Tuesday Morning Quarterback: After Pats loss, Bills left to say 'what if?'
Published: December 07, 2009, 11:54 pm
Story tools:
Share this story:
The New England Patriots lost again, falling to 7-5. That leaves them just one game ahead of the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets in the AFC East.
With the division suddenly up for grabs, the Buffalo Bills are in last place coming off a 19-13 loss to the Jets and lamenting a missed opportunity.
Consider all the games the Bills had a chance to win and didn't. Eight times they went into the fourth quarter tied or with the lead, and came out on the losing end in five of them. Win just two and they're in the thick of the AFC East race.
Normally, I don't like to deal in shoulda, woulda, couldas. If the Bills were good enough, they wouldn't have blown so many opportunities. But it's hard to ignore how different this season could have, would have and perhaps should have been.
The last four games would have a lot more meaning if the Bills were merely 6-6 right now. Instead, they are staring at another season out of the playoffs. Oh for the decade.
They're not mathematically eliminated yet, but does anyone out there really believe the Bills can make up three games in four weeks given their track record? Didn't think so.
Here's a look at the rest of Week 13 in the NFL:
Road kill: The Patriots are still looking for their first meaningful game win outside of Foxborough after falling to Miami on Sunday. Championship-caliber teams win on the road. The Patriots don't even look like a playoff team right now. If their beatdown at the hands of the New Orleans Saints wasn't enough the Miami loss (after leading 14-0) stripped another layer off the Patriots' cloak of superiority. They have lost two straight for the first time since 2006 and three of four for the first time since 2002.
Hell to pay: Remember last week, after Pittsburgh lost to Baltimore, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said his team was going to "unleash hell" on the NFL. Instead, Tomlin and company are catching some in Pittsburgh after an inexplicable home loss to the woeful Oakland Raiders. For the fifth time, the Steelers lost a game when leading in the fourth quarter. Their fans booed the defense after it gave up three fourth-quarter touchdowns to a Raiders offense that had only 10 all season. Short of finishing 4-0, the Steelers (6-6) won't be defending their Super Bowl title.
Still perfect: This is the first time in NFL history two teams have been unbeaten this late in the season. It's looking more and more like the Colts and New Orleans Saints are destined to go into the postseason without a loss. In beating the surging Titans, the Colts won their 21st straight regular-season game, tying the 2006-08 Patriots' league record. They also extended their NFL record of consecutive 12-win seasons to seven and tied the 1990s San Francisco 49ers for the most wins in a decade (113).
The term "it's sometimes better to be lucky than good" certainly applies to the Saints, who had to rally from 10 points down in the fourth quarter and got a missed chip-shot field goal attempt by Washington and a favorable replay call to steal one from the Redskins. The Saints were fortunate, but it says something about their character and mental toughness to win at less than their best.
Same old Cowboys: If it's December, it means another late-season collapse by the Dallas Cowboy. They haven't had a winning record this month since 1996, going 18-32. They started another December on the wrong foot by losing to the New York Giants. The problems were the same as always. Defense and special teams gave up big plays. Although QB Tony Romo had a rare superb December game (team-record 41 completions for 392 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions), the offense made critical mistakes at the most inopportune times. They couldn't beat a Giants team with a gimpy quarterback and an injury-riddled defense.
The Cowboys (8-4) are now tied with the Eagles for first place in the NFC, one ahead of the Giants. But Dallas' remaining schedule is daunting as three (San Diego, New Orleans and Philadelphia) of its last four opponents have a combined record of 29-7. Cowboys coach Wade Phillips won't survive another late-season meltdown.
Happy homecoming: Nice to see Philadelphia QB Michael Vick got a warm reception from the Atlanta Falcons fans on Sunday. No one will forget Vick's off-field mistakes, but it was nice to know that his exploits on the field are still remembered.
Dueling gunslingers: Arizona QB Kurt Warner outshined Minnesota QB Brett Favre, throwing for 285 yards and three touchdowns in the Cardinals' win. Warner also joined Johnny Unitas (1965) as the only quarterbacks to post a passer rating of 120 or better in four straight games. Favre threw for 275 yards, but his two interceptions were one less than he had in the previous 11 games.
Offensive player of the week: Oakland QB Bruce Gradkowski. Playing in his native Pittsburgh, Gradkowski threw for 308 yards and three fourth-quarter touchdowns in a stunning upset of the Steelers.
Defensive player of the week: Jets CB Darrelle Revis. My candidate for NFL defensive player of the year continues to play lock down football as he limited Bills WR Terrell Owens to three harmless catches after T.O. caught 14 balls in the previous two games.
Newsletters
Sign up now for daily and weekly newsletters from BuffaloNews.com and get quick links to the info you want delivered directly to your inbox.Reader comments
Log into MyBuffalo to post a comment
MyBuffalo is the new social network from Buffalo.com. Your MyBuffalo account lets you comment on and rate stories at buffalonews.com. You can also head over to mybuffalo.com to share your blog posts, stories, photos, and videos with the community. Join now or learn more.
Comments have been disabled.
Due to a high volume of submissions that violate The News’ guidelines, commenting is no longer available on this story. If you’d like to share your thoughts on this story, click here to get information on contributing to The News’ opinion pages.