Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) - The 12th man is a source of pride in football. It’s a way of recognizing the fans for their contributions during games. In Buffalo, the Bills recognized that by inducting the “12th Man” onto their Wall of Fame.
Last night will bring about an entirely new interpretation of 12th man for Bills fans.
Have you seen the image of Josh Allen holding his hands to his face in utter disbelief? That was all of us in that moment, and quite literally me.
When the TV showed Allen like that, I felt like I was looking in the mirror.
On a night where the Bills were sloppier than even their sloppiest, it was a fitting end to have the Denver Broncos miss a game-winning field goal in the dying seconds, only to be given another try after the Bills were penalized for having too many men on the field.
Just like that, an undeserving win became a well-earned loss for the Bills.
Bad enough that the game began with a hard kick in the groin, a James Cook fumble on the first play from scrimmage. The too many men on the field penalty was the atomic elbow from the top rope, right in our collective nether regions.
Nice bookends, I guess.
How do we do it?
Why do we do it?
Alcohol, and the things that we love most sometimes hurt us are my answers on this day.
A season that was already teetering on the brink has now full-on fallen off the cliff.
The defense, ravaged by injuries, will face much tougher tests than the Broncos soon enough.
The offense appears to be schematically broken. The quarterback, the most important person to the entire operation, seems spooked.
Presiding over it all is head coach Sean McDermott.
The calls for his head, which began after the "13 seconds" debacle in Kansas City against the Chiefs in the 2021 playoffs, will be louder and more justified than ever.
In another frantic moment with the game on the line, McDermott’s team couldn’t be trusted to line up with the correct number of players.
It’s embarrassing for a coach so buttoned up and disciplined to have his team make such a simple mistake. And the momentary joy while we watched that first Denver field goal sail wide, meaning that the Bills had somehow managed to escape with a win they didn’t really deserve, only makes it that much worse for McDermott.
It’s not even Thanksgiving.
I don’t know what the week will bring, but I cannot imagine a scenario where owner Terry Pegula is talking at a press conference about why the Bills have fired McDermott. At least not now.
If the Bills indeed miss the playoffs, then an offseason move is something I’d consider realistic.
I know many of you won’t be satisfied with that. The quarterback looks confused, the offense overall appears broken, the defense is injured almost beyond recognition, and McDermott appears hard pressed to provide solutions.
Soaking in a bathtub full of that for a couple of months doesn’t sound like any kind of fun, but that’s likely what we’ll be doing.
Hey, don’t the Sabres play Tuesday night? Yeah, the 11-1-2 Boston Bruins are in town.
Perfect.
