Ten seasons ago, the St. Louis Rams came out of nowhere as undrafted, third-string quarterback Kurt Warner led the Rams to victory in Super Bowl XXXIV. Two years later, the Rams made it back to the big game, but they were thwarted by an even bigger Cinderella in Tom Brady's New England Patriots. There is always hope in the NFL. Those facts alone should be enough proof for any Bills' fan; that in a given year, any team can win the big one. But, if that's not enough for you, it happened again just two seasons ago as the New York Giants came out of left-field to upset a Patriot dynasty and win Super Bowl XLII. Moreover, I believe that that 2007 New York Giants team, bears an uncanny resemblance to our 2009 Buffalo Bills. And if those G-Men could do it, why can't we? Let's look at some of those resemblances...
- Like Dick Jauron, New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin was entering into his fourth year as the Giants head man.
- Like Jauron, Coughlin was in his second stint as an NFL head coach.
- And like Dick is now, Tom entered the 2007 season sitting on the NFL's hottest seat. Rabid Giant fans wanted him out, and the infamous New York media was looking for mistakes.
- Eli Manning was entering his third year in the league, and many fans questioned whether Peyton's little brother had the right stuff. Sound familiar?
- The Giants had superstar wide-receiver Plaxico Burris who sometimes feels like a nut, the Bills have the king of superstar wide-receivers who sometimes feel like a nut in Terelle Owens.
- Three-headed running-back monster Jacobs, Bradshaw and Ward meet three-headed running-back monster Lynch, Jackson and Rhodes.
- Over the course of the 2007 season, the Giant's developed an extremely successful defensive-line that came at you in waves. Should John McCargo and Chris Ellis be able to make meaningful contributions and Aaron Maybin live up to the hype, the Bills' defensive-line would go nine deep which would allow them to give it their all on every single down. 'Course, the New York Giants had good defensive-linemen, but let's ignore that for now.
- And last but not least - both teams started Kawika Mitchell at
weak-side linebacker.
So, should the Bills look sloppy this weekend in Green Bay, or God forbid, get blown out on Monday Night Football in week one by Bill Belicheat and those dizzy-freakin' Patriots, don't lose heart Bills' fans, there is always hope in the NFL.