Bills After-Action Report: 2011 - Game 16

Two years in a row (and counting) of losing at least 7 consecutive games in a season, 12 years (and counting) of missing the playoffs, and 16 years (and counting) without a playoff win certainly dampens my enthusiasm for Buffalo Bills football. The team has been so bad for so long that I can't even look down on Cleveland and Cincinnati fans any more. That the team jumped out to a 5-2 record again (like in 2008) before collapsing in the second half of the season makes it feel like Buffalo has explored all of the possible ways to lose so now the team is in re-runs.

Really, the game today felt like a microcosm of the whole Bills season. They started strong, Ryan Fitzpatrick looked like a top 10 quarterback, the defence was holding its own, and even our long-time archrivals the New England Patriots were beatable. Then, after about a quarter of the game/season, everything fell apart: Fitzpatrick started throwing picks at a league-leading rate, the defence couldn't stop anything, our poor-pedigree receivers couldn't get separation, and we fell back into fourth-place in the AFC East.

Remember when this was only 90% ironic?

Another sore point for me is that the Dolphins are somehow picking ahead of the Bills in the first round of the 2012 NFL Draft despite both teams having the same 6-10 record. (I actually do understand why this is the case -- weaker strength of schedule for Miami -- but it still bothers me since I take almost as much joy in the Dolphins losing as I do in the Bills winning.) Adding insult to injury, the Bills are stuck below the Dolphins in the standings on the NFL website because the Dolphins won both games against the Bills and so have the first tie-breaker. Those South Florida wankers are eating their cake AND still keeping much better beach bodies than those of us in colder climes.

For me, the only real redeeming part of football today was the Jets blowing their chance at the playoffs thanks to terrible play by Mark Sanchez. My schadenfreude reached its pinnacle after Sanchez threw his third interception, the Dolphins ran the ball back 30+ yards virtually sealing the game for the Dolphins, and Dan Dierdorf exclaimed, "What a great tackle by Sanchez!" The incongruity of that statement with the significant aspect of what had just transpired made me, literally, laugh out loud. And it wasn't even a great tackle.