At the Quarter Pole

by Ryan

There are currently two 4-0 teams in the NFL. The Bills are one of them.

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Wow, that was pretty awesome to type that and mean it. What was I saying? I forget, I keep staring at that number up there and getting distracted. I mean, if you told me the Bills would be undefeated at the quarter pole of the season, well, you would be talking about the Bruce/Thurman/Kelly Bills, and those guys are not walking through that door anytime soon.

To say this is only a big deal is to take the last decade or so of Bills football and say it was a good run. No, no it wasn't, the 4-0 Buffalo Bills are the biggest football story in years in Western New York, and you have every right to be excited about this team.

The Bills have done quite a bit in the first four weeks of the season, defeating two playoff teams from the previous year, completing three fourth quarter comebacks, and effectively murdering a head coach. That's a good run considering at this time last year we were just trying to put a functional defense on the field while Dick Jauron couldn't decide which quarterback he wanted to play peek a boo with.

This year is different. There is no question who our quarterback is, and I have no doubt in my mind he can lead this team effectively. The defense is completely, completely different, and we have Russ Brandon and Marv Levy to thank for that. The post-Tom Donahoe Era has been pretty remarkable when you consider how many draft picks you see playing and making a huge impact. (See Youboty, Ashton) It is a defense that has only looked better as the season goes on, and comes up big late in the game when it matters most.

Still, with all these positives and the fast start, it seems the Bills are still a footnote to the rest of the league. The "4-0 story" goes to the Titans, who have never been there and had their starting quarterback try to kill himself/eat chicken wings after week one. The throwback Jets put up 56 throwback points thanks to the efforts of their throwback gunslinging man-child quarterback messiah and now are the "AFC East story." The Patriots have a bye, and everyone knows what happens when The Best Head Coach of All Time gets two weeks to game plan.

And here we sit, 4-0 with a trip to the Buzzsaw That is the Arizona Cardinals. Once again, this week I will take the shadows and appreciate what I know for myself: the Bills are indeed for real.