a late flier on Rob Gronkowski and hope he comes back? 

Saquon Barkley or Christian McCaffrey?

Who’s the first second-year quarterback off the board? Baker Mayfield? How high do you take Josh Allen? Will he have the best rushing stats of quarterbacks again? And how about Lamar Jackson? How do you not take a QB who could rush for 1,000 yards and 10 TDs?

How about a tight end? I chased the position around all last season. I asked Eric Ludwig about tight ends on a weekly basis. How high for Travis Kelce? Is it more important to have the top tight end of the No 6 running back or wideout?

Yeah, lots of questions. Have I studied enough? Will I study too much? Should I drink during the draft?

And really, considering all the football IQ in this league, how the heck did I finish first, second and fourth the last three years? Maybe I shouldn’t study at all.

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THE COLUMN

082319

On Thursday night, the Raiders and Packers played an NFL preseason game in Winnipeg — on an 80-yard field. That’s right, an 80-yard field. 

There were large divots — holes, really — in both end zones at Investors Group Field where they usually have the goal post for CFL games. Both teams were understandably concerned and the Packers talked about not using their starters. The game came close to being called off — which would be a welcome relief for those of us who despise these ripoff preseason games.

But the “show” went on when the two teams agreed to cut short the field and start the end zones at the 10-yard lines. There were no kickoffs. Each team started possessions at the 25-yard line. The Raiders left 24 players back home, which they would have done anyway. 

The Packers didn’t play any of their starters, which gave Matt LaFleur a good excuse not to play Aaron Rodgers, who has been dealing with tightness in his back. Rodgers likely won’t see any action until the regular-season opener against the Bears on Sept. 5.

The Raiders won the game, by the way, 22-21. Nathan Peterman got most of the work at quarterback behind Mike Glennon. Derek Carr didn’t play. Peterman was 23 for 37 for 210 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. He’s no doubt one of the few people in the country who actually think preseason games are a great idea. 

The preseason is a joke. Everyone knows it. Commissioner Roger Goodall said back in June that the preseason should be shorter, though it was a transparent attempt to get the players to agree to an 18-game regular season. This debacle in Winnipeg was a very bad look for the league. But it might end up being a good thing if the embarrassment makes the NFL even more inclined to change the system and stop screwing the public. 

No one likes the preseason (except Peterman). The coaches hate it, and more and more they’re saying so by their actions, by keeping their starters out of games to protect them. The main objective is not getting players hurt, which continues to happen anyway.

Entering Thursday night’s “dress rehearsals”, there were 12 starting quarterbacks who hadn’t played at all in the preseason. That included Carolina’s Cam Newton, who sat out against the Bills las week. Newton played Thursday against the Patriots, but Newton left in a boot after suffering an apparent sprained ankle. Tom Brady, who had sat out the first two exhibitions, finally played three shaky series and was 8 for 12.

Philip Rivers hasn’t played for the Chargers. Anthony Lynn said it’s up to his veteran whether he plays. “If Philip comes up to me and says, ‘Coach, I need a series’, he’s gong to get it,” Lynn said. “But as of now, he hasn’t.”

Rivers told LA reporters that joint workouts with the Rams and Saints have been very helpful in training camp. Sean McDermott and Ron Rivera would say the same about last week’s sessions between the Panthers and Bills last week in South Carolina. More and more coaches will be adopting this practice, making it less imperative to put players on the field in real games and expose them to injury. 

The Bears will sit out all their veteran players in Saturday’s exhibition against the Colts. It’ll be interesting to see how McDermott handles things Friday night against the Lions. The idea that the third game is the one in which starters play a half is being tested this year — and no one is going to play the starters in the fourth game, which continues to be the biggest ripoff of all for fans.

Our friend Mike Vaccaro of the New York Post wrote a compelling column a few days ago after the Jets lost Avery Williamson to a season-ending knee injury in Atlanta. Vaccaro suggested what many people — including the commissioner — feel is inevitable. Shorten the preseason.

Vacc said the NFL could play two preseason games and open their stadiums to the public on two other occasions, the way colleges do with spring football. They could charge for an intrasquad game instead of the first preseason game. Then have an open practice instead of the fourth preseason game. 

As Vaccaro pointed out, the college game has prospered without preseason games (though some of the non-conference games aren’t exactly a great value). The NFL doesn’t need four preseason games. It’s a money grab, which is what the league is known for. 

Do something for the fans and shorten the preseason. The fans want it. The players want it. The coaches want it. The commissioner wants it. If Goodell really wants what’s best, he won’t use the issue as a bargaining chip for an 18-game season. Do it because it’s right. Now there’s a novel idea for the NFL.

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THE COLUMN

082219

Did you hear what Le’Veon Bell said on Wednesday at Jets practice in New Jersey? According to friend of the show Rich Cimini, Bell said he wants to get hit. You know, get hit and hammered and tackled, like in a real football game.

“Go for the ball, things like that, just so I can get prepared,” Bell said.

Yeah, before practice these days, Bells tells his teammates, “Give me a little something.“ He hasn’t played in a real football game for 19 months, since scoring two touchdowns in a 45-42 loss to the Jaguars in the AFC division playoffs on Jan. 14 of 2018. Bell, of course, held out all of last season in a contract dispute with the Steelers.

I hear ya, Le’Veon. I feel the same way about the football season. Give me a little something. Start the damn season. Someone ought to hit me, knock me around the studio a little bit, get me prepared. I’m tired of talking. I want a real game. The Bills third preseason game Friday night, the old “dress rehearsal” will help. I want the real show. I can’t wait.

This is one of the most anticipated Bills seasons in many years, after all. There’s a lot of things I can’t wait for, and I imagine fans can relate. Here’s a few:

Naturally, I can’t wait for all the quarterback battles this season. It’s all about Josh Allen, remember, and every time the Bills play a team with a second-year quarterback, it’ll be about the other guy, too. I know QBs don’t tackle each other. But we’ll be keeping their head-t0-head records for years to come. 

It starts with the Jets and Sam Darnold in the opener. Maybe Josh Rosen after the bye — and if not, I can’t wait to see Fitz this year in his eighth NFL stop. That big mouth Baker Mayfield on Nov. 10, Rosen a week later. Lamar Jackson on Dec. 10. Who runs for more yards that day, Allen or Jackson? Then Darnold again here in the finale on Dec. 29. Will a playoff spot be on the line?

Of course, I can’t wait to see Le’Veon Bell in the opener. How will he look after sitting out for 19 months. What a test for the vaunted Bills defense right off the bat, especially the young linebackers. The last time Bell played against the Bills, he rushed for 236 yards and had 298 yards from scrimmage in a win at Buffalo in December of 2016.

I can’t wait to see rookie defensive tackle Ed Oliver, penetrating into the backfield in a game that matters. Boy, if he has his way against Darnold in the opener, it’ll be a great sign for this defense this year and in years to come. He’s been turning heads in August, but September is a different story when the real bullets fly. 

I can’t wait to see Tom Brady come to Buffalo in Week 4, ins 20th NFL season. He’s 42, I have to keep checking to confirm it. He wants to play ’til he’s 45, but you never know at that age. Who knows if we’ll get to see him live again? The last time he played at New Era in September, Brady threw for 466 yards, a record by an opponent. He has Josh Gordon back, by the way. He threw for 100 more yards with Gordon on the field last season.

I can’t wait to see the Eagles come here in October. I see a big year for Carson Wentz if he stays healthy. He should be an MVP candidate again, as he was two years ago before hurting his knee. Doug Pederson is one of the best offensive minds in the NFL. If the Bills are truly en elite defense, we’ll find out when they take on Philly and Wentz at New Era.

I can’t wait until Thanksgiving, and the Bills on the schedule for the first time in 25 years. They’re at Dallas, and who knows how that soap opera will be doing by late November. Jerry Jones signed linebacker Jaylen Smith to a big contract extension Tuesday. What about Ezekiel Elliott? Will he be there, or sit out the whole season like Bell? 

It looks like Dak Prescott will play out the year at $2 million. Amari Cooper might be a free agent after the season, too. Will the Cowboys have imploded by Thanksgiving, or will they be riding their defense and resentments to the top of the NFC East by then?

I can’t wait to see the Steelers without Antonio Brown, Saquon Barkley in Week Two — that’s a pretty tough start against running backs on the road for the Bills, Bell then Barkley. I can’t wait to see how Kyler Murray does in Arizona, and Daniel Jones with the Giants, and I can’t wait to see which rookie running back has the biggest impact. Daniel Montgomery? Maybe Devin Singletary? 

I can’t wait to find out if Patrick Mahomes has another year like the last one, and I can’t wait to see which five or six teams improve by leaps and bounds and which ones fall back, as history says is likely to happen. I can’t wait to find out if the Bills are one of those teams that make the jump. I can’t wait to find out if Mitch Morse is OK.

Dress rehearsal? Give me the real thing. I’m not sure I can wait much longer. But it won’t be long now. Only two weeks from tonight, Packers and Bears on Thursday, Sept. 5. Aaron Rodgers and Khalil Mack in the opener. Start the damn season already.

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THE COLUMN

082119

Here’s something that was entirely predictable: On Tuesday, Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield backpedaled on his comments about Giants rookie quarterback in an upcoming GQ profile, saying his comments were misconstrued and said “Reporters and media will do anything to come up with a clickbait story.”

A week ago, keep in mind, Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers used the same strategy, accusing the media of looking for click bait when they had the nerve to make it a story when he criticized the training camp methods of new Packers head coach Matt LaFleur.

So apparently, Mayfield is taking cues from the NFL’s most polarizing quarterback. Say something provocative, create a media firestorm, accuse reporters of trying to drive traffic to their own Twitter accounts and websites. It’s the modern version of, “I’m misunderstood” and “my words were taken out of context.”

Well, here’s what Mayfield said in the GQ article: “I cannot believe the Giants took Daniel Jones. Blows my mind.” Also, “Some people overthink it,” Mayfield said. “That’s where people go wrong. They forget you’ve gotta win.”

Mayfield says his words were twisted. Gee, it sounds to me like he couldn’t believe the Giants took Jones sixth in the draft last April and that it had a lot to do with the fact that Jones had a losing record at Duke. Am I missing something?

Look, I know the media loves a juicy quote and will pull the most controversial comments out of a long magazine story. It happens all the time. Mayfield’s new teammate, Odell Beckham Jr., said in the upcoming Sports Illustrated preview issue the the Giants trading him to Cleveland “wasn’t no business move. This was personal. They thought they’d send me here to die.”

I’m sure Beckham had a lot of other more pedestrian things to say about football in the SI article. But saying that the New York Giants traded him out of spite, sending him to a franchise that has been the most hapless in the NFL for the last two decades — yes, even more than the Bills — is a story and a comment worth examining. 

And Mayfield’s comments are fair game, too. Maybe he was just pointing out how NFL personnel people miss on quarterbacks in the draft, but the remarks were an insult to Daniel Jones, and more to the point, they were self-serving. What Mayfield was really saying is, look at me, I’ve won, that’s what really matters in football!

OK, so he won big at Oklahoma in college, and he won with the Browns last year as a rookie.    Actually, he was 6-7 as a starter for Cleveland last year and beat one team that finished with a winning record. But why quibble over minor facts. It was the Browns, where 7-8-1 has the world thinking Mayfield is going to take them to the Promised Land in 2019. 

It’s not as if quarterbacks haven’t lost in college before and made it big in the NFL. John Elway was 15-18 at Stanford. Patrick Mahomes, who actually led the Chiefs to the AFC title game a year ago, went 13-16 at Texas Tech. 

Baker Mayfield can use a reminder that there were people who couldn’t believe Browns GM John Dorsey made him the first overall pick of the 2018 NFL Draft instead of Sam Darnold. Cal went 1-11 in Jared Goff’s first season as a starter and had a losing record over his three seasons. 

But Mayfield is the source authority on winning all of a sudden. I’m sure Jones can handle the criticism. A lot of people thought the Giants were nuts to draft him sixth overall. Dave Gettleman got roasted for it. He also got ripped for trading Beckham to the Browns — which is expected to be a huge benefit to Mayfield’s chances of winning this season.

Jones downplayed Mayfield’s remarks and said it’s not going to motivate him in his rookie season. 

“I’m not sure that’s the best motivator,” Jones said. “If the thing you’re looking forward to doing the most is proving him wrong, I’m not sure that’s the best way to improve every day or the best way to really get where you want to go.”

We love it when athletes shoot off their mouths and make headlines. The Browns have become the talk of the NFL, the chic pick to make a Super Bowl run. Mayfield and Beckham are giving reporters a lot of material and a titillating story line for the new season. 

That’s great. But they’re also giving other teams a lot of motivation, too. All their opponents will be dying to put the Browns in their place. That starts with their own division, the AFC North, where the other three teams have combined for 18 playoff spots in the last 10 seasons. It’s not like the Ravens, Steelers and Bengals are bowing down to Cleveland.

If Mayfield is such a winner, he needs to prove it. If Beckham is such a superstar, the main reason the Giants got all those prime-time night games, he needs to help his team get to the playoffs and win. 

Maybe reporters love click bait, but what they really love is a good story. And the best story of all is players shooting their mouths off — and backing it up when it really matters.

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THE COLUMN

082019

THE COLUMN

081619

Two things you can count on every NFL town, and especially in Buffalo — fans second-guessing the offensive coordinator and worrying about the offensive line.

I’m sure there will be plenty of opportunity to second-guess Brian Daboll this season. As for the offensive line, I’d be worried. Bills fans seem to be tip-toeing around the issue, assuming the best and settling for a low standard in classic Buffalo fashion. After the line was a disaster a year ago, they’re hoping it will make the leap to mediocre.

But really, is the offensive line going to be OK? There’s sufficient reason for skepticism, starting with the top paid center in the NFL, Mitch Morse, who was supposed to come in and anchor the O line and be a security blanket for Josh Allen. 

Morse suffered his fourth concussion on the very first day of padded practices and hasn’t practiced since. He’s been seen going through drills, so the signs are positive. But when a player — particularly an interior lineman — has that sort of concussion history, it’s a major concern. Who knows what’ll happen when Morse starts getting hit in the head again in real action? I imagine he’s wondering, too. 

Will he ever be the same player? How tentative will Morse be about engaging some of the biggest, fastest, toughest athletes in the world in a real NFL game? How much will all the missed time — in camp and in the offseason —  affect his chemistry with Allen and the rest of the offensive line?

The line hasn’t been a big issue otherwise in training camp, as it was a year ago. But it’s hard to judge an offensive line until the real games begin. Offensive linemen are the least athletic players on a team, it’s not until opponents come at them with menace in their hearts that you know for sure. 

The line “looks good” so far. Dion Dawkins has been adequate at left tackle. But there’s a difference between adequate in August and effective in October. Dawkins regressed last season in his second year. People seem to be taking him for granted, but coming into training camp some observers felt he had a thin hold on the left tackle job.

Ty Nsekhe is a good addition, but he’s 33 years old and had some injury issues in the offseason, like many of the linemen. It looks like he could be the answer at right tackle. But is that because he’s a solid player in the league or because rookie Cody Ford didn’t grab the position and run with it. Ford has played guard and tackle. He’s a rookie. He’s been up and down and he’s likely to have his struggles when the real bullets fly.

Spencer Long was supposed to provide depth on the interior and maybe start but he’s been nursing a knee injury. And let’s not forget, the Jets, who have a poor offensive line, cut him. LaAdrian Waddle is gone for the season. 

Jon Feliciano has been good as a versatile veteran on the line. He filled in for Morse at center and held his own. But Feliciano’s major virtue is that he’s better than Russell Bodine, who is likely to be cut if Morse comes back to take over the starting center job.

The line looked capable without Morse in the opening preseason game. They came out throwing and had an aggressive mindset. But I wonder if part of the reason was they wanted to compensate for the O line by getting the ball out fast, before Allen could find himself in a crisis and risk injury. 

Once the real games begin, I can envision Allen resorting to what worked best a year ago, pulling the ball down when the protection breaks down and using his remarkable running ability to scramble for big yardage. 

We still don’t know how good this line will be in the running game. Maybe they’ll open some big holes for LeSean McCoy tonight. I don’t want to be negative. It’s only August. But I also don’t want to fall into the familiar Buffalo trap of accepting a lower standard. That’s why I’m seeing when it comes to the offensive line, a willingness to accept the fact that at least they’re better than a year ago, that they’re not terrible. 

If the Bills are going to be a playoff team, the standard needs to be a lot higher than that. I’m sure Ruben Brown has some thoughts on the subject. 

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THE COLUMN

081519

Yesterday, I Heard a radio host suggesting that Baker Mayfield was on the short list to be MVP of the NFL this season. How about pumping the brakes on that one, fella? Can we calm down on the Browns? I know they have Mayfield, who is being made out to be the next Brett Favre after one good season. They have new weapons, including Odell Beckham Jr., who last time I checked hadn’t won a damn thing with the Giants. 

As my buddy Geoff Hobson from bengals.com reminded us last spring, how about showing a little respect for the AFC North, which has produced 18 playoff teams in the last 10 years, none of them from Cleveland. How about being one of the top teams in your own division for once? Then we can talk about the Super Bowl.

The Browns haven’t won a playoff game in 25 years. They won seven games last year, including two over the Bengals and one over the Jets. How about winning more than half their games in the division, which they have NEVER DONE since the AFC North was born  in 2002.

I’m not saying the Browns won’t be better and be a playoff contender. It’s just that they’re a chic pick and those teams tend to be more hype than reality. This is the time of year where we overestimate players and teams. Here’s a few more than I feel are being underestimated and some that are being overestimated as we approach the regular season

People are underestimating Green Bay running back Aaron Jones. If this guy is healthy, he could have a monster year that leaves people wondering why he wasn’t taken in the top 10 of fantasy drafts. He has missed four games in each of the last two seasons, but has averaged 5.5 yards a carry in both years. He led the NFL in yards per rush last season.

Jones had a TD in five straight games last season in the second half. There’s always drama with Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay, but with a new offensive minded head coach and a motivated Rodgers, I could see Jones have a real breakout year. 

People are overestimating the Saints. Yeah, they won 13 games and got screwed the NFC title game. They’ll be motivated. But Drew Brees looked to be going into decline late last season. He barely averaged 200 yards passing a game in the final month and wasn’t great in the postseason. 

The Saints’ defense is ordinary and the division will be better. I see the Falcons and Panthers bouncing back from 7-9 seasons. The Packers will be better, so will the Niners. I see New Orleans being one of the four or five teams every season that decline by four games or more from one year to the next. 

People are underestimating the Eagles. OK, so they won nine games. Let’s not forget, they won the Super Bowl two years ago. They have Carson Wentz back, and if he stays healthy, he could make a run at MVP like he did two years ago. You’d think Wentz was terrible last. year. He completed 70 percent of his passes for 3,000 yards and 21 touchdowns in 11 games. 

The Eagles might not play Wentz at all in the preseason. Fine. Why should they expose him to injury? Anyway, they’re going to win the NFC East. Their defense is solid. Doug Pederson is a solid head coach. They won three in a row to get in the playoffs, beating the Rams and Texans in that run. They won at the Bears in the playoffs (I know, with Nick Foles). 

I think people are overestimating the Chiefs. They won’t fall off the table, but they won’t win 12 games again, and might slip to 8-8. Mahomes is great, but opposing coaches have more film on the guy. Go back and watch the first half of the AFC title game against the Patriots. Everything went his way last season. He’s not that accurate throwing down the field. 

Their schedule will be tougher this season. They play against the NFC North. In the second half, they have games at the Chargers, Patriots, Bears and Titans. Their AFC crossover is against the South, which means games against the Colts and Texans. And of course, their defense was horrible last year. It might improve to mediocre, but it’s a problem. 

One more: People are underestimating the Bills. All right, call me a homer. But Vegas set the over under at 6 and a half. It recently went up to 7, but the general feeling is still that they won’t be a winning team. That reflects a lack of belief in Josh Allen, which is understandable. But I’ve set the standard at 10 wins, and if Allen makes strides and they stay healthy, they can get to 10 wins.

The defense should be top 10 in yards AND points allowed. If a team manages that on defense, they have a good chance of making the playoffs — if they have at least an average offense. I think they can get close to average with Allen and a much-improved cast of receivers, including the underestimated rookie, Devin Singletary.

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THE COLUMN

081419

Back when I was writing columns for the newspaper, there were occasional times when there didn’t seem to be a single pressing issue to address — I mean, you can’t write about the Bills’ quarterbacks every day. Those were the times when I would clean out the mental attic and … Column as I see ‘em.

Here’s a few things on my mind today: 

**Serena Williams, my favorite athlete, pulled out of another tournament on Tuesday. Williams withdrew from the Cincinnati Masters, a few days after pulling out of the final at the Rogers Open in Toronto with a back injury after just four games. 

Organizers in Cincinnati had given Serena as much time as possible to recover from back spasms. They scheduled her first-round match against Zarina Diyas for the second slot Tuesday night, which was the latest available time. No matter. She couldn’t go.

We’re just two weeks from the season’s last Slam, the U.S Open in New York City. That’s not much time for Williams to get ready in her latest attempt to win a 24th Grand Slam, tying Margaret Court for the most all-time. She’s the best player of all time regardless, but it would be great to see her win another major or two. 

Williams will be 38 in September. It’s amazing that she’s still competing at such a high level, two years after giving birth. Her main opponent now is time. She’s well beyond the age when most female tennis players are competing at the top levels. I’m worried. Still, you never write her off. Remember Tiger Woods at the Masters?

By the way — Buffalo angle — guess who replaced in the Cincinnati draw when Williams had to withdraw? Jessica Pegula, daughter of the Bills and Sabres owners, who won her first WTA title a couple of weeks ago in Washington. Good luck to Jessie.

**Well, the Red Sox are now 17 and a half games behind the Yankees, who won their fourth in a row against the Orioles last night, and 8 and a half behind the amazing Rays, who won their fifth straight and are 21 games over .500. The Sox are toast, one year after winning a team record 108 years and the World Series.

But like when I was a kid, there’s always some offensive feat to celebrate when the Sox are failing. On Tuesday night, Rafael Devers, who is having a sensational year at age 22. Devers went 6 for 6 with four doubles in Boston’s 7-6 win at Cleveland in 10 innings. He became the first player since 1900 to go 6 for 6 with four doubles in a game.

Devers is hitting .325 with 43 doubles, tied for the MLB lead in two-baggers with Nick Castellanos of the Cubs. He has a good chance at 50 doubles, though it would be tough for him to catch the Sox leader for doubles in a year. Earl Webb once had 67 for the Sox, which is also the Major League record.

**I know Bills fans figure they’re better off without the Antonio Brown drama. But would it be so bad for an often irrelevant franchise to be the most talked-about team in the NFL? I checked out profootballtalk.com this morning and four of the top five listed stories were about Brown and the Raiders, who are being featured on HBO’s Hard Knocks.

Brown couldn’t resist showing his feet, which suffered frostbite in a cryotherapy session, to the NFL Films folks. “My feet is pretty much getting circumcised, right? Right? For real,” he said after pulling off his socks. “It’s kind of like a pull back right now. I’m [expletive] circumcised on my feet. Hopefully my feet are born again, and I figure to run faster. Feel sorry for me later.”

The other stories told us that 1) Brown’s feet are feeling a lot better; 2) He’s still looking for a 2011 model of the Schutt Air Advantage helmet; and 3) Jon Gruden said Brown will definitely play in Week One. Imagine the attention he’ll get when he actually plays a real game for the Raiders.

**Tiger Woods said he feels good heading into this week’s BMW Championship. Like Serena Williams, he had to withdraw from an event last weekend, the Northern Trust, after suffering an oblique strain in the first round. It was the first time Tiger had to pull out of a tournament since spinal fusion surgery two years ago. 

The BMW is the second leg of the season-ending FedEx Cup playoffs. Woods is 38th in the FedEx Cup standings and needs to be 30th to qualify for the finals next weekend in Atlanta. I’m not optimistic for him, but never count him out. 

I’m rooting for Abraham Ancer, the native Mexican who finished second at the Northern Trust last weekend. Ancer shot all the way from 67th to 8th in the FedEx standings, which likely assures him a spot in the Tour Championship and his first Masters invitation. He’s going to be the first Mexican to play in the Presidents Cup. 

(OK, and I’m also the only one out of 47 people in my season-long golf pool who has the guy).

**If new Sabres coach Ralph Krueger is such a great motivator, how come Rasmus Ristolainen seems so uninspired about the prospect of playing for him this season in Buffalo? I assume Krueger has had at least one sit-down with Risto at this point. 

**Evidently, Bills fans were well-represented at the joint practices in Spartanburg on Tuesday. Friends of the show Thad Brown and Matt Parrino were among the media members who got photos of the many Bills Mafia folks on hand.

This hardly comes as a surprise. Having covered road games for more than 20 years, I got accustomed to seeing hordes of Bills fans at every venue in the South. At times, there seemed to be almost as many Buffalo fans as fans of the home team — that goes for NHL games, too. And there’s certainly no lack of Buffalo expatriates in the Carolinas. 

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THE COLUMN

081319

I’ve been saying for years that it’s all about the quarterback in today’s NFL. No one is more painfully aware of that than Bills fans, who have been waiting more than two decades for a worthy successor to Jim Kelly and are desperately hoping for Josh Allen to begin performing like a true franchise QB this season.

If you doubt that it’s all about the quarterback, just follow the money. The price for a franchise quarterback continues to soar. We’ve reached the point where an average passer like the Cowboys’ Dak Prescott can get offered $30 million a season by Jerry Jones and feel a little disrespected. 

That’s right. According to published reports, Prescott turned down an offer of $30 million from the Cowboys, who have more contract issues than any other team in the NFL right now. Star running back Ezekiel Elliott holding out of camp and contending that he won’t play at all this season without a contract befitting his status as the league’s leading rusher over his first three seasons.

Elliott’s holdout was the big story in Dallas until news of Prescott’s demands broke. There was one report that said he was looking for $40 MILLION a year in a new deal. That report was reported by NFL Network and confirmed by the Fort Worth Star Telegram. It was disputed by USA Today, Pro Football Talk and ESPN’s Chris Mortensen.

Well, that’s modern sports journalism for you. As we learned in the Antonio Brown negotiations, it’s hard to know what’s true and what’s assumed when national “experts” are battling to be the first to get it right. I don’t know how close the Bills were to signing Brown, and whether he shot down a deal. But it seems they’re better off without him.

But back to the position that matters most: Whether Prescott — who has a base salary of $2 million this coming season — is really asking for $40 million or not, it’s clear that he and his representatives are striking a hard deal with the Cowboys. For one thing, he has been severely underpaid as a fourth-round pick stuck in a deal that maxes out at $2.7 a year. And the QB market is going crazy in the NFL.

Remember when $20 million was the top for quarterbacks? Remember when it was a big deal that Tyrod Taylor got $18 million? The number is now $30 million or more. Russell Wilson, who is going to the Hall of Fame, signed a record four-year, $140 million contract in the offseason, with $107 million in guaranteed money.

The Eagles responded by giving Carson Wentz four years and $128 million. That’s $32 million a season, compared with $35 million for Wilson. But Wentz got $107.87 in guarantees, an obvious attempt to top Wilson in guaranteed cash, if not average salary.

So a $40 million quarterback can’t be that far off — and Tom Brady’s $23 million cap hit this year is an absolute bargain. And let’s face it, if we can contemplate a $40 million passer, can the days of a $50 million quarterback be that far off, with league revenues soaring in recent years and showing no signs of abating?

That’s why it’s so vital for the Bills to take advantage of having Allen on his rookie deal and not having to pay franchise QB money early in his career. One of the amazing things about the playoff drought was that they were never paying top quarterback money and had the luxury of paying at other positions during that time — and still couldn’t win.

The Cowboys went 32-16 over the last three seasons, largely because they had so many bargain players in their first contracts. That included Elliott, who was the fourth pick of the 2016 draft; Prescott, who was drafted in the fourth round; and defensive end Demarcus Lawrence, a second-round pick in 2014 who signed a $21 million a year deal last April.

Prescott wants to make up for money he lost because he was drafted so low. That’s understandable. But is he really worth more than $30 million? The numbers suggest he’s an average starting quarterback. In his three years, he has been 19th, 16th and 15th in passing yards; 16th, 14th and 16th in passing touchdowns; he was fourth in yards per attempt (the key stat), but dropped to 20th and 19th the last two seasons.

But Prescott can point to Wentz, who went second in the same draft in which Prescott lasted until the fourth round. He got paid his $32 million a year despite missing eight regular-season games and all five of the Eagles’ playoff games the last two seasons. Prescott has started every game in his three seasons and won 32 games, nine more than Wentz.

I think Wentz is a far better passer than Prescott. But Dak understands the market and he’s smart enough to push for the big money while the Cowboys are at an impasse with Elliott (and they still have to pay Amari Cooper). If Jerry Jones caves and gives Elliott top running back money — Todd Gurley got four years, $57.5 million from the Rams — that’ll make it harder for them to hand Prescott top money at his position. 

In the end, it’s about the quarterback, and Prescott knows it. Some day, $30 million won’t seem like a lot at the position. What the heck will Patrick Mahomes make if he keeps playing at the level he did in 2018? Prescott was a victim of the rookie wage scale and the draft, which the union is sure to make an issue in the next negotiations.

The bottom line? If you draft well, you eventually have to pay the going rate, especially at quarterback. It’s a problem the Bills will confront soon enough if all their rising young stars continue to develop. By the time Josh Allen comes up for his next deal, the going rate for a true franchise QB could be $40 million. I imagine it’s a problem the Bills and their fans would love to have. 

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THE COLUMN

081219

Last Friday, I talked about the Bills’ aggressive passing mindset in the opening playoff game and reminded people, once again, that it’s all about Josh Allen this season.

Yes, it’s generally about the quarterback in the NFL these days. So if it’s all about Josh Allen, we should remember that it’s also about the other quarterbacks who were taken in the 2018 draft. We’ll spend the coming years evaluating Allen’s development as a franchise quarterback — and even more important, comparing him to the other QBs drafted that year.

We tend to be myopic during a Bills training camp. We obsess on the Buffalo players and gush about everyone looking good and don’t pay enough attention to what’s going on elsewhere in the league. Other teams have good young players who are learning and getting better and lifting hopes among their loyal followers.

On that note, let’s take a quick look at the other quarterbacks from Allen’s draft class — the Bills face them all this season — and how they’re doing just four weeks from the start of the regular season. And yes, they all looked good. After all, it is preseason:

The Jets’ Sam Darnold, the No. 3 pick in ’18, wowed them in the preseason opener. He played one series and was close to perfect. The Jets took the opening kickoff and Sam led them on a seven-play, s, 75-yard scoring drive. After missing on a short pass to wide receiver Quincy Enunwa on second down, Darnold completed three straight passes.

He scrambled to create room and fired a  32-yarder to tight end Chris Herndon; then found wide Jamison Crowder crossing over the middle for a 28-yard gain, then hit running back  Ty Montgomery to set up first and goal at the 6. Darnold hit Crowder in the right corner of the end zone for the TD. He was 4-of-5 for 68 yards and a 158.3 quarterback rating

“It was fun out there for that first drive,” he said. “Hopefully, it gave the Jets fans a little taste of what this season will be like.”

Darnold has fans and media expecting a leap forward in Year Two. It’ll be very interesting when the Bills visit for the season opener on Sept. 8. Who knows? A playoff spot might be at stake when the teams play here in the regular-season finale on Dec. 29.

Lamar Jackson, who was the last pick of the first round by the Ravens, looked good in a 29-0 blowout win over Jacksonville on Thursday night. Word is he looks and feels different from last summer, same as we hear about Josh Allen. Granted, he didn’t face most of the Jags’ defensive starters, but word is he had as good a game as could expect 

Jackson rolled out on his first attempt and hit Chris Moore down the sideline with a perfect 30 yard throw. He went 4-for-6 for 59 yards and a touchdown. He’s said to be throwing tiger spiral and showing improved footwork in second season. He’ll also run a lot. I can’t wait for the Allen-Jackson showdown here in Buffalo on Dec. 8.

Oh, Baker Mayfield? No. 1 pick, who set a record for rookie TD passes. He was great, of course. In his only drive in the Browns’ opening preseason win, Mayfield was 6 of 7 passing  for 77 yards and a touchdown, a gorgeous throw to Rashard Higgins. The drive lasted 2:13 as the Browns decided to work on their two-minute offense. The Bills go to Cleveland on Nov. 10, one week before traveling to Miami. Speaking of which … 

Josh Rosen looked good while playing the middle two quarters of the Dolphins’ 34-27 win over Atlanta in relief of Ryan Fitzpatrick. Rosen led two TD drives. He was 13 of 20 for 191 yards, including four for 92 yards to undrafted rookie wideout Preston Williams.

After watching Rosen shine behind the first-team offensive line and hooking up with Miami’s young skill players, observers said it was likely a preview of what the offense could look like later in the season. The Bills host Miami on Oct. 20 and go to Florida for that rematch on Nov. 17. 

That’s six games for the Bills this season against quarterbacks taken in the first round of that 2018 draft. If Rosen takes over for Fitz by Week 7 and keeps the job, Allen could face one of his fellow ’18 first-rounders in all of those games. 

Everyone looks good right now. That’s why we need to take the preseason with a massive grain of salt. You’re high on Allen and figure he’s going to take the biggest leap forward of any QB from his draft class this season. Keep in mind, fans in all those other towns are feeling the same about their guy. 

Preseason is a time for heightened and inflated hopes. We find out for real who is ready to make the biggest strides four weeks from now. It can’t get here fast enough.

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THE COLUMN

The preseason doesn’t provide many indelible and unforgettable moments, especially during those late-game stretches when a bunch of no-names are running around the field and the fans are headed for the exits to beat the traffic. 

But Thursday’s exhibition opener at New Era Field gave us a rare thrill when Christian Wade, a former rugby star from Britain who is with the Bills as part of the NFL’s International Player Pathway program, ran for a 65-yard touchdown on the first time he ever touched a ball in an NFL game in the fourth quarter. 

Wade’s run was the highlight of the Bills’ 24-16 win over the Colts. His teammates, and the fans who stuck around for the end, went wild after his run. Media mobbed him after the game and there were more words written about Wade than Josh Allen or Ed Oliver afterwards.

Years from now, when the other particulars have faded into history, Bills fans will recall it as the “Christian Wade game.” But we might also look back on Thursday night as the moment when the Buffalo offense finally began to develop an attitude, to become a passing team in a passing league.

Earlier in the week, I said it would be nice to see the Bills come out throwing on their first possession, to attack the Indianapolis defense through the air rather than assume the typically conservative posture of handing off and feeling their way with the run in the early going.

They sure didn’t mess around. Offensive coordinator Brian Daboll dialed up passes on his first eight play calls. It wasn’t perfect. Allen made some very nice throws. He also overthrew Zay Jones badly down the field and under threw him on third down on the opening series. He reminded you he’s still a young quarterback whose accuracy at times leaves much to be desired.

But the most important thing was seeing the offense with a fresh mindset. Yeah, it was only the first eight plays of preseason, but it sure felt as if Daboll and the Bills were telling the world that this year was going to be different, that they have a gifted young quarterback with a powerful arm and some new weapons, and they’re going to ride him for better or worse.

Allen threw the ball down the field incomplete for tight end Tommy Sweeney on the very first play. He hit Cole Beasley on a crossing pattern on the next play. It got called back for a penalty, but Allen made a quick read and Beasley was open on a play that has been there all training camp and is expected to be a signature play for the offense this season. A good sign.

Allen had only two possessions and gave way to Matt Barkley after 13 minutes, but it was enough time to establish an identity. Zay Jones got involved as Allen targeted him five times, once when he was wide open for 23 yards out of a four wide receiver set. Jones dropped a pass near the goal-line and took a forearm to the head by the Colts’ Khari Willis.

Jones went to the locker room to be evaluated for a concussion and was later cleared. Considering the situation with Mitch Morse, who remains out with a fourth career concussion, it was a troubling moment. But overall, it was an encouraging performance for Jones, a third-year wideout with a lot to prove this season.

The entire offense has a lot to prove this season. But it was a promising opening performance. They attacked and dictated to the defense. Allen looked assured and quick to get rid of the ball. Remember, there was a lot of concern that the offensive line might struggle without Morse. But it’s a lot easier when the plays are being run quickly. 

Those first eight plays reminded me a little of the Patriots over the years. The Pats will often come out throwing on every down to put the defense on its heels and establish a tone for the game. All right, I’m going overboard with parallels to Tom Brady. It’s only the first preseason game. But there was an unmistakable attitude on display with the offense.

This is a team that has the fewest passing yards of any NFL team over the last 15 years. As I detailed this week in a Thermostat, they attempted about 50 fewer passes than any other team during that time, too. Too often, they’ve been stuck in the 1960s mindset in a league that has become more and more about passing and attacking through the air. 

It’s about time the Bills offense got into the 21st century. Maybe the days of running on first day and getting into difficult down and distance situations, are finally over. If it’s all about Allen, they might as well turn him loose and treat him like a weapon, not some project who needs to have his opportunities for mistakes kept to a minimum.

Allen has more weapons now. One of the biggest might just be Devin Singletary, who looked very good and has people saying he’ll be their best back before long. I’ve been saying that since May. Listen to me, seeing new exciting possibilities in a Bills offense. Maybe, at last, there’s a good reason. 

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THE COLUMN

Did you hear? There’s a football game tonight in Orchard Park. The Buffalo Bills will host the Indianapolis Colts — Frank Reich’s Colts — in the preseason opener at New Era Field at 7 p.m. Yes, a real live football game, though I still like to call them exhibitions, with guys hitting and tackling and people keeping score and officials making bad calls.

After seven months of incessant analysis, it’s about time. I should be in some sort of protocol after talking the Bills to death for more than 200 days. How many times have we said that it’s all about Josh Allen, that this is a big year for the young franchise quarterback? Or that LeSean McCoy has a lot to prove and might not even make the roster?

It’s a critical year for Sean McDermott and Brandon Beane. You’ve heard it all by now. It’ll be a relief to sit in the press box with my 10th cup of coffee of the day and watch some third-string running back bust a big run against the Indy backups. Hey, it’s football. 

The last time the Bills played a game at New Era was last Dec. 30. Remember that one? How could you forget? The Bills, who scored a total of three touchdowns over a six-game stretch in the middle of last season, scored six in one game that day. 

Josh Allen threw for three touchdowns and ran for two that day. The kid left Bills fans with some great memories and rising hope just before New Year’s. Zay Jones caught two TD passes that day. Robert Foster had one. The defense sacked Ryan Tannehill four times and picked him off twice. Boy, if only the Bills could bottle that game and break it out this year for every home game. They’ll reach my prediction of 10 wins for sure.

The last time the Bills played the Colts here was in December of 2017. I’m sure you remember that one, which was played in a raging snowstorm. The Bills pulled it out in overtime, 13-7. LeSean McCoy ran for 156 yards in the snow and won it with a long run in overtime. The Bills other touchdown came on a pass from Nathan Peterman to Kelvin Benjamin. Joe Webb finished the game at quarterback and made a huge throw to Deonte Thompson on the winning drive. Frank Gore ran for 130 yards for the Colts that day.

Boy, things sure do change in two years in this game, don’t they? Deonte Thompson, Peterman, Benjamin, Tyrod Taylor, Webb — all gone. Adolphus Washington and Kyle Williams were the starting defensive tackles that day. Every Bill who caught a pass that day is gone. Jacoby Brissett was the Indy quarterback that day. 

Brissett is back. He’s expected to start at quarterback for Frank Reich’s squad. Andrew Luck is nursing an injury again and won’t play. But do you know who is likely to see action in the second half for the Colts? Chad Kelly — yeah, Jim’s nephew, formerly of St. Joe’s Collegiate Institute and several other places where he misbehaved and squandered his talent. 

There’s a good chance Kelly will be playing QB for the Colts at the same time former UB star Tyree Jackson is flinging it for the Bills as their third stringer. This is what preseason is for, after all, watching marginal players — many of whom will never see the field in a regular-season game — battle desperately for their NFL futures. 

But as I said, at least we finally get some real football. After playing against each other in practice for two weeks, the Bills will go against guys from another team. It seems everyone has looked good in training camp at St. John Fisher. When you’re a captive of camp, there’s always a tendency to see everything through a positive, optimistic lens. 

Tonight, someone will break out and be the talk of the town for at least a day. Others will struggle and raise doubts about their chances of making the roster. I’ll be keeping a close eye on the revamped offensive line, which will be compromised by the absence of the sport’s highest-paid center, Mitch Morse, still lingering in concussion protocol. 

Presumably, Morse will be back soon and ready to anchor the line in real games. For now, it’s enough that football is back, at last. It’s only an exhibition, and as Morse’s situation reminds us, the main objective is making sure the top guys are healthy for the regular-season opener. 

Allen will play about a quarter. That’s enough time for us to over-react to whatever he does against the Colts. Remember, this season is essentially all about him. 

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THE COLUMN

Two weeks ago, the Mets were behind every National League team except the Marlins and Pirates. They were expected to be sellers at the trade deadline. Starting pitcher Zack Wheeler had his bags packed. Noah Syndergaard was rumored to be on the block, too.

The Mets had been the joke of baseball and New York city for much of the year. Manager Mickey Calloway seemed over his head. Our pal Mike Vaccaro was calling for his head. There was talk that general manager Brodie Van Wagenen was pulling Callaway’s strings. 

The only time the Mets owned the back page of the tabloids in the Big Apple was when they were embarrassing themselves. Callaway made news by cursing out a reporter, Tim Healey, outside his office after a loss. Pitcher Jason Vargas threatened to punch out Healey. Vargas was recently traded to the Phillies.

So what happened? Suddenly, the Mets are the hottest team in baseball. They’ve won 12 out of their last 13. On Tuesday night, they shut out the Marlins, 5-0, at Citi Field, to move two games over .500 and within two games of the Phillies in a wild NL playoff race. 

People wondered what the heck Van Wagenen was thinking when he traded for starter Marcus Stroman of the Jays before the trade deadline. But now Stroman is part of a resurgent starting rotation that could lead the Mets from laughingstock all the way to the playoffs. 

Wheeler, who had struggled for much of the year after a promising 2018, pitched eight shutout innings against the Marlins on Tuesday. Wheeler has won four of his last five starts and tossed 15 shutout innings in August. He has 34 strikeouts and only four walks in his last five. 

Syndegaard has won four of five. He’s gone at least seven innings in his last five starts and lowered his ERA by nearly a full run since the start of July. Oh, and then there’s reigning Cy Young winner Jacob deGrom, who isn’t as dominant as he was a year ago but is still second in the NL in strikeouts and fifth in earned-run average.

The Mets have two of the top NL rookie of the year candidates in Pete Alonso, who hit his 36th home run last night, and Jeff McNeil, who leads the league with a .340 batting average. Young shortstop Amed Rosario has been on of the league’s hottest hitters since the start of July. Michael Conforto has come on after a rough first half.

The Yankees aren’t the only New York team with compelling stories. The Yanks have DJ LeMahieu, they have McNeill. They have veterans like Todd Frazier and Robinson Cano — former Yankees, by the way — who would love to get back to the postseason. Mike Vaccaro wrote a column today comparing them with the 1973 Mets, who were 13 games under .500 in mid-August and reached the World Series.

OK, so the Mets have been beating up on teams that are below .500 this season. Down the stretch, 34 of their 48 games will be against teams currently over .500. Their team era is around 5.50 against teams over .500 this season. 

But there are a bunch of average teams competing with them for the playoffs. They’re not playing the Astros and Yankees down the stretch. I don’t hear the Yankees apologizing for the fact that they’ve won 14 games in a row at Camden Yards.

The Bills play their first preseason game tomorrow night. A lot of sports fans in this country are obsessed with the NFL in August. But for me, it’s still baseball season and a fascinating time in the game. “Pennant” races are heating up, along with the weather. The games mean more. Teams start playing big series within their divisions. 

There are 11 teams in the NL in first place or within four of the wild card. Even the Rockies and Padres aren’t truly out of it — look at how quickly the Mets got back in it. I always say baseball is more interesting when the Yankees are relevant. 

The game is even more interesting when both New York teams are alive and making headlines — for more than threatening to punch out reporters.

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THE COLUMN

Never have there been so many people analyzing and discussing the Bills. It’s non-stop these days. Every play in training camp gets chronicled and dissected and debated. We know the names of the third-team offensive linemen, the guys battling for the sixth spot at wide receiver, the life stories of guys who will never see the field in a real NFL game.

But it’s really quite simple to analyze the Buffalo Bills. All you have to do is go to Pro Football reference.com and examine the recent history of the league, more specifically the passing numbers. You realize that the problems of this franchise come down to one simple, inescapable fact: In a passing league, the Bills have been consistently behind the trend.

We all know that passing has increased over the years. The number of attempts and yards has risen steadily over the years. It’s a quarterback league. So I guess the fact that the Bills have been searching for a successor to Jim Kelly for more than 20 years explains why they have been so depressingly slow to keep up in a league where you need to throw it to win.

The Bills have the fewest passing yards of any team in the NFL in the last 16 years — since Drew Bledsoe became the only Bill ever to throw for 4,000 yards in a season. They have not finished higher than 15th in passing yards in any year since then. They were 15th in 2011, the year Ryan Fitzpatrick was the talk of the league for half a season.

Other than that, it’s embarrassing. Over the last 16 years, the Bills have finished in the bottom six in passing yards 11 times! Over the last four years, moving backwards, they’ve been 31st, 31st, 30th and 28th. It was at least a sign that they recognized the problem when they cut ties with Tyrod Taylor despite making the playoffs with a remedial passing game.

Well, you have to throw it to gain yards. Over the last 16 years, the Bills on average have attempted 58 fewer passes a season than the league average. It’s as if they were afraid to pass it like a real NFL team, and well, that sure seemed to be the case when Taylor was here and setting records for the lowest percentage of interceptions in history. As if that mattered.

Not having a franchise quarterback has certainly been an issue. But the Bills have also had some head coaches who were throwback types, guys like Rex Ryan and Dick Jauron and Doug Marrone who believed it was still about running the ball and playing defense and limiting your mistakes in the passing game. Remember in the old days when they said three things can happen when you pass, and two of them are bad?

The Bills have had some very good running teams in those days. They drafted more running backs in the first round over a 10-year period than any other NFL team. They also didn’t reach the playoffs in those years. Run and stop the run, yeah, it still matters. But it’s become more of a pass and rush the passer enterprise in the modern NFL.

So this is why Josh Allen is such a vital figure, and why this could be the most critical season since Kelly retired in 1996. Allen has to be a passer in a passing league. The Bills need to join the ranks of teams that attack through the air, who have a quarterback who can lift them in games when teams dare them to throw it, a stud who can carve teams up with the pass even when they know it’s coming — like Tom Brady in Super Bowls. 

You do have to wonder when you see the recent moves. They’ve committed to LeSean McCoy, brought in a veteran power back in Frank Gore, brought in T.J. Yeldon, surprisingly drafted a running back, Devin Singletary, in the third round. 

That doesn’t sound like a team that has made a full commitment to passing in a passing league. Sean McDermott is a defensive coach with conservative, old school tendencies. He’s a very good defensive mind, but you have to wonder about his judgement when it comes to quarterbacks. His infatuation with Nathan Peterman comes to mind.

Anyway, you can analyze this team to death, but it really comes down to one thing. Can Allen make it as a passer in a passing league? Are the Bills ready to trust him and open up the offense? Until that happens, they won’t be a legitimate contender. 

Really, if Allen is a true franchise quarterback, is it asking so much for the Bills to throw it as much as the average team in the league? 

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7/30/19

I can’t believe it, but we’re only two days from August. That means one thing: It’s time to start preparing for NFL fantasy drafts. All you have to do is look at the magazine rack at Barnes and Noble to know that it’s never too early to begin studying for our fond fantasy football obsession. 

Look, I’m no Eric Ludwig. I just interview him weekly on the radio during the season. I’m not an expert. But I play fantasy and make my playoffs more often than not. I’ve finished first, second and lost in the semifinals the last three years in the media league. Among other things, that proves that I take fantasy sports far too seriously.

A lot of us love the fantasy game. So as a public service to my regular listeners, I figured I would pass along some of my tips for success in the game. Luck has a lot to do with it. You only have one game a week and you’re at the mercy of the schedule at times. Who hasn’t had the second-highest score in a league but had the misfortune of matching up with the guy who had the most points that week? That’s why I prefer baseball, where you play every day. In my league, you play every team every week. 

Anway, Rule No. 1 for me over the last decade or more has been never to draft any Bills. All right, so I did take Fitz as my backup quarterback one year. But over nearly two decades of offensive incompetence, it has rarely helped to take any Bills. For one thing, Buffalo players tend to get overdrafted in local leagues. So even if a Bill has a decent year, he’s probably been taken too high, anyway.

That goes for Josh Allen. I know he was a great fantasy option in the second half of last season because of his running. Running quarterbacks tend to have great value in fantasy. But you can’t rely on getting carries and touchdowns from a QB, especially when they’re young and their coaches are trying to get them to be better in the pocket. And again, even if he has a decent year, chances are Allen will go too high in Buffalo leagues. 

The same goes for LeSean McCoy. Resist the urge to grab him in hopes of a bounce-back year. The one Bill I could make an argument for is Devin Singletary. I think he’ll lead the Bills in rushing. So if he’s still on the board late in your draft and you’re looking to add a running back, OK, you have my permission to grab the kid. He’s special. 

That brings me to another tip: Be willing to take a chance on rookie running backs. Most of the good ones are very productive as rookies. You could have won your league if you’d grabbed Alvin Kamara or Kareem Hunt two years ago. I took Saquon Barkley high last. Year and didn’t regret it. Twenty years ago, I stunned my league by drafting Edgerrin James fifth overall. James had 2,100 yards and 17 TDs as a rookie and I won my league. 

Running backs are important, and it’s hard to find two good ones. You should get one of the top ones if you draft high. But don’t reach; take the second best wide receiver in the NFL rather than the eighth-best running back for example. It’s amazing the wideouts you can get at the back end of a first round or the start of the second.

I actually think depth at wide receiver is the key to winning leagues. I’ll get my third one before my second running back. Study the young guys. Receivers often break out in their third season (Corey Davis of Titans could be one). See which guys made strides from their rookie year to their second. It’s also good to get receivers with the better quarterbacks. 

Avoid running backs from teams with weak passing games. The bottom five teams in rushing touchdowns last year: Oakland, Arizona, San Francisco, Jacksonville, Miami. The Bills would be down there if Josh Allen didn’t have eight of their 14 rushing TDs. They didn’t have a running back with more than 3 rushing touchdowns.

Pay attention to the way players emerged late in the previous season. Sometimes, guys come on late in the year and get undervalued in drafts due to overall numbers. Here’s five guys to watch: 

Aaron Jones, Green Bay, had 7 TDs in a five-game stretch late, is the only running back other than Alvin Kamara with 200 carries and 5.0 average per rush since 2017; Sony Michel, 478 yards rushing in his last six games, and a strong postseason for the Pats; Amari Cooper had 6 TD catches and 558 yards over his last six games after going to Dallas; Lamar Jackson had 4 rushing TDs and 5 passing scores in his last six games. He should be the rare quarterback whose coaches continue to give him carries. 

Mike Williams, had 6 TD catches the last six weeks for the Chargers, including five inside the 10. With Tyrell Williams gone, Mike Williams figures to get a lot more targets. Targets are critical with receivers, and opportunity matters. When another option departs, it leaves more targets for others. Preseason games can be meaningless, but keep track of targets. It can sometimes tell you who figures to be prominent in the passing game.

The number one rule in fantasy is to pay attention, both in camp and during the season. In-season pickups are crucial. In any fantasy sport, as in life, it comes down to hard work and persistence. I grabbed Adam Thielen in free agency late in the season three years ago. In my final, he had 12 catches, 202 yards and 2 TDs to win me a title.

Leagues aren’t generally won in the draft, but over a full year. The work starts now — unless, of course, you’ve already begun.

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THE COLUMN

7/26/19

Well, I went to Bills training camp for the first time in two years on Thursday. It was a fun day. It was good to get back into the fray, to spend time waiting for players to show up for press conferences and trade cynical barbs with my fellow media members, many of whom make periodic appearances on this radio show.

The opening of training camp is a fond annual ritual, a sense of renewal. From the moment camp begins until the last Sabres game — in mid-April, sadly, in recent years — there’s major pro sports to cover. I always felt more relevant, more connected to the community, when the Bills are in season.

Of course, nothing really happens on the first day of camp. Sean McDermott and Brandon Beane held a joint press conference before the first practice. McDermott joked about the word “process.” Beane answered a question about the team’s progress by talking about adding quality depth, addressing the quarterback position and dealing with the salary cap.  

I reminded Beane that on average, five or six teams in the NFL improved by four games over the last 10 years and asked why the Bills wouldn’t be expected to do it this year.

“We just expect to go out and improve,” he said. “A lot can be the eyeball test; it’s not always going to be wins and losses. There’s so many things that happen between now and the first game … there are so many variables we deal with every day. I can’t sit here and tell you we’re going to have X number of wins each year.”

Josh Allen and Tremaine Edmonds talked at the interview lectern. It’s interesting how they’re sending out Edmonds to be the spokesman of the defense this season, now that Kyle Williams is gone. They clearly want the kid to assert himself as a leader along with Allen, his fellow first-round pick from Beane’s first draft class. 

I only wish Edmonds had anything provocative to say. Same with Allen. These young players are practiced in saying nothing, in serving up innocuous, vanilla responses about team unity and hard work and getting better every day. I miss the days when Thurman Thomas would fly off the handle or Bruce Smith would threaten me. 

“This team doesn’t have any selfish players,” Allen said. 

Well, I’m not so sure about that. LeSean McCoy has always struck me as a selfish athlete. He’s a great player, an engaging personality when he’s in the mood, a supreme competitor who has played hurt to help his team. But McCoy is also a proud individual who worries about his place and his stats and his chances for making the Hall of Fame. 

There is very little drama with this Bills team. No one is holding out. There’s no volatile running back situation, like Melvin Gordon with the Chargers or Ezekiel Elliott in Dallas. There’s no star back in a new place, like Le’Veon Bell with the Jets; no diva wide receiver to draw attention from the national media, like Odell Beckham Jr. in Cleveland.

McCoy is the closest thing we have to a controversy. His production has declined significantly in each of the last two seasons. He’s 31, an age when many NFL backs are in serious decline or left the sport altogether. The Bills brought in two veteran running backs in Frank Gore and TJ Yeldon and drafted Devin Singletary in the third round. You don’t take a back that high if you don’t expect him to contribute as a rookie. So there’s justifiable concern that McCoy might not be on the team in September.

So Shady was the one guy the media sought out after the opening practice. About a dozen reporters and cameramen approached him as left walked off the grass field at Fisher. “Got a minute,” someone asked. McCoy kept walking. “Not today,” he said. 

Afterwards, while waiting for Allen to appear in the media tent, several reporters lamented McCoy’s decision to be quiet on Day One. One thing about Shady is that he’s rarely boring when he talks. He would have been perfect sound on the first day, a sliver of a story with some bite to it. Of course, maybe he didn’t want to talk because he was afraid of what might come out of his mouth — that he might be too honest. 

It’ll get interesting with McCoy soon enough. McDermott made it clear, as Beane had after drafting Singletary, that Shady would get the first reps at training camp. He’s still the starter, the Man, until proven otherwise. He looked good on Thursday. Of course, everybody looks good on the first day of the camp. 

Eventually, events will unfold. We’ll see what happens when Singletary starts dazzling us in camp, challenging for touches and playing time, or when Gore — who looked spry for his age — shows that he still has a lot left in the tank. At some point, McCoy might feel threatened and say something and give us some rare summer drama at camp.

For now, the Bills are back, and that’s good enough. Everything feels fresh and new again, everyone is hopeful and happy and optimistic. They even seemed happy to see me. 

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THE COLUMN

7/24/19

Thirty years ago, I came to Buffalo to become a sports columnist, excited to know that I was going to be writing about one of the rising powers in the NFL. The Bills had gone to the AFC title game the year before. Jim Kelly was hitting his stride as a young franchise quarterback and the most gifted rosters in football history was hitting its prime. 

I walked into a golden period of local sports. The Bills were at their height, the Sabres went to the playoffs every year. I covered a local kid, Christian Laettner, who was the best player in college basketball for Duke and made four straight Final Fours. I went across the border to chronicle the Blue Jays winning two straight World Series. 

But the biggest thing of all was watching the Bills go to four consecutive Super Bowls and reach the playoffs nine times in 11 years. Greatness was an expectation in those days. Eight guys from those teams made it to the Hall of Fame, if you include the owner, head coach and general manager. Doug Flutie gave us a couple of years to remember at the end. 

Yeah, those were glorious times, and like a lot of people I took them for granted. One night at the Big Tree, Reed told us group of us reporters that Buffalo would realize how good they had it until years later. He was right. When it was happening, winning every year seemed routine. You took it for granted. You never imagined making one postseason would one day become a dream, that sneaking into a playoff with nine wins would bring people to tears.

The Bills missed the playoffs 17 years in a row after I took over for Larry Felser as the lead columnist at the News. Those were some grim years, It was a joyless exercise at times, chronicling the dysfunction and numbing mediocrity at One Bills Drive. Buffalo had the most hapless losing team in sports, and fans came to expect calamity from their team. 

There were a lot of reasons for the Bills’ demise, but it was largely an organizational failure. Owners and management made decisions for the wrong reasons. Inferior men were put in charge of personnel because the owner didn’t trust outsiders. In some ways, they’re still rebuilding for the small-minded vision of their past leadership.

But in 2017, the Pegulas finally brought in competent men to run the operation. Sean McDermott and Brandon Beane were capable young football men who knew what winning football looked like. At first, it was enough that they were better, more professional, than the bumblers who came before them. But McBeane have systematically rebuilt the roster with their own players and vision and put the Bills on a path back to respectability.

Now the time comes for them to prove they’ve lifted the franchise to a new competitive level. The Bills begin another training camp, their 60th, on Thursday at St. John Fisher. Expectations are soaring in the third year of the McBeane era, and I have to say, I haven’t been as eager and optimistic heading into a new season since the Jim Kelly years. 

Maybe like a lot of people, I’m desperate for something different, for the Bills to be relevant and consistently competitive in the NFL for the first time in two decades. They haven’t won 10 games since 1999 — yeah, 20 years. That goes back to the Music City Miracle playoff game, the year they pulled Doug Flutie for Rob Johnson before the postseason. 

Twenty years later, the Bills appear to be on the rise again. We’ll never see a collection of elite talent like the Super Bowl team, which came together before free agency. But it has some of the same basic elements — a young franchise quarterback in Josh Allen, a top defense with several rising young stars in Tremaine Edmunds, Tre’Davious White, Matt Milano and a talented rookie lineman in Ed Oliver. 

We joke about McDermott’s “process” and his coaching mantras about leadership and character. But he’s inspired belief in the fan base and established a sense that he has them going in the right direction. In his recent letter to fans, McDermott said, 

I’m excited about the progress we have made this offseason as we worked to execute our plan of building a strong foundation. This foundation combined with true Buffalo toughness and love for one another will be instrumental as we continue to chase our vision of bringing a championship to this city. We are committed to building a team that you can be proud of both on and off the field for many years to come.

McDermott is reminding fans that they’re still building something. I’m sure he wants to manage expectations and not expect people to expect too much too soon. That’s understandable. If fans knew the Bills were going to go 9-7 this season and go to the Super bowl next year — as they did from 1989 to ’90, I’m sure they’d take it.

But you can’t blame fans for wanting to see progress right now, in Year three. And if McDermott and Beane have raised expectations beyond what might be reasonable, well, that’s a good problem. It’s about time. 

They’ve given Buffalo sports fans the most precious commodity of all: Hope. 

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THE COLUMN

7/23/19

The big question as the Bills get ready to kick off training camp on Thursday is, “How high should expectations be?” Is this the year they break through in the third year of Sean McDermott and Brandon Beane? Should they contend for the playoffs and win 10 games?

I’ve set the bar at 10 wins, which the Bills haven’t done since the 1999 season. Yeah, 20 years. They haven’t even been 6-4 after 10 games since the year 2000, when Bill Clinton was still President. We’re talking about a four-game improvement, from six wins to 10, which doesn’t seem that much to ask in a league where half the 12 playoff spots change from year to year on average. 

So with that in mind, I set out to find just how common it was for NFL teams to make that four-game jump. I went back over the last 10 seasons, from 2009-2018. What I discovered that such a leap was even more common than I thought. During that decade, there were 54 examples of NFL teams improving by at least four games from one year to the next. 

Of those 54, 35 made the playoffs after being out the previous year. All but five went from a losing record to the postseason, in a couple of cases winning the Super Bowl. There were 33 teams in the NFC and only 21 in the AFC. Several teams have done it more than once. Carolina did it every other year from 2011-17, four times. So McDermott could understand. 

Only three teams have not had at least one four-game improvement during the last 10 years. The Bills, Ravens and Steelers. Baltimore and Pittsburgh were consistently good and the Bills, who have gone the longest of any team in the league without experiencing a one-year improvement of four games, have been numbingly mediocre.

Last year, in fact, four teams improved by at least six games over the previous season: They were the Bears, who went from five wins to 12; the Texans, who went from four to 11; the Colts, who went from four wins to 10; and yes, the Browns, who went from a winless season to 7-8-1 and are now the chic pick to break through to the playoffs. 

In 2017, SEVEN teams made the jump of four wins or more, including five of the six teams that made the NFC playoffs. Two of them, the Eagles and Vikings, won 13 games and reached the NFC championship game. Philadelphia won the Super Bowl that year.

There are various reasons for breakthroughs in the NFL, a league designed to produce parity and cycles of winning. Losing teams get slightly easier schedules. They often get healthier from one year to the next. Young rosters mature, often with rising young head coaches. Other teams fall into a losing cycle. As I pointed out last week with the eight young quarterbacks whose teams improved by more than four wins in their second season, a rising QB can be a big reason.

Last year, the Browns had a top rookie quarterback, Baker Mayfield. Houston had a quarterback, Deshaun Watson, have a big season in his second year (despite a weak offensive line); Andrew Luck came back from a season-long injury in 2017.

The Bears had an elite defense with the addition of Khalil Mack — and an improving second-year franchise quarterback in Mitchell Trubisky. A year before, it was an elite defense that carried Jacksonville from three wins to within 10 minutes of a Super Bowl in the AFC title game. 

So why wouldn’t the Bills be one of the five-six teams that break through and get better by at least four wins? If any NFL expert put together a list of the teams most likely to do it this season, they would have to be somewhere near the top. 

They have the young franchise quarterback going into his second season. They have the strong defense that ranked third in yards last season and should be top 10 in points allowed if the offense becomes at least competent. They have the rising head coach in Sean McDermott. Their draft was highly rated. General manager Brandon Beane refurbished his offensive line and his wide receiver corps in the offseason.

The evidence screams that this is the Bills’ year for a breakthrough. In the third year of the Process, the bar should be elevated to 10 victories. The Patriots have won at least 10 games the last 16 seasons. Winning 10 shouldn’t be some unattainable Everest for the Bills. It’s amazing that any NFL team can go 20 years without getting there. 

A lot can happen in an NFL season. As Mark Gaughan pointed out last week, the Bills were one of the healthiest teams in the league a year ago. But they’re a team on the rise. The schedule isn’t very daunting. They might fall short, but expecting anything less than a four-game improvement is holding the Bills to a low standard, which has become a troubling tendency with Buffalo’s two major pro sports teams. 

Hold them to a high standard for once. Actually, when you examine the evidence over the last decade, going from six to 10 wins isn’t such a high standard at all.

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THE COLUMN

7/22/19

It’s finally training camp week. The Bills begin training camp on Thursday at St. John Fisher, and it can’t come too soon. Really, we’ve spent more than six months analyzing this team, talking the issues to death, it’s about time we had some actual practice to discuss. 

It used to be I said, wake me up in September. But this is one of the most anticipated Bills seasons I can remember. Expectations are soaring as we approach the third year of the Sean McDermott-Brandon Beane era — oh, and the season season for presumptive franchise quarterback Josh Allen. 

There’s a lot of pressure on McDermott and Beane to deliver on the Process, to show that they’re actually among the top young management tandems in the NFL Until now, it’s been enough for them to demonstrate base competence, to not be Doug Whaley and Rex Ryan and to lift the Bills above the status of laughingstock in the league.

Now it’s time to win, to prove they know how to identify talent and bring it along. The Bills haven’t won 10 games in a season in 20 years. They haven’t been even 6-4 after 10 games since 2000. Fans are tired of mediocrity, of acting as though nine wins were some kind of achievement during a time when the Patriots won double digit game for the last 16 seasons.

There are no five-year plans in the NFL anymore. Rebuilding is necessarily swift in a sport where half of the 12 playoff teams change every year on average. It’s time. The glow of the surprise 2017 playoff team has faded into history. This team needs to compete for a playoff spot, at the very least. The Bills need to be relevant, and I’m not talking about being on the bottom line of team that are technically “in the hunt” at 5-7 in early December.

A lot of men have a lot to prove this season. It’s a long list. But here are five who are near the top of that list as we await the start of camp on Thursday:

1. Sean McDermott. We’ve heard all about the process. McDermott hits all the right buttons with the fans. He shows leadership qualities; he’s not a self-aggrandizing clown like Ryan and he doesn’t throw his players under the bus. He’s a very good defensive coach. His teams have been extremely resilient in his two seasons, hanging together after some distressing patches of poor play. 

But he still has a lot to prove as a head coach, and as a game-day coach. At times, McDermott strikes me as the classic old school coach, stuck in archaic thinking. You know, win with defense and a strong running game. Times have changed. He needs to develop a more aggressive vision of football and a more attacking mentality on offense. 

2. Jerry Hughes. At his best, Hughes is a force at defensive end, a guy who disrupts opposing offenses and gets pressure on quarterbacks. The Bills acknowledged this with a two-year, $21.35 million contract extension, with $19.75 of that guaranteed.

Now he needs to justify that contract, which ensures he won’t be a free agent after the season. Hughes had a solid season a year ago, with seven sacks and three forced fumbles. Pro Football Focus rated him the league’s ninth best edge defender last season. He was the only consistent pass rusher on the team. But they need more from him. I know it’s not all about sacks, but Hughes can’t go weeks at a time without making a game-changing play.

He also needs to be a mature leader and keep his volatile temper under control. Hughes will be 31 next month. He’s one of only four Bills who were around in Rex Ryan’s time. No more losing his cool and hurting his team with unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. Oh, and he needs to be better against the run. 

3. Zay Jones. I don’t want to hear about his statistics. Yes, he 56-652 and seven touchdowns. Much of it was garbage, numbers accumulated during blowouts and often at the end of games. The Bills played six games that were decided by a touchdown or less last season. In those half dozen games, Jones had 14 catches for 155 yards. 

He needs to be a lot better, a factor early in games. The Bills brought in two wideouts, John Brown and Cole Beasley, who also have much to prove. They might not need to rely on Jones as much in his third season. But if he doesn’t improve, if he doesn’t draw double-teams on occasion, the passing offense will struggle to be productive. Jones was an early second-round pick in McDermott’s first draft. It’s time he justified that choice.

4. Ed Oliver. Defensive players who get taken in the top 10 of the draft aren’t expected to sit and watch as rookies. They’re supposed to contribute right away, and Oliver is no exception. Getting him ninth overall was widely seen as a steal for the Bills. 

McDermott said Oliver is perfect for Buffalo’s penetrating, attack-style defense. He needs to be a force from the get-go. The retirement of Kyle Williams makes it more urgent for Oliver to have an immediate impact. If he’s not turning heads in the early days of training camp with his vaunted quickness off the line, it will be a bad sign.

5. Josh Allen, of course. You could argue that the entire revamped offensive line has a lot to prove, and that’s true. But it all gets back to the quarterback, and whether Allen will make the expected leap forward in Year Two with an improved line and receiving weapons. As I laid out last week, the best young franchise quarterbacks in the NFL have seen their teams improve by an average of 4 wins in their second season.

 All eyes will be on Allen in camp. The offensive line will help him, but franchise quarterbacks make their lines better. He needs to be a better, more accurate decision maker. If he is, people will take the O line for granted. Really, how many of Tom Brady’s linemen can you name? 

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THE COLUMN

7/18/19

Last week when I was with my son at a couple of ballgames in Philadelphia, there were moments when foul balls went sailing into the lower seats. When it happened, I found myself gasping and saying ‘Not again.” At one point, I saw a fan pointing to the area where a hard smash had gone into the crowd. Thankfully, no one had been hurt.

But this become a common reaction at Major League Baseball games nowadays, wondering when a fan will get injured next. Balls are flying off bats at alarming rates, up to 120 mph. You can tell by the home run numbers that the balls are more lively than ever. I worry that it’s only a matter of time before a pitcher, who is about 50 feet away after delivering a pitch, is seriously hurt by a line drive back at his head going well over 100 miles an hour.

But when fans have to live in fear of balls coming their way, baseball has a problem. The game is suffering from a drop in attendance, time of games, bad calls. They’re experimenting with robot umpires and time clocks and letting guys steal first base in the minors. But there’s nothing more critical than fan safety at the ballparks.

On May, 29, a 2-year-old girl was stuck in the head by a foul ball off the bat of Cubs outfielder Albert Almora Jr. during a game in Houston. Almora was distraught afterwards. I imagine you’ve seen the footage of him moved to tears in the locker room. The little girl suffered a fractured skull, subdural bleeding, brain contusions and a brain edema.

A week later at a White Sox game in Chicago,  a ball hit into the stands in White Sox home game by Eloy Jimenez beyond the netting and down left field line hit a woman in the face, sending her to the hospital. The woman was said to be “alert and communicative” and wasn’t seriously hurt. But it was a very scary moment.

A few days later, a woman at Dodger Stadium was taken to the hospital after being hit in the head by a foul ball. It was at Dodger Stadium last August that a 79 year old woman was hit by a foul ball that struck her in the head. She died four days later, becoming first fan killed by ball at a Major League game in 50 years.

After the little girl was hit in Houston, ESPN conducted a study in which fans voted by a margin of 78 percent to 22 percent that netting is a good idea because it protects fans who often don’t have enough time to react to foul balls or bats that fly into stands.  Opponents said it obstructs fans’ views, and people know and understand the risks of getting hit.

Yeah, tell that to the family of the 13-year-old girl who died when she was hit in the head by a hockey puck in Columbus in 2002. The NHL went to netting to shield seats behind the the goals and in corners of every rink that June, three months later. I don’t hear people complaining about their view being obstructed at hockey games. 

MLB rules mandate that netting extends to the end of the dugouts. commissioner  Rob Manfred recently said that extending or not extending the meeting beyond the dugouts will be left up to individual teams for now.

“We recognized early in this process that it was very difficult to set an individual rule, one rule that applied to 30 different ballparks given their structural differences, and instead we have opted to work with the individual clubs over a period of time to extend netting,” Manfred said.

The White Sox committed to a change after the woman was hit; Rangers said they would extend their netting down the line, though not all the way to the foul poles. 

I imagine MLB is reluctant to issue a blanket order to all teams right now, probably because they worry about litigation in the meantime and the hassle of teams having to put up netting during the season. But the league needs to take control of this issue as soon as possible and mandate netting beyond the current rules — I would say all the way to the foul poles, just to be sure, regardless of criticisms.

They can’t wait until someone dies. You know damn well if someone dies, they’ll act immediately. This is more important than balls and strikes. It’s life and death. If they don’t act soon, it’s only a matter of time before someone gets killed, and almost certain there will be more accidents that send people to the hospital.

It’s also time MLB took a more serious look at the baseballs, which are part of the problem. The league did a study and admits they’re more lively — juiced, if you will. They say the balls are hand-stitched and there can be variations. Whatever the case, they’ve become missiles, weapons that are putting people and pitchers in danger. 

Fix the problem, baseball, before it’s too late.

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THE COLUMN

7/17/19

At this time of the year, it has always been hard for a columnist to come up with a topic. Over the years, I learned one basic rule: When in doubt, write about the quarterback.

The quarterback is always the big issue in Buffalo, and it’s never been more true than it is now, with Josh Allen going into his second season and expectations soaring for he Bills in year three of the McDermott-Beane era. The question, of course, is how high expectations should be. What’s fair for our young, dynamic, athletically gifted QB?

The answer is, they should be high. 

Fans and media are optimistic about Allen. They love his talent, his arm, his competitive demeanor, his upside. And with justificiation. So. It’s only fair to compare Allen to the guys who have succeeded at a high level, the young quarterbacks who have met expectations in their second NFL seasons and in some cases exceeded them. If you want him to be among the best, you compare him to the best. The standard is necessarily lofty.

So with that in mind, I took the eight current franchise quarterbacks who have been drafted in the top 12 over the last eight years who have made the Pro Bowl. That’s the group Allen needs to be compared with, the guys who broke through in their second years and lived up to the hype and — most important of all — won. 

This might sound like a Thermostat, and it would make a good one, but it’s bigger than a daily statistic. Josh Allen is the story, every day, and with training camp a week away, it’s time to lay out the expectations and set the stage for a compelling second season.

Here’s the eight quarterbacks in the study and when they were drafted: It goes back to 2011 and Cam Newton, taken first overall by Carolina; Andrew Luck, first overall to the Colts in 2012; Jameis Winston, first overall to the Bucs in 2015; Jared Goff and Carson Wentz, who went 1 and 2 overall to the Rams and Eagles in 2016; Mitchell Trubisky, Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson, who went second, 10th and 12th in 2017, all to teams that traded for the rights to draft them. 

So I added up the combined passing stats for the eight quarterbacks in their second season and averaged them over a full 16-game season. Five of them did start all 16 games in Year Two. Wentz started the fewest with 13 the year the Eagles went to the Super Bowl.

They went 2,516 for 4,058 passing, exactly 62 percent accuracy, for 31,366 yards. The average season for them was 315 of 507 passing for 3,920 yards. They combined for 231 touchdown passes and 86 interceptions. That’s an average of 29 TDs and 11 picks.

Since Allen’s running skills are such a big part of the package, I averaged the rushing numbers for the eight QBs in their second seasons, too. They combined for 562 carries for 2,877 yards and 24 TDs: Average — 70 for 360, 3 TDs. I imagine Josh can reach that standard.

The thing that was most striking to me was their teams’ records as starters in that second year. All but one, Winston, had a winning record in Year Two and six won at least 11 games. Five of them started all 16 games. Their aggregate record was 83-39, or a winning percentage of .680. That translates to a record of 11 wins. 

All of their teams got better except the Colts, who went 11-5 in Luck’s second year after going 11-5 when he was a rookie. Most of their teams got appreciably better in their second season. The teams were a combined 53-75 when they were rookies, which averages out to 6.6 wins. Their second year, the average record was just under 11 wins.

So in their second seasons, these eight QBs helped improve their teams by four games on average, from roughly six to 10 wins. So shouldn’t the Bills be expected to win 10 games in Allen’s second season? It’s a high bar, I guess, but it’s the exact bar if you’re comparing him to the quarterbacks who have been drafted high and succeeded in the last seven years or so.

I’m comparing him to the top guys, though it’s debatable whether some of the younger players, like Trubisky and Goff and Watson and even Mahomes, will continue to perform and win at a high level. But the evidence is there. In today’s NFL, franchise quarterbacks are expected to prove it quickly, and the record shows that happens in Year Two.

Hopes for Allen are soaring. People expect him to be the Bills’ best quarterback since Jim Kelly, not a disappointment like EJ Manuel or many other first-round QBs who didn’t live up to their draft status. So it’s fair to compare him with the ones who did so. 

That’s why I picked the players who won and made Pro Bowls. Not the likes of Marcus Mariota, Blaine Gabbert, Jake Locker, Robert Griffin III, Ryan Tannehill, Christian Ponder and Blake Bortles.

Fair? I think so. Maybe we can’t expect Allen to do what Patrick Mahomes did for the Chiefs a year ago. But to reach the average level of this gang of eight and win 10 games? That’s the bar. The story of the coming season is how close he comes to reaching it.

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THE COLUMN

7/12/19

A wild offseason in the NBA got even crazier on Thursday when the Houston Rockets traded Chris Paul, two first round draft picks and pick swaps in 2021 and 2025 to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Russell Westbrook.

This is a stunner, a deal that will make an improved Western Conference even more compelling. It’s not often that you see two superstars and future Hall of Famers traded for on another in sports. Paul and Westbrook are two of the most dynamic and polarizing guards in the game, making this one of the most fascinating swaps in league history.

The big winner here? Some suggest it’s the Rockets and Sam Presti, who unloaded Paul, an aging superstar (34) who is regarded as a bad teammate who couldn’t get along with James Harden in Houston.  The Rockets now have the two recent MVPs in the same backcourt. Westbrook won Most Valuable Player in 2017 and has averaged a triple-double three years in a row. Harden won MVP in 2018 and has led the league in scoring two years in a row.

I’m not so sure about that. Houston now has two of the more overrated players in the sport in the same backcourt. Westbrook and Harden will put on a show, put up triple-doubles and gaudy statistics  and get on TV all the time, but they have rarely played at their top level when it really mattered, in big playoff games.

How does this make the Rockets appreciably better? If Harden couldn’t co-exist with Paul, how will he thrive with Westbrook, a player has never played off the ball and demands it in his hands. This isn’t Kevin Durant blending in with the Splash Brothers, it’s two notorious gunners trying to win together. 

It won’t work, not in the playoffs when it becomes more of a half-court game and you can’t rely on the three-point shot and ball-hogging guards to carry you. Ask the Warriors, who struggled without Durant in the Finals, or the Rockets, who fell short two years in a row when a team built around Harden fell on its face in the clutch against Golden State.

Westbrook is a terrible three-point shooter — statistically the least accurate of any player who shot a significant number last season. He has shot under 30 percent from 3 in four of the last five seasons. But he hasn’t stopped firing them up. He’s even worse in the playoffs. The Thunder have lost three years in a row since Durant left, making Westbrook the clear focus of the offense. In those three playoffs, Westbrook shot 38 percent. He had games of 11-31 5-21, 5-20 5-17, 6-23 and 10-28 in playoff losses. 

Superstar? Hardly, and at 30, Westbrook has taken a bigger pounding than most players his age. He and Harden will both be over 30 next season. They’re in their late primes. This smacks as desperation by a Rockets franchise that was embarrassed in the playoffs this past season and needs to win right away, to counter what the Clippers and Lakers have done and take advantage of the Warriors falling back while Harden is still on top of his game.

I’m not seeing it. Paul has never made the Finals and isn’t a great teammate, but he’s a better all-around player than Westbrook. How does this make Houston better? The Lakers and Clippers are better. I think the Nuggets and Blazers are better. In a playoff series, I’d still take the Warriors with Curry and Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. 

The Thunder is the winner here. They were ready to rebuild after Paul George demanded a trade to join Kawhi Leonard with the Clippers. They were happy to unload Westbrook, who has $170 million left on his contract. Sam Presti has now picked up eight future first-round picks this offseason. As Adrian Wojnarowski reported on ESPN, Oklahoma City could wheel Paul and picks for even more assets that will make them a contender down the road.

The Thunder made the Finals seven years ago with Harden, Durant and Westbrook. They haven’t been back. They chose to keep Westbrook over Harden after the ’12 Finals, a big mistake in retrospect. They watched Durant walk away to the Warriors three years ago. Now the last of the Big Three is gone, and they’re still waiting for their first title. But at least they’ve made the wise decision to move on from Westbrook, the statistical superstar.

I could see the Rockets missing the playoffs next season. Think about it: The Warriors will make it. So will the Lakers and Clippers. Denver and Portland are playoff teams. Utah is a solid playoff team that could ascend to the top four. That’s six. I’d never rule out the Spurs. The Pelicans are a threat with Zion Williamson. 

Westbrook and Harden is an experiment that could blow up in the Rockets’ face pretty quickly. Westbrook might get frustrated deferring to Harden and playing off the ball. The Rockets shoot more threes than any team and he’s a bad three-point shooter. He takes a lot of bad shots and that isn’t likely to change. Westbrook had Paul George and couldn’t get out of the first round. You could argue that George is a more complete player than Harden.

I’m sure TNT and ESPN will inundate us with Houston games next season, because fans can’t get enough of Westbrook’s triple doubles and Harden’s three-point barrages and 50-point performances. Come next spring, when LeBron and Anthony Davis and Leonard and Nikola Jokic are winning in the playoffs, they’ll be reminded that it’s a show that doesn’t win big when it really matters.

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THE COLUMN

7/1/19

NHL free agency begins officially at noon today. The Sabres are expected to be active in some capacity. But they got a head start on revamping the roster Friday when they  acquired defenseman Colin Miller from the Vegas Golden Knights for a 2021 second-round pick and a 2022 fifth-rounder. 

Not a bad deal for embattled general manager Jason Botterill, getting a top four defenseman without giving up a player in return. 

This tells me Botterill is feeling the heat to win right away under new head coach Ralph Krueger, and that he needed to bolster his shabby blue line. But more than anything, it looks like Botterill is paving the way for a deal to ship Rasmus Ristolainen out of town, presumably for a top six forward. 

Botterill tried to downplay the obvious connection to a Ristolainen deal. “There’s going to be rumors because he’s a player teams want to go after and teams want to have,” Botterill told reporters Saturday.

Krueger said right-handed defensemen are valuable commodity and he’s never going to complain about having too much depth. But Sabres fans would complain heartily about this team’s distressing lack of offensive depth and need for viable second-line players.

All you had to do was read between the lines. Botterill said the trade gave him “options” on his defense and “flexibility” in his lineup. 

Flexibility in his lineup? Flexibility isn’t something you talk about when you have a thin roster and a team that, outside of a fluke 10-game streak, has been the worst team in the NHL the last two seasons. Krueger said he loves internal competition within a team. That’s great. This team needs more offensive talent, and the guys in charge know it. 

Word during the draft was that Botterill was shopping Ristolainen vigorously. He needs to make a major deal and Risto is the obvious choice, one of the few tradable veterans with a friendly contract and the kind of offensive skill that makes other teams believe he can blossom given a change of scenery and a better supporting cast. 

There’s been suggestions that Ristolainen asked for a trade, that he’s tired of losing and wants to continue his career elsewhere. Botterill was coy about the rumors, saying he wouldn’t reveal conversations he’s had with his players. 

Of course the GM wasn’t going to admit he’s tried to move Ristolainen. He doesn’t want to compromise his leverage with other teams — even though it’s common knowledge that Risto is on the block. I suspect that’s one reason that Botterill emphasized the positive meetings between Krueger and Ristolainen, which he reiterated at development camp.

I imagine Sabres fans recoil in horror when they hear that Ristolainen is tired of losing. It hits too close to home. It’s a little soon after Ryan O’Reilly won the Stanley Cup and Smythe Trophy, one year after the Sabres moved him because he said he had lost his passion for the game and grown too accustomed to losing. 

No doubt Botterill is uneasy about it, too. He was the laughingstock of the league when O’Reilly walked away with all that hardware. He can’t relish the prospect of moving another player and having him thrive on another team and maybe make a heroic playoff run.

Too bad. Botterill hasn’t done much to justify his reputation as a personnel savant, but I think he’s secure enough to make the sort of bold deals that could expose him to ridicule. If he resists trading Ristolainen because he’s afraid of being embarrassed, he has no business being a general manager in the NHL. He needs to be better than that. 

All the evidence suggests he’s ready to move on from Risto. He has now made two traded for right side defensemen — Miller and Montour — which is a clear sign that he’s setting up for a trade for Ristolainen. Even before the Miller deal, I thought the Montour deal was made with an eye toward the future and a Risto trade. 

Ristolainen has the kind of physical assets that make other teams feel they can fix him. There’s talk that Krueger could do that. But I’ve seen enough. Let some other franchise treat him like some hot young prospect just waiting to be unleashed, rather than a six-year veteran who still plays defense like a dumb, rank rookie. 

Risto is minus-143 during his six years in Buffalo, the worst figure in the league during that time. Last year, it was minus-41. You can scoff at plus-minus, blame his teammates, his coaches, his goalies, his playing time. The guy is a defensive sieve, and if some other GM sees unrealized greatness in him, that’s great for Botterill and the Sabres.

Get a top six forward for Ristolainen and move on. Let some other sucker try to fix him.

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THE COLUMN

6/28/19

At 3 p.m. today Eastern time — 9 p.m. in Paris — the United States women will take on France in the World Cup quarterfinals. It’s being called the biggest game in women’s soccer history, which considering the sport’s popularity and the prominence of the women’s game would make it the biggest sporting event in women’s history. 

That might be debatable, but what’s not debatable is the continuing rise of women’s soccer, and women’s sports in general, in this country and around the globe. TV ratings, which were big for the women in 2015, could reach an all-time high. In France, the public is going crazy for the women’s team, which has never won the Cup or made the Final. France is looking to become the first country to hold the men’s and women’s titles at the same time.

Today’s game, which would have been a compelling Final, has been sold out for weeks. Tickets are going for up to $2200 on the resale market. The French women have relegated the men’s team to the inside pages of the newspapers in Paris. 

This is a great moment for women’s soccer, which struggles to catch up to the men’s game in popularity and financial support. As a side plot to the Americans’ attempt to win consecutive titles for the first time, the women have a pending lawsuit against its national federation for unequal support compared with the nation’s far less successful and popular men’s national team. 

I can’t believe it’s been 20 years since the U.S. women won the Cup in an epic shootout against China in 1999. That was the year the women’s game really took hold in this country. Who could forget Brandi Chastain scoring the winning penalty kick, dropping to her knees and ripping off her jersey down to her sports bra? It made the cover of Sports Illustrated.

Women’s sports have soared since then. Just yesterday, Kara Lawson became the fourth woman hired to be an assistant coach for an NBA team. 

We’re coming up on a year until the next Olympics, when women athletes get to shine and be equal. At the last two Olympics, there were more women on the American teams than men. I’ve covered eight Olympics and watching and interviewing the women was the most rewarding part. 

I covered the women’s soccer team in London, watched the gymnasts win gold, saw a softball game where Lisa Fernandez lost the game — and her perfect game — on one pitch in extra innings. I was there for the Tonya Harding-Nancy Kerrigan soap opera in 1994. 

I met Serena Williams in 2012, watched the American women’s basketball team dominate. I saw the first Olympic women’s boxing tournament and the first women’s Olympic golf tournament at Rio. I was there when Fredonia’s Jenn Suhr won the gold medal in the pole vault, becoming the first Western New York native ever to win a gold medal in track; and I was there four years ago when Emily Regan won gold in the women’s eight, making her the first local ever to win a rowing gold at the Games.

One reason I always enjoyed covering women’s sports is that they appreciate the moment and the opportunity more. They don’t tend to take what they have for granted. Title IX was passed in 1972, a year before I went to college, guaranteeing females equal resources in sports. They’ve come a long way, but still have a long way to go in this culture. 

It’s important to take time to celebrate women’s sports, around the world and here in our own back yard. So with that in mind, I’m happy to welcome to the studio one of the greatest teams in local high school history. 

Two weeks ago, the Williamsville East girls softball team won the state championship to complete a perfect season. With us today are long-time head coach Chris Durr and four members of that title team — sophomore Summer Clarke; senior pitcher Cara Leone; senior Rachel Steffan; and senior Christy Mack, who homered to snap a scoreless tie in the Class A title game, a 3-0 win over Ballston Spa.

Welcome to the show and again, congratulations on the championship.

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THE COLUMN

6/26/19

One thing you have to say about LeSean McCoy. The guy isn’t lacking for confidence. He’s made it clear in recent interviews that he intends to be the featured back for the Bills this season and be the elite player he was before turning 30. 

“It’s hard to replace a guy like me,” McCoy said Saturday on PennLive. “The front office got me some big hogs up front. And we’ll see what happens this year. I feel good and hopefully this year will speak for itself.”

“I use age and that type of thing to motivate me,” McCoy added. “My whole life I’ve kind of been the underdog. Is he big enough? Is he tough enough? Can he play in the pros? I feel like guys like myself come around every once in a while and I want to stick to that. I’m up for it.”

A week earlier, McCoy told the News, “I’m a dominant player. I think that speaks for itself. But I’ll be in the same role as last year … With the rookie, you know, we’ll try to fit them in there. But I expect to be the main workhorse.”

It’s interesting how McCoy refers to Devin Singletary as “the rookie,” rather than call him by his name. Shady is a sly character, you need to read between the lines. It seems he’s trying to minimize Singletary’s presence, put him in his place and downplay the threat he poses to his playing time. 

Notice that he’s also quick to point out that Bills management has added “some big hogs up front.” Shady wants to remind everyone that the shabby offensive line was the big reason that he had such a poor rushing performance a year ago — his 3.2 yards per carry was 48th out of 49 qualifying running backs in the NFL. Only LeGarrette Blount, a lumping 32-year-old, was worse.

It wasn’t only the offensive line. According to Mike Rodak, McCoy had the worst yards after contact of any back in the league last year. He wasn’t the same back who rushed for 1,267 and had a career-high 5.4. yards per carry in 2017. Shady has the dynamic, slashing style that requires him to cut on a dime and make people miss. It’s not a style that wears well after the age of 30.

McCoy will be 31 when the season starts. Bills management says it shares his confidence. Brandon Beane went out of his way after drafting Devin Singletary to declare that Shady is the starter. But their actions told a different story. But taking Singletary with the 74th pick of the draft — along with bringing in Frank Gore — the Bills announced their reservations about McCoy. 

Maybe he’s right. McCoy might be the rare back who declines late in his career and bounces back to dominant form. But the signs are troubling and hard to ignore. We point to his weak numbers a year ago, but the decline began a year earlier, when the Bills still had Eric Wood and Richie Incognito. His drop in yards per carry — from 5.4 to 4.0 — was the biggest ever by an NFL 1,000-yard running back.

The Bills had a lot of needs and were not expected to take a running back in the third round. They wouldn’t have taken Singletary that high if they didn’t expect him to have an immediate impact. 

Nowadays, rookie running backs tend to contribute right away, even the ones who were taken in later rounds. I examined the top 16 NFL running backs in yards from scrimmage from last season. Of those 16, nine had more than 1,000 yards from scrimmage as rookies. That includes the Broncos’ Philip Lindsay, who was undrafted last season, Alvin Kamara, the 67th pick in the 2017 draft, and Kareem Hunt, who went 86th in that same draft. 

This isn’t the NHL, where you draft kids with the thought of grooming them in the minors and seeing them break through two or three years down the road. The NFL is a Now league and if Singletary is as good as the Bills believe, and as good as he looked in OTAs, he’ll be on the field. A lot. 

At some point, McCoy’s continue presence on the team will become a problem. He’s too proud a man, too obsessed with his legacy and the Hall of Fame, to quietly concede playing time to a rookie. He makes a point to show deference to Gore, who is 36 and the fourth-leading rusher of all time. But anyone blocking his way will be an issue at some point. 

We know McCoy desperately wants to make the Hall of Fame, to put up statistics that will make it hard for the electors to pass him over when his time comes. 

McCoy is currently 25th on the career rushing list with 10,606 yards. If he gains 1,000 more yards, he will move to 18th, passing the likes of O.J. Simpson. He would move past four backs who are retired and eligible but have not made it into the Hall. Yards matter at this point in his career and he knows it. 

The guy is a team captain and presumed leader. But his actions over the years don’t scream leadership. He was benched for the start of last year’s finale when he was late for a bus — it came a few days after Shady scoffed at a reporter for suggesting he might yield to rookie Keith Ford as the featured back against the Pats in a meaningless game. 

It’s hard to see McCoy on the roster at the end of the season. I think Singletary will lead the team in rushing and push 1,000 yards from scrimmage. McCoy will say all the right things, but if he’s dwelling on personal achievement, he doesn’t fit into the selfless McDermott team culture. Josh Allen is the leader now. It’s his offense, and when McCoy is off the field, there will be times when he is actually the elder statesman among the offensive 11. 

The Bills would save $6.4 million of McCoy’s $9 million salary cap hit if they released him at the end of the preseason. So this is a fluid situation and will make for an interesting training camp. Shady might be in contention for Canton, but on this year’s Bills, he might simply be in the way. His various off-field issues don’t make things any easier.

He says it’s hard to replace a guy like him. Yeah, the player Shady was in his prime. The guy we saw the last two years? He won’t be very hard to replace at all.

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THE COLUMN

6/25/19

BOBBY, we never wrapped up our poll on Monday. To review, the voting public weighed in on the Sabres’ draft and a resounding 62 percent of respondents gave it a B. Twenty-one percent rated it a C and only 10 percent an 7. Seven percent gave them a D. 

So fans figure the Sabres had an OK draft, but it’s too soon to say whether it’ll be a very good one. But do you know who had a great draft last weekend, which hockey entity had maybe the best draft in its history: The United States. 

Yes, 59 Americans were selected in the 2019 Entry Draft in Vancouver. For the first time ever, seven of the first 15 players chosen were from the U.S., including first overall pick Jack Hughes of Orlando, Fla., to the Devils. Eight Americans taken in the opening round came from USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program. 

The Americans taken in the top 15: Hughes, Alex Turcotte, an Illinois native, who went fifth; Trevor Zegras, from Bedford, N.Y., went to the Ducks at nine; Matthew Boldy of tiny Millis, Mass., taken by the Minnesota Wild at No. 12;  Spencer Knight, native of Stamford, Ct., 13th to the Panthers;  Cameron York, a Californian, went 14th to the Flyers; and Cole Caulfield of Stevens Point, Wisconsin, the sniper who went 15th to the Montreal Canadiens. 

Hughes was the eighth American to go first overall. Brian Lawton, from Mt St. Charles High in Rhode Island, was the first in 1983 when the North Stars took him. Oh, Americans went third and fifth that year, too. Pat LaFontaine went third to the Islanders and the Sabres took a goaltender from Boston, Mass., named Tom Barrasso.

Mike Eruzione, captain of the team that stunned the Russians won gold at Lake Placid in 1980, told the New York Times the number of elite players the United States is developing today is “off the charts” compared with his playing days. The 1980 Olympic team was made up of former college players, including several, like Eruzione, who were undrafted.

Yes, the NHL draft used to be a testament to Canada’s utter domination of the sport. In 1980, the year of the U.S. Olympic miracle, there were 21 players taken in the first round of the draft. Twenty were Canadians. The other was Rik Wilson, a defenseman taken by the Blues. 

Maybe it was that Olympic miracle that was a turning point for American hockey. Lawton went first three years later. In 1986, a record seven Americans went in the first round, including Jimmy Carson and Brian Leetch. A year later, the draft was held in the U.S. for the first time at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. In 1988, Mike Modano became the second American taken first overall.

The number of Americans taken in the first round rose to eight in 2003 and 2005, and 10 in 2006. In 2007, Buffalo’s Patrick Kane went first and James van Riemsdyk went second, making it the first time U.S.-born players went 1-2. A record 12 Americans were taken in the first round in the 2016 draft. 

As we found out in our interviews at the time of the Frozen Four in Buffalo this past winter, college hockey is surging in the United States as more and more top players move on from the national development program to the colleges. So. It’s no surprise that the rise in player development would be reflected in the draft.

We often criticize the lack of support for hockey in southern U.S. cities, and Sabres fans are envious when places like Carolina and Tampa win the Stanley Cup. But the expansion into non-traditional markets in warm weather cities has helped the sport. More children who come of age in the south, Southwest and California are playing the sport. 

It shows at the top of the draft. In the last five years, there have been 12 Americans taken in the top 10. In the five years before, there were three. 

The “American development model,” put in place by USA Hockey 10 years ago, has emphasized skill, making kids play 3 on 3 cross-ice games that put a premium on skating and puck skills. The skating skills have improved appreciably. The development program, which began in 1996, selected 22 of the top 16-year-olds in the nation and prepares them over two years for careers in college, international hockey and the pros. 

Meanwhile, The NBA has become an international phenomenon, fulfilling the promise that David Stern saw when he sent the original Dream Team to the ’92 Olympics. Monday night’s awards ceremony was a vivid example. MVP, Giannis Antetokounmpo, from Greece; Rookie of the Year, Luca Doncic of Slovenia; defensive player of the year, Rudy Gobert of France; most improved player, Pascal Siakam of Cameroon. League champion: Toronto Raptors for the first time. The top three bigs on the champions: Marc Gasol, Spain, and Serge Ibaka, the Congo, and Siakam, Cameroon

There were six Canadians selected in the two-round NBA draft last week, the most ever from a non-U.S. country in a single year. R.J. Barrett, from Toronto, went third overall to the Knicks. So as hockey becomes more American, basketball becomes more Canadian. 

And both sports are better for it.

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THE COLUMN

6/24/19

The Sabres took a center, Dylan Cozens, at seventh overall in the NHL draft on Friday night. Predictably, some of the more supportive media called it a steal. Cozens fell to them. It was a stroke of good fortune, much like Ed Oliver falling to the Bills with the ninth overall pick of the NFL draft in April.

Look, I don’t know Dylan Cozens from Dylan Thomas. He might become the next Gil Perrault. But I’ve learned not to assume the best about any move the Sabres make. Casey Mittelstadt “fell to them” at eight two years ago. He might develop into a star, but overestimating his ability to be the No. 2 center last season at age 20 was a major miscalculation. 

Sabres fans were excited about Alex Nylander and Brendan Guhle, Nikita Zadorov and Mikhail Grigorenko, Joel Armia and Zack Kassian. I won’t bore you by going back any further. It’s become a reflex to assume the best about the Bills and Sabres, especially among the media who are in business with the teams. After awhile, they lose the benefit of the doubt.

Ralph Krueger, the new head coach, called Cozens “perfect”. He loves his size and speed and overall ability, his character of course. Krueger was asked on the draft telecast what he liked best about the team’s roster and the first word out of his mouth was “youth”. It’s important, of course, to remind people that this underachieving team is still young and on the rise.

Krueger quickly mentioned the Pegulas — we can’t forget how much they’ve done for Buffalo hockey — and said they’re on the cusp everything is in place for the Sabres to take it to “another level”.  I had high hopes for Krueger. I thought he’d come in and take a harsh look at the operation. It seems he’s more interested in propping up Botterill and the existing roster. 

Well, they ought to be on the cusp. The Sabres have now picked in the top eight in seven consecutive drafts. Last season, they had eight players on their roster who had been picked in the top 10. Cozens thinks he can play in the NHL right away, so maybe they’ll have another next season. 

So Botterill has a delicate balancing act. He needs to show progress right away in the fifth year of Jack Eichel and sixth year of Sam Reinhart. At the same time, he’s trying to build through the draft after inheriting a mess from Tim Murray, who squandered his team’s organizational depth in an attempt to win in the short term and gussy up his own reputation.

Botterill has received high praise for his earlier drafts, though it didn’t take a genius to draft Rasmus Dahlin first overall last year, a pick that was the consequence of putting together the NHL’s worst team in his first year as GM. He took a team with 81 and 78 points before his arrival and took it to the bottom with a head coach, Phil Housley, that was over his head and got fired.

Yes, three of his picks from the ’17 draft, including Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Oskari Laaksonon and Jacob Bryson, are seen as top NHL prospects who will fortify the Sabres in coming years. But it’s funny how Sabres prospects seem so promising in the pipeline, but so disappointing when they hit the big-time. 

Cozens might be the rare talent who can contribute right away. But the Sabres are likely to bring him along slowly, particularly after seeing Mittelstadt struggle. Botterill and Krueger would like fans to be patient, but how long can fans wait? I don’t imagine they’re in the mood to blame Tim Murray and wait for the teen-agers to develop.

What, are supposed to believe that Botterill was rebuilding all along, that he needed five years to see all his draft gems come of age? When will the fans get a playoff team, when Jack Eichel is in his seventh NHL season two years from now and Cozens is ready? In the third year of Jeff Skinner’s eight-year, $72 million contract?

You lose the benefit of the doubt when you deal O’Reilly for the likes of Vlad Sobotka, Tage Thompson and Patrick Berglund, and when you bring in such limited talents as Nathan Beaulieu and Marco Scandella to the league’s worst blueline. 

The fact is, they were desperate to pick a center high — and pass on Cole Caulfield — because of their own miscalculations over the year. Murray took Reinhart second overall after the worst season in franchise history. They drafted him as a center, but he didn’t make it at center. Botts took Mittelstadt in 2017 and he was slow to develop. Then he traded O’Reilly, creating a huge hole at No. 2 center that Mittelstadt wasn’t ready to fill.

Fans don’t want to hear about youth, or about the kids in the minor leagues who will be coming to the rescue in the next few years. They want to win now. Botterill’s reputation is on the line and he knows it. If this team is really “on the cusp,” as Krueger contends, it’s his job to nudge it over and make it a genuine playoff contender.

Botterill has $19 million in cap space after overpaying Skinner. He has money to spend on a free agent. He also could move one of his more marketable veterans, most notably defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen — though Krueger has been glowing about Risto and there’s talk that he’ll be able to get the best out of the guy.

They’re young. They’re on the cusp. They have a pipeline of rising talent in the minors. They have more top 10 picks than any other team in the NHL. Now they have a steal in Dylan Cozens. Be patient. Surely, a Stanley Cup is right around the corner.

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THE COLUMN

6/20/19

In case you missed it, Wednesday was the 20th anniversary of the Brett Hull no-goal in the 1999 Finals. Throughout the day, Buffalo sports fans revived their resentments over that historic loss. They shared stories and recalled where they were on that fateful day in June. Apparently, they’re still talking about it. 

It was a fun exercise, I hope, a way to mark our dubious recent sports history. But it also seemed a little sad, like Western New Yorkers embracing their role as cuddly little losers. Too many of our sporting memories are negative ones, grim recollections of bad calls or bad behavior or bad luck. 

Where were you when Norwood missed the kick? With family or friends? In some bar. In Tampa, maybe. How about Home Run Throwback, or Game 6 against Carolina in ’06. Where were you the night of the O.J. Bronco chase, when being a Buffalo sports fan changed forever?

Buffalo fans embraced their regret. It’s become part of their identity, the lovable losers. There’s something to be said for that, to be known as the generous souls who contribute to Andy Dalton’s charity after his miracle pass breaks a 17-year playoff drought, or raising money for students in the name of the great Bills fan, Ezra Castro — Pancho Billa. 

There’s a nobility in being the city that bears up under repeated crushing setbacks and reminds the world that there are more important things than winning championships. But we should be careful. At some point, embracing loss becomes acceptance. There’s a certain rationalization that looks pathetic from a distance. 

Buffalo fans are gracious losers, but they celebrate the misfortune of Boston teams. They convince themselves that Ryan O’Reilly winning the Stanley Cup and the Smythe is less an embarrassment because it prevented another Beantown team from winning a title. 

I came to Buffalo at a time where fans expected their teams to win, when the Sabres made the playoffs almost every season and the Bills went to the playoffs nine times in 11 years — and reached four Super Bowls. At some point, a lot of fans started accepting a lower standard, around the time they started believing losing four Super Bowls in a row might be better than actually winning one. 

When you lower the standard and embrace the loser’s identity, you enable the people running the teams. Instead of taking the Pegulas to task, you tell yourself you’re lucky to have two majors professional teams, thanks to them. You’re more likely to give them a pass. 

You celebrate base competence in the men running the teams. It’s enough that they’re not rank incompetents like the executives who came before them. Routine personnel moves are greeted as if they were moves of genius. It’s OK for Sean McDermott to show up, having never been an NFL head coach, and allow him to run the draft after showing up in town. 

The need to hope and believe eventually exceeds the reality. Rather than take a skeptical view of Ralph Krueger, Buffalo sports fans treat him like some kind of hockey savior, resurrected from the world of soccer and destined to lift up the chronic underachievers at KeyBank Center. 

If this makes me seem negative, so be it. I long for a return to the days when Buffalo sports fans aspired to a higher standard, when they expected excellence and didn’t leap to accept average, when they weren’t so quick to excuse the dysfunction and see hope around every bend. I have a well-earned skepticism and I’m too old to change.

Buffalo fans need to stop hoping for progress and demanding it. Sure, there are encouraging signs at One Bills Drive. But don’t anoint Brandon Beane as some personnel savant until the players he’s brought in justify the expectations. It’s not enough to fill out a roster, he’s supposed to be constructing a consistent winner.

The same goes for McDermott. He’s a fine defensive coach. We still need to find out about him as a head coach, a game manager. It’s fine to talk about the process and football character, but his football vision is on trial now. At times, he comes off as too steeped in the old days. 

Jason Botterill? If handing eight years and $72 million to Jeff Skinner is some kind of personnel coup, people need to hold the GM to a higher standard. His vision of defensive hockey is very much in question, much like McDermott’s vision of offensive football. 

Maybe these are harsh criticisms, but they’re fair ones. They’re the kind of criticisms you hear in towns where the teams win, and where fans and media demand that the people running their teams don’t become complacent about success. 

That’s what Buffalo fans need to do: Demand success. Don’t be cheered by rank competence. Act like you’ve had great teams before. At this point, you should be suspicious of your sports teams, not blindly accepting of anything that doesn’t smack of mediocrity.

You deserve more than just having the teams remain in Buffalo. You deserve teams that are well-run and that win. 

People should be sick and tired of Buffalo being a cuddly, lovable loser. In the end, a lovable loser is still a loser.

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THE COLUMN

6/19/19

My first baseball hero was an Italian-American kid from East Boston named Tony Conigliaro. Tony C felt like one of ours, a New England kid whose family lived near my Italian relatives in Beantown. In 1964, he came up to the Red Sox and hit 20 home runs as a 19-year-old for his hometown team . He holds the MLB record for home runs by a teen-ager and got to 100 homers faster than any other player in American League history.

My greatest disappointment as a young fan was when Tony C was beaned and nearly killed in a game in August of 1967, the year the Red Sox won a surprise pennant. He missed an entire season and though he came back to have a couple of decent seasons, Conigliaro was never the same and died young of a brain aneurism when he was only 45. 

Right now, there are 55 players on pace for 30 homers in Major League Baseball. Tony C led the AL in homers with 32 when he was 20. Homers meant something back then. The kid in me is kind of proud he set his record during a time when pitchers ruled and homers weren’t cheapened.

Conigliaro was the only American Leaguer to hit more than 30 homers that season. A guy named Rocky Colavito was fifth with 26 for the Indians. He was one of the most feared power hitters in the league, third all-time among AL  right-handed hitters in homers at the time. 

I was too young to know it at the time, but Colavito was Cleveland’s version of Conigliaro — right from the capital C to the O at the end — a handsome, boyish and charismatic right-handed hitter who was the most popular player in his city, and especially beloved in the Italian-American community. Colavito wasn’t from Cleveland, but the people there embraced him and considered him their own. 

While I knew about Colavito in the mid-60s, I wasn’t even aware it was his second stint with the Indians, that he was traded from Cleveland to Detroit in 1960 in one of the most controversial and hated move that made Frank Lane, the general manager, one of the most reviled characters in the the city’s history — right up there with Art Modell.

Colavito was a remarkable and, until now, undertold story. That story has finally been written by a former colleague of mine. Mark Sommer, the award-winning veteran reporter for the Buffalo News, a gifted and versatile journalist who can write about any subject but has a special love for baseball, has written the definite biography of Colavito — “Rocky Colavito, Cleveland’s Iconic Slugger.”

The book will be published on July 5, but it’s currently available at rockycolavitobiography.com. It’s the definitive biography and goes into great depth about the trade, the reaction among stunned Cleveland fans and his return to the city. Sommer spent hours interviewing former players and spent hours with Colavito, who was his typically gracious and accommodating self. 

Cleveland fans were crushed when Rocky was traded in 1960. I imagine for a young boy, innocent and newly fascinated with the great game of baseball, it was like having Tony C get beaned as a rising young slugger and wondering if he’d ever suit up for the Red Sox again. 

The Colavito book is a great read for any fan, but especially for those of us who came of age as young baseball fans in the 1950s and 60s. It was a simpler time then, and players tended to stay in their towns longer. That’s what makes Rocky’s story so iconic and worthy of remembering.

Mark Sommer gives baseball lovers an overdue gem with his Colavito biography, and I’m privileged to have my former News colleague in the studio this morning to talk about it — and sports in general, I imagine.

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THE COLUMN

6/18/19

Back in the day, when I didn’t have a single issue to write about, but had a number of various issues on my mind, I had a name for it. Let’s say we column as I see ‘em:

The Red Sox began a series Monday at Minnesota, which entered the game on pace to win 109 games and leading all of baseball in runs and homers. Boston promptly reminded the Twins who was the reigning World Series champion, shutting them out, 2-0.

Rick Porcello, a former Cy Young winner, out dueled young Twins ace Jose Berrios by tossing seven shutout innings. Berrios retired 19 Red Sox in a row after giving up an RBI single in the top of the first, but his teammates had a rare quiet night at the plate at Target Field. 

Boston is now on a season-high six-game winning streak, after losing five of six. Since falling to 6-13 after a loss to the Yankees in mid-April they’ve gone 34-21, a 100-win pace. They’re now only five and a half games behind the Yanks and tied with Texas for second wild card … 

I think they’ll get to the playoffs. And then, look out. 

So Anthony Davis is going to join LeBron James in LA. New Orleans has agreed to send Davis to the Lakers for Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart and three first-round picks, including the fourth overall pick in this year’s draft.

That’s a lot to give up, and the pressure will be on Davis and James to make the NBA Finals right away. The big question is whether LA can add another star to the mix. Problem is, they have only $27 million under the cap, $23 million unless Davis waives his trade kicker. That’s not enough to add a max contract player to the roster.

A top free agent (Kyrie Irving, Jimmy Butler, Kawhi maybe) would have to sign for less. We’ll find out now is players really are reluctant to sign on with LeBron. At any rate, whoever is running that team needs to do a job of filling out that roster. 

Erik Karlsson re-signed with the Sharks for eight years at an average of $11.5 million a season. The two-time Norris Trophy winner has the most goals of any defenseman in the decade since he entered the league and at 29, still has a lot left in the tank. 

Karlsson opted not to test free agency, just like the Sabres’ Jeff Skinner. This is the first of what figure to be a lot of deals that have Buffalo fans saying, ‘See, we didn’t really pay that much for Skinner. Everybody overpays.

In an ESPN report, Mike Rodak identified running back T.J. Yeldon as the most likely veteran to be cut by the Bills. It makes sense. Yeldon lined up as a third-teamer in OTAs as the Bills gave first-team reps to LeSean McCoy, Frank Gore and rookie Devin Singletary.

But I’ll make a couple of predictions here: One, Singletary will lead the Bills in rushing this season; Two, McCoy will not be on the roster at the end of the season. 

The Phillies’ Bryce Harper is hitting .247 with 12 home runs. There are 65 Major League players with more homers. I don’t think Philly is getting enough for that $330 million contract. But they can look on the bright side. At this time last year, Harper was hitting .212.

Rickie Fowler shot 66 in the first round of the U.S. Open and promptly followed with a 77 to fall out of contention. Imagine how many endorsements the guy would get if he actually won something that mattered. 

The same goes for Chris Paul, who apparently spent last much of last season struggling to co-exist with NBA scoring champion James Harden. As I write this, another of those State Farm commercials just came on my TV set. 

The Yankees have hit a home run in 20 straight games. Their only longer streak came in 1941, the year Joe DiMaggio hit in 56 …  Imagine how many they might hit when they get Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge back in the lineup. 

Authorities in the Dominican Republic are reportedly close to determining a motive for the shooting of David Ortiz last week. Prosecutors have identified a fugitive, Alberto Miguel Rodriguez Mota, as the man who paid for the hit. 

There’s still no established motive for the attack, but I’m with Bob Ryan, who told us last week it had to be either finance or romance.

There’s talk about moving the 2022 World Cup (men’s version) to England after former Champions League president Michel Platini was detained as part of a criminal investigation into possible corruption in Fifa’s decision to award the event to Qatar.

This isn’t exactly a shock. When Qatar, which isn’t exactly a soccer Mecca and where it’s 120 degrees in summer got the World Cup, you figured palms were being greased in the usual fashion. 

Cavan Biggio hit two more homers for the Blue Jays in a 10-5 loss to the Angels on Monday night. Biggio, the son of Hall of Famer Craig Biggio, started slowly after being elevated from the Bisons on May 23. 

But in his last five games, Biggio is 8 for 19 with two doubles and four homers. 

Word is that new Sabres coach Ralph Krueger is really high on Rasmus Ristolainen. I was hoping Krueger would come in with a harsh, critical eye. Seems he’s come in as more of a cheerleader for Jason Botterill’s roster. 

THE COLUMN

6/17/19

There’s nothing harder in sports than winning a golf major for the first time. Just ask Rickie Fowler or Brandt Snedeker or Matt Kuchar or Lee Westwood, who have never won one, or Phil Mickelson, who went more than a decade for doing it for the first time at age 33, or Sergio Garcia, who waited 20 years to win his only major.

Now imagine trying to break through with a stone-cold killer like Brooks Koepka, who was looking for a third straight national championship, stalking you along 18 holes of a gripping final round of the 119th U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.

That’s what Gary Woodland did on Sunday afternoon in Monterrey. With Koepka one group ahead and making a seemingly inexorable run at him in the fourth round, Woodland conquered his own nerves, the daunting Pebble Beach layout and Koepka to win his first major title.

Woodland, a 35-year-old Kansas who played DII college basketball at Washburn, is the 25th-ranked player in the world, a three-time PGA Tour winner. But he had never won any tournament, never mind a major, after taking the 54-hole lead into the final round. He had been oh for 7 in those situations heading into Sunday at Pebble, when he led by one shot over Justin Rose and by four over Koepka.

You wondered if Woodland could hold on over 18 holes at Pebble, with a bunch of great players lurking behind him — not only Koepka, but Adam Scott, Henrik Stenson, Rory McIlroy, Louie Oosthuisen and Rose, all of whom had won majors in the past. 

But it was Koepka, who had won four of the last eight majors and established himself as one of the greatest big-time player of all time, who seemed to pose the most daunting threat to Woodland. And when Koepka birdied four of the first five holes to pull within a shot of the leader, it seemed only a matter of time before he caught Woodland.

It didn’t happen. Woodland had his wobbles, but he made the clutch shots he needed to hang on, including some remarkable saves from the thick U.S. Open rough when his driver became wayward and right on some of Pebble’s more difficult holes. 

Woodland didn’t play it safe. On the par-5 14th, rather than layup from the left fairway, he bombed a 254-yard 3-wood onto the left side of the green and made birdie. On the 17th, he pushed his drive to the far right and just inches off a wide green, landing 90 feet away. He calmly used his 64-degree wedge to chip to 3 feet and saved par. 

On 18, all he needed to do was 3-putt for the win. He banged in a 30-foot putt to finish it off in style, winning on Father’s Day with his dad sanding next to the 18th green and his wife back home, expecting identical twin girls. At the end of a remarkable sports week, Woodland joined the Blues and Raptors as first-time major champions.

Woodland finished at 13 under par, the third lowest score to par in a U.S. Open win, behind McIlroy in 2011 and Koepka two years ago. 

We should take a moment to marvel at the amazing Koepka, who joined Tiger Woods and Ben Hogan as the only players who finished top two in four straight majors. He was second to Woods in the Masters and won his second straight PGA Championship in May. 

“He played great,” Koepka said. “Nothing I could do. Ary played great all four days. That’s what you have to do to win a major championship.”

This Open was another reminder of how much talent there is on tour these days. You think of all the players who were on that leader board, and the likes of Woods and Dustin Johnson and Jordan Spieth and Jason Day. You realize how difficult it is to win a single major nowadays … and how astonishing this run by Koepka has been, maybe the greatest short-term run in majors other than Woods.

In the end, it feels like golf is the winner. Nothing against Koepka, but at some point it’s refreshing to see the sport rise up and pull a guy back. Koepka turned human in the last nine on Sunday. He was missing fairways and failing to drop in the big putts. 

Yeah, all he did was become the first player ever to shoot in the 60s all four rounds of a U.S. Open. Also the first ever to shoot five straight rounds in the 60s of the event, going back to last year’s final round at Shinnecock.

But Father’s Day belonged to Gary Woodland, who has been on the verge of a breakthrough in his mid-30s. He set a 36-hole record at the 2018 PGA Championship — which Koepka broke at this year’s PGA. He bears a physical resemblance to Koepka, and like Brooks, he played another sport in college before concentrating on golf. 

Woodland might never win another major. It’s hard. But he got one and took his place in history. It’s awful sweet to win the first. Like the people up in Toronto this morning, he’s too busy celebrating to worry about what comes next. 

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THE COLUMN

6/14/19

So for the second consecutive night, a team won its league championship for the first time — with a new head coach and a Finals MVP born in 1991 who had been acquired in the offseason in trade after falling out of favor with his previous franchise. 

On Wednesday, the Blues won their first Stanley Cup with former Ryan O’Reilly winning the Smythe, one year after supposedly losing his passion for winning in Buffalo. And Thursday night, the Raptors brought Canada its first NBA crown behind Kawhi Leonard, who was traded from the Spurs after missing almost all of last season with a quad injury that had critics questioning his willingness to play hurt and in some cases calling him a quitter.

The Raptors closed out the Warriors in Game 6, 114-110, in the last game ever played at Oracle Arena in Oakland. Leonard wasn’t great in the finale with the Warriors doubling him at every turn. It was Kyle Lowry, Pascal Siakam, Fred Van Vleet  and Serge Ibaka who combined for 89 points on a night when only five Toronto players made a basket.

It was a little sad for NBA fans. It felt like the end of a dynasty, with a game but undermanned Warriors team trying to win a third straight title with Kevin Durant gone with a torn Achilles and then Klay Thompson leaving on crutches — as Durant had three nights earlier — with a torn ACL suffered late in the third quarter. 

The Raptors don’t need to apologize. Injuries are part of the game. The Warriors won the first title in their five-year finals run when Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love were out in the 2015 Finals. But I have to say, at full strength the Warriors were the best team in the league, as was the case when Durant signed with them before the 2016-17 season. 

No one believes any longer that the Warriors were better without Durant. The absurdity of that notion became crystal clear over the last two weeks. But that doesn’t mean they couldn’t have won without him. The Raptors were reeling and the Warriors seemed capable of winning Game 6 with Thompson having an extraordinary performance. But winning without two of the game’s greatest pure shooters was too much to ask.

Steph Curry gave it his all, but he shot 41.4 percent in the series and didn’t shoot 50 percent in any game.  It’s fashionable to call him the best shooter in NBA history, but not at the end of close playoff games. Last night was the ninth time he had a shot to take the lead in the last 30 seconds of regulation or overtime of a playoff game. 

He’s missed all nine.

The fact that Golden State was 31-1 with Curry and without Durant in regular-season games seemed pretty irrelevant by the end of the Finals. 

Durant and Thompson are looking at long recovery periods. Friend of the show Adrian Wojnaroski says Durant is likely gone, and that “opting in” with the Warriors for $31.5 million and going to free agency in 2020 is probably his last resort. Some team is likely to give him a big free-agent deal and he’ll want to prove he can lead another franchise to glory — though coming back from an Achilles is a difficult proposition.

Thompson will also have a tough recovery from the ACL tear, but he’ll probably re-sign in Golden State. He’s a great two-way player and one of the best shooters ever. If I needed to win a series, I’d take him over James Harden, Russell Westbrook or Kyrie Irving in a heartbeat. 

Who will be next year’s favorite? It’s hard to say with the future of so many NBA stars up in the air. Leonard will be a free agent. Will winning a title inspire him to remain in Canada? I doubt it. He’s more likely to go back to his native California and play for the Clippers. 

Irving, Kemba Walker, Jimmy Butler, Leonard, Durant, Thompson, Tobias Harris and Khris Middleton are among the key players on the free agent list. Anthony Davis is likely to be traded by the Pelicans after making it clear that season that he wanted out. 

Someone is going to hook up with LeBron James with the Lakers. Maybe Davis. Something tells me LeBron isn’t done being a championship factor in the NBA. As much as I admire Leonard, watching him struggle to get shots off in the Finals made me appreciate even more how dynamic James has been in clutch playoff situations.

I root for the best story, as you know. It’ll be nice to go back to an NBA where no team is a clear-cut favorite, the way the Warriors were in three years with Durant. The offseason will be very interesting as we see which way all the free agents and Anthony Davis go. 

How about an NBA where the Knicks and Nets are both contenders and battle for supremacy in New York City? And the same thing in LA between the Lakers and Clippers? I’m intrigued to find out if Denver and Milwaukee take the next step, and if the Raptors hold together as a contender even if Kawhi leaves. How about the Pelicans with Zion Williamson. 

Should be quite a season next year. I don’t know what to expect, but I imagine there will be some surprises in store for fans — in both the NBA and NHL.

After all, One year ago at this time, Ryan O’Reilly was a Sabre and Kawhi Leonard was a Spur. Seems like a long time ago, doesn’t it?

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THE COLUMN

6/13/19

The St. Louis Blues won their first Stanley Cup on Wednesday night, beating the favored Bruins in Boston, 4-1, in the seventh game of the Finals. 

It was an astonishing turnaround for the Blues, who six months earlier had been in last place overall in the NHL. I have two pressing questions after watching the Blues pull off the improbable Cup run:

How in the world did they do it without Vladimir Sobotka, Patrik Berglund and Tage Thompson?

And will the vote a winner’s share to Sabres general manager Jason Botterill?

Rarely has a league executive played such a key role in a team’s historic championship run. Last July 1, Botterill traded Ryan O’Reilly to the Blues for Sobotka, Berglund, Thompson, a first-round pick this year and a second-round pick in 2021. 

At the time, Botterill was given high grades for the move. He had insisted he would trade O’Reilly only for a king’s ransom. Pierre LeBrun called it a “major return.” Hey, the Blues even agreed to pick up a $7.5 million bonus that was due to O’Reilly that day. 

So the Pegulas saved $7.5 million on the deal. Congratulations. It seems that’s a small benefit in a swap that could go down as the worst in NHL history — and for an owner who once said he’d just drill another well if he needed more money for his franchise. 

King’s ransom? If so, O’Reilly wound up as the king of hockey. He scored the first goal in Game 7, making him the first player since Wayne Gretzky to score goals in four straight games in the Finals. And he was named the winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy for Finals Most Valuable Player after the win. 

It’s convenient for Buffalo fans to claim they would rather see O’Reilly skate around with the Stanley Cup than see another Boston team win a title. Yeah, it seems like a classic rationalization, an attempt to ease the utter humiliation of seeing O’Reilly at the very top of the sport. 

This is one of the most Buffalo things ever, the newest indignity in a long chronicle of sporting woe. We’ve had our share of embarrassments, going back to O.J. 25 years ago this month. Vontae Davis quitting at halftime, the Nathan Peterman fiasco, Drury and Briere leaving on the same day, Thurman losing his helmet — I should get Bucky in here to go over our list of the 10 Billsiest things. 

But there’s never been anything quite like this. Some 14 months ago, O’Reilly sat in the Sabres dressing room and admitted he had lost his passion for the game, that he had become accustomed to losing. 

So Botterill traded him. O’Reilly became a convenient scapegoat for the Sabres’ organizational dysfunction, for a culture of losing that went back to the decision to lose on purpose for Jack Eichel. 

Boy, imagine what the hockey world was thinking when O’Reilly was skating around with the trophy late Wednesday night: HE lost his desire? HE became too accustomed to losing? This guy looks like one of the great winners in hockey, a player who needed to get away from a losing culture to unleash the winner and leader within. 

According to Pierre LeBrun, O’Reilly told his parents after the trade from the Sabres, “They think it’s my fault.”

“He was disappointed,” his mother Bonnie said. “He kind of felt, ‘They think I’m the problem.’ We said to him, ‘We know you’re not.’ Wherever you go, just keep doing what you’re doing. He got over it and was thrilled to go to St. Louis.”

It showed. O’Reilly led the Finals in scoring with five goals and nine points. He set a Blues record with 23 points in the postseason. He scored a huge goal in Game 7, tipping in a Jay Bouwmeester shot with 3:17 left in the first period to give the Blues a 1-0 lead after Boston had dominated most of the first period.

According to his father, O’Reilly played with a cracked rib suffered in the second round of the playoffs. 

A lot of former Buffalo athletes have won championships after leaving. Antowain Smith with the first Super Bowl winner in New England, Chris Hogan and Stephon Gilmore more recently. Marshawn Lynch. Brian Campbell, Dave Andreychuk and Dominik Hasek … those are but a few. 

But this tops them all. O’Reilly became the first player ever to win the Cup the year after being traded from another NHL team. It was a little surreal watching him win. It felt like a ringing indictment of the tank, a player who had supposedly lost his love for the game rediscovering it so dramatically at the expense of the Pegulas. 

It’s an in your face to anyone who endorsed the tank five and six years ago, in some cases turning it into a season-long entertainment, complete with fans cheering losses on home ice. Who were the ones who truly found losing acceptable, who created a toxic culture in the organization and the locker room. 

It’ll take Botterill awhile to live this one down. He was getting thrashed on two fronts by the NHL media during the Finals: For trading O’Reilly and for gifting an eight-year, $72 million contract to Jeff Skinner,  who has played the most games of any player without appearing in a Stanley Cup playoff game. Maybe it’s Skinner who has gotten used to losing.

Skinner better live up to that contract. They’d better improve right away. Because like it or not, there’s a direct connection to O’Reilly. Botterill justified the O’Reilly trade by saying it allowed him to deal for Skinner. OK, let’s see the Sabres find their competitive stride, the way the Blues did this year. 

“I still can’t believe this,” said O’Reilly. “I can’t believe I’m here right now as a Stanley Cup champion with this group of guys.”

It had to be surreal for Buffalo fans too. The Blues became the first team to go from last place in January to the Cup in the same year that the Sabres became the first team to lead the league in late November and miss the playoffs. You can’t make this stuff up. 

Gloria be. Well, maybe the Blues can be an inspiration to the Sabres and their fans, evidence that you’re never as far away as you might think. Draft well, add some depth and character, find a rising young goaltender, get a new coach who can reach his players and lift them to new heights.

Yeah, down the road Sabres fans might look back on this and laugh. But for now, it’s the hockey world that’s laughing. At them. 

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THE COLUMN

6/11/19

On consecutive nights, in two countries, fans confronted one of the great realities of sports: The hardest game to win is often the last one, the game that clinches a long-awaited championship.

St. Louis fans discovered that Sunday night, when the Bruins won with the Stanley Cup in the building to force a Game 7 back in Boston on Wednesday last night. And on Monday night, Toronto fans were denied their first NBA title when a remarkable Warriors team rallied in the last two minutes to stun the Raptors, 106-105, sending the NBA Finals back to the Bay Area for Game 6 on Thursday. 

Kevin Durant finally came back from his “calf strain.” He looked great for awhile, scoring 11 points in 12 minutes and making all three of his three-point shots. A great story seemed to be unfolding. Then Durant went down again. It looks like a torn Achilles, after all. He’s finished, perhaps having played for Golden State for the last time. 

At the start of the Finals, I said the Warriors couldn’t win without Durant making a significant contribution. Twelve minutes hardly qualifies. But they’re still alive, with a chance to prove that while they’re certainly better with Durant, they still have the heart of a champion, and they might yet be capable of winning a third straight title without him. 

With two minutes left, Toronto led by six. Nick Nurse called a timeout to give his team a rest. The great Kawhi Leonard had just scored 10 points in a row. The Scotibank Arena was rocking. It seemed like a celebration. It was too soon. The Warriors had other ideas. 

Basketball is a very simple game sometimes. If you shoot better than the other team, you win. Golden State has two of the greatest pure shooters in NBA history in Steph Curry and Klay Thompson. They were there before Durant, and they were there Monday when the two-time defending champions were on the verge of being eliminated. 

Thompson nailed a three-pointer. After Toronto turned the ball over on a bad possession, Curry hit a twisting three on top to tie it, 103-all. Then Leonard missed and the Warriors moved the ball beautifully around the perimeter before Thompson hit another three. Suddenly, it was Warriors by three. A 9-0 run in 1 minute, 35 seconds.

There was a palpable sense of panic about the Raptors now. It’s always hard to put away a champion, and in those final two minutes, with the series on the line, the Warriors played like a team that had been there before, the team with the cooler, clearer grasp of the big moment. 

In the end, their defense rose up, too. People tend to forget about the Warriors as a great defensive team.  They’ve been ranked third or better in the NBA in defensive field-goal percentage in each of the past five years: Third, third, first, third, first moving back to their first title in 2015.  At their best, they were hard to stop but also really hard to score against. 

Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala and Klay Thompson are three of the best defenders in the game at their positions. And they were ready on the final possession, when the Raptors  had a chance to win with 15.7 seconds left after Boogie Cousins was called for an illegal screen.

Leonard got the ball on top and drove right with Klay Thompson on him. Iguodala slid over to double-team, forcing Leonard to give up the ball to Fred van Vleet. With the clock running down, van Vleet frantically found Kyle Lowry in the left corner. Green rushed out and challenged the shot, which wasn’t close. 

Back to Oracle for Game 6. The Warriors are still alive. They’re the 35th team to fall behind three games to one in the Finals. Only one team has blown a lead in that spot — the Warriors against Cleveland three years ago. That’s why they got Durant. It would be a marvelous symmetry if they became the second team ever to do it. 

It won’t be easy. Toronto has two chances to close it out. The Warriors will need to shoot well again, twice, to pull it off. They made 20 three-pointers last night. They outscored the Raptors by 36 points from three. Curry and Thompson made three in a row in the clutch. Toronto missed three in a row in that stretch. The Raptors aren’t going to beat them in a long-distance shooting contest. 

In the end, the Raptors will have to win with its own defense and superior inside play, and with Leonard, who was brilliant for a stretch of the fourth quarter but otherwise had a rare off shooting night in the playoffs, shooting 9 for 24. 

I have to admit, I was rooting for the Warriors at the end. I’m never ready for an NBA season to end. It’s not supposed to be easy and it’s hard to put out a champion. I think the Raptors and their fans found that out after that timeout with two minutes left.  Finishing off a title run is the hardest thing, especially against a worthy opponent. 

There’s nothing quite like a seventh game in sports. We’ll get one tomorrow night in Boston for the Stanley Cup. Something tells me the NBA Finals will go that way, too, with Golden State trying to win it all without Kevin Durant. You can’t ask for a better end to the story. 

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THE COLUMN

6/10/19

Well, I’m not surprised. The Bruins had been behind in a playoff series three times before in these Stanley Cup playoffs, twice on the verge of elimination. They had won the game every time. 

So on Sunday night, the Bruins responded in a big way again. Facing elimination in Game 6 of the Cup finals in St. Louis, Boston defeated the Blues, 5-1, to bring the series back home to Beantown with a chance to win the seventh Stanley Cup in their history. 

The Bruins last won the Cup in 2011. That year, they were also down three games to two against Vancouver. They trailed the Finals two games to none. They also trailed their first series 2-0 that year. 

In ’11, they won Game 7 on the road. This time, they get to do it at home. It’ll be the first time they have a chance to win the Stanley Cup on home ice since 1970 — yes, against the St. Louis Blues. It ended on a Bobby Orr goal in overtime. Perhaps you’ve seen the iconic photo.

Patrice Bergeron, the best two-way player in hockey, gave his teammates a rousing pre-game speech Sunday, reminding them of 2011 and how they live for moments like this. Meanwhile, there was some apparent bad karma when the St. Louis Post-Dispatch mistakenly printed on-line ads during the day celebrating the Blues’ Cup victory and a letter from the owner talking about his excitement about the victory parade.

Fake news, indeed.

Well, no one does parades better than Boston, which celebrated a World Series title last November, a Super Bowl parade this past February and well, more parades than a New Englander can count at this point. 

“You’ve got two good teams that have gone toe to toe here,” said Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy. “The whole hockey world loves a Game 7. May the best team win.”

Hockey is the big winner here. There are few things in sports like a seventh game in the Stanley Cup playoffs. On Wednesday at Boston Garden — sorry, TD Garden — we’ll get to experience hockey’s ultimate for the first time in eight years. 

I’m just hoping for overtime, and the unbearable tension that comes when you know one shot ends it all. There hasn’t been a Game 7 overtime in the Finals since 1954, when Tony Leswick won it for Detroit. 

It would be nice to see the Bruins pull it off. It’s hard to pick against goalie Tuukka Rask, who has a 1.93 goals against and .938 save percentage in 23 playoff games — and an amazing .973 save percentage in elimination games. He’ll almost surely win the Conn Smythe if the Bruins win at home on Wednesday. 

But the better story would be St. Louis winning its first Cup and allowing the Post Dispatch to celebrate on line for real. The Blues have been a remarkable story this season, going from last in the NHL in January to one game from winning the best trophy in sports. 

Yes, there’s also the Ryan O’Reilly angle, which might have Sabres fans rooting against St. Louis. O’Reilly has been terrific in the Finals. He’s been a big factor in all three wins and would be the likely Smythe winner if the Blues won Game 7. 

That would be embarrassing to Buffalo, which shipped O’Reilly to St. Louis after he admitted he had become accustomed to losing last season. Mike Harrington of the News has heard two big questions while covering the finals: How the heck could they trade O’Reilly? And the last two days, they were asking how they could pay so much for Jeff Skinner. 

Yep. NHL Network was trashing Skinner deal pretty good yesterday on the basis of what it meant for others in free agency. Pretty shared view from lots I talked to here the last two days.

We know the answer on the last one: They gave Skinner eight years and $72 million because they had no choice. At least, the hockey media in this town have repeated that “no choice” line so many times it takes on the ring of truth. After awhile, it almost seems it’s the Buffalo apologists who have no choice in the matter.

Of course, the Sabres had a choice. They could have refused to overpay O’Reilly, admitted they weren’t close to contention and look to build a real contender by signing reasonably priced free agents who play good defense and developing the talent in their own system. 

But they’re all-in on Skinner and now the pressure is on Jason Botterill to fill out the roster with players who can win right away and justify overpaying Skinner to such a degree. Ralph Krueger, the new head coach, says they’re close to contention. This move backs it up. Now they need to do it on the ice. 

A $72 million contract will have serious consequences down the road. Jeff Skinner has never played in a Stanley Cup series. He has played the most games of any NHL player without reaching the postseason. The Sabres, meanwhile, have the longest playoff drought in the league. 

When you watch the Bruins and Blues play for the Cup on Wednesday, ask yourself, do you see this Sabres team in that spot? Do you really think they’re a couple more tweaks by Botterill from competing on the sport’s biggest stage?

Well, the pressure is on now. Botterill’s job is on the line. He took a chance on an unconventional coach and will be paying $9 million a year for a one-dimensional winger who has never won.

They’d better win, and soon. 

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THE COLUMN

6/6/19

So what do we make of this NBA Finals? When it started, the big question was whether the Warriors could win a third straight championship without Kevin Durant. 

On Wednesday night, it was whether Stephen Curry could win a game basically by himself. 

The answer was an emphatic no, though Curry put on the most noble one-man show by a losing player in the playoffs since Jerry West won MVP against the Celtics. Curry scored 47 points, but it wasn’t nearly enough as Toronto rolled, 123-109, in Oakland to take a two games to one lead in the series. 

Durant was out again with his injured calf. Klay Thompson was questionable before the game, but Steve Kerr decided to sit him with a mild hamstring strain. Kevin Looney is out for the series with a fractured ribcage. 

Not surprisingly, it was an ugly game, unless you were a Raptors fan. The team that Golden State put on the floor wouldn’t have made the Western Conference playoffs. TV ratings haven’t been good for the Finals, and I’m guessing it won’t change until Durant comes back.

I didn’t expect Thompson to play Wednesday. My theory was that Kerr would decide, we have to win three of the last five games to win it all, this one isn’t vital. I’d rather not risk injuring Klay more and win those three games with the most healthy possible team.

Kerr said Thompson will likely play in Game 4 on Thursday. They’re still not sure about Durant. But as someone who roots for the best story, the greatest drama could be yet to come — Durant coming back to save the day, maybe with the Warriors one game from elimination, and prove once and for all that they needed him to win the title. 

Still, if anyone believed the Warriors were better with Curry playing and Durant sidelined — as opposed to the other way around — they won’t change their tune after Game 3, when Curry tried to carry the team on his back. He’s the best pure shooter the game has ever seen, and a remarkable competitor. But I still don’t think Golden State can win this thing if Durant doesn’t make a significant contribution. 

The Raptors shot 52.4 percent from the field — 17 of 38 from three after going 11 for 38 in Game 3. It seemed Toronto had any shot it wanted, which should tell people how much they missed Thompson, one of the best defensive guards in the game — never mind Durant and Looney.

But the Raptors took care of business. If they had lost this game, it would have been an utter embarrassment. They might as well have packed it in if they couldn’t beat that ragtag outfit. 

But Toronto doesn’t have to apologize for beating a crippled opponent. That’s sports. Injuries are part of it.  Did the Warriors need to apologize for winning that first title over the Cavs when Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love were hurt? When people talk about their run of dominance, their three titles in four years, no one mentions that. There’s no asterisk next to the Cavs’ title because Draymond Green was suspended for a game.

Injuries are often a factor in who wins and who loses in sports. Magic Johnson was hurt in the final two games when the Bad Boy Pistons won their first title in 1989. They had won the previous year’s Finals thanks largely to a serious ankle injury to Isiah Thomas. 

The Patriots might have two more Super Bowl titles if Rob Gronkowski had been healthy. They won one last season in large part because Todd Gurley was a shell of himself because of a bad knee. 

When Canadiens fans look back on the 1993 Cup title, do they remember Alex Mogilny and Pat LaFontaine being hurt for Buffalo in the second round? As Mike Harrington wrote today, Sabres fans aren’t feeling any sympathy for the Bruins because of all their injuries to defenseman in this year’s Finals. Not after what happened in ’06.

History records the name of the winners, not who didn’t play. The Raptors have a lot of work to do. It feels like they’re the underdog — they were somehow the underdog last night — and that they’re going to have to face the full might of the two-time defending champions before the series is through. 

You have to give the Raptors credit for pushing the action, attacking and defending the rim and making open three-pointers. Until the final minute, you wondered if Curry was going to pull off a miracle. But when he scored his 45th point with eight minutes left,  he seemed spent. 

When a rejuvenated Serge Ibaka blocked his sixth shot of the night, I thought to myself, They could really use Kevin Durant. When Kyle Lowry answered Curry with a three-pointer, I thought, And Klay Thompson, too. 

Kawhi Leonard scored 30 points for the Raptors, a modest total really. In  the game after Toronto’s previous six losses this postseason, Leonard had scored more than 30 each time and averaged 36.4 in those games.

Leonard is a great two-way player. You beat who they put in front of you, but if he’s going to win another title, I’d like it to be against a Warriors team at full strength — or close to it — with its two great two-way stars, Durant and Thompson, in his way. 

Golden State is still better with Durant, of course, and the better team. It’s going to be quite a story — the best story, however it plays out — when he finally comes back. 

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THE COLUMN

6/4/19

Back in the day,  whenever I spoke in public, there was one question I was sure to get every time: What’s going to happen to the Bills when Ralph Wilson dies? Is the team going to leave Buffalo?

No one knew for certain at the time. That’s why I always dreaded getting the inevitable question. Wilson fanned people’s concerns with his periodic public pleas of concern. I remember him taking out a full-page ad in the News urging fans and the community to support their team.

But when Ralph died, we found out he had, in fact, put in place a succession plan that ensured the team would stay in Buffalo when he passed. Terry Pegula stepped forward and paid a record $1.4 billion for the team in 2014, outbidding the likes of Donald Trump in the process.

Still, the people of Western New York get those occasional reminders that the Bills aren’t guaranteed to stay forever. Every so often, I feel like I’m hearing Ralph Wilson’s voice from the afterlife, telling fans not to take their beloved football team for granted.

On Monday, it was commissioner Roger Goodell, who once again appeared at Jim Kelly’s annual golf tournament at Terry Hills and taking the inevitable questions about building a new stadium. 

Goodell assured us that he’s supportive because “I want to make sure this franchise remains stable here, and continues, and remains competitive. And I think it’s great for this community. And we’ve been able to do these stadiums in such a way that it creates a tremendous economic benefit, too. I want the Bills to be successful and I want them to continue to be competitive here in Buffalo.”

It sounded a little bit like a threat. Goodell is basically saying the Bills won’t be stable and competitive — whatever that means — without building a new stadium. This makes four times that the commissioner has made comments about the team needing to be more viable or competitive by building a. New place.

Pro Football Talk attempted to fan the unsettle the masses with a tweet that read: “The drums are getting louder, Buffalo. And the message from the league is clear: Pay for all or part of a new stadium, or else the Bills eventually will move.”

Look, we’ve been through this before. The Bills aren’t going anywhere. And they’re going to build a new stadium at some point. That’s pretty clear by now. The only questions are where and when and who pays for it. After the Bills hired a firm to research the matter, Kim Pegula said the new place would be a “game changer.” More renovations at New Era — which underwent $130 million in renovations awhile back with state help — aren’t anyone’s definition of a game-changer.

Mark Poloncarz, the county executive, weighed in as usual:

“Commissioner Goodell’s comments are the same thing he’s said for years now. It should be noted as Commissioner he is beholden to a group of 32 very wealthy team owners, including those with teams in many larger markets, with very different stadium situations in their communities than the Bills have here in Buffalo. His interest lies not with our community but with the owners that employ him and the highest level of profit he can deliver for them.”

When Goodell talks about the Bills being competitive, he’s not talking about their passing game. He means their ability to generate the sort of revenue you derive from a new stadium, to further stuff the pockets of the owners and feed their insatiable desire for profit.

That’s the NFL. That’s the league the Pegulas bought into, and the one Buffalo fans are so proud to be a part of. It’s an exclusive club, and it’s a stadium-building league. Pegula knew that when he paid big for the right to be in the club. There had to be an understanding that, some day, he would submit to the realities of ownership and build a new stadium in Buffalo.

You can’t have it both ways. My guess is that the Pegulas will eventually build it downtown, as part of their little empire. They’re treated as if they were king and queen, saviors of the city. They’re not without ambition and ego. You can’t bow to them and deny them the ultimate trappings of NFL ownership.

For better or worse, Buffalo people cling to their identity as an NFL town. It connects them to the big-time. Thinking about the Jim Kelly golf classic and all those celebrities, it struck me that this really is an iconic NFL franchise, the charming small market team with passionate fans that reflects the league’s presumed self-image. 

I believe the NFL wants to preserve this piece of its culture. But an identity as an NFL city comes with a high price. You can’t have it both ways. Sooner or later, Buffalo fans will be asked to chip in their share. Personal seats licenses, to be specific. 

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THE COLUMN

6/3/19

So it’s been what, four days now since we were told the Skinner deal was on the verge of being done, that it was merely a matter of time, a tweaking of numbers. Of course, I’ve been hearing that since February. 

But if Skinner is so eager to stay in Buffalo, why is it taking so long? Maybe it’ll get done during our show. But could it be that his agent is trying to squeeze the Sabres, knowing Botterill is in a fix and this is where he can be overpaid the most?

I’ve lost count of the time that someone in local media said they “have to sign” Skinner, no matter the cost. His leverage grows, along with the pressure on the GM and owner. If I were his agent, hearing this chorus of chatter saying the Sabres absolutely need to keep him here, I’d demand $10 million. So what if Skinner, like that other $10 million star Jack Eichel, has never won a thing or made the playoffs.

I get the arguments, how they’d have to replace Skinner’s production, how they’d be overpaying for another wing on the open market, and how a $9 million hit isn’t out of line with what similar scorers are being paid.

There’s never a lack of rationalizations in Buffalo sports, where we’re always supposed to think the best of management, no matter how dysfunctional. The Bills had to sign Mario Williams and Terrell Owens and hire Rex Ryan and hand $100 million to Marcell Dareus.

They had to trade Ryan O’Reilly, right? People have recited that so many times it’s become accepted fact. Yes, O’Reilly admitted he had gotten used to losing. So he became a convenient target for all the Sabres’ ills. But did Botterill really have to trade him? Couldn’t he have sat him down, told him he understood how a player could feel that way in his team’s losing culture and promised to build a winner around him?

How much should we blame a franchise that lost on purpose to get a “generational player”? 

I know this puts me in a distinct minority, but I don’t think it’s so outlandish to think overpaying Skinner might not be in the team’s best interests. Sure, he scored 40 goals once. He’s also a weak defensive player, a career minus player who has never won. 

Ask Carolina if it’s impossible to carry on without him. The Hurricanes scored 225 goals in 2017-18. Skinner had 24. They decided he wasn’t their type of player, traded him to Buffalo and somehow scored 253 goals the next season. They also allowed 32 fewer goals, ended a 10-year playoff drought and went to the conference finals. 

I’d hate to leap to conclusions, but they were better off without him.

The ‘Canes got 10 or more goals from 13 players. So did St. Louis, which made the Cup final with O’Reilly. Maybe you need to tank for a superstar, but apparently defense and balance go a long way. 

If the Sabres have to overpay for a one-dimensional scorer, it’s the sign of a desperate organization. Botterill is desperate to avoid the embarrassment of trading assets for Skinner and seeing him walk for nothing. His agent knows that. 

He knows Botterill is under fire after two failed seasons under Phil Housley. He’s prone to the kind of short-sighted moves that Tim Murray and Doug Whaley made late in their tenures as GMs for the Pegulas, when they were trying to save face and their jobs. 

I’d respect Botterill more if he decided the price was too high for Skinner. I feel the same way about the new coach, Ralph Krueger. If he’s such a genius, couldn’t he watch film and convince management that Skinner isn’t worth it, that he reflects too much of what’s wrong with this team?

The Sabres need to stop making moves out of desperation, to create the illusion of progress for a disaffected fan base. Krueger is wrong if he thinks they’re close. Outside of a fluke 10-game streak, the Sabres were the worst team in the NHL last season, again. 

Skinner made a great salary drive, but he was a virtual, but he disappeared when the Sabres fell apart in the second half. He went through the motions on defense, like the rest of their so-called stars.  Word is, he wants to stay in Buffalo because it’s close to home and he’s comfortable here. Too comfortable, perhaps, like Ryan O’Reilly?

Keeping him here might make them better in the short run. But his 40 goals didn’t get the Sabres anywhere. A massive long-term deal will weigh down the franchise for years to come. There might come a time when fans look back and wonder, did they really have to sign him?

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THE COLUMN

5/31/19

OK, it’s only one game, with a home team holding serve in a seven-game series. You can’t over-react to what happens in the opening game. The Blues-Bruins Game 2 is only the most recent example.

But I’ll say it again: If you think the Warriors are better off without Kevin Durant, you don’t understand basketball. 

Thursday night in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, the Raptors took full advantage of a Golden State team playing without its superstar forward, shooting 50.6 percent from the floor — 26 for 44 from inside the arc, mind you — to beat the two-time defending champs, 118-109, in the first Finals game in their history.

There’s a point in any NBA playoff where inside play becomes critical. I don’t care how popular the three-point shot has become. If you don’t defend near your own basket, and if you don’t create matchup problems inside the arc, you’ll eventually be exposed.

That’s why Durant’s absence was bound to be critical in this series. This isn’t Portland, which relied heavily on two small guards and had one of the weakest front courts I’d seen in a conference final. It was a big, talented Toronto frontline that was capable of attacking Golden State at both ends. 

The Raptors have unusual size and length inside with Kawhi Leonard, Pascal Siakam and Marc Gasol. They’re all strong post defenders and can also create matchup problems on the other end. Last night, they combined to shoot 25 for 41 from the floor (7 of 13 from three) and made 18 of 20 foul shots.

It brought back memories of the old Celtics-Lakers bigs. Pascal Siakam, in his first Finals game, shot 14 for 17 and scored 32 points. He had 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 blocks. That’s the kind of stat line you would expect from, oh, Kevin Durant. 

Casual hoop fans make it all about offense. They gush about one-dimensional, overrated players like James Harden and Russell Westbrook. Durant is the best pure scorer in the game. He’s also an elite post defender when he puts his mind to it. Durant was the leading shot-blocker in the 2017 and ’18 Finals, when he won MVP and lead the Warriors to two championships. 

Boy, do you think they could have used KD’s D? On offense, of course, they really missed him. Matchup are vital, and the greatest matchup problem for Toronto is Durant. His mid-range jumper is impossible to block. He’s a force in transition. He would occupy Leonard and create opportunities for Curry and Thompson. 

The Warriors had two players score more than 10 points, Curry and Thompson. They had a number of hustle baskets and their bench played well. But overall, they struggled in the halfcourt and the offense didn’t look so fluid and efficient without Durant — as it was fashionable to suggest in the previous five games without him. 

Golden State made up three 15-point deficits against the Blazers, by attacking the basket at will. This was different. Draymond Green was bad. There was no one to challenge the Raptors with mid-range shots, which is Durant’s specialty. One on possession in the third quarter, the Warriors got a 24-second violation.

Seconds later, Siakam and Leonard teamed up on a fast-break score and Mark Jackson reiterated that it’s silly to suggest the Warriors are better off without Durant. “He makes life so much easier”, Jackson said. 

Jackson was right. Every possession seemed like a labor for the Warriors, especially on defense. Siakam really turned it into a half-court affair in the third, scoring 10points in the first 5:15. He made 11 shots in a row at one point. 

Like many other playoff opponents in recent years — and like LeBron James and the Cavs in the last three games of the 2016 Finals — the Raptors aren’t intimidated. They didn’t wilt when Golden State seemed to be going on one of its runs. That’s what great defense does in basketball. It prevents streaks. Like a good starting pitcher in baseball, it restores order and calm and confidence.

Obviously, the series is far from over . As Curry said, “We’re down 0-1, but it’s not the end of the world.” Durant might come back soon, perhaps for Game 2, though it’s hard to imagine him being close to top form. 

But the Warriors don’t look like a heavy favorite any longer, even with KD. The Raptors are a worthy challenger, like the Cavs team that beat the Warriors three years ago. They won without Leonard playing his best game. Toronto is better defensively than that Cleveland team, which stifled the Warriors in the biggest moments that year. That’s why they signed Durant, remember?

I’ll end by reprising  my prediction from Monday’s Niagara Gazette: “One way or the other, by the time the Finals end people will no longer be saying Golden State was better off without KD. They’ll be wondering what the heck they were thinking. “

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THE COLUMN

5/28/19

When Scott Norwood missed his kick at the end of the Bills’ loss to the Giants in the first of their four Super Bowls, I remember thinking, “Well, now poor Billy Buckner has some company.”

Like Norwood, Buckner had earned lasting and undeserved infamy for one fateful failure in the biggest moment in his sport.

Buckner, who died on Monday of Lewy body Dementia, a degenerative brain disease, was remembered for one unfortunate error in the 1986 World Series. In the bottom of the 10th inning of Game Six, he let a slow roller by Mookie Wilson go between his legs to give the Mets a 6-5 comeback victory.

Instead of winning their first World Series since 1918, the Red Sox were pushed to a Game Seven at Shea Stadium, where they blew a three-run lead and lost the Series to the Mets. 

Like Norwood, Buckner was blamed for his team’s loss, and tortured over the years. In some ways, it was worse for Billy Buck. He didn’t get an adoring return to Boston in the town square. He was ridiculed and scorned, so much so that he was forced to move his family after receiving death threats from fans.

I’m a Red Sox fan and I never blamed Buckner. First of all, I’m not that sort of fan. I don’t hate the Yankees, for example. I root for them when the Red Sox aren’t in the postseason. And as a Sox fan who had learned as a kid to expect the worst, I saw Buckner’s error as the natural culmination of many other failures that preceded it — same as Norwood’s missed kick in early 1991.

If anyone deserved blame, it was manager John McNamara, who had replaced the hobbled Buckner at first base for defensive purposes in every win that season. He left him on the field that night. Some feel McNamara, a miserable man, did it out of sentiment. I’ve always believed that he simply forgot. 

Boston’s relievers failed badly that night. Calvin Schiraldi, a weak closer, was over his head. Bob Stanley was wild. There were 13 pitches that could have clinched the Series. Finally, Stanley threw a wild pitch — which I thought was a passed ball by Rich German. 

As replays showed, there’s a good chance that the speedy Wilson would have beaten the slow-reacting Stanley to first if Buckner fielded the ball. Baseball Reference says the Mets had a 1 percent chance to win when the Red Sox recorded two outs in the ninth — and 60 percent after the wild pitch tied the game. 

As a seasoned Sox fan, I assumed they were finished after the Mets tied the game. The Buckner error was a predictable conclusion. I was sure they would have lost the game later if he had fielded the ball and flipped to Stanley covering first — which was no guarantee.

Anyway, history was harsher. Buckner, who had 2,175 hits in a 22-year career — more than Ted Williams, Jimmie Foxx or Manny Ramirez — struggled with the goat’s horns, as Norwood did. But like Norwood, he mostly remained silent and never stooped to blaming any of his teammates for the loss.

In 2006, Buckner refused to attend a celebration of that ’86 team at Fenway Park. But in 2008, he agreed to throw out the first ball when the Sox raised the banner for the 2007 World Series champions. The fans gave him a four-minute standing ovation and Buckner stood there wiping tears from his eyes. He was over it. 

Later, he and Mookie Wilson even appeared in public together and co-autographed thousands of photos of the play. They were in a beer commercial. Buckner appeared in an episode of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” with Larry David, in which he caught a baby that fell from a burning building and drove away as a hero.

In a press session after throwing out the pitch in 2008,  Buckner called the reaction to his error as “the ugly part of sports.”

“I don’t think that in society in general that’s the way we should operate,” he said. “What are you teaching kids? Not to try because if you don’t succeed then you’re going to be buried, so don’t try?”

I choose to remember Billy Buck as a classy ballplayer and man, with his bushy Seventies mustache and thick black eyebrows.

He was a batting champion who was also was a swift runner and fine fielder until ankle and knee injuries compromised him physically. In 1986, he needed nine cortisone shots just to get through the season. He drove in 102 runs that year and hit .340 in September that season. 

That’s what I remember, Buckner the driven, determined player, hobbling around on bad knees in that unforgettable 1986 season, the one in which I watched more Sox games than in any year since I was a boy.

Buckner never struck out three times in a game. Not once, in 2,517 career games. He never struck out 40 times in a season. There are 102 players who have already struck out this season. The only player with more hits in the 1970s and 80s: Pete Rose.

It’s a different game today. Heck, the Red Sox have won four World Series since Buckner’s error. Winning has a way of healing all wounds. Some day, maybe Scott Norwood can lead the charge out of the locker room before a home game after the Bills win the Super Bowl. 

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THE COLUMN

5/24/19

Can you imagine the Raptors being one game from their first NBA finals without Kawhi Leonard … can you contemplate anyone saying his team might be better off without him, like the Warriors without Kevin Durant?

I didn’t think so.

Leonard reminded sports fans once again last night that he’s the best clutch shooter in the NBA. When the pressure goes up and the lights shine brightest, no modern player steps up like this guy.

In Game 5, at Milwaukee, Leonard scored 35 points as the Raptors stunned the Bucks, 105-99, to take a 3-2 lead in the Eastern Conference finals. On Saturday at the Air Canada Center, the Raptors have a chance to move on the face the Warriors for the NBA championship.

You don’t hear people talking about Drake’s antics today. They’re talking about Leonard’s heroics, how he scored 15 of his points in the fourth quarter as Toronto became the first team to win in Milwaukee this year when trailing after three quarters. 

It was time to act like they’ve been there before, and the Bucks and the great Giannis Antetokoumpo weren’t up to it. They lost three in a row for the first time this season. You know who has been there before, who has risen up to the biggest challenge time after time in the playoffs? 

Leonard, who added 7 rebounds and 9 assists and some terrific defense on Giannis, who has a lot of support for regular-season MVP. Yeah, defense is kind of vital at this time of year, and Kawhi might be the best defensive player in the sport. 

MVP? Leonard never gets his due. The voters get all giddy about the Russell Westbrooks and James Hardens of the world, guys who put up gaudy numbers and dominate the ball, but don’t play great defense and tend to get exposed in the postseason. 

Leonard plays great defense, initiates the offense like a point guard and raises his offensive level in the postseason. He’s averaging 31.2 points in the playoffs and shooting 51.8 percent. That’s astounding (as I’ll point out later in the hour). 

Leonard is a career 41.8 percent 3-point shooter in the playoffs, and he takes a lot of them. That’s better than Steph Curry, or Klay Thompson, or Harden, or just about anyone in the game. The only active player of any significant with a higher 3-point percentage is the Bucks’ Khris Middleton. What did he do last night in the biggest game of his career? Six points, 0 for 2 from three.

A lot of players don’t want the big shots in the postseason, including Kawhi’s own Raptors teammates at times. He’s taken the big shot time and again. He has 11 30-point games in these playoffs, often with Toronto seeming to wobble. 

They lost the playoff opener to Orlando, Leonard scored 37 in Game 2 to settle things down. They were down 2-1 to the Sixers, he scored 39 in a win. In the seventh game, he scored 41 and made the first buzzer beater to end a seven-game series in NBA history.

Down 2-0 to the Bucks, being written off (yeah, I thought they were toast), Leonard goes for 36 in a Game 3 win. Then last night, he takes over in the fourth. 

As Charles Barkley said in the post-game on TNT, “He brought this bad boy home”.

Yeah, the way he did in the NBA Finals in 2014, when he shot 61 percent from the field and led the Spurs over LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and the Heat, winning Finals MVP at age 22. 

Yeah, Leonard is only 27. He’s being called the best two-way player in the NBA, which I’ve believed for years. Doesn’t that make him the best player in basketball today, period? All right, maybe second-best until we find out if LeBron James, the best of all time, has enough left to make another title run or two.

Maybe they can make a run together. Leonard is a free agent after the season, and while Canadians are hopeful he’ll re-sign with Toronto, he’s more likely to take off, perhaps to his native Southern California. People say he’s leaning toward the Clippers, but it would be fun to see him bring some needed sanity to the Lakers and unite with LeBron. 

At any rate, he’ll be a much sought-after commodity in the offseason, regardless of what happens the rest of the way.  You can have Westbrook’s triple-doubles, Harden’s string of 30-point games, or Antetokoumpo’s rousing dunks — or Durant. He has never carried a team the way Leonard has this offseason, which is one reason he’ll probably leave Golden State to prove it. 

If Leonard gets the Raptors to the Finals, they’ll be a solid underdog to the Warriors, with or without Durant. They’re simply too good and motivated to win a third straight championship and fourth in five years. Keep in mind, LeBron couldn’t beat them the last two Finals. Leonard would have his work cut out for him. Of course, as we’ve found out yet again, that’s when he’s at his absolute best.

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THE COLUMN

5/23/19

Last night, for the first time since April 9, there wasn’t a single NHL or NBA playoff game. That’s six weeks and a day, sitting up late at night watching meaningful sports in my recliner.

Meaningful? Every game has meaning. Sometimes, you just kick back and enjoy a baseball game. Remember what that was like, to simply revel in a regular-season game, with nothing huge on the line, a lazy night in late May?

Some people think baseball is boring. I say only to boring people. The wonderful thing about baseball is that if you really pay attention, you’ll see something that distinguishes it from every other baseball game you’ve seen. Each one is different, like a snowflake. 

Luckily, the was a Mets-Nationals game, a matchup of the last two Cy Young winners in the National League — Washington’s Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom of the Mets. 

On Monday, if you recall, I was crushing the Mets after they became the first time in two seasons to get swept by the Marlins over the weekend, with Robinson Cano failing to run out ground balls twice and writers (our boy, Mike Vaccaro of the Post) calling for manager Mickey Callaway’s head. 

Well, that all went out the window Wednesday night, with the resurgent Mets looking to sweep the fading Nats. In a year of record home runs (more on that later), I was ready to see some good pitching, which is never boring to me. 

Neither Scherzer nor deGrom was at his best, but they battled through six. DeGrom gave up a leadoff homer to Adam Eaton and shut down the Nats after that. Scherzer , his breaking ball sharp in the toughest moments, struck out nine and was up 1-0 after six.

The fun happened when both were gone, no surprise since Washington has the worst bullpen ERA in baseball.

Down 1-0, after seven, the Mets struck for six in the eighth and won a game for the first time all season when they trailed after the seventh.  With the bases jammed, Juan Lagares drilled a 3-run double up the left-center field alley off closer Sean Doolittle. 

Then we got one of those moments that make baseball so great, and a delight for us trivia nuts. The Mets walked Wilson Ramon on purpose, bringing up 38-year-old Rajai Davis, who hadn’t batted in National League game in more than 10 years.

Davis, in fact, had started the day in the minor leagues. Late that afternoon, he took batting practice for the Syracuse Mets at Lehigh Valley in Allentown, Pa. Then his manager, Tony DeFrancesco, told him to get to New York. Brandon Nimmo had gone on the IL and the Mets needed a player.

Davis thought it was a joke. It wasn’t. He showed and called an Uber for the 112-mile ride to Citi Field. It took two hours and cost him $234. He said he got to know his driver, Jason, a Brooklyn native. Davis said he’ll expense the bill. I think the Mets will pay it. They’re his 10th team, by the way, if you count Cleveland twice.

Davis hit a 3-run homer to make it 6-1. It was the first pinch-hit homer of his career. He doesn’t hit a lot of home runs. He leads all active players in stolen bases, by the way. But you might recall his dramatic 2-run, 2-out homer that tied Game 7 of the 2016 World Series against Aroldis Chapman — the Indians wound up losing to the Cubs in the 10th. 

Mets manager Mickey Callaway, in a lot better mood than last Sunday, said after the win that he never even saw Davis until the fifth or sixth inning. Davis arrived at the park in the third. He said Davis, who got his first career curtain call after the homer, didn’t know how to get to the home clubhouse afterwards.

So after embarrassing sweep by Marlins, ending with the Cano controversy, the Mets turn around and sweep the Nats. They’ve now won six in a row at Citi Field and are just two games behind the wild-card spot in the NL.

Baseball, you gotta love it. 

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THE COLUMN

5/22/19

For the first time in 42 years, a Buffalo Bills is wearing the No. 32. Running back Senoris Perry was given the number, which had been taken out of circulation since O.J. Simpson left Buffalo.

Perry told Tim Graham that he assumed the number was retired when he joined the Bills as a free agent. He had worn 32 as a younger player, but 32 was taken when he played for the Dolphins. He wore 34 in Miami, but knew that number was retired in Buffalo for Thurman Thomas. 

But when he was told that 32 was available, “Boom, I took it.”

Evidently, the Bills have decided that O.J.’s number has been on the shelf long enough. Late owner Ralph Wilson did not want 32 to be reissued in deference to the Hall of Famer. 

But Simpson’s number was never retired, and there was no way it was going to happen after O.J.’s infamous trial for the double murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. He was acquitted of the murders but later found liable for the killings. Simpson later spent time in a Nevada prison for a 2007 armed robbery.

It’s about time the Bills put No. 32 back in circulation. Simpson is still on the Wall of Fame in the stadium. If having a player wear the number was seen as embarrassment, what about about the number and his name being honored atop the stadium, with all the other famous honorees from the team’s past?

Some Bills fans will see Perry or another player wearing 32 as an insult to the team’s history. Really? Could there be any greater insult than Simpson’s sordid history, the double murders and his disgusting attempt to profit from the murders through a book and TV interview called “If I did it, Here’s How It Happened?”

When word of that arrangement broke in 2006, I called for the Bills to take Simpson off the wall, though I realized that would never happen. But it was a further affront to the Bills and their fans. The objections were so great that the book and TV special were canceled. Footage was eventually aired in March of 2018.

So I’m supposed to think it would tarnish the Bills’ glorious history to put the No. 32 on another player? By keeping the number in mothballs without retiring it actually magnified the team’s embarrassment. Bringing it back is an acknowledgment that the Bills have moved on and aren’t hiding from the memory.

“Whatever they do is fine with me,” Simpson told Graham. “That’s how I feel. When I played there, I tried to honor the team. Since I left, I always tried to honor the Bills.”

Yeah, right. Killing two people really honored the Bills. So did planning to capitalize by telling people how he might have committed double murder, and by orchestrating an armed robbery for sports memorabilia that landed him in prison.

Greg Tranter, president of the Buffalo History Museum and owner of a huge collection of Bills memorabilia, told the Athletic he was “disappointed” to see Perry get No. 32. “Forget O.J.’s off-the-field issues. In my opinion, he’s the greatest player in their history.”

No, I don’t think we can forget O.J.’s off-field issues. But if we’re in the mood for forgiving, and as long as the Bills aren’t going to be taking him off the wall, how about finally putting Cornelius Bennett up there?

Bennett is the best player not on the Wall. There’s a clear reason. I know because I was in a meeting in which he was discussed and the sole reason for his absence is the jail time he serve in Buffalo for a vicious sexual assault of a woman at the Hyatt 22 years ago this month. 

True, it was a revolting crime. But Bennett paid for it. He spent 35 days in jail for it. He performed 100 hours of community service, paid the victim’s medical bills and underwent anger and substance abuse counseling.

The main concern about putting Bennett on the wall was a fear that women’s groups would protest at the stadium on the day he was inducted. It’s a reasonable concern, but after 22 years it’s time to concede that Biscuit has atoned and to put him on the Wall. And if protests are such an issue, how come no one has ever picketed outside to call for O.J. to be taken off?

Bennett has become a solid citizen since paying for his crime. He became a player rep for the colts and after retirement, became involved with the Players Association and was elected to the Former Players board of directors, where he served for a decade. He served on the alliance between the NFL and NFLPA looking for improved care and quality of life of former players.

Bennett also hosts a charity golf tournament to raise money for a children’s center in his hometown of Birmingham, Alabama, plus Ronald McDonald Houses across the South. He and his wife are frequent speakers at events in the South Florida community.

He was, of course, a great football player. At his best, Biscuit was one of the most dynamic linebackers ever to play, though injuries and inconsistency cost him a chance at Canton. But he was a key piece to the Bills’ four Super Bowls, maybe the best trade acquisition of Bill Polian’s.

The time is right. By putting O.J.’s number back in play, the Bills are saying they’re not worried about negative public perception. That should extend to Cornelius Bennett. No. 32 is back on the field, and No. 97 belongs on the Wall.

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THE COLUMN

5/20/19

Well, Brooks Koepka won another major golf championship on Sunday. Koepka wobbled on the back nine and saw his record 7-stroke lead dwindle to just one with three shots to play. But he held off Dustin Johnson to win the PGA Championship by two shots.

That’s back-to-back major titles for the 29-year-old Koepka. Next month, he’ll go to Pebble Beach as the two-time defending U.S. Open champion. He’s the first man ever to be the reigning two-time champ in two majors. He’s the only one ever to go back-to-back in both the U.S. Open and PGA Championship.

Isn’t it about time we started calling Koepka the best golfer on the planet? We kept hearing that Dustin Johnson was the No. 1 ranked player in the world during the PGA. At the Masters, it was Justin Rose who held that statistical honor. Dustin, Justin … come on, we know who’s the real No. 1, the true Terminator. 

Koepka has now won four majors in his last eight starts. He missed the 2018 Masters with a wrist injury. The only other golfers to win four out of eight are Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Ben Hogan. That’s pretty elite company, indeed.  

Woods has 81 PGA Tour victories. Nicklaus had 73, Hogan 64. Koepka has 6 wins on tour, same as Jeff Sluman, Dan Sikes and Rory Sabbatini. The thing is, four of those six came in majors.

There’s something about the biggest events that brings out the killer in Brooks Koepka. To him, there’s the majors and everything else is a 9-hole scramble at the employee picnic. His other two PGA wins, by the way, were at the Waste Management Open and something called the CJ Cup at the Bridges. 

Koepka seemed almost human in Sunday’s final round. A man who rarely makes bogey in a major made four in a row on the back nine. Suddenly, Dustin Johnson was a stroke back. Golf fans had visions of Jean van de Velde at the British. I told Melinda, ‘See, at some point when it starts to seem easy, golf reaches down and torments all of us. No one is immune.”

But he won. Koepka said he heard the crowds at Bethpage chanting “DJ, DJ” when Johnson birdied to get to within one. The classic athlete’s “no respect” gene kicked in. He’s not a fan favorite. He’s too robotic, too good. 

“We’re still in the lead!” His caddie, Ricky Elliott, told him. 

Koepka pulled it together, parred 16. Johnson bogeyed it. Despite a back-nine 39, he won by two. Essentially, he had won it the first two days, when he shot 128 over the first two rounds, a record in a major. He spent the last two days on cruise control, as he winds picked up at Bethpage. But at least we got some momentary drama.

Maybe, in addition to calling Koepka the best in the world, they should start asking him about Jack Nicklaus’ record. After all, it’s the majors that truly matter, right? Tiger Wood has made it that way over the last two decades, as he chased Jack’s record of 18 majors. When Tiger finally won another major at the Masters, we heard about him reaching 15, and maybe taking aim at Nicklaus again. You didn’t hear much about his 81 PGA Tour wins.

When Rory McIlroy won four majors at a young age, people talked about him maybe catching Nicklaus. They said it about Jordan Spieth for awhile, too. 

People who know Koepka say he definitely thinks about Jack’s record, and about Tiger’s 15 majors. He thinks he can reach 10 majors, and why stop there?

Chris Molloy, who recruited Koepka to Florida State, told Ian O’Connor that Koepka has a chip on his shoulder about the issue.

“It pisses him off that he isn’t asked that question,” said Malloy, who communicates often with Koepka. “That will make him feel great if you ask him about Jack. … I promise you he absolutely thinks of both Tiger’s [15] majors and Jack’s as targets. That’s not 99 percent, it’s 100 percent. Guaranteed.”

Koepka is a phenomenal athlete with great athletic genes. His uncle, Dick Groat, was the 1960 National League MVP for the Pirates and was an all-American basketball player at Duke. Koepka is an amazing competitor with an icy focus and incredibly high standards for himself. 

After shooting that record 128 over the first two rounds at Bethpage, he didn’t exult, he went to work on his swing.

“I’m not hitting it well, we’re going straight to the range,” he informed his swing coach Claude Harmon III.

Funny, but you don’t hear any more talk about how Koepka hurt his game by losing too much weight. Announcer Brandel Chamblee criticized him for the weight loss. He also questioned his toughness. The only thing in question is Chamblee’s credibility. 

Imagine how scary Koepka will be if he actually toughens up a bit, or if he gets better when he hits 30. Hogan was 34 when he won his first major. So was Mickelson. Nickalus won 11 of his 18 majors after turning 30.

Koepka probably won’t catch Jack or Tiger. The competition is too stiff nowadays. Then again, he just won four out of his last eight majors. And for the time being, he’s the favorite every time he tees it up in one of them.

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THE COLUMN

5/17/19

I’m sure Ralph Krueger won over a lot of Buffalo fans when he revealed that he bounced around some of the downtown bars during a recent visit to the city, making a sort of undercover survey of our long-suffering sports community.

Presumably, they gave him an earful. I hope his eyes were popping out like old Ralph Kramden when people offered him a harsh, honest evaluation of the town team. Realistic Sabres fans, their lips loosened by a pint or two on Chippewa or the Swanee or 716, would have told him he was inheriting a team that was soft, overentitled, lazy and unaccountable defensively. 

Of course, Krueger could determine that by watching film of the team over the last two seasons, when outside a fluke 10-game winning streak last November, the Sabres were the worst team in the NHL. Watching too much film might make the new head coach want to drown his sorrows downtown again.

Let’s hope Ralph isn’t coming into this situation with rose-colored glasses. I have to wonder. In his conference call with the Buffalo media on Wednesday, Krueger said that “above all, this group is ready to become a contender … I’m confident that we can become that kind of team quite quickly. I like the way Jason has been putting this group together and the way he thinks.”

Really? Ready to contend? Look, I know the new coach needs to put on a happy, optimistic front. After all, the fans are disillusioned and the team needs to sell tickets. But what they don’t need now is a new coach who tells people want they want to hear, who paints an unrealistic picture about how good this team can be.

That goes double for the owner, general manager and players. If Krueger is such an expert on hockey and leadership, he has to make it very clear that what they’ve put together isn’t nearly good enough, that the Sabres aren’t that close, that they have a thin roster, bad defense, non-existent secondary scoring and average goaltending.

You know who put together the right kind of team? I know fans don’t want to hear it, but Boston, the team that always seems to have a better idea about winning hockey. They just swept Carolina and are in the Cup finals. They had 19 different players score goals in the conference finals. They lost Zdeno Chara for Game 4 and didn’t miss a beat. They goaltending and special teams are fantastic. Their third- and fourth-line players have been terrific in the postseason. 

I hope Krueger has the sort of power the Pegulas bestowed on Sean McDermott when he came in as coach. He has the resume of a man who could be leading an NHL team as president, who could make the kind of hard, unsentimental decisions of a leader whose heart and reputation aren’t attached to any player.

The Sabres need changes. They need to move some people out and alter the competitive makeup of the team. Ryan O’Reilly wasn’t the only guy who got accustomed to losing. This wasn’t all Phil Housley’s fault. Botterill has spent two years assembling a losing roster. He has demonstrated little understanding of the importance of defense, and if Krueger is a master of defensive structure and winning strategy, some things have to change.

That starts with shooting down the notion that they have to keep certain players. On a chronic loser, there are no indispensable players. If Krueger understands defense, he has to know that Rasmus Ristolainen is miscast as a first-line defenseman who plays 25—plus minutes a game. That’s a sign of desperation and misplaced hope. 

The Sabres will never win with Ristolainen impersonating an elite defenseman. Krueger should be looking to trade him or at the very least, reduce his role and start developing a young defense that knows how to play responsibly in its own end. 

Then there’s Jeff Skinner. If Krueger is smart, he’ll resist the prevailing belief that Skinner has to be re-signed, that the Sabres have to overpay him because he’s a proven goal-scorer, their only 40 goal-scorer in more than a decade. If they don’t re-sign him, then have to replace his production, is the standard cry. So spend that money wisely and put together a deeper roster of scorers, the way they Bruins have. 

This guy is supposed to be a modern thinker. So stop being a slate to conventional thinking and make some bold, creative moves. Stop rationalizing small-minded decisions. That’s how these two franchises became such losers in their sports. 

Krueger shouldn’t be looking to talk Skinner into staying. He should persuading Jason Botterill to let him go, because what the Sabres don’t need know, after handing Jack Eichel a $10 million contract, is to make a thin roster top-heavy by pay $18 million or more on two players, one of them a limited defensive player who has never been on a team that made the playoffs.

Eichel hasn’t won, either. It’s fashionable to talk about how much he hates losing, and how frustrating it is to be the top player and face of a franchise that has been the joke of the NHL for most of his four years in the league. 

They say Krueger is a master communication. He has written books on leadership. He needs to get a clear message to Eichel: He hasn’t done nearly enough. He talks about wanting to win and to be a responsible leader, but his actions don’t always reflect that. If he really wants to be a superstar and winner, he has to be more consistent on and off the ice. 

He can’t float defensively. He has to stop projecting a defeatist attitude when things aren’t going well. If he’s the voice of the team, he can’t come across as snide and defensive in interviews, as if dealign with the media is an imposition and a chore. Show some real personality, Jack. Stop acting like you’re playing the role of a young leader. Become a real one. 

I hope Krueger heard some of this from the fans in the bars. I’ve always felt that the real fans aren’t afraid of the hard, objective truth. Get around people over a beer and they don’t wave the pom pons, they tell you what’s wrong with their teams, and what needs to change. 

Of course, Ralph shouldn’t need to go to talk to fans in bars to find out what’s wrong with his new team. You know what Marv Levy, Buffalo’s last Hall of Fame coach, always said: If you listen too much to the fans, pretty soon  you’ll be out there sitting with them.

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THE COLUMN

5/16/19

Sabres fans know all too well what it’s like to have a huge Stanley Cup playoff game decided by a non-call in overtime. After what happened late last night in St. Louis, I imagine Blues fans know how Buffalo fans felt after Brett Hull’s No-Goal 20 years ago.

The Blues won in OT in Game 3 of the West Conference finals when Erik Karlsson slapped the puck past goalie Jordan Binnington at 5:23 of overtime, giving San Jose — which trailed with a minute left in regulation — a 5-4 victory and a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference finals of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Replays made it clear that the Sharks’ Timo Meier had directed the puck to Karlsson in front of the net with his right glove while sliding to the ice. Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester kicked out his leg to stop it, but it went to Gustav Nyquist, who fed Karlsson for the winner. 

The Blues were irate, they went to the officials, aware of the illegal hand pass. The Sharks skated to the dressing room. The Blues remained, hoping for a reversal. There was none. Hand passes are not reviewable. Going to Toronto for a ruling wouldn’t help.

Binnington slammed his stick on the boards.  Brayden Schenn smashed his stick in half on the end boards. Blues players waved their arms on the bench in disbelief. The officials, knowing the call had to stand, left the ice, protected by a canopy from cups and cans being tossed by outraged fans in the Enterprise Center, who had watched replays of the hand pass on the jumbotron.

Shouts of outrage were audible deep in the arena. St. Louis general manager Doug Armstrong could be heard pounding on the door of the officials’ dressing room, yelling that the decision was “f—ing garbage.”

Again, it brings back memories of 20 years ago, when we heard Lindy Ruff cursing outside the door of the officials room after the Hull goal gave Dallas the 1999 Stanley Cup in the third OT in Buffalo. That night, of course, most Sabres fans weren’t aware of the skate in the crease controversy until they got in their cars.

I’m sure New Orleans Saints fans can also commiserate with the Blues’ faithful. They got screwed when the officials somehow missed a blatant interference by Nickel Robby-Coleman of the Rams in the NFC title game, costing the Saints a berth in the Super Bowl. The NFL responded by changing its replay rules. They saw an embarrassing situation and rectified it. 

This one is just as bad. How could four on-ice officials not see the hand pass? How is no one in position to make that call, or at least have a question? Could it be that one of them did see it, but didn’t have the guts to bring it to Toronto’s attention and create a controversy for the NHL? Well, that’s exactly what they got.

This is a sport where a guy being one inch offsides can be reviewed and nullify a goal — even when it has virtually no bearing on the play. The Vegas-San Jose game was decided by a five-minute penalty after a fairly incident cross-check.

Changing the rule on NFL interference hasn’t  erased the resentment in New Orleans, and it will take St. Louis fans awhile to get over this officiating gaffe, especially if they fail to advance to the Cup finals for the first time in 49 years.

Blues coach Craig Berube said in the post-game presser he had nothing to say about it. Defenseman Alex Pietrangelo:

“I didn’t really get an explanation, other than it’s a different set of rules for two teams. So I’m sure they’ll lose some sleep after looking at it. That’s all I’m going to say about it.”

It’s understandable. The Blues don’t want to seem like poor losers.  Berube needs to get his team past the call and focus their attention on Game 4 Friday night. The Blues were 14 points behind the Sabres on Jan. 1. They’ve been a great comeback story this season. It’ll be sad if a bad call comes to define their season.

But that’s where the NHL has put itself with an ill-advised replay system. We’re in an era where just about everything can be reviewed — they can even disqualify the winner in the Kentucky Derby. NHL rules stipulate that all goals scored in the final minute of regulation or at any point during overtime are automatically reviewed by League Hockey Operations. I don’t understand how they couldn’t notice a play that led to it.

Clearly, this wasn’t about the goal itself, but what preceded it. The NHL instituted coaching challenges last season, but evidently it doesn’t cover hand passes. But if hand passes are illegal, why couldn’t they allow coaches to challenge other things? What good is having the geniuses in Toronto if they can’t fix something this egregious? The umpire misses the tag at second? They can review it. A hand pass is just as easily identifiable and reviewable.

It would help if the announcers on these national games showed a little more outrage. But they acted as if they were protecting the sport that feeds them. This is an embarrassment, and it makes hockey come off as smalltime. 

The Robey-Coleman play was the talk of the NFL right up to the Super Bowl. Maybe it was an overreaction, but the league reacted and changed the rules. Garbage call. Twenty years after No Goal, the NHL again comes off like some garage league.

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THE COLUMN

5/15/19

All right, I was wrong about Jason Botterill. Clearly, the Sabres general manager wasn’t looking to protect his reputation and make the safe, conservative choice to replace Phil Housley as his head coach

In the end, Botterill did make a bold, risky pick. He ended an exhaustive search by landing on a man with the most unconventional resume in hockey, Ralph Krueger, who has spent the last five years as chairman of Southampton FC of the English Premier League — yes, a soccer team.

Krueger, who was born in Winnipeg to German immigrants, said in a recent profile in The Athletic that he hoped to return to the NHL some day. In fact, he told Pierre LeBrun the first thing he did every morning, even in soccer season, was look at the NHL scores in the paper.

LeBrun said Krueger was most likely to come back to the NHL as an executive, as a team president or president of hockey operations. 

In fact, Krueger described his “idea model,” a “strong triangle of the head coach, the general manager and the president in a professional sports organization. If you get three people that have different strengths to fill each other’s weaknesses, which we all have, and they work in unison toward a goal on a regular basis, that for me is the basis. It took me a few years to really get that right here.’’ (with Southampton).

That sounds like the model the Pegulas had with Pat LaFontaine, a management structure that has become common in the NHL. I would have endorsed bringing in Krueger to supplant Kim Pegula as president and create a more diverse management structure and have him help hire a coach. But Botterill convinced him to take on the challenge of coaching an NHL team and in a way they get the best of both worlds.

In Krueger, they certainly get a man with a fascinating history and a reputation as an innovator and leader, a man who relishes a new challenge. And God knows, it’s about time the Sabres had a more dynamic, innovative leader and communicator as their head coach.

Krueger played professionally for 11 seasons in Germany, including a year as a player-coach. He became head coach of VEU Feldkirch in 1991-92; he led that team to five straight championships in Austria from 1994-98. He led Switzerland in 15 international tournaments over 13 years, earning a reputation as an creative strategist, a coach who knew how to create a defensive structure but also an engaging offensive mind.

That caught the eye of NHL types. He was scouting consultant for the a Hurricanes under GM Jim Rutherford, Botterill’s former boss in Pittsburgh. He became an assistant with Edmonton in 2010. The Oilers power play went from 27th to third in his second year there. 

Krueger was head coach of the Oilers in the lockout-shortened 2013 season — so if Botterill really wasn’t going to hire anyone without NHL head coaching experience, he does meet that criterion. Edmonton went 19-22-7 with a young roster. They were top 10 in both power play and penalty kill. He got credit for motivating young players and putting together a defensive structure, but he was let go after one season.

Team Canada thought enough of Krueger to put him on Mike Babcock’s staff as an advisor for the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, where the Canadian played stellar defense and won gold. In 2016, he stepped away from soccer to coach Team Europe, which made a spirited run to the World Cup final and gave Canada all it could handle in the championship game.

Krueger wrote a best-seller in German on leadership and motivation —  “Teamlife: Over Setbacks to Success.”  He was a core member of the World Economic Forum’s council on new models of leadership. 

I have to give Botterill and the Pegulas credit for this hire. There’s no guarantee it will work. He inherits a thin roster with a brutal defense and a bunch of players who have done nothing but lose in their time in Buffalo. He needs to transform a losing culture and win back a disaffected and dubious fan base in Buffalo.

But at least the Sabres weren’t afraid to think out of the box — while finding an intriguing head coach who checks a lot of boxes. In a way, this is like what the Cavaliers did by hiring John Beilein. They were willing to defy the small-minded conventions of their sport.

One thing is for sure, Krueger will be a lot more engaging with the team and the public than Phil Housley. He won’t stammer out his responses and might actually have some spirited and intelligent exchanges with the media. Press conferences could be fun again.

Krueger sounds like a guy who will be the smartest man in the room. The Sabres could use that. Maybe the young guys on this team will respond to a coach who is bright and creative and a people person, someone who’ll show them they’re not as smart as they’d like to think they are, as young men and hockey players. In the end, players respect coaches who help them to be better.

Krueger said recently that he’s eager for a new challenge. He said hockey has a special place in his heart. Buffalo, which has been the joke of the NHL for six years, represents the ultimate challenge. It can also be a special hockey place, a great hockey town that deserves much better than the Pegulas have given them over the last eight years. 

Good for Botterill. He’s taking a risk here. Maybe the Sabres finally got it right. He might even be hiring the team’s future president. 

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THE COLUMN

5/14/19

As a sports writer, I’ve always told people I don’t root for teams. I root for the best story. Well, we just got the best story we could ask for in the National Basketball Association. 

Kevin Durant strained his calf in Game 5 of Golden State’s win over the Rockets on Wednesday night. Durant, widely regarded as the best player in the game right now, will not be able to play in the rest of the conference semifinals — which resume Friday night with Game 6 in Houston. 

Now … we get the best story. A Warriors team that was seen as vulnerable heading into this postseason — especially against a Houston team that took them to seven in last year’s conference finals — is wounded and staggered and ready to be dethroned.

It’s not likely Durant will be back back in time for the start of the conference finals, either. Dr. Alan Beyer, an orthopedic surgeon in Newport Beach, Ca., told CBS Sports on Thursday that a mild strain means “somewhere between a Grade 1 and Grade 2 strain, which is going to likely keep him out for two weeks in a best-case scenario.” Beyer also pointed out that a strain is the same thing as a tear.

Two weeks would fall between Games 5 and 6 of the West final, which is slated to get under way on May 14. That assumes, of course, that the Warriors win one of the next two against MVP James Harden and the Rockets. 

Suddenly, the NBA playoffs got a lot more interesting. If ratings suffered from the notion that a third straight Warriors title was a certainty, the drama and intrigue go through the roof of those NBA arenas, now. 

Oh, did I mention that we have a couple of Game 7s coming up this weekend in other conference semifinals? Portland won at home last night to force a Game 7 in Denver. The Sixers did the same at home and will go back to The North to face Kawhi Leonard and the Raptors in Game 7 in the East. 

So think about it. With Durant out of the picture for two weeks, there are SEVEN teams with a legitimate chance to win the NBA title. When was the last time we could say that? Milwaukee is certainly a threat, even if Durant had not gone down. 

But the best story now is the Warriors carrying on without Durant (not to mention DeMarcus Cousins) and winning without him — or at least until he’s ready to make a Willis Reed-style comeback and lead a threepeat in the Finals on his rested calf.

Really, why couldn’t they win? Remember, Golden State won a record 73 games before Durant arrived in 2015-16. They were led by Draymond Green, Klay Thompson and Steph Curry, who averaged 30 points a game, set the 3 point shooting record and won league MVP. They also had Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston. People were calling them the best team ever before they lost to the Cavs.

You don’t think they’re motivated to win without Durant and prove to the world that they’re a great team without him? Adding Durant, who won the last two Finals MVP awards, sapped a lot of the drama out of the NBA playoffs and earned the league criticism for players ganging up to create super teams and hurting competitive balance.

Now the pressure goes squarely on Harden and coach Mike D’Antoni and the Rockets. A week ago, they were whining about the officiating and pointing to a team audit that suggested they had been victimized by close to 100 bad calls in Game 7 against the Warriors in last year’s West Conference finals. 

Well, there’s no room for whining now. With Durant gone, Harden is the best scorer in this series. It’s about time James came up big in an elimination game. Two years ago, facing elimination, he shot 2 of 9 from three and 2 of 11 overall. Last year in that Game 7, he was 2 of 13 from three and Houston missed 27 straight 3’s at one point. He’s 21 for 62 from three in this series.

Harden has to dominate now, be better than either of the Splash Brothers, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson. If you ask me, there are at least five more valuable players alive in the playoffs — Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic, Kawhi Leonard, Joel Embiid and yes, Durant.

The conference finals should be great. Think of the possibilities. Harden against Nikola Jokic; or Joel Embiid going up against Giannis Antetokoumpko; Kawhi Leonard and the Raptors looking to get to their first NBA finals against Giannis and a Bucks team that hasn’t been there since the days of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar; Steph Curry going up against the Blazers and his brother, Seth.

At least the Finals won’t be the Warriors and Cavs for a fifth straight year. And for once, watching Golden State try to get there could be the best story of all.

___

THE COLUMN

5/9/19

Well, former Sabres are having a marvelous postseason. The West Conference finals will feature two guys who departed Buffalo after the 2017-18 season, Ryan O’Reilly and Evander Kane. The Hurricanes will take the ice in the Eastern finals against the Bruins tonight despite the absence of Jeff Skinner.

Meanwhile, the Sabres still don’t have a head coach. I guess we’re supposed to believe that they really didn’t want Joel Quenneville or Alain Vigneault or Todd McLellan. They were retreads, old ideas, unworthy of handling the bounty of talent that the Sabres have assembled under the Pegula reign.

Then again, it could be that Buffalo has become a less than attractive hockey destination. It seems to me that the Sabres have become a franchise that canny coaches use to leverage more salary out of other prospective employers, the way Mike Babcock and McLellan did. 

And really, why would anyone with an alternative want to come to work for the Sabres, a misbegotten franchise that has finished dead last in the NHL in three of the six years and, outside of one fluke 10-game streak, was the worst team in the league this season? Do you think people in the hockey world believe O’Reilly was the problem here, or that Pat LaFontaine left because he was some raving martinet, or that Dan Bylsma got fired because he wouldn’t have coffee with his players and forgot how to coach?

But there was one guy I figured would come to Buffalo, who was eager to get his chance as an NHL head coach and would see the Sabres as a golden opportunity, not a hockey black hole. 

Rikard Gronborg. 

Full disclosure. I was prepared to endorse him as the Sabres’ next head coach this morning, until the news broke that Gronberg had signed to coach Zurich in the Swiss League.

Gronborg, who is head coach of the Swedish national team and has coached his native country in the Olympics, World Cups, World Juniors, World Championships — where he has led Sweden to its first ever back to back gold medals — and Under 18s over the last nine years, wants to be a head coach in the NHL. He wants it badly. At 50, he believes he is ready for the challenge.

“Absolutely,” he said recently. “I do feel ready, for sure.”

Gronborg has been preparing himself for such an opportunity for years. He has coached in North America. He has dual citizenship. He began his career as an assistant at St. Cloud State, coached in the WHL.

When Sweden dangled a three-year contract extension last year as head coach, he turned it down. Yes, he thinks it’s his time to give the NHL a shot. He has been thinking about it for more than a year now.

Gronberg seemed like an ideal choice for the Sabres, albeit and unconventional one. Jason Botterill has said he wants a coach who is a communicator. Gronborg has a master’s degree in management and leadership. He is known as a communicator, able to communicate well in English. He has coached most of the Swedes on the Buffalo roster at some point in their development.

Botterill is currently at the World Championships in Slovakia, he was part of the group that put together the Canadian roster. He was expected to speak with Gronborg, who supposedly became a candidate when all those “retreads” became unavailable for the Sabres. 

According to John Vogl of the Athletic, Botterill never even spoke to Gronborg. That tells me the Sabres weren’t interested. That’s the only conclusion I can draw. If Gronborg was desperate to coach in the NHL, it’s hard to fathom that he wouldn’t have been interested in the Sabres. 

Either way, it looks bad for the Sabres and Botterill, who has apparently decided against a fresh idea, a coach who would represent a bold vision and a chance to steer a staggering franchise toward a promising future.

Yes, hiring Gronborg would have been seen as a risk, as flying in the face of safe, conservative hockey thinking — the most common sort of thinking in the sport. No European coach has been hired by as an NHL head coach since 2001. There’s still a lingering, tired belief that European hockey players and the European game are somehow “soft.” 

Really, my idea of soft was Phil Housley, as a player and a coach. He was a risk, a bad idea that cost Botterill two years. Housley was a bad mark on his record as some rising hockey management star. 

Botterill looks like an executive who defies the myth of soft European players, one who favors the swift, skilled game now thriving in hockey. He has drafted 10 Europeans for Buffalo, all but one from Sweden or Finland. The Sabres have 15 players from those two nations in the organization.

So Gronborg seemed like a fit. Botterill could have made the courageous, creative decision. Instead, it seems he operated out of fear, afraid to take a risk, more willing to take the safe path to protect his sagging reputation. He comes off as a weak leader who is more concerned with perception than doing the right thing.

Every head coach is a risk. Ask the Pegulas. Housley was a risk. So was Bylsma, and Rex Ryan, who had won before. So were Doug Marrone and Sean McDermott, who had never been head coaches. You can’t run scared from the unconventional. The Pegulas didn’t hire Botterill to hide from pressure and criticism and a bold, inventive idea. 

Who is it now. Chris Taylor, their AHL coach? Sheldon Keefe — really, the coach in waiting in Toronto would go to Buffalo instead? Jacques Martin, anyone? A college coach?

The Sabres have lost every which way. They’re the joke of the NHL. They have the longest playoff drought in the league. If any team needs to try the bold, it’s this franchise. Gronborg struck me as just that kind of choice, a great idea that would have showed a rare creative vision for a franchise in desperate need of one.

Is it any surprise, then, that the Sabres decided against it?

___

THE COLUMN

5/8/19

I took a little nap on Tuesday afternoon. Maybe I knew what was in store, that it might be one of those long nights in front of the TV set. After all, is there anything in sports quite like Game Seven of a Stanley Cup playoff series?

How about a Game Seven overtime?

Late last night, St. Louis and Dallas staged the latest hockey playoff epic. The Blues, who dominated for much of the night while being continually stymied by Blues goalie Ben Bishop, finally won it, 2-1, on Pat Maroon’s goal 5:50 in the second OT to advance to the Western Conference finals. 

The Blues will face the winner of tonight’s conference semifinal Game 7 between Colorado and San Jose. Maybe that one will go overtime as well. As it is, there have already been three overtime Game Sevens in these playoffs — an NHL record. 

We’re seeing a lot of history in this amazing Cup postseason. All four top seeds going out in the first round, three Game 7s in overtime, a lot of stunning goaltending. As always, you find yourself watching with a Buffalo perspective, thinking back to the Game 6 against the Stars in 1999, and Dominik Hasek’s 70-save shutout in 1994, and watching Ryan O’Reilly shine for St. Louis.

Ben Bishop nearly stole this game for a dreadful Dallas offense, which had a combined FOUR shots on goal in the second and third periods. Bishop faced 54 shot, becoming the fifth goalie ever to face 50 or more shots in a Game Seven.

I have to admit, I was nodding off at one point in the third period. But no one sleeps in a Cup overtime. The crowd buzzing comes through the screen. You can feel the incredible tension of OT, when one shot can end the drama. You become part of a community of tense observers. On Twitter, Dirk Nowitzki tweeted “nerve wrecking.” Josh Reed of Channel 4 said he wouldn’t leave the office ’til it was over. I was talking hockey by text with my nephew back in Rhode Island, a Bruins fan rooting for a replay of the famous St. Louis-Boston Cup final of 1970. I saw it. 

The Blues continued to carry the play in the first overtime. Bishop made a save on Alex Pietrangelo. It was after 11. I decided to record ahead on my TV, to record something called Monster Jam, just in case. Now Dallas had a flurry, Jordan Binnington made a big stop on John Klingberg, another defenseman joining the rush.

O’Reilly made a couple of nifty passes. Bishop stood tall. The fans in St. Louis were waving their white towels. I had a flashback to James Patrick hitting the post in the second OT against Dallas. Bishop has made 43 saves in a row at this point. Another stop on O’Reilly from a tough angle on the Blues’ 50th shot.. 

The crowd is singing “Take Me Home, Country Roads”. John Denver? A Brayden Schenn shot from point blank range hits the back leg of Star and Bishop covers up as three teammates pile on top of him. Shot attempts are 94-38 now. 

Alexander Radulov skates in on goal and collides with Binnington, knocking the net off. Dallas is pressing, a couple of saves by Binnington. Back and forth they go. The pressure is excruciating. Bishop loses his stick at one point. O’Reilly is winning face-offs and making crisp passes.

The first OT ends. Mike Harrington tweets that the Blues have 99 shot attempts and one goal through 80 minutes. I walk around the house to stay awake. Binnington makes the save of the night, as Jamie Benn tries a wraparound from his left and he gets there just in time. It looks like the puck went right along the goal-line before he covered up. I wondered if they would review it.

Moments later, Maroon — a St. Louis native — banged in a rebound to win it for St. Louis,   which lost to the Sharks in the West final three years ago. O’Reilly, who was 0-5 in playoff overtimes before this, goes to a conference final for the first time, one year after talking his way out of Buffalo by admitting he had grown accustomed to losing.

The players went through the ritual handshake line, one of the great traditions in all of sports. Some of the Blues took a little longer congratulating Ben Bishop. I looked down at the clock on the box and noticed it was exactly midnight.

___

THE COLUMN

5/7/19

Thirty years ago last month, I wrote my first column ever for the Buffalo News. I went to Toronto to write about the floundering New York Yankees and their slumping captain, Don Mattingly.

The Yankees had opened that season 1-7 and were fast becoming the joke of baseball. While I was covering that series — the last the Yankees ever played at the old Exhibition Stadium — one of the players compared them to the misfit toys.

It’s easy to forget all these years later, but the Yankees truly were a bunch of misfits back in those days. From 1989-91, they were the laughingstock of baseball. Then-commissioner Fay Vincent gave George Steinbrenner a lifetime ban from baseball for conspiring with a gambler to get dirt on Dave Winfield.

The sorry Yankees lost 95 games in 1990, the most losses they’d suffered since changing their name from the Highlanders to the Yankees in 1913. A year later, they lost 91. They were a model of dysfunction and mismanagement. But during Steinbrenner’s ban, they began to turn things around and return baseball’s most fabled franchise back into a consistent winner, one that reached the postseason 17 times in 18 years from 1995 to 2012.

By the second half of the 1990s, I had the thrill of covering the Yankees as they won four World Series in five seasons, led by four of the franchise cornerstones who had been drafted and developed by the Yankees during their rise from the ashes — Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera.

Bill Pennington, the award-winning author and New York Times journalist, has chronicled the Yankees’ rise in the 1990s. His book, “Chumps to Champs”, was released today. It’s an absorbing and exhaustively researched account by a writer whose recent life of Billy Martin was one of the finest sports biographies I’ve ever read.

Here in Buffalo — a Yankee town – we know a thing or two about franchises falling into dysfunction after periods of greatness. At the time the Yankees were falling apart in the late Eighties and earlier Nineties, the Bills were entering a period were they went to four straight Super Bowls. Soon after, they suffered a 17-year playoff drought. The Sabres currently own the longest playoff drought in the the NHL.

So maybe Chumps to Champs can be instructive for Buffalo sports fans, and a hopeful reminder that a few wise personnel men can take a struggling sports franchise and, with patience and a keen eye for young talent, restore it to its former prominence.

The greatest lesson of all, perhaps, is that good things can happen when ownership gets out of the way and lets the experts do their jobs — because the Steinbrenner suspension in 1990 was one of the best things that ever happened to the Yankees.

I’m pleased to say that Bill Pennington has been kind enough to join us for a few minutes to talk about his new book on the morning of its publication. Bill also covers the NFL in New York, so he might have some insight into a current model of dysfunction, the Giants.

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THE COLUMN

5/6/19

After sweeping the Islanders to finish a stretch of 11 playoff games in 23 days, the Carolina Hurricanes get a well-deserved rest before playing in the East Conference finals of the Stanley Cup playoffs. 

The Canes could get a break as long as eight days, depending on how long the Bruins-Bluejackets game goes. They’ll have time to rest and nurse some injuries, including goalie Petr Mrazek, who left Game 2 of the conference semifinals with what is believed to be a groin injury and has been listed as day to day since.

While the Hurricanes rest, Sabres fans can contemplate the embarrassment of seeing Carolina reach the Final Four of the NHL after ending the league’s longest playoff drought at nine seasons. 

Yeah, I know that Sabres fans would rather whistle past the graveyard and dismiss any of the obvious connections here. But isn’t it a little embarrassing to see them take over the distinction of longest NHL playoff drought from the Canes, the year after trading for Jeff Skinner — and then watch them storm to a conference final?

Meanwhile, Skinner remains unsigned, while Sabres fans cling to the fanciful hope that Jason Botterill will convince Skinner to remain with a second team that’s mired in the NHL’s longest drought, one that outside of one fluke 10-game streak, has been the worst in the NHL for the last two seasons.

Of course, it’s become a reflex for Buffalo sports fans to always assume the best about their teams, especially when they’re marching to the tune of the radio station that carries the team’s games. I actually heard someone suggest the other day that the Skinner deal was a “good deal” regardless of what happens. 

Really? If the Skinner trade was a good deal for the Sabres, it was the trade of the millennium for Carolina. To review: The Sabres traded Cliff Pu and three draft picks — a second in 2019, third and sixths in 2020 — for Skinner early last August.

So the Sabres didn’t appear to give a lot for Skinner, assuming you don’t value draft picks that highly. But what did it get them? They didn’t win. They were the worst team in the league in the second half of the season. Skinner scored 40 goals, but was a virtual non-factor while the team was falling to pieces. 

Prevailing wisdom says the Sabres desperately need to re-sign Skinner. Who will score goals if he’s gone? Who will profit from the generational playmaking of Jack Eichel? Who will be the leading goal-scorer on a team that has no secondary scoring and was the joke of the NHL the last two years?

You know who didn’t feel it was desperate to keep Skinner, to pay him elite money? The Hurricanes. A year ago, they missed the playoffs for the ninth year in a row and decided he might not be the answer. They had 10 double-figure goal-scorers a year ago (he had 24), and they figured they could make it work without him.

I’ll say they did. If you ask a Hurricane fan today, they’d say they would have unloaded Skinner for nothing. Evidently, they didn’t think it was in the organization’s best interest to throw big money at one player, a one-dimensional player who didn’t play good defense and hadn’t appeared in a single playoff game.

So tell me again why the Sabres “desperately” need to re-sign Skinner? Any objective Sabres fan has to be worried that they’ll sign him for the wrong reasons, because they’re so bereft of scoring elsewhere and — this is the big one — Botterill has to sign him to avoid the humiliation of getting nothing for him. 

I’d respect Botterill more if he decided to do the courageous thing and not give Skinner top money, even if he gets grilled in public. That would be a welcome sign that he’s a strong general manager and willing to make the tough calls necessary to turn this misbegotten franchise around once and for all. 

Buffalo teams are famous for taking on shiny objects from other teams that have decided they’re not worth the money or trouble. Drew Bledsoe comes to Buffalo when he’s virtually shot and we throw him a parade. Mario Williams signs for $100 million after winning nothing in Houston and Bills fans still think it was a good deal. Now we’re supposed to believe it’ll be a great thing for the Sabres to give Skinner some eight-year, $55 million contract.

If Skinner was such a great idea, you’d have thought some other NHL would have grabbed him before the Sabres did, some team that was a legitimate playoff contender and could use a goal-scorer. How come he wound up in Buffalo for such a cheap price? Maybe because smarter NHL teams understood his flaws?

I’m not saying Skinner was the problem in Carolina. But they’re in the conference finals, the story of the NHL, after giving up on him. The Hurricanes are the latest proof that hockey can be a game of nuance and team chemistry, of the parts being greater than any one star player or gifted scorer. 

The Sabres and their fans should take a good honest look at what happened in Carolina and learn from it. 

Maybe it’s unkind, but the fact is that as soon as Skinner left a chronic loser it had its best season in a decade. The Sabres should consider that before giving him the big money. Someone is going to overpay the guy. Let it be someone else.

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THE COLUMN

5/2/19

Only one of the top 10 goal-scorers from the NHL regular season is still alive in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. That would be Nathan MacKinnon of the Avalanche.

Six of the top regular-season scorers in the NBA remain alive in the playoffs. That includes Steph Curry, Kevin Durant and the sport’s leading scorer, James Harden, in a Western Conference semifinal series between the Rockets and Warriors.

A problem? The TV ratings for hockey in the first round were the highest in seven years. Meanwhile, the ratings for the NBA playoffs were down a whopping 19 percent in the first round.

Maybe it’s not all about big scorers and big names in the playoffs. I’ve been watching more playoff hockey than ever. The first round was one of the most compelling in years, with all four top seeds getting upset in the first round and Columbus stunning the Lightning in a sweep.

Are basketball fans finally getting sick of the Warriors and the notion that they’re unbeatable until Kevin Durant leaves? Or is the absence of LeBron James, who had gone to eight straight NBA Finals, having a negative effect? It certainly wouldn’t hurt if the Lakers and Knicks were playing in May. 

Hockey seems to be slowly gaining a larger foothold with the American public. Still, let’s keep things in perspective. NBA ratings are well ahead of hockey. The NHL still isn’t on ESPN and its playoff games are on a secondary NBC network.

I’m not sure hockey will ever approach the other three majors sports in this country. Yes, the ratings are up slightly, but I still think the sport suffers from not having more star power, more recognizable players who draw in the average sports viewer.

I love the hockey playoffs, though I still prefer basketball, where the stars are more likely to take center stage and express their extraordinary talents in the biggest games. I miss Alex Ovechkin and Sid Crosby and Patrick Kane in May. It would be nice if Jack Eichel and Connor McDavid became playoff fixtures. And even though Columbus is a great story, part of me wanted to see Nikita Kucherov and the Lightning light it up in a Stanley Cup run.

I’m already hearing mutterings in the hockey world about how the NHL suits could be worrying about ratings in the Finals if smaller markets like, say, Columbus and St. Louis, get there. Can the average American fan name a player on either of those teams?

The NHL shouldn’t have to apologize. There’s nothing quite like hockey playoffs, the tension of a close game. As Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post told us the other day, the crowds in Colorado have been far more electric for the Avalanche games than the Nuggets. 

There’s no trophy in sports like the Cup, no ceremony quite so iconic as the handshake line. I imagine hockey fans get sick of having to defend their support and hear critics remind them how the NBA ratings are twice as high or more. At some point, you just shrug and ignore the criticism and enjoy the show. When you love a musician who isn’t that popular, it feels a little bit more like your own.

I watched that Carolina-Islanders game last night, choosing it over the NBA game. It was gripping. I can still see Justin Faulk exiting the penalty box, knocking the puck to the ice and skating in to beatRobin Lehner for the goal that made it 2-1.

Later, it was Mr. Game Seven, Justin Williams, firing home the game-winning goal in the third period for Carolina. Williams might not be a household name, but he’s a star in his sport, especially in the postseason. It’s guys like that, who raise their game in the spring, who can make playoff hockey so endlessly captivating.

Marginal players become heroes more often in hockey. Could Buffalo fans ever forget guys like Curtis Brown and Dixon Ward rising up for the Sabres in big playoff games, meeting the playoff pressure and finding another level in their competitive character?

Stars matter, of course. Fans were glued to Game of Thrones to see John Snow and Arya and Daenerys, not the faceless white walkers. But playoff hockey, while still featuring astonishing individual talents, is more a celebration of the sport itself, of teamwork and grit and giving yourself up in the playoff crucible.

That’s a wonderful thing, no matter how many people watch. It’s what makes hockey fans puff their chests out and insist their game is the best in the spring. This is their time of year. 

Carolina is one game from reaching the East Conference finals, after a nine-year playoff drought. After winning Game 3 at home on Wednesday night, the Hurricanes players stood together on the blue line and saluted the ecstatic crowd. It was a great sports moment, almost like they were saluting the matchless drama that is playoff hockey.

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THE COLUMN

5/1/19

Well, it’s May 1 today. May Day. It’s officially known as International Workers’ Day, or Worker’s Day, a celebration of laborers and the working class promoted by the international labor movement. It’s a national holiday in some countries, though we celebrate Labor Day in September. 

Of course, when Buffalo sports fans hear the phrase, “May Day,” they think of Rick Jeanneret’s famous call of Brad May’s overtime goal in the 1993 playoffs against the Bruins. That actually took place on April 24, 1993. 

I’m a big fan of labor. But As I’ve said before, April is my favorite sports month. I’ll miss it. It was a fabulous April and if you don’t mind, I’d like to say goodbye by reflecting on some of the great things that happened in the last month. 

Tiger Woods won the Masters. It was the sports story of the year and will probably be that way when people make their lists at the end of December. One of the best comeback stories in golf history, and maybe all of sports, and made the golf season a whole lot more interesting. 

We saw the most amazing first round in Stanley Cup history — which sadly, didn’t include the Sabres for the eighth year in a row. 

All four division winners went down. That included Tampa Bay, which was coming off one of the best regular seasons in NHL history. The defending champion, Washington, and defending runnerup,  Vegas, went down.  

The Isles, who had missed the previous two years, swept the Penguins. Columbus won the first series in its history by sweeping the Lightning in the first round and just went up 2-1 on the Bruins in Round 2 last night in the latest they’ve ever played in April.

Carolina broke 10-year playoff drought by shocking the Caps; Colorado won a series first time in nine years. There were 13 overtime games in April.

All the favorites won as usual in an NBA first round that didn’t include LeBron James. Did you miss him? Scoring and three-pointers continued to soar. Steph Curry set career playoff record for most three pointers; the Rockets set the league record for threes in the regular season. Kevin Durant, the best player in the world, averaged 40 points over a five-game playoff stretch.

Baseballs flew out of ballparks at record rate in April, as home runs soared again to all-time highs. The Mariners set an MLB record by homering in the firs 15 games of the season. The Orioles set a record for homers allowed in the month. Cody Bellinger and Christian Yelich set the record with 14 homers before May 1, and Bellinger broke the record for RBIs.

The Bills continued to rebuild their roster and raise expectations. Last week, they got a gift when defensive tackle Ed Oliver fell to them in the first round. Kyler Murray became the second straight Heisman winner from Oklahoma to go first overall. Miami traded for Josh Rosen, which means three of the top four QBs from last year’s draft class are in the AFC East. 

In college basketball, Virginia won the NCAA title, one year after becoming the first time in history to get bumped off by a 16 seed in the first round. Baylor won the women’s title in a gripping 82-81 final over defending champion Notre Dame. Arike Ogunbowale, who had won both Final Four games with buzzer-beaters the year before, missed one of two free throws with two seconds left for the Irish.

UB hired Jim Whitesell, its veteran assistant,  to replace Nate Oats as head coach. Whitesell lost some recruits, but he’s bringing in top replacements and we’ll find out of the UB brand can again withstand the coach leaving. 

Meanwhile, Felicia Legette-Jack stayed with the UB women, which is a very good thing. Her star player, Cierra Dillard, became the first local college player taken in the WNBA draft when the Minnesota Lynx took her in the second round,.

I hope the month of May can be nearly as exciting. 

Oh, by the way, if you missed it, they moved up the PGA Championship this year. It’s two weeks from tomorrow. Tiger, Brooks Koepka and Francesco Molinari will be playing together at Bethpage Black on Long Island in the first two rounds.

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THE COLUMN

4/30/19

During Monday’s show, while getting ready for an interview with Byron Dafoe, I was looking over the 1999 Sabres, who made their run to the Stanley Cup final that season. I was marveling anew at Dominik Hasek’s amazing run as the best goalie in the world, when he won five Vezinas in six years.

Yeah, those were some days in Buffalo sports. You know what else happened in 1999? It was the last time the Bills won 10 games in a season. Twenty years since they got to 11 with Doug Flutie and Wade Phillips on the way to Home Run Throwback. 

Winning 10 was the standard back then. The Bills won 10 games in nine of 12 seasons from 1988-99. We took it for granted after awhile, the way they must do in New England. The Patriots have won 10 or more games 16 YEARS IN A ROW. Sixteen!

It is so much to ask for the Bills to go it once? I don’t think so. It’s time to lift the standard again, to set 10 wins as the expected target for the 2019 season. This is the NFL, after all, where things are set up for bad teams to get good and where half of the 12 playoff spots turn over every year on average. 

Ten wins? Since the last season ended, virtually every local media person who came on this show said the Bills should be expected to at least have a winning record in Year Three of Brandon Beane and Sean McDermott. Nine or 10 wins? That’s fair, has been the general theme. 

Beane has signed 15 free agents — at least, that’s how high I could count, it’s probably more. He’s built talent and depth into his offense, remaking his offensive line, adding two veteran wide receivers in John Brown and Cole Beasley, and a couple of veteran running backs in Frank Gore and TJ Yeldon.

Most draft experts rated the Bills’ haul last week as anywhere from an A to a B-plus. In our poll Monday, 57 percent of the respondents gave them an A. Sure, fans always assume the best about their team’s draft, assigning value and hope to college players they’ve probably never seen play in a live football game.

But if they had a very good draft after a very promising free agency period, when people were tagging them as a 9-10 win team, shouldn’t the standard be ticked up to a solid 10 at least. Come on, what’s fun about the judges holding up cards that say 9.5 on them? Ten wins. That’s the standard for 2019, folks. 

It should be that high. This is the modern NFL, where there are no five-year plans. Three years is plenty, though I’m sure Beane and McDermott wanted the public to give them another year after they slipped into the playoffs on a fluke two years ago. Sorry, but that season simply confirmed that McDermott knows how to coach a defense and keep a team focused in the second half of a season.

Josh Allen is in his second season as the franchise quarterback. No more coddling. The Eagles won the Super Bowl in Carson Wentz’s second year. The Rams got there in Jared Goff’s second year as the starter. Patrick Mahomes threw for 50 TDs and got the Chiefs to the AFC title game in his second NFL season and first as a starter. The Bears won 12 games and made the playoffs in Mitchell Trubisky’s second season a year ago. 

You get the picture. The standard has been raised for teams and for young quarterbacks. The Bears did it with a strong defense and with Trubisky having a good, but not great, second year. The Bills return a defense that ranked second in the NFL in yards and first in passing yards against. They added a stud rookie tackle in Ed Oliver, who has to fill Kyle Wiliams’s shoes, but we’re talking about Kyle Williams at the end of his career,  not the middle.

Top defense, strong draft, refurbished offense, promising young head coach, second-year franchise quarterback who set team scrambling records as a rookie — doesn’t this sound like a team on the rise, one that should be expected to win 10 and make a serious playoff run? 

Look at the schedule. It’s not hard to count to 10. They play only four teams that had a winning record last season. The Dolphins are tanking. They face only one of the top 10 rated quarterbacks from a year ago. OK, Tom Brady was 12th, but why shouldn’t they beat the Pats at least once now that Brady is pushing 50 and Gronk is gone and they get them at New Era in late September?

I’m not looking to plan any parades, but wouldn’t it be nice to go into a Bills season expecting good things to happen, the way it was two decades ago? Eight or nine wins wouldn’t be a failure, but it’s OK to suggest that it would be a disappointment. Fans need to stop shielding themselves from what seems like the ultimate letdown. 

Put the pressure on them to come through. Hold their feet to the fire. That’s what they deserve. That’s what tough fans do. Beane and McDermott should welcome the higher expectations. They created them, and it beats the alternative.

Ten wins. There it is. Ten. I’m marking it down and nailing it to the clubhouse door.

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THE COLUMN

4/29/19

Well, it’s hard to quibble with the Bills first-round pick in the NFL draft. They got a gift when Ed Oliver fell to them at ninth overall. Oliver, who was seen as the best player in the country at the start of the last college football season, should fit right in as the 3 technique defensive tackle in Sean McDermott’s defense.

It was no surprise that the Bills grabbed Oliver. In his first two drafts, McDermott added a rising young star to his secondary (Tre White) and linebacking corps (Tremaine Edmunds). Now he has a defensive stud at all three levels of his defense.

What’s also no surprise is how Brandon Beane has refurbished his offense in one year. The offense, which was the worst in team history for much of last season, has undergone an almost complete overhaul — which makes it clear that while McDermott wants to win with defense, it still comes back to the quarterback in the modern NFL. 

Good defense only gets you so far in the league. The immediate and long-term future of the Bills is riding on the development of their 2018 first-round pick, quarterback Josh Allen. The majority of Beane’s maneuvers, in free agency and the draft, made that evident.

In total salary, the Bills’ nine highest-paid free agents were on offense. That included a slew of offensive linemen, veteran running back Frank Gore and and a couple of wide receivers, John Brown and Cole Beasley. Beane and McDermott understand that their reputations are tied to Allen, and they’re doing all they can to fortify his supporting cast.

After grabbing Oliver, it was back to helping the offense. They took tackle Cody Ford in the second round, running back Devin Singletary and tight end Dawson Knox in the third. They didn’t take a wide receiver with any of their eight picks, which tells me they have a lot of confidence in Zay Jones and Robert Foster.

The offense will look radically different from the one that struggled so badly to score a year ago. There’s a chance all five starting offensive linemen will be new. There could be occasions, hard as it is to fathom, when Allen has more playing time as a Bill under his belt than any other player on the field. 

That, I’m sure, is how the brass wants it. They want Allen to be the unquestioned leader of the offense — and the team. It’ll be a lot easier when the kid, who showed promising leadership skills as a rookie, glances around the huddle and sees a bunch of faces who are new to the team, or the league, or both. 

It’s Allen’s team now, for better or worse. It makes you wonder about LeSean McCoy’s future in Buffalo, which became even more murky when the Bills drafted Singletary — after adding veteran running backs Gore and T.J. Yeldon earlier.

All last season, Bucky and I talked on this show about McCoy and how they should ship him out when he still had value.  Bucky was more radical on Shady than I. He never felt the guy was worth what the Pegulas invested in him, at a time when the running back position was being devalued in the league. 

Beane cautioned reporters not to read into it when he drafted Singletary. He said McCoy is still the starter. Really, why would McCoy, who averaged 3.2 yards a carry last season and is a shell of the player he was a couple of years ago, warrant a guaranteed starting spot on a team with a stable of capable backs?

McCoy is the one face that no longer fits on a roster that has been almost completely reshaped under Beane. He’s over the hill. People talk about his decline last year; but it was actually two years ago that he suffered the worst one-season drop in yards per carry of any 1,000 yard back in NFL history.

He’s an inconsistent, self-serving leader who avoids the media when it’s convenient and got benched for a play for the season finale a year ago. He’s also in the final year of his contract (at $6 million) and has a couple of civil suits pending.

I’d cut McCoy and be done with it. They should have traded him before the deadline last season, but apparently he didn’t have much value. The thought of Shady hanging around as some sort of leader, worrying about his stats and Hall of Fame prospects in a supposed team culture, seems like a very bad fit.

If this is Josh Allen’s team now and management is doing everything it can to clear out any obstacles to his leadership, keeping McCoy seems incongruous. He never really seemed to fit the process and now he’s lost the sheer talent that made him worth the trouble. More than anything, McCoy now seems like he’s in the way. 

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THE COLUMN

4/18/19

Expectations are rising for the Buffalo Bills. They’re generally expected to contend for the playoffs next season and have a winning record. Everyone in the media who comes on this show agreed the standard should be nine or 10 wins. 

Yes, the Bills are becoming relevant again, with competent leadership, a strong defense and an exciting, athletic young franchise quarterback in Josh Allen.

But do you know who doesn’t think the Bills are relevant? The NFL. The football-football-watching public. The people who decide the marquee matchups on prime-time TV. NBC. 

The NFL schedule came out Wednesday night, and once again, the Bills were not considered worthy of an appearance on the league’s elite prime-time slot — Sunday nights on NBC. That’s destination entertainment in this country, the game that caps off the big football Sunday in America.

In fact, the Bills were the only team in the league not given a prime-time night game — on Sunday, Monday or Thursday. They did get a Thanksgiving Day game at Dallas.

I can’t say it’s a surprise. The Bills haven’t been on Sunday Night Football since 2007. They haven’t won on Sunday since 2000 — the first year of the drought. They haven’t won on Monday night since 1999. They’ve lost their last 11 games on Sunday night.

Look, people like big names and offense. The Bills still have a long way to go in that regard. Their passing game is consistently among the worst in the league. Over the last 15 years, they’re last in the NFL in passing yards. They were 31st in passing last year, 31st the year before that, 30th in 2016. You get the picture.

Josh Allen could become a star, a true franchise guy. He’s a dynamic runner, but he was 33rd in completion percentage a year ago. He didn’t pass for 250 yards in any game as a rookie. He didn’t complete more than 20 passes in any game. 

The people who invest big money in TV games need more evidence than that. They need star power. Elite receivers certainly help. Do you think the average football fan in this country could name on Bills receiver? They certainly know who’s going to be catching passes from Baker Mayfield in Cleveland this season.

Still, it comes back to the quarterback. We know that. The last time the Bills were destination TV in prime time, Jim Kelly was the quarterback. They won 10 games on Sunday and Monday nights between 1990-1993, the four-year Super Bowl run.

Primetime loves big-name quarterbacks and marquee franchises. The big Thursday night opener on NBC? Aaron Rodgers at Soldier Field against the Bears and Khalil Mack. The Sunday night opener? Pats-Steelers. Brady vs. Big Ben. Week 2 on Sunday night? Carson Wentz and the Eagles at Matty Ryan.

Did I mention Baker Mayfield? He set a record for passing TDs by a rookie last season. He’ll be throwing to Odell Beckham Jr. this season. America wants to see more. In week 3, Cleveland gets its first Sunday night date in more than a decade. The Browns have FOUR prime-time night games. They also have increased pressure. 

The Saints and Drew Brees vs. the Cowboys in Week 4 (the Cowboys matter no matter who’s the quarterback, America’s team). In Week 5, Andrew Luck and Patrick Mahomes go at it. Then it’s Big Ben and Philip Rivers. Rodgers and Mahomes hook up two weeks later. Brady and the Pats go to Baltimore to play Lamar Jackson in Week 9. Yeah, America is more interested in Jackson and the Ravens than Allen and the Bills. 

Russell Wilson against Wentz, Brees vs. Ryan, Brady and Deshaun Watson, Wilson vs. Goff and the Rams, Mahomes at the Bears on the final Sunday night to cap it all off. 

Can you blame the league for not wanting the Bills in prime TV position? Yes, Allen has great possibilities, and one day the Bills might again be a sexy option for the big national games. But they’re 2-19 in their last 21 big national appearances. 

That includes scoring 3 points two Januarys ago in their only playoff game in 19 years, in what might have been the worst offensive show in modern NFL playoff history (Blake Bortles was the quarterback for the other team, remember). 

They got a Monday night game at New Era last season against the Patriots, their first home game on Sunday or Monday night in 10 years. They lost 25-6 and didn’t score a touchdown. That makes two straight prime games where they didn’t score a TD.

Here’s what the Bills have scored in their last five appearances on Sunday nights: 0, 7, 5, 6 and 10 points. The last was here in 2007 against the Patriots. They lost 56-10. They haven’t been invited back. Again, can you blame the league for not taking a chance on a team that struggles to score 10 in an increasingly offensive game? They scored in single digits in five losses last year and lost by 19 or more points in all of them. 

Buffalo fans are accustomed to seeing their team dismissed and disrespected. It makes the Buffalo Mafia even more resolute and committed, eager for that time when the Bills rise again and show the world what they’re missing, when the nation is clamoring to see the offensive stars on this resurgent football powerhouse.

America remains skeptical. Well, the Bills did get a game on Thanksgiving — for the first time since 1994. They’ll provide fodder for the Cowboys in their annual Turkey Day show. Maybe the league is trying to remind the Pegulas that they’re supposed to build a football palace like the one Jerry Jones has in Big D.

By then, maybe the Bills will be pushing for a playoff spot and be the talk of the NFL. But let’s be honest,  it’s not Sunday night. Thanksgiving isn’t what it used to be. Otherwise, why would the Lions be on every year? 

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THE COLUMN

4/17/19

Well, as of tomorrow we’ll be one week away from the NFL draft, or the “annual selection meeting” as they like to call it. 

I have to say, I can’t wait for it to be over. For me, it’s like waiting for the tax season to be over. I see it as a necessary annoyance. I love the draft so much I’m leaving the country this weekend. .

Brandon Beane had the Bills’ draft luncheon early this week, that annual exercise where the general manager fields questions from the media while not trying to lie even more blatantly than the President. 

Beane acknowledged that predicting the draft, in which many experts pretend to have a strong opinion on guys they’ve never seen play, has become something of an obsession among fans and media.

“I know there is a lot of stuff out there. Everybody has a mock so you don’t know what people are making up and what their intel is,” Beane said. 

Everybody doesn’t have a mock draft. I don’t do them. I leave that up to the “experts”. No one knows what the Bills are going to do, though sometimes it’s fairly obvious — like the fact that they had to get a franchise quarterback last year after deciding not to take a shot at Patrick Mahomes or Deshaun Watson the year before.

At times, it seems like the flavor of the week with the Bills’ top pick. For awhile, it was a wide receiver. Then there was a run on mocks that liked them taking an offensive tackle, or a defensive lineman or edge rusher. Lately, there’s been a trend toward taking a tight end with the ninth overall pick next Thursday.

That about covers it. My educated guess? They’ll go for a defensive lineman — a 3 technique defensive tackle or a rush end. Beane said he’ll take the “best player,” which is generally the case. I don’t recall any GM ever drafting someone in the first round and saying, “We took this guy, but he’s not the best player.”

I could be wrong. If my predictions weren’t wrong close to half the time, I’d be gambling in Vegas for a living. But logic and observation leads me to conclude that the most likely pick for this franchise at this time is a young stud to fortify the defensive front.

More specifically, it’s the the right pick for this head coach. Let’s not forget, Sean McDermott was given the most power of any head coach in Bills’ history when the Pegulas hired him early in 2017, and it’s his football vision that drives this operation.

Remember, it was McDermott who ran the draft in 2017, when he was hired before a real general manager. It was McDermott who traded back to get extra picks and delay the quarterback decision for a year, and who took a young cornerback, Tre’Davious White, with the first pick. Every new head coach since Marv Levy has gone defense with the first pick of his first draft.

Last year, after grabbing Josh Allen, they moved up to get Tremaine Edmonds, a young and dynamic inside linebacker who could anchor the middle of the defense for a decade or more. 

So McDermott, an old school coach who believes you can win with defense, has added a young stud to the back and middle levels of his defense. That leaves the front, specifically a tackle or end who can rush the passer. They haven’t taken a pass rushing three-technique tackle or defensive end in the draft since McDermott arrived. Not a first-rounder, but any pick at all.

This draft is loaded with those kind of players. It’s been called “off the charts great” by some experts, with the likes of Bama’s Quinnen Williams, Houston’s Ed Oliver, Nick Bosa of Ohio State, Josh Allen of Kentucky, Mississippi State’s Montez Sweat and Rashan Gary of Michigan all potential top 10 choices.

Beane wouldn’t concede the off-the-charts characterization. “I’d have to really go back and look,” he said. He admitted the defensive line group was “solid.”

The need isn’t urgent for the Bills. Beane said he has no “glaring holes” on his roster after spending the last couple of months filling them in free agency. The overwhelming majority of those acquisitions were to help the offense: The top nine in total salaries were on offense — three wide receivers, five offensive linemen and a tight end.

Come on, Brandon. It’s pretty clear what the plan is here. You spent almost all your resources in free agency on the offense. Now McDermott, whose vision of defense rules, gets to add another young jewel to his defense — this time, at the level which hasn’t yet been addressed since the “Process” got under way.

Kyle Williams, one of the best penetrating D tackles of his era, has retired. Jerry Hughes has been inconsistent in recent years; he’s 31 and in the final year of his contract at a cap hit of $10.4 million. Shaq Lawson is also in the last year of his deal and the Bills might not decide he’s worth an extension. 

Keep in mind, Hughes and Lawson are two of the few remaining players from the Rex Ryan regime. McDermott and Beane have been methodically weeding those players out and constructing a roster of their own making, with defensive players chosen by the head coach.

It’s not glaring, but the one position yet to be addressed is a defensive lineman who can get after the passer, a high draft pick for the first level to go along with White and Edmonds. 

McDermott will get his man. I have to think they have one or two players in this draft identified as franchise-changers for the D line. It wouldn’t shock me if they even traded up to get him. 

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THE COLUMN

4/16/19

As a transcendent sports story, it’s not quite Tiger Woods winning the Masters. But one day after the most amazing comeback in golf history, I watched the greatest one-game playoff comeback in the history of the NBA. 

How great are sports right now? One of the best regular-season teams in NHL history, Tampa Bay, is on the verge of getting swept tonight in Columbus. Five teams that haven’t won a playoff series in years are leading their divisions in baseball. Both seventh seeds won openers in the NBA playoffs for the first time ever.

But what happened last night in Oakland was truly stunning. The mighty Warriors, two-time defending champions, had a 31-point lead midway through the third period and lost to the eighth-seeded Clippers, 135-131.

Basketball fans have come to see the Warriors as unbeatable, as a team that should cruise to a third straight NBA title — and fourth in five years — before sending Kevin Durant on to greater challenges as a free agent after the inevitable title.

It doesn’t seem so inevitable now. The Warriors are more vulnerable than in the past. They’re older, weaker on the bench. The rest of the West has gotten better. There’s a creeping sense of unease about the team. In a group interview Sunday as part of a 60 Minutes piece, they seemed sullen and disconnected.

They seemed that way on the court Monday night. “We stopped playing,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said. “We kind of disconnected (there’s that word again) kind of mid-third quarter, lost our defensive edge. They scored 85 points in the second half.”

Golden State led 73-50 at halftime. Early in the third, Draymond Green hit a 3-pointer to make it 86-58. The Oracle crowd went wild. Green, in typically self-aggrandizing fashion, gestured to the fans, waving his arms. 

It looked like it was going to be easy, like so many games in recent years for the Warriors. They’re 16-2 in first-round games the last four years. It’s been one long shootaround. They played like a team that’s used to it being easy, that wants things to be easy. That’s the problem. 

Doc Rivers’ Clippers weren’t going away. Rivers calls this team the most resilient he’s ever coached, and it showed Monday night.  You could sense it, even when they fell behind by 31 points, 94-63 They were battling, playing defense, making things difficult for Golden State, which played along by making sloppy plays with the lead.

Rivers never got enough credit for winning in Boston. He’s a very good coach. This was his 163rd playoff game as a coach. If you don’t think he can coach, watch film of the Clippers playing defense. Watch Patrick Beverly jumping onto Kevin Durant and making his life miserable. 

The Clippers are a tough, relentless team. They were tougher than the Warriors. They beat them on the boards and got 36 points from Lou Williams, one of the best pure scorers and sixth men the game has seen. 

Lazy turnovers, indifferent post defense. The Clippers kept coming. Yes, the Warriors lost DeMarcus Cousins with a quad injury that could be serious, but he’s never been mistaken for a great post defender. You can attack Golden State inside and have your way. 

Power forward Montrezl Harrell, one of the most underrated players in the league, dominated inside in the second half. He shot 9 for 9 on the night, scored 25 points and had 10 boards. He’s shooting 87 percent and averaging 25.5 points in series.

Williams made 7 shots in a row. The lead was cut to 23, to 19, to 16 on an amazing hanging three point play by Williams. The Clippers outscored the Warriors 31-14 in the last eight minutes of the third. The Warriors were getting tight, turning the ball over, forcing shots. 

The Warriors went up 16. Rivers called time with nine minutes left. Harrell got an easy dunk out of the timeout. Coaching. Danilo Gallinari, the Italian sharpshooter who’s a force when he’s healthy, hit a 3 to cut it to eight. Steve Kerr looked stricken on the bench, like Francesco Molinari after hitting it in the water.

Harrrell scores again at the rim. Down to six. Steph Curry missed badly. Williams drove for a 3 point play. Three. It almost seemed a matter of time. Golden State tried to hold on, but was struggling to get shots in the half court. Durant’s 3 point play made it 128-123. But Williams wouldn’t be denied. He hit a ridiculous fallaway to tie it at 128. Curry buried a 3, his first basket in awhile. Then Williams scored again and it was 131-130, Warriors.

The Clippers got the ball back after a Klay Thompson miss. Rookie Shea Gilgeous-Alexander got the ball on top and found another rookie, Landry Shamet, who drilled a three-pointer to give the Clippers the lead, 133-131. Curry missed a 3, Harrell hit two free throws and it was over. Stunning.

Yeah, you wouldn’t have known it this season, with all the attention paid to the other team in the town, to LeBron James and the imploding Lakers. But that other LA team is pretty good, too. I don’t know if they’re capable of upsetting the Warriors. But one thing is for sure, they’re not going away.

Either way, the NBA playoffs got a lot more interesting. If the last few days are any indication, we’re in for a remarkable spring in the sports world. 

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THE COLUMN

4/15/19

I’ll admit, I didn’t think this was possible. Tiger Woods suffered through a decade of physical pain and personal embarrassment. Two years ago, after undergoing back fusion surgery, his fourth in four years, even he wondered if he would ever play competitively again. He could barely walk, sleep, or sit down. 

Eleven years ago, I was at Torrey Pines when Tiger won his 14th major, on a bad knee in an epic playoff over Rocco Mediate in the U.S. Open. Passing Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 majors seemed like a formality at the time. Ten years later, it seemed unlikely he would contend in any tournament, never mind win a major. 

But after what took place on Sunday in Augusta, who can doubt him now? Woods turned back the clock, winning a fifth green jacket and a 15th major title with a 13-under performance at the Masters. At 43, he again makes the extraordinary seem possible. 

Hey, he’s the early betting favorite in the U.S. Open — the only man alive for a Grand Slam! And we can again contemplate whether Woods can catch Nicklaus in majors — if his back holds . I used to believe he would be the first to do it at 50 years old. 

Woods’s victory was every bit as dramatic as Nicklaus’ win in 1986, when he won his final major and sixth Masters at 46. 

I envisioned a memorable Masters on Thursday, when so many players in a packed field finished under-par. After Saturday, a record day for low scores, we were set up for a day of exceeding high drama — and the players didn’t let us down.

Even if Woods hadn’t won, it would have been a great Masters. They say the tournament doesn’t truly begin until the final nine on Sunday. During that final nine, many of the biggest names in golf were shuffling in and out of the leader board.  

At one point, there was a five-way tie for the lead at 12-under par: Woods, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Francesco Molinari and Xander Schauffele. Patrick Cantlay briefly took the lead with an eagle. Rickie Fowler made a birdie run to minus-11. Former champ Bubba Watson made a stirring late run.

Pro golf has continued to thrive without Woods, who inspired a lot of the young players who dominate the sport today. But it’s always more compelling when he contends. In the end, against a formidable field, he grabbed a major by the throat while the rest of the players fell away, like a bunch of impostors.

It was like watching a young Tiger again. This was the fifth time in 22 Masters that Woods entered the final round at 11-under or better. Every time, he won. As in past majors, he didn’t need to be great on Sunday because no one made a serious run at him. 

All Woods needed to do was shoot 70 to win by a shot. None of his closest competitors could do better than a 68. Molinari, who had the lead after 54 holes, faltered to a 74. Tony Finau, the third man in the final group, could manage only a 72. 

You could feel the Tiger mystique at work. He was his old steely resolute self on the course, never smiling or betraying his feelings until he tapped in the final putt on 18 and the pent-up emotion came pouring out of him. He kept grinding, and the guys in his group eventually cracked, just like the old days. 

Molinari played 50 straight holes without a bogey at one stretch, but he was scrambling to save pars and never put together any kind of run. His undoing came at the par-3 12th — yes, the same hole where Jordan Spieth came unglued in 2016.

Molinari left his drive short in the water. He had this stricken expression, staring at his yardage book in disbelief. Then Finau hit his tee shot in the water, too. They never recovered. You could see Woods walking up the fair on 12 and spinning his club in his left hand, clearly relishing the shift in his rivals’ fortunes.

Players rarely were able to stare down Woods in a major when he was in his prime. In the decisive moments, it seemed that the Tiger aura was back, overwhelming some of the best golfers on the planet.

Woods was energized by seeing the other guys go in the water. He birdied 13, 15 and 16. On 15, he hit a laser from 227 yards to the middle of the green and two-putted for the outright lead. On the par-3 16th, he hit an 8-iron that nearly rolled in for a hole-in-one. He stood there and didn’t crack a smile, still locked in. 

He was two shots up, and it was now a mere formality. There were no more heroics from the rest of the field. It felt like a submission, like the rest of the players were bowing to Tiger’s renewed legacy.

The fans loved it, too. All over America, people cried when Woods hugged his mother and his two children. He wasn’t the best husband as a younger man, or a very engaging personality, but his struggles have humanized him and his return to the top of the golf world is something for sports fans to treasure.

America loves a comeback, especially after a hero has fallen and gotten back up despite trying circumstances. This is sports, after all, and at their best they remind us of man’s ability to rise above his pain and tribulations and triumph once again.

Watching Woods win on Sunday, you were reminded of just how great he was at the very top of his game. You recalled a time when you learned never to doubt him — and you wanted even more.

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THE COLUMN

4/12/19

Did I tell you early this week what I missed about the Stanley Cup playoffs? Well, the first two nights of the playoffs reminded me what I was missing. If the rest of the tournament is like this, we’re in for a heck of a two-month ride. 

On Thursday night, I watched the Lightning shoot out to a 3-0 lead against Columbus, which has never won a single Cup series in its 19 years as an NHL franchise. 

Tampa Bay, of course, had one of the greatest regular seasons in league history, piling up 128 points and setting countless records. So at 3-0 — and it could have easily been 5-0 — I flipped the channel and penciled them through to the next round.

What was I thinking? Had I forgotten that nine of the last 10 President’s Trophy winners had not won the Cup, and that the last three hadn’t even reached the conference finals?

The Bluejackets came back to win, 4-3. John Tortorella, who coached the Lightning when they won the Cup 15 years ago, had given his players a stirring pep talk beforehand about never stepping back in any situation. Afterwards, he came into the presser and started joking about someone’s body odor.

Game on. This is not the regular season, people.

So last night, when the Capitals went up on the Hurricanes, 3-0, I didn’t make the same mistake. I stuck with the game. Five minutes into the third period, Andrei Svechnikov scored to make it 3-1. Two and a half minutes later, Svechnikov scored again and it was 3-2 in Washington. We had ourselves a hockey game.

Svechnikov just turned 19, by the way. The Russian was the second pick in last year’s entry draft — yeah, right after the Sabres’ Rasmus Dahlin. No playoff is complete, in the NFL or NHL, without us being reminded that our team isn’t involved.

Did any Sabres fan watching the game sigh and say, that could have been Dahlin, coming of age in his first Cup playoffs as a mere teen-ager?

By the way, Rasmus Dahlin turns 19 tomorrow. Wish the kid a Happy Birthday. Now, back to last night’s game.

You could feel the crowd buzzing through the screen from Capital One Arena, the palpable nervousness of a home crowd wondering if its heroes might be blowing a Game One that seemed in the bag, like Tampa Bay the night before.

Two plus minutes left, Carolina pulls Petr Mrazek. The Canes are pressing in the offensive zone. Szechnikov is out there, hoping to get a hat trick. Who’s the youngest player to score three in a playoff game, by the way? 

The defending Cup champs are furiously trying to protect the lead. Players are dropping down all over the place to block shots. Niklas Backstrom, who scored two goals for Washington, blocks two shots in a span of about 10 seconds. This is what you see in the playoffs, guys giving up their bodies, feeling the pain.

Finally, the Caps cleared the puck. Twice, they barely missed the empty net. The crowd was going nuts, sensing the end. These final seconds seem like an eternity in these situations. Justin Williams, one of the great clutch players of his generation, a guy who played against the Sabres in the 2006 conference finals, is on the ice for Carolina, hoping for a chance.

Again, the Caps barely miss the empty net with 45 seconds to go. Finally, with 36.6 left, Lars Ellers takes the puck three feet inside his own blue line and finds the empty net to make it 4-2. The crowd exhales and exults.

The Hurricanes and Caps play against Saturday. On Monday, Carolina will host a Stanley Cup playoff game for the first time since losing the conference finals in 2009 — 10 full years.

I’ve argued with hockey fans over the years who tell me the Stanley Cup playoffs are the best in sports. I tell them I’ve been at NBA playoffs and they’re just as good. But hockey playoffs have a quality all their own, and there really is nothing like it, as I’ve rediscovered over the last two nights. 

It’s great theater, as Buffalo fans, whom the ratings show watch more than any others, well know. But how much better would it be if games were being played in our town, not just on our TVs?

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THE COLUMN

4/11/19

Half an hour ago in Augusta, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player began the 83rd Masters with the ceremonial opening tee shots. 

This is the 60th anniversary of Nicklaus’ first time playing in the Masters, when he missed the cut by one shot as an e amateur in 1959. At 79, with a record 18 majors, the Golden Bear remains the most revered figure in the sport. 

Nicklaus wrote a “A Love Letter from Jack Nicklaus” on the eve of the Masters: 

“The drive up Magnolia Lane, even 60 years later, still gives me chills. So, thank you Augusta National. Thank you for a lifetime of memories. Thank you providing the perfect background for 60 years and six opportunities to feel the overwhelming satisfaction of slipping on the green jacket.”

“It has been and will continue to be the utmost honor to have won your great tournament and to be forever called a Masters champion.”

Sixty years. I’m sure Jack and everyone else in Augusta will dearly miss a man who had covered 68 straight Masters and loved it as much as anyone:

Dan Jenkins, the great golf writer and humorist, who died on March 7 at the age of 90. Jenkins, who was a very good golfer in his own right and played with Ben Hogan about 40 times, went to 232 major championships in his life. His first was the 1941 U.S. Open as a 12-year-old boy in his native Fort Worth. He covered his first Masters for the Fort Worth Press while on the TCU golf team in 1951.

Jenkins was admired by golfers, fans and writers alike. If you were a sports writer, you envied his enormous talent. His legendary editor in Texas, Blackie Sherrod, called him “the most effortless writer I’ve ever known.” 

His daughter Sally, a fine sports columnist for the Washington Post, wrote in her eulogy,  “He made the profession more honest, and more descriptive forever after. And he did so for a longer period of time than any other influential writer. “

As Sally said, her dad wrote for seven decades. I agreed with her that he was the greatest sports writer who ever lived.  I read his account of the famous Oklahoma-Nebraska football game in Sports Illustrated when I was 16. I read his books and read him in Golf Digest right up until the end. 

Jenkins made his early fame as an NFL writer and humorist. His novel “Semi-Tough” was made into a movie with Burt Reynolds. He wrote “Dead Solid Perfect” and “Baja Oklahoma” and a number of other books — my personal favorite, and the favorite of many sports writers, was a hilarious novel about a cynical, dissolute sports magazine writer called “You Gotta Play Hurt.”

Jenkins was a smoker who liked to have an occasional scotch. After a particularly rough night on the road, some of us fans of Jenkins might remark, “Hey, you got to play hurt!”

He was more than a sports writer. I considered him the funniest writer alive. Every time I read him, I laughed out loud. Go find “You Call it Sports, but I say It’s a Jungle Out There” and get back to me.

He once wrote about slow play in golf: “A round of golf should not take more than three and a half hours. Anything longer than that is not a round of golf, it’s life in Albania.”

Jenkins was best at golf, and that’s mainly what he wrote after leaving SI for Golf Digest in the 80s. He could also be dead serious and knew the sport. He had an ego and thought he knew more about the sport than anyone.

“I tend to go to major championships the way Dorothy Kilgallen used to go to murder trials,” Jenkins wrote in Golf Digest in 1986. “I don’t cover tournaments anymore. I preside over them.”

Jenkins knew Hogan and Nicklaus, but he might have admired Arnold Palmer most of all.  

In his book, “The Dogged Victims of Inexorable Fate,” Jenkins wrote of the “nobility Palmer brought to losing.” He wrote of “the pure, unmixed joy he brought to trying. He has been, after all, the doggedest victim of us all.”

Yes, we’re all victims out there, that’s one of the sport’s endearing charms, that no matter how much you struggle, you know every other golfer has been though it, from Hogan to Woods on down to Jordan Spieth, who seems to have lost his game. 

Jenkins could be the crusty old guy at times, a little politically incorrect. But he also changed with the times and took to Twitter with glee in his 80s. It was perfect for Dan. No one could be quicker or wittier in a few characters.

Three years ago, Jordan Spieth went to the 10th hole at the Masters on Sunday with a 5-shot lead. While the rest of us were declaring how for once, the tournament wouldn’t come down to the final nine on the last day, Jenkins tweeted

“I should remind folks that Jordan Spieth is five water holes from victory.”

Minutes later, Spieth hit two balls in the water on the par-3 12th, took a quadruple bogey and lost the Masters. 

As usual, the master of the typewriter was Dead Solid Perfect. 

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THE COLUMN

4/10/19

Four years ago around this time, then athletic director Danny White was about 30 seconds into his introduction of Nate Oats as his new head basketball coach when White reminded a gathering in Alumni Arena that UB was “America’s next big-time college brand.”

I was skeptical at the time, saying that White had gone “generic” with Bobby Hurley’s successor, rather than reach out for another “brand” from a recognizable national power.

I called Oats a “virtual no-name” and said Quaker Oats had a bigger name in this town. In the space of six months, White had hired two relative obscurities to coach the teams — including Lance Leipold as head football coach from Division II Wisconsin Whitewater.

Yeah, no-names instead of big names, I said. But Oats said they were going to win and continue to build the program. No one knew who Brad Stevens was before Butler made its back to back runs to the NCAA title game, right?

Oats said that day, “we got the program to another level by playing int he NCAA Tournament. We can sell that now.”

White and Oats were right. The brand did continue to grow. The evidence was clear during the past season, the greatest in UB’s sports history. Leipold’s football team set a school record for wins and went to a bowl. Oats’ team won 32 games, a record for any local program, and won an NCAA game for the second straight season. 

And let’s not forget the UB women, who went to a second straight NCAA tourney and won a game again, continuing a terrific four-year run under Felisha Legette-Jack.

Of course, White moved on to a major DI at Central Florida. Oats has left for Alabama. Legette-Jack is getting courted by bigger Division I schools. This is what happens when you make history at the “mid-major” level. People notice. They want to borrow from your success. Your coaches become targets. It’s a good thing.

So UB has hired Jim Whitesell from within to replace Oats. I’m not going to make the same assumption this time, not going to accuse UB of thinking small and not looking to find some coach with a big name from a high DI program. 

Maybe it’s time to stop assuming that when successful people leave UB, they take the school’s success with them. Maybe Danny White was right. Maybe the new UB athletic brand is the real star here, not any individual coach or player or administrator.

It’s UB, not the Bills or Sabres, who have reminded Buffalo sports fans that success can be an expectation, not a hope, that competing for championships can be the standard, instead of hoping to simple be “relevant” and settling for merely average.

Jim Whitesell is a good coach, a veteran who began coaching in the early 1980s, before the three-pointer or the shot clock. He’s seen it all; he’s seen the game evolve over four decades. He’s been a Division I head coach (at Loyola of Chicago) and was a wise mentor for Nate Oats, who hired him as soon as he got the head job at Buffalo in 2015. 

Whitesell will be 60 in December. So what? He’s younger than Marv Levy was when he became the Bills head coach. He’s younger than Joel Quenneville, the guy Sabres fans wanted to be their new coach. He’s 15 years younger than Jim Boeheim, and the same age as Bruce Pearl, who just took Auburn to its first Final Four. 

Look, the Bulls aren’t going to win 32 games again. We’ll never see another season like the last one. Winning four MAC titles in five years is asking a lot. But UB had never won the MAC in men’s or women’s basketball before 2015. Competing for conference titles and NCAA berths is the new standard, and there’s no reason that can’t continue under Whitesell.

Alnutt said UB is more of a brand than it was four years ago. He had a list of 40 candidates for the job and pared that down to six worthy candidates. But in the end, he decided the best guy for the job was right in front of him — that continuity was a good thing when the man you’re hiring was a critical presence on the bench during the greatest run in the program’s history.

You don’t always have to look outside Buffalo for the answer. We found that out with Nate Oats. No name? Hardly. Ask basketball fans around the country about UB. Everyone recognizes it now. 

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THE COLUMN

4/9/19

Well, the Stanley Cup playoffs get under way tomorrow night. Once again, for the eighth straight year, the Sabres are not a participant. They have the longest playoff drought in the NHL, now that the Hurricanes have made it into the field.

There’s a lot of reasons to be upset with the organization, which is  again looking for a new head coach. But at this time of year,  Buffalo hockey fans are resentful because the Sabres stole playoff hockey from us yet again. 

For the eighth straight year, I’ll find myself missing the playoffs, with the Arena silent in spring. Well, except for the Frozen Four this week. Sorry, but it doesn’t quite compare.

I miss the playoffs, and I know Buffalo fans miss them too, because the ratings here are generally the highest of any city without a team involved — even higher, in some cases. 

Yeah, I miss hearing Rick Jeanneret get excited in moments when it really matters. I miss the team being “scary good.”

I miss playoff beards. I miss the Party in the Plaza, and having to weave my way through the crowds outside as I weave my way to the press entrance two hours before puck drop.

I miss that point in a series when Bucky and I would fight to see who could get the words “genuine disdain” into a column first.

I miss going down to morning skates, and chatting with players eight hours before the game

I miss the palpable buzz that goes through the crowd when overtime is about to begin, and the unbearable tension in OT when a team is pressing for a winning goal. 

I miss Game Sevens, and Game Ones.

I miss seeing Sabres flags show up on cars on the cars, like flowers blooming in spring. Somehow, I can’t stand seeing them in  the middle of winter in another losing season.

I miss checking out the other playoff scores around the league, thinking ahead to matchups in the next round.

I miss the resounding hit that sets the tone of a series. Remember Brian Campbell on R.J. Umberger in 2006? 

I miss the Goo Goo Dolls singing “Better Days” on the video board in pre-game. I miss Doug Allen on the anthems.

I miss how the fans get crazed over an opposing villain, like Ray Emery, or Zdeno Chara or Sean Avery. 

I miss traffic in front of the net, scrums in the corner, the dirty areas. I miss the handshake lines after a series, one of the very coolest things in sports.

I miss the edge in the coaches’ voices in press conferences as series go along and feelings get raw. Lindy Ruff was great in the postseason. Remember when Ken Hitchcock told him to F off that time after a blowout loss?

I miss the Canadien writers descending on our town, because Buffalo is supposed to be a really relevant place in their sport.

I miss the mad dash for the press elevator after a game. I miss hanging out until real late with the writers at the Swanee after a really big playoff game. I miss the road at playoff time. 

I miss Chris Drury. Dixon Ward. Vaclav Varada. Michael Peca. A young Jason Pominville. The Dominator. Mike Ramsey. Rob Ray joking the room on off days between games. Afternoon playoff games.

I miss trainer Rip Simonick taking a shot at that Flyer from the bench one Sunday afternoon. I miss afternoon playoff games.

I miss playoff games, period. Please, guys, could you get the thing right this time? Before this feeling gets to be 10 years old?

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THE COLUMN

4/8/19

For once, I have to give the Sabres credit. Admittedly, it’s a pretty low bar nowadays. But whoever made the call — and we’re supposed to believe was entirely Jason Botterill’s decision — they made the right call by firing Phil Housley on Sunday.

I had wondered if Terry Pegula might stick with Housley out of stubborn arrogance, to show the media he wasn’t going to be pushed around. Or maybe Botterill would bring Phil back on the proverbial “short leash,” keeping himself out of the firing line for the time being.

But they had to make this move. There was no denying that Housley as over his head, that the Sabres’ season was an utter embarrassment and that they couldn’t possibly sell a failed head coach to an increasingly disillusioned fan base. This is about business in the end.

When Pegula bought the team more than eight years ago, he said the sole reason for the Sabres’ existence was winning the Stanley Cup, or Cups. He said he wasn’t one for firing people. But the next coach will be his sixth since taking over. He hasn’t had a coach last more than two full seasons since becoming owner.

Now the pressure is squarely on Botterill, who is fortunate that Pegula didn’t execute a double firing as he did with Dan Bylsma and Tim Murray two years ago. He and Kim still believe in Botterill. They have to at this point, but where is the evidence?

Botterill was supposed to be some personnel genius. But he didn’t do Housley many favors. Look at the players he brought in: Vlad Sobotka, Patrik Berglund, Tage Thompson, Marco Scandella, Nathan Beaulieu, Conor Sheary, Carter Hutton. Not one of them exceeded or even met expectations.

Even Jeff Skinner, who was seen as some kind of coup. Really? Skinner scored 40 goals, yes, but what if they don’t re-sign him? Will it have been worth it to have given draft assets for a guy who was the top scorer on a team that collapsed and got its coach fired? Skinner left the Hurricanes and they broke the NHL’s longest playoff drought without him. Now, at least for the moment, he’s on the team with the new longest drought — Buffalo.

When you look at the players Botterill brought in — including Brandon Montour — and the miserable defense his team played in his two years running the roster, you have to wonder if the GM really respects the importance of defense in his sport. 

Now we’ll find out what sort of hockey vision Botterill possesses, because the pressure is on him now. If the Sabres miss the playoffs again, he could be out of a job. Now it’s the GM who is on a short leash.

This disaster reflects badly on Botterill, on the Pegulas, on any fans who embraced the tank five years ago and were foolish enough to swallow the notion that losing on purpose for one player could change the fortunes of a franchise. 

Do you know who else it reflects poorly on? Jack Eichel. This makes two head coaches who have failed to win in Buffalo with this young franchise player and generational talent. How long before Eichel gets the reputation as coach killer in the NHL?

Do you think any top coaching candidate would think twice before taking the Sabres job, knowing that Eichel was widely seen as a force behind Bylsma’s dismissal two years ago, and was a presumed leader on a team went totally to pieces in the second half of the season and got Housley shown the door as well?

Fair or not, this is what happens when you’re a superstar, the highest-paid player in Sabres history, a kid the franchise tanked to get. Every circumstance, good or bad, falls at your feet. And when the smoke clears, it’s still about Jack, it’s his legacy at work.

Eichel will always be linked with Connor McDavid, the real prize in the tank. Last week, McDavid talked about his mounting frustration after Edmonton — which at least has made one playoff in his time — missed the postseason for the third time in four years.

There are swirling reports that McDavid wants out of Edmonton. On a podcat, Elliotte Friedman said the Oilers need to realize that “that they have maybe two years to get this right or else there’s going to be a very unpleasant conversation where Connor McDavid says he’s done.”

Is it so far-fetched to imagine if the Sabres might soon be facing a similar issue with Eichel? The McDavid story reminds Buffalo fans that one presumed generational players guarantees nothing; the longer it goes the more pressure there is on everyone involved.

Five years after the tank, the pressure continues to mount for Botterill, for Eichel, for Kim and Terry Pegula. 

If Botterill doesn’t get this one right, he could be the next one out the door.

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THE COLUMN

4/4/19

Way back in 1992, an obscure young college basketball coach from LeMoyne got the head coaching job at Canisius. The Griffs, who were in a 5-year spiral that saw them average 10 wins a season and drop to the bottom of the MAAC, decided to take a chance on a Division II guy.

His name was John Beilein, who was a scion of a legendary Western New York coaching family, the Nilands, but had never been coached at the Division I level, or been an assistant anywhere. 

It turned out to be the best move Canisius ever made. After one losing year, he turned them into the class of the MAAC and delivered the school its first NCAA tourney bid in 40 years.

During that run, I remember telling national writers that one of the best coaches in America was at a little school in Buffalo. John proved it. He left Buffalo and succeeded at every stop. He has taken four different programs to the Big Dance and got Michigan to two national title games. 

Early this week, his son, Patrick, took the head job at Niagara He also arrives after a successful run at DII LeMoyne, where he took a .500 program and went 77-41, tying the record for most wins in a four-year period — his father’s record. He also reached the NCAA tournament in his three final seasons.

And Much like Canisius a quarter century ago, the Purple Eagles have fallen on hard times, coming off a six-year stretch where they averaged 10 wins and became the worst team in the MAAC.

Patrick Beilein is 36, three years younger than his dad was when he took the Canisius job. I’m not saying he’s as good as his father, or that Niagara will be competing for the MAAC title in two years. But he brings a renewed optimism to Niagara, and if he’s anything close to John, good times could be ahead on Monteagle Ridge.

If there are doubters, well, people have underestimated Patrick Beilein before. No one thought he could play at a high Division I level. But he became a very reliable contributor and clutch shooter for his father on a West Virginia that made the Elite 8 and came without an overtime of getting to the Final Four.

For one thing, Patrick understands this town. He’s a Buffalo kid at heart. He spent a chunk of his childhood here. I did a column on him during one of West Virginia’s NCAA runs and all he wanted to do was talk about the Bills and Sabres. When he was hired this. week, he said he was going to the Sabres game and going to bring them a win.

OK, so the guy isn’t a miracle worker. But his heart is in the right place, and he knows how to coach, and with his father’s help, I imagine he has the sort of contacts that can bring solid recruits to Niagara and lift them back to prominence. 

“I promise you one thing: We are going to win at an extremely high level,” Beilein said at his introductory press conference. “We are going to do it the right way. We are going to win championships. As you come to games, you’ll see a team that’s fun to watch, with high IQ. We will not turn the ball over. And we are going to guard. … Our culture will hang a lot of banners going forward.”

John Beilein, who grew up in Burt and coached at Newfane, was in the seventh grade when he attended his first college game at the Gallagher Center.  He called this a “no-brainer” and a “dream come true” for his son. 

Niagara fans are hoping Patrick can be like another coach who took over after a long period of losing and brought the Purple Eagles to their greatest triumphs since the Taps Gallagher era: Joe Mihalich. Mihalich made Niagara a consistent winner and brought them to two NCAA tourneys in three years.

Mihalich got good players, and he got the best out of them. John Beilein is more of a technical coach, one of the best offensive minds in the sport. Both both are supreme motivators and both possessed their own special hoop genius. 

Maybe Patrick Beilein can be a combination of both. Niagara basketball has a proud tradition that goes back to Taps Gallagher, Larry Costello, Hubie Brown, Frank Layden and Calvin Murphy.

Niagara and Canisius are Buffalo’s oldest, fondest hoop rivalry. Now Niagara is reaching into the storied past of its biggest rival — the Niland-Beilein dynasty — to restore it to new heights. 

They could do a lot worse.

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THE COLUMN

4/3/19

Well, the Sabres lost again last night, 3-2 to Nashville at KeyBank Center. Evidently, they didn’t get booed by the home fans. That was the takeaway afterwards on the TV broadcast that always sees the best of any Sabres performance.

That’s the standard now, with two games left in an embarrassment of a season. They played commendably at home in a loss and didn’t get booed off their home ice at the end. 

But look on the bright side. They’re going to get another high draft pick. Yesterday, I saw a story that referred to the “Lose for Hughes” projections, you know, a tongue in cheek update on the teams scrambling to finish near the bottom of the NHL.

Instead of contemplating the first playoff series in eight years, and who they might match up with in the first round, Sabres fans are once again left to ponder their odds of getting the top pick in the drat for the second year in a row. 

The Sabres, who first No. 1 overall in the league on Nov. 27, have 72 points in 80 games. They’re 28th, two points ahead of the Devils, three up on the Kings, with two games left. They could actually finish 30th, though that would mean losing at home to Ottawa — which has sewed up 31st — at home Thursday night.

I wonder, will Buffalo fans cheer for the Senators, root for their team to lose and get a higher draft pick, the way they did four long years ago, jeer when the home team scores a goal on Fan Appreciation Night.  

Why not? Entering Tuesday night’s game, they had an 8.5 percent chance at getting the top pick in the draft lottery — and what was described in an ESPN story as “the next generational American forward, Jack Hughes.”

Generational player? Does that ring a bell? Do fans remember the campaign to tank for one of the first two picks, when they celebrated the runs to last place in 2013-14 and 2014-15, those 52 and 54-point seasons? 

How does it feel now, four years later. Was it all worth it? Was Jack Eichel worth it? Would Connor McDavid have been?

The Sabres are 1-13-2 in their last 16 games and have not won in regulation in 18 games, since their Feb. 23 upset of defending Stanley Cup champion Washington. They haven’t won two games in a row since mid-December, or two in a row in regulation since October. 

How could this have happened? Four years into the Eichel era, the Sabres are once again the worst team in the league. Generational player? Is it starting to hit home that one player rarely makes that great a difference in hockey, that we shouldn’t throw such a term around so loosely? Was Rasmus Dahlin generational?

There’s no way Eichel could have lived up to it. By tanking for him, the Sabres created enormous expectations that he couldn’t possibly reach. It required them to pay him superstar money when he wasn’t worth it, to make him captain when he wasn’t ready, to invest him with leadership qualities that weren’t really there. 

It’s unfair, I guess, but this disaster falls on his shoulders. There was a belief that his disdain for Dan Bylsma led to Bylsma’s firing, which led us to a soft player’s coach in Phil Housley. So while the standard for Eichel is impossibly high, it’s also justified. He and the fans and organization have to live with it. They created it.

But it’s becoming clear that Eichel isn’t close to that standard. He’s a good, often very good, player but far from a great one. Eichel isn’t an elite goal-scorer or playmaker. He’s an average defensive player who has a tendency to float, which has been the case far two often the last two months.

There are 43 NHL players with 30 goals, the most in 13 years. Eichel isn’t one of them. He has 27 goals, the same as Ryan O’Reilly. If he better than O’Reilly, by the way?

As for leadership, Eichel doesn’t strike me as a very inspirational figure. Oh, he goes through the motions — the way he does on the ice at times. But if he’s such a leader, how could his teammates be so fragile, so quick to lose confidence and fall apart in games and yes, in seasons? Are they following him? Where?

Generational player? Go back over recent drafts? None of the last 10 No. 1 overall picks has played in a conference final. Only three have played in a winning Cup series. It’s hard for one player to carry the hopes of a franchise, to live up to the generational tag.

Eichel has fallen far short. In a way, I feel sorry for the guy. And you know who else I feel sorry for? Jack Hughes.

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THE COLUMN

4/2/19

Do you remember the Curious Case of Benjamin Button, a movie from 10 years ago about a man who ages backwards? Well, I think it’s happening to me. I feel like I’m 8 years old again — at least when it comes to baseball.

Yeah, I have no raging issues to address here this morning, no coaches to fire, no suggestions for the Bills in the draft. It’s April, spring, the best time of year. I know it’s the time when some people’s thoughts turn to love, or flowers. Mine turn to baseball, my first sports love.

When I was a boy, it seemed baseball was everyone’s first sport. Everyone played, no matter your skill level. It was a natural rite of passage. Baseball was still the national pastime. Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays and Warren Spahn were still in the big leagues.

I remember putting the season schedule of our town league, “The Sunset League” on the wall next to the calendar when I was 8 … I’ve loved schedules ever since, the logic and order of baseball, how it carries you over a six-month season. 

I remember going to the Sunset League games at Cardines Field in downtown Newport, which was right across the street from the big doors of the main fire station. My father was a fireman. On some nights, I could climb to the top of the first-base stands and see him sitting outside, the fire trucks looming inside. 

Now and then, a foul ball would go rolling into the fire house. When the shaggers — we called them shackers — arrived, Dad might shrug his shoulders and pretend he hadn’t seen the ball go under the fire engines. Then he’d bring it home to me the next day. 

I remember going to my friend Brian’s house for the first time. He was a batboy in the Sunset league and had a collection of bats and balls and gloves. He gave me a couple of bats that day.

I remember joining Little League for the first time, and wearing my uniform for an entire day, how my mother had to tell me to take off my cap at the dinner table. I recall waiting eagerly for those 6 o’clock games and being devastated when there was a rainout 

I miss being 8 or 9 nine years old. I miss going to my kid’s games at Shoshone when I became a dad and he was 8. I miss the parade down Hertel Avenue on opening day; that’s why my oldest daughter, Emily, wanted to play softball. She sat on the porch watching the kids walk by in their uniforms when she was six and wanted to be on a team.

My second daughter, Abby, played tee ball for the Rebels. She thought she played for The Rubbles, you know, like from the Flintstones. I remember my son pitching for the first time, getting the final out in the rain.

I miss the feel of a baseball in my own hand, when you’re on the mound and imitating the action and maybe, in one of those zones where the ball goes right where you intend. I got to pitch games in that old stadium across from the firehouse when I was a teen-ager, by the way. 

It’s Jack, who’s 21 and a senior at UB, who loves baseball the way I now, one of those father and son baseball connections. I think of him as old school, a millennial who loves baseball. We get bummed after the World Series and start counting the days to pitchers and catchers soon after Christmas. He joined my fantasy baseball league for the first time this year and helps with my Strat-o-Matic team. I remember my brother sitting him down for his first Strat game one summer when he was a little boy.

Did I tell you I’m like a kid again? Baseball grounds me, connecting my present to my past. It keeps me young. The first thing I look for every morning is the box scores. The universe seems right again when I can pick up a newspaper — ok, or on the internet — and see the boxes, those pleasing mathematical recreations of 3-hour baseball games the day before.

There’s plenty wrong with the game nowadays — not enough balls put in play, games too long, too many pitching changes, home runs and strikeouts at all-time highs. Critics say it’s too slow and boring and not engaging the younger generation. 

But I still love it, and feel more alive in April. All right, so my Red Sox are off to a brutal start, with the starting pitchers getting lit up like Christmas trees. Well, the first full year I rooted for them they lost 100 games and were last in the AL in ERA. I’m aging in reverse, and baseball has come full circle … 

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THE COLUMN

4/1/19

The three Division I men’s teams with the most victories in the history of college basketball are Kentucky (2,263 wins), Kansas (2,248) and North Carolina (2,232). In NCAA Tournament wins, Kentucky is first all-time, Carolina second and Kansas fourth.

Auburn beat all three of them in its last three games to earn its first-ever trip to the Final Four next weekend. Bruce Pearl’s squad beat Kansas in its second game — after surviving by only one point against New Mexico State in the first round. The Tigers blew out North Carolina by 17 on Friday in the Sweet 16.

Then on Sunday, Auburn beat Kentucky and John Calipari in overtime, 77-71, to win the Midwest regional and a meeting with Virginia , which needed overtime to get past Purdue in the Sweet 16 on Saturday, next Saturday in Minneapolis. 

In the other national semifinal, it’ll be Michigan State, which knocked out Duke on Sunday, against Texas Tech, another team going to its first-ever Final Four after beating Gonzaga — my choice to win it all, by the way — in the West regional final on Saturday. 

There’s no Loyola of Chicago, VCU or George Mason this year, no Cinderella who struck a blow for all the mid-majors and the little guy. But it’s still a satisfying Final Four, with two schools going for the first time ever, Michigan State going after taking down Zion Williamsn and Duke, and only one No. 1 seed surviving — Virginia.

And it’s nice to see Virginia and Tony Bennett finally break through after become the first team ever to lose to a 16th seed a year earlier against Maryland-Baltimore County — and falling behind by 14 to another 16 seed, Gardner-Webb, in their first game this year.

But Auburn is the best story of all. With its most famous alum, Charles Barkley, cheering them on from the TV set, the Tigers have won 12 straight games and eight in the last 18 days, including a four-game run through the SEC Tournament. 

On Sunday, they beat Kentucky, which had smoked them by 27 one month earlier. And they did it without their best player, 6-8 sophomore forward Chuma Okeke, their third-leading scorer and top rebounder and the only real elite recruit on the roster. Okeke tore the ACL in his left knee in the Sweet 16 win over North Carolina, he’s slated to undergo surgery Tuesday in Alabama.

Okeke wasn’t there when Auburn fell behind Kentucky by five at halftime, after a miserable shooting first half. The kid couldn’t bear to be at the game and unable to help his teammates. He told teammate Bruce Brown, “Emotionally, I’m in too much pain to come.” 

So he stayed at the team hotel with family. But watching the Tigers on TV, he decided he wanted to be with them after all. So at the start of the second half in Kansas City, Okeke was wheeled into the arena and behind the Auburn bench, where he cheered his team on to victory. The team allowed Okeke to paste Auburn’s name on the Final Four line in the tournament bracket at center court after the game. Around his neck, he was wearing a net that his teammates had cut down from one of the baskets. 

There are always great stories in an NCAA tourney, and Auburn is someone to root for. Pearl went there in 2014 after getting in trouble for NCAA violations at Tennessee. Auburn had gone a decade without reaching the NCAAs when Pearl got there and the program was an afterthought at a football school in the SEC.

So Auburn is a reminder of the corruption that exist in the sport. College basketball is currently involved in a recruiting scandal that’s still unfolding and involved such powers as Arizona and Oregon, an investigation that transcends basketball and has engaged the authorities at the Southern District of New York and even Stormy Daniels’ attorney, Michael Avenati. 

But the NCAA tourney is still a wonderful event; at its best, it remains a great sporting event that captures the imagination of sports fans and gives us some of our most indelible athletic memories. UB gave us a season to remember, winning a record 32 games under Nate Oats, who left to chase the big money.

I’ll be rooting for Auburn and Texas Tech, two teams in their first Final Four, to win next Saturday and reach the title game. Either one winning would be a terrific story. And if it’s Texas Tech, we can always say that UB lost to the team that won the whole thing.

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THE COLUMN

3/29/19

Remember in November, when the Bills were struggling, had the worst offense in team history and Josh Allen was hurt? At the time, Buffalo fans were taking solace in the fact, well, at least we have the Sabres.

Seems to be the case a lot over recent years. When it got really grim for the hockey team, it seemed the football team was about to turn the corner. Or when optimism about the Bills proved to be inflated, the Sabres showed signs of coming around — or at least triumphantly tanking for the first or second pick in the draft.

Just think, if not for a miracle pass by Andy Dalton in the final seconds of the 2017 regular NFL season, we’d be on the verge of having the two teams with the longest playoff droughts in both the NFL and the NHL.

In case you missed it, the Sabres lost again last night, losing at home in overtime to the Red Wings. At least they got a point. They’re now 14-38 in their last 52 games and haven’t won two straight games since December. The last time they won two straight in regulation was in October.

Well, at least we have the Bills. People think I’m relentlessly negative, but like most people, I’m actually encouraged by what’s going on down at One Bills Drive. I’m not ready to put them in the Super Bowl, or even the playoffs, but the football team appears — and we’ll take appears — to be headed in the right direction.

Brandon Beane has cleaned out most of the salary cap burdens he inherited from the previous regime. It was painful, but necessary. Going back to Feb. 12, Beane has made 17 transactions to reshape a roster that was sadly ill-equipped to build on that fluke playoff run of two seasons ago.

He’s done a nice job of refurbishing his offensive line, getting a solid veteran center in Mitch Morse, the prize in free agency. He added flexible parts to his O line in Ty Nsekhe and Jon Feliciano, LaAdrian Waddle and Spencer Long.  He added a promising tight end in Tyler Kroft and another in Jake Fisher.

Beane bolstered a sorry receiving corps with Cole Beasley and John Brown. He brought in veteran Frank Gore to back up LeSean McCoy. He reacquired cornerback E.J. Gaines. He grabbed a couple of special teamers in Maurice Alexander and Senorise Perry.

The thing is, he didn’t just open the vault and throw money at people. Beane was judicious with his deals, giving the Bills lots of flexibility in coming years and the option of moving on from some of these guys. 

As Mike Rodak pointed out on ESPN.com, the Bills spent $77.25 million in guaranteed money on 11 signings in the first week of free agency. The Jets spent $103 million in guarantees to three guys –  ($35 million), linebacker C.J. Mosley ($51 million) and wide receiver Jamison Crowder ($17 million). 

Morse got 4 years, $44 million, but only $20 million is guaranteed. Only the first year of Brown’s deal is guaranteed — and I have reservations about him as a No. 1 wideout. The same goes for Beasley. Beane recognizes he need to show immediate improvement in Year 3, but he knows that ultimately you build an NFL contender through the draft, by nailing draft picks that become value pieces to supplement free agency.

It’s fair to expect this team to win nine or more games next year. But I think that in his heart of hearts, Beane thinks his team needs another draft to be truly ready. He and Sean McDermott wish fans would think of this as a four or five-year plan.

Beane is being careful, I imagine, to make sure he has the resources when it comes time to re-sign his own draftees who become stars in the league. That’s how any wise GM hopes to spend the big bucks, on guys they identified and developed.

They have promising core of kids in Josh Allen, Tremaine Edmunds, Tre’Davious White and Matt Milano. But there’s very little left from the drafts from before Beane and McDermott got here. They have 10 picks in the next draft and that’ll be critical in the continued attempt to rebuild the Bills into a real contender.

It still comes down to Allen’s development. If he doesn’t develop, Beane won’t be remembered for all the smart little tweaks he made to the roster, but missing on the most vital position of all.

But he has a plan, and that gives Buffalo fans legitimate hope. And at least they’re not the Sabres.

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THE COLUMN

3/28/19

THE COLUMN

3/26/19

Well, the Sabres lost again last night, 3-1 at the Devils. Silly me, I got my hopes up and was thinking they might win back-to-back games for the first time since mid-December. After all, the Devils are last in the Metropolitan and tonight’s foe, Ottawa, is last in the Atlantic Division. 

That’s what we’ve come to — where winning two games in a row against two of the worst teams in the NHL is seen as some kind of achievement. 

Watching that hockey game, I really began to miss UB basketball. After the loss at UConn on Sunday, Cierra Dillard was defiant, proud to have given UConn a scare but not content to have given the sport’s greatest program its toughest second round game in 20 years. The UB women EXPECTED to win

It was the same for the UB men. That’s what was so hard to take on Sunday night — the fact that we’d expected them to make the Sweet 16, to take the next step, or at least to put on a show that made WNY proud.

But in retrospect, the UB teams achieved something very rare in Buffalo sports nowadays. They raised the standard. They made winning an expectation, not a distant hope. Two years in a row, both teams didn’t just get to the NCAAs, they won a game.

UB basketball has become the competitive standard in a football and hockey town, where for far too long people have settled for second-rate, where long-suffering fans have come to see simply competing for the postseason an achievement, where getting there is the goal.

The Sabres were eliminated over the weekend. Carolina is now 20 points ahead of Buffalo — without Jeff Skinner — and will probably make the playoffs for the first time in 10 years. That means the Sabres will have the longest NHL drought at 8 years.

Just think, if not for a miracle Andy Dalton pass at the end of the 2017 NFL season, Buffalo’s two pros franchises would have the longest playoff drought in their respective sports.

Thank heavens for UB, which reminded us that if you get the right coaches and raise your sights, and don’t accept mediocrity, you can rise faster than you even imagined. Winning can become commonplace. Your little town can become a destination, rather than a joke. 

The Pegulas should pay attention, maybe go over to Amherst and take notes, meet some of the key people. They own the two major pro sports teams in town. But the two most successful franchises are the UB men’s and women’s basketball … actually three, if you consider the football team.

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THE COLUMN

3/25/19

Over the years, Bills fans learned to despise Rob Gronkowski. The big reason, of course, was that Gronk didn’t play for them, that the best football players Buffalo ever produced wound up with the team that tormented Western New Yorkers for two decades.

But Buffalo people couldn’t deny that when healthy, Ground was the best tight end who ever lived, a rare combination of size, speed, agility and competitive toughness. Gronk was the perfect weapon for Tom Brady and the Pats. You never knew if they were going to come out with a relentless running game or tear you to shreds with a precise, persistent passing attack.

Either way, Gronk was right in the middle of it. He was a tight end who could dominate as a blocker or kill you by stretching the field like few guys who ever played the position. He had amazing hands and he always seemed to make the crucial catch at the big moment — whether it was against the Bills in an early-season game at the Ralph or in a Super Bowl in a heroic comeback.

Gronk retired yesterday at 29 — too soon, though it was time — with a pile of NFL records. It’s a long list, which includes most catches by a tight end in Super Bowl history (23), only tight end with 1,000 yards receiving in postseason history, most touchdowns by a tight end in a single season (18, 2011) and most seasons with 10 or more touchdowns by a tight end (five).

Imagine if he hadn’t been hurt so often. My favorite stat is TDs per game. Gronk is tied for 28th all-time with 79 touchdowns. He played 115 games in the regular season. That’s .687 a game. Jerry Rice, the all-time leader, averaged .650. Antonio Gates, the career leader for TEs, .491. Tony Gonzalez, who’s right behind Gates, had .411 TD average. You get the picture.

Gronk was no angel. He was a goofball and a party boy off the field. He took that terrible shot at Tre Davious White here a couple of years and ago and when he came back from a concussion before the Super Bowl that year, wouldn’t admit any empathy for White in retrospect. 

But there was no real scandal, no drug arrests, no mistreatment of women, no driving 120 miles and hour. He was an endearing knucklehead, a guy who made you laugh and knew how to play the clown for the cameras. Remember “Yo Soy Fiesta” on Super Bowl Day? I love to party. 

He was our knucklehead, though, and if he played for the Bills we would have seen him as the perfect Buffalo guy. I think what bothered Buffalo fans the most was what could have been — if instead of taking Torell Troup with the 41st pick of the 2010 draft, they’d pick the kid from Amherst. He went to the Pats at 42.

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THE COLUMN

3/22/19

Anyway,  it’s the first day of new show, but here’s hoping it’s not last day of a remarkable UB basketball season. The men and women finally get to play in the NCAA Tournament this afternoon, Nate Oats’s team against Bobby Hurley’s Arizona State squad in Tulsa at 4 and then Felisha Legette’s Jack’s women take on Rutgers in Storrs, Conn half an hour later.

I’ve railed about that fact that both our teams would be forced to play at roughly the same time, making it difficult for Bulls fans and administrators to fully appreciate both. But I suppose in the end we have to celebrate the fact that they’re playing at all. 

This makes three times in four years that the UB men and women have both made it to the Big Dance. Last year, along with St. Bonaventure, they gave us the most memorable week of local hoops since Bob Lanier and Calvin Murphy nearly half a century ago. The Bona men won a play-in game, the UB men stunned Arizona as a 13 seed, the UB women went to the Sweet 16.

I remember the days when getting any team in the NCAA Tournament was a triumph. I came to Buffalo 30 years ago as a national NBA writer from the Big Apple, and soon realized I had landed on the college basketball beat in what could well have been the worst basketball town of its size in the nation. 

I waited seven years to get a team in. I can still remember the 1996 Canisius team, breaking a 39-year drought. Then it was Niagara going twice in three years. Bona had a great run in 2000. But this recent UB run with Oats and Jack feels like a hoop lover’s reward for all those years of waiting for Buffalo to be truly relevant again in hoops, like those Little 3 days I hear so often about.

So enjoy the day, folks. Treasure it, because you never know how long it’ll last. We can’t take the NCAA tourney for granted, like they do in place like North Carolina and Kentucky — or like Bills fans did back in the Super Bowl era. 

Maybe UB will sustain it and become a little hoop dynasty, like Gonzaga in men’s hoops and UConn in the women (and can you believe UB will play Upon in the second game if they win). I have to admit, I never thought Oats and Legette-Jack would both be here after last year’s runs. I figured some bigger place would steal them away from us. 

But Nate and Felisha say they want to stay in Buffalo, that they love it and want to build a mid-major empire. They really seem to believe it, and I want to believe it. Imagine that, after 30 years, working in a real, honest-to-goodness, basketball town!

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THE COLUMN

3/21/19

Well, the NCAA Tournament began last night. Two games. The First Four, as they now call it, because the phrase “play-in” seemed unfair to the teams that landed on those lines, as if they weren’t really in the field. 

But it’s still a 64-team tournament to me, and to a lot of people who will fill out their brackets today. Thursday and Friday are the best two days in sports, the 32 games that take out half the field and give us our best chance at those wonderful upsets, the little guy rising up to slay the giant — Princeton over UCLA and Valpo over Mississippi and Lehigh over Duke and Maryland-Baltimore County over Virginia and yes,  Buffalo over Arizona.

For many of us, it’s the buildup that’s the real fun, though, filling out the office pools, trying to design the perfect bracket, trying to find the right upsets and the predictable favorites. Is there anything quite like an NCAA bracket. That wonderful rectangle, eight by eight … leading to the four names in the middle … 64 is the perfect number, isn’t it … four times four times four … every spot on the paper a tiny little piece of destiny 

I’ve been making prediction in public for 30 years. I’ve had some high moments — like picking Loyola to make the Final Four — and a lot of embarrassing gaffes, like picking Houston in 1990 and seeing them eliminated in the first game of the day, before the afternoon paper had even arrived on most readers’ doorsteps with my fateful Final Four prediction waiting inside.

I love this tournament, despite all its flaws and commercialism and bias against the little schools in conferences that have to grovel for crumbs. Covering the Big Dance gave me some of my fondest memories — I was there when Christian Laettner hit the shot against Kentucky, when he led Duke over UNLV in the Final Four, when John Belein won as a 14 seed at Richmond, when that kid David Messiah Capers hit 3 free throws with no time left for St. Bonaventure to force a second OT against Kentucky, when UB stunned the world with a first-round blowout against an Arizona team that had the No. 1 pick in the draft.

It’s fun. Keep that in mind when you fill out your brackets. For me, the fun was seeing a huge upset under every rock, believing that any little school could do the impossible. After all, they shoot the 3 well! They have a good turnover ratio! They played tough against a major power in Maui back in November! They’re good at the line. Never mind that the school from the power conference has much better athletes, guys who will go to the NBA.

But what fun is it to pick the favorites? Anyone can pencil through all the No. 1s and 2s to the Sweet 16. You miss all the fun that way. You also miss some great upsets. Did you know that in each of the last five years, half the No. 2 seeds didn’t reach the Sweet 16? Did you forget what happened to Virginia last year? Remember some unknown school called Florida Gulf Coast reaching the Sweet 16 as a 15 seed a few years ago?

Go find this year’s Gulf Coast. I dare you. Reach for the stars. Ask the prettiest girl in school out on a date. Apply to the Ivy League school. Throw a hundred on that skittish horse running for the first time. Believe in miracles. 

Enjoy the tournament, folks. I know I am.