Y’all I don’t think I can say it enough.
I know most of our readers here at Thoughts From The Bench are Steelers fans and I’m gonna respect that, but just rock with me for a second because I’ve been waiting for this season since I was still in the womb and I gotta tell you how much this Bills season meant to me.
I don’t get this feeling all the time.
Look, I grew up going to Bills games. I was in the stands, next to my grandparents, or my parents, cheering on guys like Doug Flutie, Rob Johnson, Drew Bledsoe, Josh Reed, Lee Evans, London Fletcher. For as many Bills quarterbacks I’ve seen since I was younger, I feel like I could make a Bills jersey that comes close to this one.
Maybe we haven’t had that many quarterbacks, but we for sure had about the same amount of success as the Browns over the years. So as Steelers fans you know what I’m talking about when it comes to seeing it from the winning side.
The Patriots were to us as you were to the Browns and the tables were flipped this year, for both of our sakes. WHICH IS WILD.
Anyway, back to it. I’ve been waiting for the Bills to be good. I’ve been patiently waiting. But it seems like you don’t gain a real appreciation for something until you get older. Until you can sit back and look at your friend and say ‘Yea, my team just smacked the snot out of your team.’
Yea, if you knew me in college I was probably on the losing end of this conversation a lot and it ATE ME UP.
So, for me, this season was different and before the team even took the field it felt different. I mean BRANDON BEANE TRADED FOR STEFON DIGGS.
You wanna talk about Big Baller Beane, we brought in one of the best wide receivers in the game and it showed true this season. That started things from the start, that exuded that confidence that shit, these guys must think they have something this year. This is one of those moves you make where you are one or two players away.
This wasn’t a Rex Ryan ‘We’re going to the playoffs’ type of claim. This was a ‘Alright, we need one or two pieces let’s go get someone.’
I WAS HYPED.
But this was a different type of hyped. It wasn’t the normal type of optimism I get before every season, then it comes crashing down. This team had everything.
Allen had his weapons. The defense was one of the best in 2019 and Bills Mafia was ready to rock. Hell, I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A SEASON TICKET HOLDER THIS YEAR.
So here’s where I get to how much this season meant because when you’ve been losing for so long, there’s a sense of excitement that comes with winning. I know you Steelers fans are probably used to winning so you don’t get that feeling unless its a Super Bowl. But man, early on this season every game felt like the Super Bowl.
Let me take you back to Week 3, our matchup with the Los Angeles Rams where we gave up a 28-3 lead and trailed 32-28 with 4 minutes to go.
Josh Allen drove his team down the field completed an improbable 3rd and 22 pass to Cole Beasley. Then hit Diggs with a 17 yard pass on 3rd and 25 to set up a a three-yard TD pass to Tyler Kroft.
See that game said a lot because normally, they would’ve coughed that game up and it’d be ‘Same Ole Bills.’ But it didn’t go down that way and the Bills started off the season 4-0. From there, the Bills went through their bumps and bruises, but these guys were having FUN!
They were cruising, they were putting up big numbers and although fans weren’t in the stands Bills Mafia was HUMMING. I mean like no other.
See with their success brought distraction from everything going on. Monday through Saturday it was what are the Bills going to do next?
Yea it was fun. It was special. Then they go to the playoffs and it’s like LET’S FUCKING GO. LET’S DO THIS.
It brought a sense of excitement to the city and the franchise that hasn’t been around in years and that’s why I’m just coming here to say thank you Bills!!!
Thank you for 5 months of pure electricity because it’s exactly what was needed during this pandemic.
We’ll see you next year!!
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