This wasn’t the season we thought it would happen, but here are the Bills in the National Football League playoffs for the first time since 1999.
Buffalo, at 9-7, benefited from a miracle win by the Bengals in Baltimore, to claim the second wild-card spot and No. 6 seed. That translates to an opening-round game at third-seeded Jacksonville (10-6) with the Jaguars favored by 7 ½ points on the early line.
Of course, there are two compelling storylines heading into Sunday afternoon’s meeting at Everbank Stadium.
First, there’s a ready-made villain.
The Jags are coached by Doug Marrone, late of Syracuse University and the Bills.
Marrone, who Buffalo front-office say sources say called himself “St. Doug” referring to the fact sainthood requires two miracles, felt that’s what he accomplished with the Orange and Bills.
That arrogance did not resonate well in the Buffalo locker room.
And he turned the team’s fans off when, after leading the Bills to a 9-7 record in 2014, exercised an absolutely ridiculous clause in his contract.
It’s still uncertain whether it was then-general manager Doug Whaley or senior vice president of football administration Jim Overdorf who crafted the absurd caveat. But it stipulated that, within three days after the season ended, Marrone could walk away AND receive his full $4 million salary for 2015 … no strings.
So, concerned about front-office dysfunction, he took advantage of the clause and left the Bills with the most golden of parachutes, his ego convincing him that he would surely get one of the six other open NFL head-coaching jobs.
But early enthusiasm by the Jets quickly petered out, and Todd Bowles was hired. Then, Denver opted for Gary Kubiak, Oakland chose Jack Del Rio, Atlanta added Dan Quinn, Chicago signed John Fox and San Francisco elected Jim Tomsula.
In desperation, Marrone signed with the Jaguars as assistant head coach in charge of the offensive line under Gus Bradley. When his boss was fired 14 games into the 2016 season, Marrone was appointed as interim then brought back this year.
He’s parlayed a quality defense, that includes former Bills’ run-stopper Marcell Dareus and an elite running back (rookie Leonard Fournette) to offset an iffy quarterback (Blake Bortles) and win the AFC South.
Only seven Bills on the active roster or injured reserve (60 players total) were coached by Marrone but you can bet the front-office survivors would like nothing better than to see the franchise’s current edition beat him in the playoffs … on his homefield.
But, actually, the other storyline is more concerning.
Lost in the playoff euphoria of Buffalo’s 22-16 victory over the Dolphins on Sunday afternoon at Miami Gardens was the ankle injury suffered by feature running back LeSean McCoy.
He was removed via cart after the third-quarter injury.
McCoy’s body language was not good and though coach Sean McDermott indicated the team would know more in the next day or two, a bad ankle sustained by Buffalo’s main offensive weapon bodes ill with a postseason game just days away.
Indeed, the Bills, without McCoy, have a major depth issue at running back. Marcus Murphy, signed last week when Travaris Cadet went on injured reserve, had only one carry over 16 games in two seasons with the Saints. He took over for McCoy and totaled a team-high 41 yards on seven carries against Miami. Buffalo’s other two healthy rushers are basically fullbacks — and, no, we’re not counting defensive tackle Kyle Williams who scored against the Dolphins on a 1-yard dive — 32-year old Mike Tolbert, a straight-ahead back who had 39 yards against Miami, and blocking specialist Pat DiMarco.
It’s hard to imagine Bills general manager Brandon Beane not signing somebody before Wednesday’s practice.
Meanwhile, it’s worth revisiting the circumstances that put the Bills in the playoffs for the first time in 17 years.
The first key was Buffalo taking care of business and winning at Hard Rock Stadium.
Oh, there was the usual drama as a 19-0 lead devolved into a 6-point game with the Dolphins in possession after the Bills mishandled another onside kick — I’m looking at you Pat DiMarco — and just under two minutes to play. But safety Jordan Poyer’s game-saving interception undid that gaffe.
But the other help came from the Bengals in Baltimore. After blowing a 14-point lead midway through the third quarter, then falling behind 27-24 in the closing moments, oft-maligned quarterback Andy Dalton made a play that will have Bills fans talking for decades. On 4th-and-12 with 44 seconds to play, he tossed his third TD pass of the day, a 49-yard connection with Tyler Boyd to snatch a 31-27 victory.
The Bengals, who seemed to have dramatically damaged Buffalo’s playoff hopes with 20-16 win back in Week 5 at Cincinnati, rewarded the Bills in the dying seconds of the NFL’s final regular-season game.
After his team’s playoff berth was secure, McDermott, a man of religion, proclaimed, “I just want to praise God, No. 1. It was a heck of a year (and) He continues to bless us. Thank the Cincinnati Bengals and (coach) Marvin Lewis.
“I’m a firm believer in faith and I know God brought me here for a reason. He brought this group of men together for a reason, so that’s what I fall back on in times like this.”
He concluded, “This is a team … these guys play as a team. From Day 1, no one gave them a chance. People thought we were tanking. We’re nowhere near where we need to be, but we’re very grateful for this opportunity.”
And so are the Bills fans.
(Chuck Pollock, a Times Herald sports columnist, can be reached at cpollock@oleantimesherald.com)
