“There will always be an England”
A funny thing happened on the way to the playoffs.
Injuries and penalties aside, the planets were aligning for the Bills this week. Beat Jacksonville, take a week off to mend, beat the Fish at home…and the next thing you know, you’re 5-3 at the midpoint of the season. Not bad.
But instead…well, instead, I’m writing this column at just a little after 1 pm on Sunday, so I can wash my hands of this debacle and forget about it.
And, Lord, there’s so much to forget about. Turnovers. Ill-timed penalties. Inopportune moments of poor execution on both sides of the ball. Shoddy Yahoo! live-streaming in the first half (at least on my TV – I have a bad cold and decided not to subject the McFadden’s loyalists to my sick germs).
But, mainly…E.J. I firmly believe wins and losses are on entire teams…but, this one’s on E.J. And it’s potentially on management’s decision to trade Matt Cassel.
I don’t see any way around that. Yes, all of the above happened…and yes, I questioned some of the play-calling for E.J…. …and, absolutely, I questioned the late interference call on Robey that effectively decided the outcome.
But, it didn’t have to come to that. No wins are easy, but this was a game that the Bills could have, should have, and needed to win. Hell, they almost won in spite of themselves.
When the defense came up big on the goal line stand, and then threw in a pick six, the makings were there for a comeback for the ages. Not “The Comeback,” but pretty damn impressive.
But then it fell apart. Again.
There will always be an England…meaning that the mistakes and missteps and miscues we saw in London don’t appear any closer to going away – and won’t go away without serious rethinking of how the team executes. It’s a cliché but true: the coaching staff has two weeks to turn this around, and to figure out a way to beat Miami.
The more encouraging news? There’ll always be an NYCBBB to soften the losses and celebrate the victories. See you in two weeks! And, meanwhile, staying with the English theme, here’s hoping we can all embrace these words of wisdom from Monty Python:
Some things in life are bad
They can really make you mad
Other things just make you swear and curse
When you’re chewing on life’s gristle
Don’t grumble, give a whistle
And this’ll help things turn out for the best…
And…
…always look on the bright side of life…