KICKING OFF WITH THOUGHTS ON THE FIRST-PLACE BILLS
Some things to like about Sunday’s 23-17 Buffalo Bills victory in Atlanta:
It was a “really big game” because the Bills beat an excellent team in an awesome venue.
I don’t know where the victory over Atlanta ranks as the team’s “greatest road win of the century”, but is sure beats any road playoff victory this century.
The Bills finally got the benefit of a really controversial big zebra call in a really big game. That hasn’t happened very often in the past 17 years.
The Falcons – not the Bills – played the second half without their two top receivers due to injuries. That negated one of Atlanta’s biggest advantages. Tough luck. That’s football.
Oft-maligned Bills QB Tyrod Taylor outplayed 2017 NFL MVP Matt Ryan. He’s 18-15 now as Buffalo’s QB. He might not be the future “franchise quarterback,” but I continue to argue that he is the perfect QB for this team at this time.”
My favorite Bills stat right now: The Bills are +6 in turnovers (7 takeaways and only 1 giveaway). Give Taylor much of the credit for that. He doesn’t take risks but he takes care of the football. The last thing the team’s defense needs is to give opponents a short field with a giveaway.
The Bills have to continue to play stellar defense because the offense has been mostly ineffective: 29th in total offense; 31st in pass offense; 16th in rushing offense and averaging only 3.4 yards per carry.
One-quarter through this NFL season, the Bills are alone on top of the AFC East: Buffalo 3-1...New England 2-2 (with a really lousy defense)...New York Jets 2-2...Miami 1-2. Did you think this would be possible?
If the Bills and Jets had any designs on tanking, they’re doing a bad job of it with a combined 5-3 record.
Depth remains a concern but it hadn’t been a problem. It is now. Slot receiver Jordan Matthews is out for at least one month with a thumb injury suffered Sunday. Now the Bills will be forced to address the thinnest position on the roster. It was a major concern before Matthews went down. Now it is a potential crisis.
I hate to risk jinxing the Bills, but I can’t think of a QB I’d rather want Buffalo to be facing on the road this Sunday than Cincinnati’s Andy Dalton. He is not exactly a big-game player.
I wonder what Rex Ryan is thinking about Buffalo’s amazing defensive turnaround – with a new scheme and so many new players. The longer the Bills play this way on defense (first in scoring defense at 13.5 points allowed per game; 10th in total defense; 7 takeaways), the less likely Rex will be a NFL head coach again.
Wasn’t it great to see Sean McDermott greet his players and staffers with handshake and hugs as they approached the dressing room after the game. It appeared to be a genuine exchange of respect and comraderie. This team appears to have exceptional chemistry and the head coach is the main reason.
Those fans who were so upset by the protests during the national anthem that they vowed to tune out the Bills even on TV or radio – I suppose they’re really angry now.
THE BILLS ARE NO. 4 IN MY RANKINGS
It will be interesting to see how Buffalo fares in the assorted NFL Week 5 Rankings. A 3-1 record and consecutive wins over Denver and Atlanta is tough to ignore. The Bills are one near-miss pass/catch from being 4-0.
Entering Monday Night Football’s Washington at Kansas City (amazingly, the only remaining undefeated NFL team at 3-0), here is my Top 10: 1-Kansas City...2-Green Bay...3-Pittsburgh...4-BILLS...5-Atlanta...6-Denver...7-Carolina...8-Los Angeles Rams...9-Philadelphia...10-Detroit.
P.S.: I am not trying to make up for my 30-7 Atlanta and 4-12 predictions. I’m not sold on the playoffs yet but I’m on the bandwagon for now and hoping the Bills can flatten Andy Dalton and his Bengals Sunday in Cincinnati.
LAS VEGAS NOT SOLD ON THE BILLS...3-POINT UNDERDOGS AT CINCINNATI
The Buffalo Bills are 3-1 and the Cincinnati Bengals are 1-3. So why is Cincinnati an early 3-point favorite in Las Vegas to beat the visiting Bills on Sunday?
The home-field advantage is supposed to be 3 points in the NFL (higher in college football). That’s the only reason I can think of.
Here are the early odds for NFL Week 5: Thursday, New England at Tampa Bay (+5 ½)...Sunday, Buffalo at Cincinnati (-3)...Los Angeles Chargers at New York Giants (-4; one of these 0-4 teams has to win)...New York Jets at Cleveland (-2 ½)...Jacksonville at Pittsburgh (-9)...Tennessee at Miami (+3)...San Francisco at Indianapolis (-2)...Arizona at Philadelphia (-6 ½)...Carolina at Detroit (-3)...Seattle at Los Angeles Rams (-2 ½)...Baltimore at Oakland (no line; QB Derek Carr injury?)...Green Bay at Dallas (-2 ½)...Kansas City at Houston (+1 ½)...Monday Night Football, Minnesota at Chicago (+3).
HOW ABOUT A BETTER START FOR SU VS. PITT PANTHERS?
The Syracuse U. football team has lost two straight road games to superior opponents (to LSU 35-26 and to North Carolina State 33-25) in similar fashion: fall behind early and then rely on a talented passing attack to make the final score respectable (and pad some team and individual stats).
That script figures to change this Saturday at the Carrier Dome against the Pitt Panthers.
The Panthers are coming off a 42-10 home win over the not-so-hot Rice Crispies. After a 28-21 OT home win over Youngstown State, Pitt lost three straight games to Penn State, Oklahoma State and Georgia Tech by a combined 127-52.
The Orange haved amassed some impressive passing stats during their 2-3 start:
15th among the 129 PBS major-college teams in pass offense (317.7 yards per game)...QB Eric Dungey ranks 12th in yards passing (1,437)...Steve Ishmael is second in yards receiving (632) and first in receptions per game (10.2)...Erv Philips is third in receptions per game (8.8). He set SU and ACC single-game records with 17 catches in Saturday’s loss at North Carolina State.
The home game against Pitt will be SU’s (2-3 record) last best chance to reach .500 this season. The following three games will be home vs. second-ranked Clemson Oct. 13, at Miami Oct. 21 and at Florida State Nov. 4.
RHINOS ARE A GOOD TEAM BUT CAN ANYONE SHOOT STRAIGHT?
The Rochester Rhinos are a good team by United Soccer League standards.
They played the Eastern Conference-leading Louisville City FC to a draw Saturday night at Capelli Sport Stadium. A decent outcome? Yes. A scintillating sporting event? Maybe not.
The Rhinos had zero shots on goal. Louisville City FC had one shot on goal.
The week before, in a 1-0 Rochester loss at the Richmond Kickers, each team had one shot on goal.
The Rhinos have outscored opponents 31 to 27 in 29 games this USL season. They’ve scored zero or one goal in 23 of their 29 games. That doesn’t mean they’re a bad team. They’re an excellent defensive team. They’ve allowed the second-fewest goals in the 30-team league. The players are paid to win or sometimes tie games. They’ve done that far more often than not. But it isn’t exactly exciting soccer for many casual sports fans – particularly during American football season.
The Rhinos have three games left in the regular season: at the Pittsburgh Riverhounds, Saturday...home against Bethlehem Steel FC, Wednesday, Oct. 10...home against the New York Red Bulls II, Saturday Oct. 14. The on to the playoffs, where the hard-nosed, defense-first Rhinosd figure to be a tough out.
REMEMBER WHEN HORSE RACING WAS A BIG DEAL AT FINGER LAKES?
The $200,000-plus Breeders’ Futurity was run Saturday at Finger Lakes Race Track. Honest.
This race for two-year-olds foaled in New York State was for decades a much-anticipated highlight of the live thoroughbred season. That was when the horses – not the slot machines – drew the big crowds and provided the excitement.
The fat purse attracted a classy field of six starters, most of them from power stables on the NYRA circuit. The winner was Analyze The Odds, ridden by Christopher Decarlo and trained by Todd Pletcher.
It was an exciting race and I’m glad I got to watch it at Batavia Downs OTB. I didn’t even know it was being run and I don’t suppose many former racing fans in the area did either. If there was any advertising, I missed it. I would’ve plugged the race for free if someone had taken the time to notify me that it was happening.
This race used to be so important that the media did previews of the race and there was coverage by real live reporters. I was among them for many of those years and I miss those days. Do some of you? I’m afraid they’re not coming back.
SHORT SHOTS
Here are the season-ending run differentials for the 10 teams in the 2017 MLB tournament: Cleveland +254...Yankees +198...Houston +196...Dodgers +190...Arizona +153...Washington +147...Cubs +127...Boston +117...Colorado +67...Minnesota +2.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...
Monday, October 3
Courtney Lee (32)...Gary Neal (33)...Zlatan Ibrahimovic (36)...Anquan Boldin (37)...Fred Couples (58)...Dennis Eckersley (63)...Bruce Arians (65)...Dave Winfield (66)...Jean Ratelle (77). Neve Campbell (44), Gwen Stafani (47), Clive Owen, Tommy Lee (55) and Chubby Checker (76) are invited to the birthday party.
Tuesday, October 4
Jabrill Peppers (22)...Derrick Rose (29)...Lonnie Chisenhall (29)...Kurt Suzuki (34)...Jered Weaver (35)...Sarah Fisher (37)...Kyle Lohse (39)...Kurt Thomas (45)...Brian Kozlowski (47)...A.C. Green (54)...Mike Adamle (58)...LPGA player Sherri Turner (61)...Tony La Russa (73)...Sam Huff (83). Christopher Waltz (61) and Susan Sarandon (71) are invited to the birthday party.