NFL Playoffs in Baltimore

I had forgotten what it's like to root for a football team in the playoffs, until ODU made the FCS playoffs at the end of last season.  So it was kind of jarring last weekend to go to the Ravens' game against the Texans.  Home games in Buffalo can fun and energic, but towards the end of the season, Bills fans can also be too despondent.  M&T Bank Stadium was L-O-U-D and their fans spirited last weekend. 

Another thing that's jarring is listening to Ravens fans call up the sports radio shows to do nothing but complain about beating Houston by only seven points.  That was a fantastic defense they had just defeated and they're playing in the AFC Championship Game for the second time in four years.  Conversely, Buffalo hasn't played a playoff game since January 2000. 

The Bills at home against the Jets in 2010.  Lost in The Music City Miracle is that the embattled Rob Johnson gave Buffalo the lead before the game ended on the subsequent kickoff.

I don't think it's accurate to call Ravens fans "spoiled."  Most of the fans I know are fine and can logically identify the team's flaws without bashing the team or individual players.  It's probably just the vocal minority that doesn't understand that Baltimore plays teams who are also trying to win the game.

I took pictures (see below) and wanted to post them before their game against New England.  I just didn't get a chance to do so during the week.  Big props to my friend Steve for inviting me.

Ray Lewis did his dance to pump up the crowd.

"...because sometimes you get chased by angry men..."

Opening kickoff.

Flacco threw a touchdown on this play-action pass.

Flacco may not be a Brady or Brees, but he's gotten at least one playoff win in each of his first four seasons.

Giving the ball to Ray Rice is never a bad thing.  Cam Cameron disagreed in the fourth quarter against Houston, but he gets paid the big bucks while I'm an armchair quarterback.

Two of the most beloved players in Baltimore are Lewis (52) and Ed Reed (20).

Flacco graduated from the University of Delaware, another in the long line CAA Football players who made the NFL.

The Mayhem Era

Let me take you back to April 2009.  The Buffalo Bills had the eleventh overall pick in the NFL draft.  Rumors on message boards indicated that the team would take Aaron Maybin of Penn State with that selection.  Despite praying and hoping against all hope, the Bills did indeed take him.  I immediately texted my friend, "F--- Aaron Maybin."  I knew it was a wasted pick.

Brian Orakpo, Clay Matthews and Brandon Pettigrew were among players still available when the Bills took Maybin.  But Dick Jauron and Company were enamored by Maybin's speed...which was his only weapon to rush the passer in college.  He was a light defensive end at Penn State, weighing only 230 pounds.  He also only produced sacks against lesser competition, completely disappearing against teams like OSU and USC.  I am not a professional scout for an NFL team, but even I know this is an enormous red flag.

So we Bills fans were stuck with Aaron "Mayhem" Maybin.  Before recording a sack in the NFL, which he failed to do in two seasons, he hired a rapper to create a song about how awesome he is at sacking the quarterback.  He missed 24 practices in August's training camp his rookie year, and got to play in one preseason game.  Still, he suited up for all 16 games and had a handful of tackles without a sack.

In 2010 we brought in Chan Gailey as head coach, and he implemented a 3-4 defense.  Maybin was moved to OLB specifically to rush the passer.  His performance was so bad, however, that he was dropped down the depth chart behind a sixth-round pick (Arthur Moats) and an undrafted free agent (Antonio Coleman).  He played in 2/3 of the 2010 season.  None of this was lost on Yahoo Sports, who named him the worst player in the NFL that season.

A sixth-round pick of the 2010 draft had more sacks in one season than the eleventh overall pick of the 2009 draft had in two.

Fast forward to today, when the Bills officially released him.  This article from WGR550.com has a more detailed timeframe of Maybin's two years associated with the Buffalo Bills.  I'm not angry at Maybin for not working out.  It's not up to me to judge players who are better at their profession than I would be in their profession.

However, the whole Maybin saga encapsulates how frustrating it is to be a Bills fan.  We draft a kid with one good season who accumulated sacks only against the weaker competition faced in college; even that came only after the man in front of him on the depth chart was injured.  There were more talented, more accomplished players on the board behind him.  He missed two dozen training camp practices his rookie year because he was selfish and not interested in being the best player he could have been.  And two years later, we release him. 

I guess the good news is that the current Bills administration of Buddy Nix and Gailey are taking steps to improve the roster.  They're bringing in players to run the schemes they want to play.  When the 3-4 wasn't working last year because they didn't have the personnel, they switched to a 3-4/4-3 hybrid.  They've shown they're adaptable. 

But two years of Nix and Gailey at the helm won't magically change what's happened since 2000.  I'll leave you with the team's first round picks of the last several NFL drafts.  I will now go cry in my beer.

2010 - CJ Spiller
2009 - Aaron Maybin
2008 - Leodis McKelvin
2007 - Marshawn Lynch
2006 - Donte Whitner
2006 - John McCargo
2005 - None since we traded up for our second 2004 first round pick
2004 - Lee Evans
2004 - JP Losman
2003 - Willis McGahee
2002 - Mike Williams
2001 - Nate Clements