After last week’s thrashing of Miami, the ceremonial squishing of the fishing in WNY, it feels as though maybe just perhaps a little of the pressure is off these Billls.
Josh Allen is back at the top of the MVP favorites, the Bills are in the “driver’s seat” in the AFC East and their offense looks leagues beyond what Mahomes, Kelce, and Taylor Swift are conjuring in the midwest.
But feel comfort not my friends…for we are approaching not just a trans-atlantic flight…but the team that I believe may be the Bills biggest sleeper rival the past two decades. A team that even flailing in their own lack of relevance has found a way time and time again to take happiness away from the football fanatics of WNY. That team…is the Jacksonville Jaguars.
In the series this week, I’ll point out some moments you may remember and some you may have forgotten that make me believe the Jaguars are the Bills biggest conference rival outside of the AFC East.
For moment one we rewind nearly 20 years! Little Maniac was living in Westchester, NY at the time…he loved video games and but still lived his life in fear of heartbreak around every Buffalo sports corner (not much has changed)
The Bills were starting a new season. Another season with Drew Bledsoe who had been leading the offense to new heights and another season with heightened expectations.
Like a lot of Bills games from this coming era…it wasn’t exactly a display of offensive firepower and prowess. The game remained 10-6 late into the 4th quarter. Keep in mind, this wasn’t in the era where every hour had access to every game, Sunday Ticket was like having a private jet at this point. I watched with unease on my parents Lenovo laptop as Jacksonville drove down the field. They inexplicably converted a 4th and a mile to Jimmy Smith. Then on 4th and Goal with 4 seconds left…my computer updated. 12-10 Jacksonville, 0:00 4th Quarter. The rivalry was born.