So let me start that my fandom is weird. My family grew up in Chicago and loved the Bears and Cubs. They moved to Jersey before I was born and my mom got into hockey and became a Rangers fan. Then I married my wife who is a devout Bills fan and arguably, I love them more than the Bears now. So I promise I come from a place of good.
But the fact is, I feel A LOTTTTTT of parallels to this team and the fanbase to the 2003 Cubs. 20 years ago the Cubs were 5 outs from their first World Series since 1945. Up 2-0 to the Marlins in Game 6, all was well. They couldn’t sniff Mark Prior. And then Steve Bartman happened. We give up 8 runs in the 8th inning and we then lose in Game 7. It was one of the more soul crushing defeats in sports history.
For the team and the fans, 13 seconds has turned into the Steve Bartman moment. After Bartman interfered with the ball, 43,000 Cubs fans and every player on the field knew they lost. Up 2-0. With 5 outs to go. And EVERYONE knew the game was over. The crushing pressure of the curse did that. One thing went wrong and boom. The game was over.
Reading this, you all know that feeling. When the Chiefs went to OT that night, you knew it was over. And the great shot at a Super Bowl was gone. It’s abundantly clear the players ALSO felt that and the team culture has never fixed itself.
The Cubs tried to compete for a few more years. They had some good teams in 2007 and 2008 but the trust was gone. With that core still from 2003, no one really believed in them anymore. And the team never believed in themselves.
THAT is where we are now with the Bills. Baseball and football move at different speeds. There is a culture of rot on this team now and the only way to cut it out is to frankly remove as many people as possible that came from 13 seconds. The coaches, many of the players. Allen is here so he’s not leaving. But any aged veteran. Any underachiever like Davis. They all have to go.
The Cubs needed to bottom out and eventually Theo Epstein came in and basically gutted the entire franchise. The Bills are not in THAT bad of shape. But here’s the other important thing. What led to 2016 and the World Series was getting a manager who knew how to combat the crushing pressure. The crushing expectations. He got the players to somehow ignore that massive weight on their shoulders.
McDermott ADDS weight at this point. He’s created a culture of a team that cannot handle late game situations. It started frankly with Hail Murray but really rooted with 13 seconds and it’s never going to go away.
This team frankly needs someone like a Dan Campbell who I find a ton of parallels to Maddon in the quirks and how he goes about his own path, analytics be damned at times. He has the freaking LIONS believing in themselves.
This team desperately needs someone who can help this team drown out the noise. To not feel the pressure of the 90’s Bills and going nearly 60 years with no Super Bowl. Because I promise you this entire fanbase is going to turn on this team soon, much like the Cubs fans turned on the core of the 2003 team. It’s about to get very dark and ugly here as this team falls apart.
So the hope is this.
--Remove as much of the cancerous tissue of the 13 seconds team as possible in the next 1-2 years. And bring in a new era of talent. Only players on or near their rookie deals and a few players like Allen and a guy like Diggs who seems like he can drown out drama would be established vets can stay.
--Fire McDermott ASAP
--Embrace change as a fan. The Super Bowl window is closed. Understand it’s likely going to be 3-5 years before this team has a realistic chance of the Bills having a new window open.
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