If you’re going to give the Bills credit for anything this season, give them credit for finding new ways to lose every week.
A lot of your really bad NFL teams will just come out and serve up the same kind of stink bombs week in and week out without any thought for those of us that watch the games. At least the Bills make it interesting.
This week’s edition was the missed extra point that led to a cascade of plays that left the Bills 22-19 losers to the Bears in Toronto. Rian Lindell, who had made 321 consecutive PATs, didn’t get enough height on a kick following Fred Jackson’s touchdown run and Bears defensive tackle Israel Idonije reached up to block it.
That meant the Bills were down 14-13 and had to go for two when Corey McIntyre scored from the one in the fourth quarter. It also meant the Bears went for two after Jay Cutler found Earl Bennett for the winning score. They got it, accounting for the final 22-19 margin, and one Lindell make would mean that the Bills wouldn’t have been frantically trying to move the ball late and Ryan Fitzpatrick might have avoided the interception that sealed their fate at 0-8.
More likely, the Bills would have found some other way to lose a game on a day when Jay Cutler avoided interceptions and made big plays with his feet. He ran for three first downs to go with his two touchdown passes on a day when yardage didn’t come easily to the Bears.
The win is a big one for the Bears, who will be in first place in the NFC North should the Packers lose on Sunday night. They’ll have a chance to tie Green Bay if the Cowboys remain the Cowboys when they host the Vikings next Sunday.
As for the Bills, they can take some solace in another big day for Steve Johnson and the fact that they won’t have to go to Toronto again this season. They are now 0-3 over the last three years when they cross the border, but that doesn’t change the fact that it is getting harder to find where the wins are going to come on the Buffalo schedule.