NFL Week 12: My Three Wishes

1) Would the real Buffalo Bills please stand up?

It must be torture to be a Bills fan at the moment. Not only is the ownership of your side in serious question, not only does your nonagenarian owner want to shift you to another country, but your team has hit the sharpest downward spiral of any NFL side and shows no sign of recovery.

For six weeks, Buffalo played like demi-gods. OK, so they lacked the icy cold determination of the Titans, but they were a cut above the gritty, win-at-all-costs Giants and certainly better than the Panthers, who seem to have put together a winning streak solely powered by serendipity.

For the rest of the season, they’ve been awful—truly woeful. Trent Edwards has gone from looking like a franchise quarterback to looking like a lost quarter-pounder salesman, and it’s just alarming to see both lines crumbling under the slightest of pressure.

I can’t believe that this side is as bad as they are playing and to put fans through such performances on top of everything else that is going on in Buffalo surely amounts to cruel and unusual punishment?

2) Players, learn the rules.

Is it too much to ask that a 10-year veteran like Donovan McNabb actually knows the rules about overtime? Even allowing for how few ties there are in the NFL, to play there for a decade and not realise that a tie is even possible is, frankly, criminal.

The NFL rulebook is vast, and I would never blame someone for not knowing all of it, but being aware that there are three possible endings to a game is surely among the basics.

3) Bring on the Troy Williamson–Brad Childress bout! 

I know, it’s not really big or clever to offer out your former head coach, even if he did do something as unconscionable as docking your wages for attending your grandmother’s funeral. You have to admit, though, it would be fun to see.