The NFL named Ryan Fitzpatrick AFC Offensive Player of the Month for September and Rian Lindell AFC Special Teams Player of the Week following the still-makes-me-excessively-overwhelmed win over the Patriots. Bills players on the radar...finally!
It's been clear to Buffalo Bills fans (and those open-minded, logical non-Bills fans) that regardless of a losing record, the team has had legit talent. No, they may not be attention craving... I mean... "big-name" players splashed all over the news, billboards, endorsements, magazine covers, etc. but Ryan Fitzpatrick, Freddy J, Lindell, Moorman, Stevie Johnson, Kyle Williams, Lee Evans (before he was torn from my arms), Drayton Florence, George Wilson, etccc. are solid players.
The problem was, all facets of the team weren't working together as well as they are now (we were missing an O-line, our defense was adapting to a 3-4 formation) so the result was a bunch of games that gave people the impression the Buffalo Bills were a hot mess. And I guess collectively, they were, but not for lack of the right pieces of the puzzle -- the pieces were there, they were just having trouble fitting together properly (hey, not everybody's good at puzzles!).
This season (so far) the puzzle is getting closer to completion and the football world has finally begun to take notice.
So why two Bills?
Fitz has had an awesome season. Not only is he an obvious leader that's given this offense unbelievable confidence and spunk, he's also ranked pretty impressively. In the AFC he's 2nd in TD passes (9), 2nd in passer rating and 3rd in fourth quarter passer rating. A Bills player hasn't been named AFC Offensive Player of the Month since 2002 and Fitz is only the third Bills QB to receive this honor. He's in good company with Drew Bledsoe (2002) and Jim Kelly (won it three times).
Lindell's winning 28-yard FG against New England was easy peasy by his foot's standards (many a game have been won/lost by less with a long-shot FG that actually went through the posts) but it secured that 34-31 victory and by everyone's standards, it was the FG heard 'round the world... or NFL nation... depending on how dramatic you'd like to be. He also nailed a 42-yard FG earlier in the game and four extra points.
I'm so proud of Fitz and Lindell for earning those honors. I've known they deserve it but I'm glad someone besides a bred-too-intensely Bills fan thinks so, too. I hope the Bills can keep up the good work so everyone will stop questioning if the Bills are "forreal" or not... let's make it undeniable!
GO BILLS!!!