Less of the Worst Reasonable Request by Buffalo Bills
Slightly fewer crummy occurrences count as a blessing. Those enduring travails may wish for more positive developments, but life’s victims rarely get a vote. The Buffalo Bills just want 2023 to be tough under normal parameters. Last season featured alarming adversity even by this franchise’s melodramatic standards. Nothing would feel welcome like athletic stress on its own.
I don’t want to guess there’ll be less trauma during the upcoming season, as destiny sadistically enjoys being tempted. An abandoned space station hitting the field seems unlikely. But I don’t want to tempt the cosmos. Last year taught us yet another lesson. The set of circumstances faced last year can be classified as a Threat Level Midnight season.
A franchise best known for woe is proficient at breaking hearts. But we’re still processing the time of trials. The previous stretch was emblematic even for a club whose season-by-season recap doubles as an emo kid’s diary.
The weather got worse during Western New York winters if you want to summarize how last year went. Buffalo relocated to Detroit during what we can retroactively label the summery portion. Conditions that were brutal by blizzard standards led to a surreal residency that seems like something dreamed.
The first ever NFL game that wasn’t finished reflected the new year starting with the toughest trauma yet. We know the worst way possible to play one fewer than everyone else and never want to demand one ends while in progress again.
There’s never been a roster looked more like it was running on adrenaline fumes. We can’t entirely blame exhaustion from anguish for a premature playoff exit. The club looked outfoxed against Cincinnati as a matter of play and strategy. But weariness from more than one source certainly didn’t help.
Review ordeals therapeutically in order to cope with what’s happened. Dawson Knox losing his brother was a nightmare that made playoff seeding the least important thing possible. Summoning the energy to compete feel both arduous and pointless. Worrying about the well-being of people connected to the franchise is the sort of perspective we wish we didn’t gain.
It’s tough to work while worried about the boss. Kim Pegula coping with health issues was the least anticipated injured reserve move. Fans wish the owner along with hurt players a swift recovery so they can feel at their best again. Seeing her watch Damar Hamlin practice is doubly remarkable.
Regular injuries seem minor only by comparison as they devastate players and efforts. The NFL still waiting for a team that hasn’t coped with injuries. But Buffalo still saw an inordinate number of defensive players sidelined for what’s already this team’s Frank Stallone of aspects.
Calculating their chances in June is as foolhardy as it is understandable. Trying to not get ahead of oneself is tricky for a sport and team his beloved. Projections of downfall offer strange comfort as wallowers determine bracing for apocalypse means being prepared. If alien dinosaurs invade, at least pessimists will have rehearsed the scenario.
The sense the Bills declined even with an impressive record might show factoring in the curse placed on the Bills by a gypsy. Worst of all, the franchise didn’t even seem to do anything to tempt fate beyond existing. The Bills didn’t trade Babe Ruth or burn the lease in a trophy bowl. This team merely committed the crime of being in Buffalo.
The Moon hasn’t run into our planet yet, but keep an eye out for werewolves just in case. The surest way for things to get worse is to proclaim it can’t happen. The universe is cruel in its sense of humor like that. Don Rickles was right about everything.
Still, the cautiously optimistic can anticipate a lack of unfathomable external torment in consecutive seasons. Last year made Macbeth seem like a Mister Bean short. The good news is a season with any worse incidents will qualify us for an insurance settlement.
A percentage of football soothsayers have based forecasts on what’s ideally an aberration. Figuring the the window is closing for the Bills neglects how many catastrophes occurred. Morrissey reading from the Book of Job would feature less of a gloomy perspective than a recap of 2022.
Any franchise with a remarkable quarterback has a good chance in what we call the Josh Allen factor. But projections must also account for how many uncommon challenges chose to inflict themselves simultaneously.
Getting used to how much life sucks is the one good thing about withstanding struggles. There sure seems to be quite a bit of character development. Waiting for the reward that’s never going to equal the setbacks but may as well be accepted as karma’s consolation prize.
The only option is to persevere. Existence is not exactly requesting compliance. The Bills did the best they could during the worst. Fans can question Sean McDermott’s in-game management while lauding his efforts to lead this franchise through its quest. Sympathy abounds for a team for coming off a year that felt acutely human. Hope despite history is our brand.
