Bills at Vikings
The Buffalo Bills are coming off a heartbreaking loss, complete with a postgame meltdown from their star wide receiver. The Minnesota Vikings are just playing out a heartbreaking season.
The Vikings will be looking to move to 2-0 under new head coach Leslie Frazier when they host the star-crossed Bills on Sunday.
Buffalo might be the best 2-9 team in recent memory, with three overtime losses and six of its nine setbacks decided by one score or less. In fact, each of their last four losses have been by a field goal.
But after coming back from a franchise-worst 0-8 start with two straight victories, the Bills looked like a legitimately dangerous team heading into last weekend’s home clash with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The offense was quiet for the first half but battled back to force overtime on a 49-yard field goal with two seconds left. Buffalo looked like it had the game won in the extra period when quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick heaved a 40-yard pass to Steve Johnson, who had gotten behind the Pittsburgh coverage and was wide open.
The ball settled into Johnson’s arms two steps into the end zone but he just dropped the ball.
The Steelers won with a field goal on their next possession.
Johnson, who had been the star of the previous game with three touchdown catches against the Cincinnati Bengals, was inconsolable after the game, telling the press he would never get over the drop while fighting back tears.
In a season where not much has gone right for Buffalo, Johnson’s emergence had been one of the highlights. Johnson will need to lick his wounds quickly and regain the confidence of his quarterback, because the Vikings are fifth in the NFL against the run, allowing 92.7 yards per game on the ground.
That could make the going tough for Fred Jackson, who has emerged as a threat both in the running and passing game recently.
Minnesota (4-7) has been in a battle with the Dallas Cowboys all season to see which sub-.500 team can get the most press coverage, with the Brett Favre circus currently holding the lead. Both the Cowboys and the Vikings have made scapegoats of their fired head coaches already this season.
With Brad Childress gone, the locker room sniping seemed to be at a season low and the Vikings responded with a 17-13 victory over the Washington Redskins last week.
Favre completed 15 only passes for 172 yards and did not throw a touchdown, but he also did not throw an interception for only the second time this season.
The one bad thing to come out of the game was on the injury front, as running back Adrian Peterson left the game in the first half with an ankle sprain.
Peterson did not practice for a second straight day Thursday and is expected to be a game-time decision. If he is unable to go Sunday, rookie Toby Gerhart will get the start. Gerhart rushed for 76 yards and a touchdown filling in for Peterson last week.