View From Buffalo on the Bills

Sometimes the most enjoyable movie reviews are when critics skewer flops. It can be the same with sportswriting. In the last few years, The Fifth Down has chronicled some of the Bills’ black days by highlighting excerpts from columns by Jerry Sullivan of The Buffalo News:

Sept. 15, 2009, on a big Patriots comeback in the Bills’ opener: This is becoming an annual rite, but I have to ask the question again, the same one I asked after the Dallas game two years ago, and the Cleveland game a year ago. How much more of this can a Bills fan take?

Jan. 19, 2010, on the Bills’ hiring of a coach: Really? Chan Gailey. It’s an uninspiring pick, and if my math is correct, about their eighth choice.

Oct. 4, 2010: OK, it’s only the quarter pole, but the Bills look like donkeys running with thoroughbreds.

Nov. 29, 2010, on Stevie Johnson’s reaction to a botched catch against the Steelers: Wow. I suspect the Creator has bigger concerns than a rising NFL star dropping a pass that costs his team a game.

So it’s only fair that we sample a Sullivan column after one of the biggest Bills victories in recent memory:

It was the first time the Patriots had ever lost a game after leading by 21 points in the Tom Brady era. It was the first time since 1950 — which is as far back as the NFL’s records go — that any team came from at least 18 points behind to win in successive games.

Oh, and the New England streak finally ended. Wave goodbye. Say so long to the Losman safety, the Bledsoe bootleg, the McKelvin fumble, the Holcomb sack, the bookend 31-0 loss, Dick Jauron fumbling with the challenge flag. All of it. Gone. Say it loud: One-game winning streak against the Pats.

Peter King wrote in his Monday Morning QB on SI.com:

I can remember only two Buffalo crowds as giddy and loud as Sunday’s — though I’m sure I’m missing some. The 2007 Monday night crazyfest with Dallas, won 25-24 by the Cowboys, is one, and the comeback from a 32-point deficit in the 1993 playoff game against Houston the other.

Extra point A great story, but is anyone willing to throw cold water on a hot team? When the season ends, will the Bills really be in the playoffs?