Now, I don't really know if that's possible anymore and I'll reference my daddy as an explanation. And for those who are wondering why I quote or mention him so much, here's why: as much as he tries to act all aloof and like he's not bothered or concerned with the season because it's so disappointing ... truth is, he secretly reads any Bills news out there and knows way more than I do about football and the team. Also, if he didn't care than he wouldn't be so crabby every Sunday afternoon ;-) Being a devoted fan for 20 plus years is no small feat, so the man knows what he's talking about and when the Bills finally have a winning season, he might even try to rival me for title of craziest Bills fan in Albany.
Anyway, he says that when Jauron was fired on Thursday, his optimism for Sunday's game against Jacksonville was actually existent ... which for him, would probably be one of the first times this season. He said he had a really good feeling about Fewell and felt like the atmosphere he would create would do wonders for the team's motivation. With Jauron, we all know that whether a player did something amazing or horrendous, Jauron would just stand there stone-faced. As a former competitive athlete, I know that having a coach that is visibly passionate about your efforts is far more motivating than feeling like it doesn't matter how you perform because you'll get the same reaction regardless.Daddy thought Fewell's energy and fiery personality might be the extra push the Bills needed to produce on offense or at least finish out the game.
Now, however, daddy is back to his negative-nancy self because Marcus Stroud is injured and Keith Ellison was just placed on injured reserve. He said that since we already had a poor run defense, now it's even worse. I agree that the situation is far from ideal but there are a few other factors we can try to be optimistic about:
- Jacksonville is the worst pass rushing team in the NFL. If that's not good news for our offense, I don't know what is! Ryan Fitzpatrick is starting at QB (woo hoo!) and we know he understands that the football can be thrown...if he actually has some time to throw it, we might actually get points in groups of 7 instead of 3!
I leave you with a quote from Fewell that echos every true Bills fan's thoughts and reason for remaining loyal.
"We are who we are," said Fewell. "We have that identity. We're going to try to give a little spark, but we are who we are."
GO BILLS!!!!