If you missed week 1 of Scoring the NFL, find it here.
Scoring the NFL: Buffalo Bills.
The Buffalo Bills had another depressingly disappointing season. The off-season showed promise having signed DE’s Mario Williams and Mark Anderson, rookie CB Stephon Gilmore and the impending dynamic duo of RB’s CJ Spiller and Fred Jackson in the backfield. Of any season in recent memory, this one truly seemed like it would be “the year;” the year the streak is broken and Buffalo fans can finally see their team push for the Lombardi trophy. But that is not how it went down. Far from it.
This is why the song for the Buffalo Bills 2012 season is “It’s time” by Imagine Dragons.
The title of the song alone encapsulates the mindset of every Bills fan. It’s time for the playoffs. It’s time to be relevant again. It’s time to end the heartbreak.
Listening to the song and hearing the lyrics should send a chilling sensation down your spine. It is uncanny how well these words describe the Bills. It is as if vocalist Dan Reynolds wrote these words for this purpose.
The first verse has lines that fit in a locker room setting just as aptly as in a song: “And now it’s time to build from the bottom of the pit/right to the top/don’t hold back.” It would not be surprising if WR Stevie Johnson, QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, HC Chan Gaily or GM Buddy Nix said these exact words sometime during the off season.
It only gets more eerie as you keep listening. The pre-chorus goes: “I don’t ever wanna let you down/I don’t ever wanna leave this town/ cause after all/ this city never sleeps at night.” The second two lines probably could be spun metaphorically somehow to fit the theme here but the first two lines are spot-on. The Bills players have a peculiarly anomalous love for their fans and the city. WR Johnson is on social media constantly professing his love for Buffalo and “Bills mafia.” OL Andy Levitre, similarly, has said “I love this city. The people here are awesome. Great football town.” Even punter Brian Moorman was upset to leave the city of Buffalo after being cut.
It is the chorus, though, that should really strike a nerve for any Bills faithful. For clarification purposes, a play-by-play of each line will be provided. It goes:
It’s time to begin isn’t it? (It’s time for this mediocrity in Buffalo to end);
I get a little bit bigger (Literally: Mario Williams and Mark Anderson. Figuratively: having the great off-season that they did);
But then I’ll admit, I’m just the same as I was (the Bills are no different than the last 13 dreadful years);
Now you don’t understand, I’m never changing who I am (this is the perception everyone else has of Buffalo)
And the song goes on to repeat these lines FOUR MORE TIMES (representing the year in, year out roller-coaster of emotions the players, coaches, and fans endure).
Yes, Buffalo has endured a plight that no fan would wish on anyone. Will next year be the year? Only time will tell. There is a lot of work to do, having signed a brand new coaching staff and all. Buffalo fans seem hopeful, though, that Doug Marrone can turn the franchise around.
But then again, aren’t they always?
See you next week.
