Sundays such as yesterday are my absolute favorite.
When the Bills play on either Thursday or Monday night, it’s that day which opens up.
For me that means watching NFL games from 1 p.m. to 7:30 via the Red Zone channel followed by NBC’s Sunday Nighter.
For we mediatypes, “no cheering in the press box” isn’t merely a throwaway line, it’s a mandate.
If you become a fan of the team you cover, it’s a slope that slips into a lack of objectivity and a job poorly done. Of course, the preference is that team will do well, as viewers, listeners and readers are more interested in the content produced. But it’s not always unicorns and rainbows; witness the Bills’ 20-year absence from the playoffs.
That said, there is cheering in the press box, albeit silent.
Virtually everybody covering an NFL game is a member of a fantasy football league and you’re always allowed to root for the team you researched and put together.
Hence, the appeal of an open Sunday where the Red Zone channel normally gives cut-ins to 13 games in the early and late-afternoon windows.
It’s an ideal circumstance for a fantasy player who doesn’t really have a favorite team.
SPEAKING of the Bills, they find themselves in a weird spot.
Normally, playing Thursday night means a short week for the clubs involved. But Buffalo had 13 days off after its last preseason game before the season opener at Los Angeles. Now, after eviscerating the Rams, 31-10, the Bills have 11 days off before hosting the Titans next Monday night.
The way coach Sean McDermott’s team followed the domination of the opener, you got the idea the last thing players wanted was an extra four days off … more like they preferred a short week because they were on such a high.
But the NFL schedule giveth and it taketh away.
“It’s not as consistent as we’d like it to be but we do get a little bit of a break right now, which is great, but we’ll be on a short week the week after,” McDermott said of playing in Miami the Sunday after facing Tennessee. “But we adjust and we overcome and we’ve got great planners in our building to help us with it.”
Of course next Monday night’s game at Highmark Stadium opens up the previous day and my second straight date with the Red Zone channel.
Here are some observations from yesterday’s RZC viewing, sans any fantasy references. (Quick tip, if you want to empty a room at a gathering, start talking about your fantasy team):
— Even before the opening week commenced, those in survivor pools (picking the winner of any game chosen by the participant), it was acknowledged to be a tough week. Of the 16 games, there were only six where the home team was favored. Indeed, three of them lost or tied, the Bengals, Colts (you lose ties) and the Titans, who claimed yours truly.
— The day’s most touching moment came when RZC came on a bit early to show the national anthem from the Jets-Ravens game at MetLife Stadium, 11 miles across the Hudson River from where the World Trade Center buildings stood. With the backdrop of an American flag that covered the entire field, at the urging of the PA announcer, the crowd of 82,000 joined a New York City policewoman in singing the Star Spangled Banner on the 21st anniversary of 9-11. Seeing and hearing that spectacle, it was hard not to shed a tear.
— Tight end O.J. Howard, who cynics would say “wasn’t good enough for the Bills” after they cut him in the roster reduction to 53, was signed by the Texans. He responded with two touchdown catches as Houston, playing at home but in total rebuilding mode, tied the Colts, 20-20.
— It’s hard to find a nicer human being than Frank Reich, but the Indianapolis coach has to be reeling after two consecutive devastating road games. In last season’s finale, all the Colts had to do was beat the Jaguars, the league’s worst team, and they would make the playoffs. Instead, Indy got hammered 26-11 and was kept out of the postseason.
Yesterday wasn’t quite as punitive, but a sloppy tie wasn’t expected against a regrouping team –thank you, Deshaun Watson — reduced to playing Davis Mills at quarterback.
— It took a missed field goal as time expired to give Giants head coach Brian Daboll, the former Bills offensive coordinator, his first victory. But even if they had lost, he defied the NFL mold with a refreshing decision. New York scored with just over a minute remaining and trailed 20-19 before the extra-point. But instead of opting for the kick and a tie, Daboll called for a two-point conversion attempt and running back Saquon Barkley cashed it for the eventual winning points. It was a risky move for a rookie coach, but he made it work and, in the process, made a lot of fans in New York City.
(Chuck Pollock, an Olean Times Herald senior sports columnist, can be reached at cpollock@oleantimesherald.com)
