Bills’ NFL rise mirrors that of Padres
Meet the NFL’s version of this year’s Padres: The Buffalo Bills, fellow upstarts who brim with confidence.
“There’s something special here in Buffalo,” quarterback Josh Allen said Sunday.
Defeating the Raiders moved the Bills to 4-0 for the first time since 2008, as the Padres prepared for their first NL Division Series since 2006.
The Bills are fifth in scoring in the 32-team NFL, one slot behind the Padres in the 30-club MLB.
Allen is big, fast, rif learmed and radiates energy.
Isn’t the same true of Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr.?
Can the Bills finally overcome a Patriots franchise that has owned the AFC East forever? Will the Padres this week knock off a Dodgers club that won an eighth National League West title in eight years?
Go to north coastal San Diego when the Bills are playing and you might hear fans whoop it up as when Trevor Hoffman jogged across the outfield grass to “Hells Bells.”
One of those Bills fans would be Hoffman. The Padres Hall of Fame closer identifies himself as a member of the “West Coast Bills Mafia.” His wife, Tracy, is a former Bills cheerleader. “Let’s go Buffalo!” Hoffman said in a tweet last December after a victory at Pittsburgh.
Bills safety Micah Hyde, who is second on the team in tackles, winters in San Diego with wife Amanda. She attended San Diego State.
What jumps out with the Bills, as with the Padres, is their team spirit. If football players had a dugout, Allen and mates probably would dance in it after touchdowns. The Bills, like the Padres, are the biggest club in town. They feel like Buffalo’s team.
Is it time for each franchise to finally go the distance?
The biggest challenge for the Bills will be to contain the other team’s opponent.
Buffalo’s defense is 17th in points, 19th in net yards per pass attempt and 15th in yards per rush.
Buffalo is scheduled to face the Titans in Week 5.
A victory would have the Bills at 5-0 for the first time since 1991 when they reached the Super Bowl, only to get blown out by Washington, a game in which Bills Hall of Fame running back Thurman Thomas misplaced his helmet.
Impressively, the Bills reached the next two Super Bowls; however, they lost to Cowboys teams that, for awesomeness, weren’t far off from the powerhouses the Padres encountered in their two World Series, the 1984 Tigers and 1998 Yankees, respectively.
Four things
• Tom Brady and playcaller Bruce Arians seemed to outwit Chargers defenders and coordinator Gus
Bradley in Tampa’s 38-31 victory Sunday. Brady faced a Bradley-Chargers D for the first time since leading New England to a 35-7 halftime lead in the 2018 playoffs; he led another fivedrive binge, netting 31 points off four TDs and a field goal.
Chargers coach Anthony Lynn giving the ball to Brady by punting on fourth-and-1 two weeks after giving the ball to Patrick Mahomes on fourthand-1 in overtime netted the same result: a defeat after the opponent drove for a field goal on a long field. One difference is that after the Bucs’ field goal, the Chargers weren’t dead, but instead of leading a 75-yard TD drive QB Justin Herbert saw the Bucs pick off his second-and-7 pass from his 28. Analytics site EdjSports.com estimated Lynn’s decision reduced his team’s win probability by 2.7 percent.
• Lynn, a former NFL running back, was right that the imprecise handoff
exchange between rookies Herbert and Joshua Kelly that led to a pivotal fumble was “inexcusable” — but the coach’s decision not to order Herbert to kneel twice was highly questionable because doing so would’ve sent his team to halftime with a 17-point lead. Running the ball on first down from one’s own 9 — with 47 seconds left — didn’t seem likely to launch a long, brisk scoring drive. Brady turned the lost fumble into seven points, triggering the 31-point offensive.
• It’s too early to use ink in the MVP race, but at the quarter mark my leader is Russell Wilson, who has guided the Seahawks to first place in the rugged NFC West. Wilson is first in percentage of TD passes (11.7), net yards per pass attempt (9.4), passer rating (136.7), passing touchdowns (16) and completion rate (75.2), in addition to averaging 5.3 yards on 18 rushes.