A season or two ago the idea of this contest would not have inspired many. As it turned out, it was by far the game of the season so far, and may well hold the unofficial title until Week 17 is in the books.
Both these teams are off to a flyer. Both these teams have playoff aspirations. Both these teams are now being taken seriously.
That the Raiders lost a game they looked to have won should really not detract from their achievement, competitiveness and obviously swagger. They’ve thought they’ve had game for a season; now they know they’ve got game – in abundance.
What is really warming, though, is the sudden maturity of the Bills. Their hammering of hapless Kansas City in Week 1 surely boosted confidence, but to wrench victory from the jaws of defeat by the tune of 5 – yes, five – second half touchdowns when looking down-and-out, shows a scrappy, never-say-die attitude that can only be earned through experience or, as it must be in this case, an immense self-belief.
The 38-35 final score line does reflect the combativeness of both teams and the scoring patterns of 0, 21, 0, 14 for the Raiders and 0, 3, 14, 21 for the Bills shows both teams strengths: the Raiders come out firing and the Bills refuse to lie down. Having the latter trait is particularly useful in the AFC East where other teams are going to push you to the wire, and similarly the former characteristic suits the AFC West – a division in which no other team has a great deal of heart (even the Chargers can be mentally weak), so if both continue to play with such enthusiasm, they could both achieve their goals.
Pick up THE HARE newspaper at Night and Day, Bar Centro, Font or Tiger Lounge in Manchester town centre, or the Oakwood in Glossop.
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