Posted: November 17th, 2017

There’s something I have to get off my chest. This drought of 17 years has a stink over Buffalo that you can smell from the Atlantic to the Pacific. It’s something we can’t seem to shake, and a way of life at this point as a Buffalo sports fan. It’s made us lower our standard of what we should expect from the Bills. Many from the national media, and even fans of other teams, will tell you that Buffalo should be happy with good enough, run of the mill or average. Quite frankly, I’m absolutely sick of it.

On my ride home from work yesterday, I had the WGR550 app fired up, excited to hear what ESPN’s John Clayton would think about the move to bench Tyrod Taylor. I assumed he would defend Tyrod, which he did, but there was much more to it than that. His reaction made me believe two things; that he hasn’t spent much time watching the Bills outside of the odd prime time game and that he thinks that we should feel complacent with the mediocre product we’ve grown used to. What really struck a nerve was what his concept of what us as Buffalo fans should be happy with come playoff time.

“In the big picture, is it that big of a deal in any city to be able to make the second wild card, lose by two touchdowns in the first playoff game? In Buffalo it’s huge.” said Clayton,  “It’s fantastic, a great opportunity.”

Photo credit: LA Times and thecomeback.net

I can’t express how much is wrong with that mentality. It’s essentially saying shoot for being a manager at McDonald’s, and if you don’t make it, you are who you are. It’s setting your goal for a car as a used 2007 Kia.

We as Buffalo fans deserve to dream big, and not settling for an average to below average quarterback in Tyrod Taylor is doing just that. We deserve to fantasize about long playoff runs, AFC Championships and dare I say, Lombardi Trophies. Taylor has proven that unless you have an elite team around him, you can’t even entertain the idea.

Tyrod Taylor is nothing more than a quarterback that more than likely won’t hurt your chances of winning, and on rare occasions will carry the team. When I mean rare, those happenings are few and far between. He’s not someone you should sacrifice your future over, and I applaud the Bills for realizing that. Even if they are moving to Peterman because they believe he can help them win now, what are we really losing in Tyrod Taylor? He is at best the 18th most talented quarterback in the league, who will take up over a tenth of the salary cap next year.

This is a quarterback driven league. Look at the list of AFC championship winning quarterbacks from 2003 and on. There’s been 4 in 14 years. It’s obvious what you need to win in this league. An elite quarterback. If you don’t have it you’re stuck in purgatory, and that was the road we were on with Taylor.

Back to the main message of the article. Bills fans, don’t let the search for the playoffs blind you from the bigger picture. We don’t want a one and done team, we want to sustain greatness. Aiming for the playoffs this year shouldn’t necessarily be the main goal, setting yourself up for years of playoff runs should be. Pulling Taylor, whether it was because they believe that Nathan Peterman gives them a better shot at winning now or that they want to move on from him in the future, was the correct move.  It allows us Buffalo fans to dream big once again, even if the national level doesn’t believe we should.

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Posted: August 6th 2017

Edited: August 7th 2017

This has been an interesting year for the Buffalo Bills in regards to, well, how tame everything has been. Gone is the boastful, boisterous, promise filled Rex Ryan. You can practically still see the tracks left by the tandem bicycle riding Ryan brothers on Saint John Fisher campus.

Luckily those tracks are getting overgrown and unnoticeable. The Bills new head coach Sean McDermott is leading in a way that the blue-collar town of Buffalo seems to love. Even skeptical 27 year old me, who hasn’t seen the playoffs since he was 10 years old, is buying in.

The vibe seems different. Players appear laid back, but ready to work. There’s no overhanging cloud of doubt about if the Bills will have the same coach and general manager at the end of the season. There’s no screaming and shouting matches between players and coaches like what happened with the Doug Marrone led 2014 Bills.  On top of that, there hasn’t been the yearly, soul crushing dumb suspension. Sure, Adolphus Washington had a run in with the police, but he seems like an afterthought on this team.

Today on the sidelines, all of this was pretty obvious. Being at camp shed some light on what is going right with the team from an organizational standpoint. On-field performance wise, there are still some question marks. Yet there is an overall feeling of improvement with coaching, management and player attitude that seems discernible.

• Camp Takeaway 1: Injuries still playing a role

While overall camp has seemed positive, the doubt of Sammy Watkins and Cordy Glenn’s health lingers like their injuries. At one point today, Sammy walked off the field with two trainers after his leg seemed to twist his leg wrong at the end of a route. It’s a touchy subject for Sammy, who hasn’t seemed to like fielding any questions about his foot or health. Watkins says he’s at 100%, and from the looks of it, todays minor injury has nothing to do with this foot. But Bills fans know that his past is checkered when it comes to health, and hopefully today is just a bump in the road.

Photo credit: http://www.BuffaloBills.com

Cordy Glenn returned to practice today, and didn’t seem to miss a beat. He was playing with the first team offense, and was active in one-on-one sessions. Coach McDermott said prior to practice that Glenn would be day-to-day, so it was at least a little surprising to see him out there with little limitations. Overall, today was a positive sign for the 6th year tackle.

• Camp Takeaway 2: Is the offense bad, or the defense good?

Well at least the vibe is exceptional right? Like I said before, while things look great from a feeling standpoint with the organiztion, some on the field work must be improved on.  Even with the lineup of a solid Andre Holmes and 1st round pick Sammy Watkins on the outside,  a highly paid Charles Clay in a wing /slot role, and camp-star Zay Jones playing largely the slot, the offense seemed to struggle.

At one point, newly added Bills safety Jordan Poyer picked off a poorly thrown Tyrod Taylor pass. Shady McCoy was the bright spot per usual, but outside of some electric runs by him and a few nice catches by Jones and Watkins, the offense seemed flat. Second and third team wideouts had struggles holding on to the ball, and the offensive line let the sack happy Bills defense have their way a few times.

This begs the most common question in training camp: Was it just that one side of the ball was playing well, or should I be worried? To answer that question, I have a lot of faith in the rushing attack. Even though we are moving away from the Roman system which made Buffalo one of the best run games in the NFL the past 2 years, the offensive line is still full of grinders and Shady is one of the best backs in the NFL.

Passing wise, it all comes down to Tyrod Taylor. Sean McDermott preached today how consistent Taylor has been all camp in his afternoon press conference. He stated that Tyrod has learned the system quickly, and has been rock solid throughout camp. If there is one thing I’m not worried about with Tyrod Taylor, it’s consistency and knowledge of the playbook. Bills fans are hoping that he’s consistently great this year, not just consistent.

Photo credit: http://www.BuffaloBills.com

• Camp Takeaway 3: The owners truly care

You can’t miss him. Blue Bills bucket hat. Buffalo Bills polo and shorts. Heck, I even think Terry Pegula had Bills sneakers on. Kim Pegula was also on the sideline, watching every move like a hawk after returning from a hiatus after being away on a trip.

Photo Credit: http://www.wkbw.com

It’s comforting have owners that are so involved, and it appears they’re learning the ways of the NFL. I think it reflects in their moves from the past year. Going from a brash guy like Rex, to a controlled Sean McDermott. Bringing in Brandon Beane to replace Doug Whaley, who never seemed to know how to handle himself on the podium. It all just feels right. They are a business couple that have turned sports, and they’re obviously all in when it comes to the success of the Bills. Now mind you, the NFL is a business, but luckily that seems to be what the Pegula’s know best. Hopefully that attention to detail in the business world can translate into turning the Buffalo Bills into East Resources of football.

My personal favorite moment on the Monarchy. Richard at the time was dating a girl he met online.  So to poke fun at him in a Manti type fashion with help from some great people, I made a fake documentary on the situation. Enjoy! Don’t forget to tune into the Monarchy tomorrow at 10am! You can listen online at http://www.wbny.org