Welcome to Monday Night Football, live from Buffalo, NY--well sort of live, and sort of from Buffalo, NY (the Bills play in Orchard Park and I'm at home in Lockport, a few minutes north).
It's just after 9:00 now and I literally just walked in the door ten minutes ago.
I had class until 8:30 and for the first time, I made it from college to my house in 15 minutes. God bless green lights and a heavy foot.
I've also been rocking my Todd Collins jersey all day and I don't plan on changing it anytime soon.
I did catch the Bills first drive on the radio and here's what transpired:
At 8:37 I turned my car on and switched the radio. John Murphy, the voice of the Bills, and Mark Kelso are on the air. Kelso just called the Cowboys' 4-0 record misleading. I knew there was a reason why I try my hardest not to listen to these games on the radio.
Marshawn Lynch busts out for a 15 yard gain on the Bills first play from scrimmage. I notice Murph and Kelso are on a first name basis with the players. Roscoe on the kick return. Trent takes the snap. Marshawn with a nice gain.
I actually wonder if punters can win Player of the Game awards. After running for a first down on a fake punt to keep the drive alive, the Bills go three and out, setting Moorman up for another punt. Murph goes nuts as Brian pins the Cowboys on the one yard line.
Romo throws a pick to wide receiver turned defensive back George Wilson, who runs it in for the score.
The 12th man is in mid-season form right now.
Lindell's kick is good, 7-0 Bills.
Finally got the laptop set up, I'm ready to write and Roost TV is live:
9:16: Sweet graphic as ESPN shows Tony Romo walking off the field. "Dallas Cowboys: aaaaaaaag." Maybe the Four-Letter is on our side after all.
9:17: Yankees Update (yes, I'll be flipping from time to time): Yanks down 4-1 in the top of the fourth. I think I might start rooting for the Indians the rest of the post season.
9:19: Romo's finally finding his groove. Three straight completions, Cowboys keep moving the chains.
9:22: Great catch by T.O., then takes the spiking penalty. Not much of a call but whatever, we'll take the 5 yards. Romo's taking a lot of hits after the throw.
9:23: Witten takes those extra five yards and catches one in the end zone. We've got a tie game, 7-7.
9:28 Nice shot of Jerry Jones and Michael Irvin in their box having a coke party---errr watching the game intently.
9:28: Lynch with a 23 yard run after a quick dump from Edwards. This guy is the real freaking deal. He works for every yard. Instant fan favorite here, although his hard nosed running style doesn't bode well for a long career.
9:30: Roscoe with a nice run after the catch to pick up a first. He tried the Playmaker button from Madden 04 to call his block, but caught his teammates off guard. Parrish with 3 catches for 24 yards already, all pretty big plays. Edwards looks great.
9:34: Kornheiser telling America what everyone in Buffalo already knows: J.P. Losman is pretty much unemployed after this season. There's no allegiance to J.P. and everyone is already anointing Edwards. Sentiment here is that even if the Bills lose tonight, people are going to want to see how he bounces back after the bye week.
9:37 Does anyone else think that Mike Tirico is boring? I mean the 2007 quarterback draft is interesting and all, but I think I fell asleep after he said, "Edwards was the sixth quarterbaaaaaaaaayaaaaawwwnnnnn..."
9:37: Bills are in the red zone. They're using play action well. As the half winds down, a field goal is a success here.
9:40: Third and goal. Nice little throw to Gaines. Nothing special like Jaws says, but Edwards is doing the right thing by playing it safe on that throw.
9:41: Lindell puts it through the uprights. I'm still trying to figure out when this guy became a legitimately reliable kicker. I remember when he stunk outside of 40, now he can kick it from pretty much anywhere.
This 24-yarder put Buffalo up 10-7 with 3:26 to go.
9:45: Chris Kelsay tips up a Romo pass to himself and catches it in the end zone. TOUCHDOWN!!!! And did I just hear "Song 2" by the Blur after that score? Really?
17-7 Bills.
So much for being satisfied with the 10-7 lead going into half.
Tirico: "Unbelievable."
The 12th man is rocking.
9:45: Waiting for the "Shout" song.
9:46: Still waiting.
9:47: There it is! "BUMP BUMP BUMP BUMP THE BILLS MAKE ME WANNA SHOUT!!!"
9:48: On a side note, it's a great thing I've already got a comfortable lead in my fantasy league. Tony Romo is killing my team.
9:49: Romo looks like he's going to cry. Picked off by AFC Defensive Player of the Week Jabari Greer. I just got two instant messages almost instantaneously.
The first one, from the Roost's own Jon: "!!!!!!!!!!1 this is the most fun i have had watching football in years."
The second from my sports editor at the UB newspaper, Rubin: "is this really f**king happening?"
It's been a good night to be a Bills fan.
9:58: Lindell misses a 54-yarder. No worries. The crowd's still roaring and Romo is still jumpy.
10:00: I think they just showed a replay of T.O. on the bench giving Romo some pills that will "make him feel better."
10:01: Dallas now in field goal range as Romo gets blasted by Kelsay but makes the throw to Sam Turd--I mean Hurd.
10:02: Field goal is good, Bills lead 17-10 at half. Cowboys will start with the ball for the second half.
Bills are really playing above their level right now. You wouldn't know they were playing with a patchwork defense and a rookie quarterback. It'll be amazing if Dick Jauron can keep the emotional level up, all while making sure they don't get too over anxious and cough up the lead. It'll also be interesting to see what adjustments Dallas makes coming into the half.
Be back in a few...
10:04: Back sooner than I thought...Quick Yankee update, they're down 6-1 in the middle of the sixth. I'm not sure even Ronan Tynan could save them now.
10:15: Wow. Yanks in the middle of a nice min-rally. 6-2 now in the bottom of the sixth with one out and a man on first. Not a bad half time show.
10:16: Duncan moves to third on a base hit by Johnny Damon. In the words of Mike Tirico, "Unbelievable."
10:20: The usually clutch Jeter pulls an A-Rod and grounds into a double play to end the inning.
Whoops, football game's back on...no worries, it's still 17-10.
10:22: Niagara Falls looks pretty good at night. Just please don't show the rest of the city. Please.
10:23: Bills just won some sort of challenge, either way Dallas earns a first down. I'm more shocked to see Wade Phillips wearing a headset. He never wore them when he was a head coach here.
10:25: Kornheiser agrees with Kelso's earlier assessment that the Cowboys maybe aren't as good as we thought they were. What--what we thought they were. After all they ARE in the NFC.
10:28: Jaws is from Lackawanna, a Buffalo suburb. He freaking loves us.
10:29: Romo's head seems clear, as they're driving on their first drive of the half. The T.O. pick-me-ups seem to be working.
10:30: John "Poppa" DiGiorgio almost picks off a Romo pass of his own. Forces a fourth down.
10:31: Kick from Nick Folk from 29 yards is good, capping off a nine minute, 72 yard drive. Cowboys only trail by a score of 17-13 now.
10:33: TERRENCE MCGEE!!!!!! Gotta love special teams, a 103 yard return. Bobby April for President. And just like that the Bills respond. 23-7. I may never wash this Todd Collins jersey again. And John Murphy just had a heart attack.
10:33: Jerry Jones is in the fetal position, coked out with Playmaker.
10:33: Tony Romo is wrapped up in a towel, crying, humming Carrie Underwood's "Before He Cheats."
10:34: Ronan Tynan singing "God Bless America" at Yankee Stadium. Is there anyone who DOESN'T love this guy?
10:38: Coming into this game, I would have been satisfied with a close game midway through the third quarter, as long as the team didn't embarrass themselves and Edwards continued to make progress. Now, it's a totally different ballgame. The Bills need to hang on to win this game. This team looks like it's ready to become something the entire community can rally around.
It's amazing what happens when you put a competent quarterback under center, and not one that lines up behind the guard, like Losman once did. Sustain some long offensive drives and it'll allow your defense to stay fresh so they can make some big plays. I don't know where this Bills team came from, but I'm loving it.
10:40: A bomb to T.O. just ruled incomplete. He looks flustered, maybe he'll punch someone soon and make this game reeeally interesting.
10:41: Another incomplete pass intended for Owens. He's going to flip anytime now. He better go take his medication.
10:44: Josh Reed comes up with a great 50-50 ball. Peerless who?
10:45: Jaws analyzing Edwards' footwork. Staying balanced, looking good. Poised. 17/21, 121 yards. Welcome to the Show, kid. Glad to have you.
10:47: Good God, Edwards looks great. Reads the blitz, gets hit, still makes the quick throw, Roscoe picks up 8 yards. I love this guy. Trent Edwards has thrown just two incomplete passes since the 11:00 mark of the second quarter.
10:49: Slowly but surely, Yankees are coming back. Down 6-3 in the bottom of the 7th with two outs. 3-1 count to Matsui.
10:50: Walk. Missed an A-Rod home run (I couldn't believe it either) and the Yanks look to rally again.
10:51: Another beautiful punt by Moorman. Tirico says it won't be as good as that one in the first quarter...duh.
10:56: ESPN now talking about Kevin Everett's progress and the Miami Project. Glad they were able to fit that in now while we're all feeling good. Keep up the positive stuff, please.
10:58: Good presence by Romo. He's looked kind of syzcho out there lately. On that throw he had a good play action, pump faked deep, when he saw he didn't have that, he just dumped it off for a nine yard gain. Bills need to keep the pressure on him and keep him uncomfortable.
11:00: You know, it's nice to see a lot of former Buffalo Bisons succeeding in the postseason. From Sizemore to Garko to Shoppach, we've seen all these guys play live and it really is a treat to see them come up big in October. And this is coming from a Yankees fan.
11:02: Buffalo forces yet another fourth down and another field goal attempt for Folk. In the words of Butch Cassidy, "Who are these guys?"
11:03: Kick is good. Buffalo still leads 24-16. The Todd Collins jersey isn't coming off.
11:05: It's been 13 years since Monday Night Football was last in town. I have a feeling they'll be making a few more stops here in the future (that is until we get the police reports tomorrow morning).
11:05: Thurman's kissing Suzy Kolber. Best memory: "To go into the Hall of Fame as a Buffalo Bill." I love having the old guys from the Glory Years back together and active with the team.
11:08: Edwards hangs onto the ball too long on consecutive plays. Edwards fumbles but recovers. 3rd and 29 now. Edwards made two bonehead mistakes there, but he still looks really really good. I've got a feeling the Bills are going to need at least one more score.
11:10: Yankees update: Rivera gets Pronk to ground out. Jeter charged and made a great play to get him out. Hafner thinks Posada interfered. Wah. Eighth inning's over.
11:13: FUMBLEROOSKIE!!! Romo fumbles, further sinking my fantasy team. Bills recover, crowd goes wild. Five, count 'em, five, turn overs for Romo. He walks off the field crying again. This is surreal.
11:16: Roy Williams horse collars Lynch. Will this idiot ever learn? Officials call a face mask instead of the horse collar and the late helmet to helmet hit from Newman. Lynch, getting abused but still getting the yards. Already he's one of the toughest runners in the league.
11:17: A thinner Wade Phillips is shown on the sideline coaching the Denver Broncos in a flashback to the last time the Bills hosted Monday Night Football.
11:19: Lynch busting out. The line looks great tonight. Fourteen yard run puts the Bulls on the 13 yard line.
11:20: Now we're going to see what Trent Edwards is all about. This is his real moment of truth. Up 24-16 in the red zone with 7 minutes to go in the fourth quarter. Are they going to go the conservative route and settle for three?
11:22: Damn. Edwards throws a pick. Bad decision in the red zone. Terrence Newman returns it for 70 yards back to the Buffalo 17. Lot of heart by Lee Evans on that play. The pass was intended for him, but Newman jumped in front of the route, and Evans tracked him down all the way down the field to make the tackle. Turns out he even forced a fumble, but Dallas recovers.
11:24: Bills need a Billy Fucillo-eque "Huuuuuuge-ah" stop here.
11:25: Romo's garbage tonight. Papa DiGiorgio picks him off in the red zone. Bills get the ball back.
11:26: Tony Kornheiser: "It's not delivery, it's DiGiorgio!" Damn straight.
11:28: Romo must be -35 in fantasy points tonight. Good thing I've got Marshawn Lynch balancing this one out.
11:32: McGee has a chance to end the game, drops the pick.
11:33: Yankees in the bottom of the ninth, down by three. Heart of the order up, with Jeter leading off.
11:34: Jeter pops out. One out. Back to football.
11:34: IM from Jon: "have you seen Wade Phillips' daughter? shes hottttttt. shes a burlesque dancer."
If anyone's interested:
Here and here.
11:37: Just flipped back to New York. Abreu jacked one. 6-4. A-Rod's up, maybe in his last Yankee at bat. Football can wait.
11:38: Baseball can wait. Dallas completes a first down on the Buffalo 15 with 40 seconds left. Time out Cowboys.
11:39: A-Rod pops out. Final out.
11:39: Barber falls near the goal line. Twenty four seconds left. I'm wearing out the "Prev. Channel" button on my remote. Football game goes to commercial.
11:40: Posada crushes one foul. Jeez I thought that was gone.
11:41: Posada strikes out. Cleveland v Boston. For some reason they're playing Sinatra at Yankee Stadium. They lost.
11:41: Tirico just called the football game the "Game of the Year." We're honored.
11:42: Touchdown pass to Creighton. 24-22 with 20 seconds left. Need the 2 point conversion to tie. Bills are due for another interception, right? Right?
11:43: Play of the season right here. Watch out for Marion Barber.
11:44: Dallas sets up at least eight wide for the two point conversion.
11:44: JABARI GREER JABARI GREER JABARI GREER JABARI GREER JABARI GREER JABARI GREER. BREAKS IT UP! T.O. IS GOING TO MURDER SOMEONE! John Murphy just had another heart attack.
11:45: Twenty seconds left.
11:46: Onside kick...Dallas recovers. Wade Phillips looks confused. Officials discussing. Clock reset. Dallas on the 47. Play of the year coming up.
11:47: :18 left. Bills NEED to close this one out. Please, Bills. We need this one.
11:47: Play under review. Illegal touch? Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease!
11:48: My editor Rubin is freaking out, has been since that last touchdown.
11:49: Thank you, ESPN for showing the Music City Miracle. Maybe they're not on our side.
11:49: Play stands, Dallas football.
11:50: Catch at the 25 yard line by Owens. Romo spike it with one second left. Oh God.
11:50: Booth to review the Owens catch. Looks like an incomplete pass from replay.
11:51: After that Denver game Week One, I'm not sure if Bills fans can take another last second field goal loss. I know I can't. This is unfreakingbelievable.
11:53: Jaws: "Is there a full moon in Buffalo tonight?" Might as well be...
11:53: The Ruling: Incomplete Pass. Game Clock back to :13, ball goes back to the 47.
11:54: Barber gets out of bounds on a dump pass. Seven seconds left, would be a 60 yard kick. They're going to run one more play. The 12th man needs this one.
11:55: Romo to Creighton. Two seconds left. Ball on the Buffalo 35. Here we go....
11:55: Kick is up
11:56: Kick is good.
11:56: Time out Buffalo, prior to the snap. Wade Phillips looks confused.
11:56: Mike Shannahan-esque. Very nice, Dick Jauron. Very nice.
11:57: Kick attempt #2 coming up. Let's hear you, Buffalo.
11:57: 53 yards. Good. Cowboys win.
11:57: Flag on the play. Offsides against Buffalo. Penalty declined. Game over.
How hard do you have to fight?
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment