Niagara Gazette

‘Then reality came calling. In the end, the Bills played like a young team that wasn’t quite ready for the biggest stage. They had an opponent down and couldn’t put them away. In the most crucial moments, they lost their poise and went to pieces when the Texans got up off the mat.’

‘“I would love to be a coach,” he said, “to have more skin in the game, to feel a win and a loss. Coaching is appealing. I think I would be good at it. It think it would be rewarding. But the amount of hours those guys put in nowadays, I am not willing at this point to be away from my family that much.”’

‘Alexander’s parents came in for the game. He stood proudly with his wife and his other children as Zoie sang, thinking “Don’t forget the words, don’t forget the words.” He said a few of his teammates were crying afterwards. It was that sort of moment.’

‘That’s the thing about Allen. For all his flaws, he has a way of rising up late in games. He has a soaring belief, one that Bills fans have begun to share. But he also holds himself to a high standard and doesn’t hide from the reality of his own shortcomings.’

‘Lawson calls it “a blessing” to be able to shine light on some local kids who may go through dark days at this time of the year. He said he was the same kid who needed help back in the day and that, at the very least, he’s just happy to see smiles on kids’ faces during the holidays. Lawson knows that everyone goes through tough times, but he knows what’s more important is how we overcome adversity. No matter who it is, he hopes people just walk through it with their heads up and continue to fight with smiles on their faces, because through time he feels that things get easier and easier.’

‘But at this point, how could we rule anything out for this resilient young team? Certainly they’ll be a live underdog in a wild-card playoff game on the road. That would most likely be at Houston after the Texans knocked off the Titans on Sunday.’

‘In the end, this felt like too many other discouraging losses of the recent past— games in which the defense played its heart out, but the offense couldn’t keep its end of the bargain, when a heroic performance by the Buffalo D was wasted in defeat.’

‘It was a stunning performance, one that could nudge embattled Dallas head coach Jason Garrett onto the unemployment line. It should also momentarily elevate Sean McDermott onto any shortlists for NFL coach of the year.’

‘“We could care less about the eyes of the nation being on us,” safety Micah Hyde said. “We understand it’s a prime-time game and a lot of people will be watching us on Thanksgiving, but we’re trying to get better each and every week. We’re not too worried about Joe Schmoe in Wyoming eating Thanksgiving dinner and watching the Buffalo Bills.”’

‘It’s hard to quibble with 7-3, regardless of how you got there. But six of the seven wins have come against defenses currently ranked in the bottom 10 of the league. They haven’t beaten a quarterback of any consequence, unless you consider Fitzpatrick elite.’

‘Maybe this defense wasn’t as good as people thought. They beat up on the mediocre teams, but when a team with talent and playmakers shows up — like the Eagles and Browns, and to some extent, the Pats — they’re exposed as an average unit.’

‘But that doesn’t mean critics have to apologize for wondering if the Bills are more than an average team. We needn’t apologize for sitting through another desultory performance against an NFL bottom-feeder and asking if they’re as good as their record, or if they’re more than an average team.’

‘I imagine the Eagles coaches, who got the better of their Buffalo counterparts, watched the film of that Dolphins game, and maybe some of the other games in Sean McDermott’s three-year tenure when his run defense was dominated at the point of attack.’

‘But it was yet another game in which the Bills turned in a slovenly performance against an inferior team and needed to find themselves in the late going to avoid a colossal embarrassment.’

‘The Bills are still a work in progress. Keep in mind, they were trailing with under five minutes to play against the Jets and Bengals, two teams that as of Sunday had yet to win a game. But they’re in far better shape than anyone could have imagined back in August.’