The Draw Play

I’m a fan of a team that’s had relatively good success over the past two decades. I’ve been fortunate that way. I know my perspective may not be exactly in tune with what the Bills fanbase might have gone through waiting for so long just to glimpse the playoffs again. But man. Loving another player on a different team for helping you in an unrelated game so much that you give that player a goddamn standing ovation when he shows up to play against you in a game? That is some weird shit. The Bills love them some Andy Dalton.

I think the Bills fanbase might love Andy Dalton more than the Bengals fanbase does. They probably love him more than they love anyone on their own team. I wouldn’t be surprised if a large amount of Bills fans own Andy Dalton jerseys now, purchased while blackout drunk after last year’s week 17 craziness. It makes me laugh for poor ‘ol AJ McCarron. Dude finally manages to get out from under Dalton to have a chance to compete and he gets stuck on a different team with a fanbase that still prefers Andy Dalton. Andy Dalton could probably live in Buffalo and get free drinks for life.

Again, I don’t have the perspective, but it’s insane to me to be so playoff starved that you are this incredibly happy about a dude on a different team giving you some help. Bills fans don’t care that they immediately lost. They don’t even care that they waited 20 years just to watch the Bills score a measly 3 points. They were just so damn happy to finally be back there that they’re willing to donate thousands upon thousands to his charity. The Bills team was so thankful to the Bengals for helping them that when they reached the wildcard they did their best Playoff Bengals impression and failed miserably just to honor who got them there.

I’m very happy that Bills fans finally felt that brief moment of pure joy. They waited a long time to get a chance to blow it in the playoffs. It makes me wonder what this fanbase is going to feel about this years down the road if they start another drought. The Bills barely reached the playoffs, requiring a miracle. They sucked ass in the playoff game, and then this offseason went through a fairly big overhaul. New QBs entirely. The offensive line lost multiple quality players. They drafted the QB with the highest bust potential in the draft. They signed the fatter version of Sammy Watkins to be his main target. This looks like a team in the beginnings of a partial rebuild. If it doesn’t work out we could see another 5+ year drought, with nothing to show for 25 years but a field goal. That breaks my heart just contemplating it.

Maybe I do understand why Bills fans would just like to smash tables now. They have to hurt themselves, to see if they still feel. They focus on the pain. It’s the only thing that’s real.