The phrase “must win” is a term widely overused in sports – especially in football. After all, isn’t every win a “must win?”
That said, the Buffalo Bills are essentially in a must win situation when they host the Cleveland Browns on perhaps the worst Monday Night Football matchup of the year. (I’m still trying to figure out why I’m getting ready to watch the Browns play on Monday night for the second time in just over a month.)
The Bills are 5-4 and currently sit two games back of the Jets in the AFC East after losing thee straight games. In those three games, Buffalo has turned the ball over a whopping nine times and all three defeats came against divisional opponents. They can ill afford to lose to a 3-6 Cleveland team starting a second year player (Brady Quinn) at quarterback.
If they want to end their skid, Buffalo can start with not turning the ball over. Quarterback Trent Edwards has had success driving the offense into opponents’ territory, but he has been way too careless with the football. The Bills had a magnitude of success earlier in the year because Edwards was playing mistake-free, but lately he’s turned into the 2008 version of Marc Bulger.
Quinn was solid in his first career start last week, but dropped passes and a poor defensive effort in the second half allowed Denver to sneak out a win. This is a Cleveland team that has been in most games, but often finds a way to lose in the end. You’d think a team like Buffalo – whose playoff aspirations are on the line – would stomp an opponent like the Browns from start to finish, but something tells me this going to be a tight game throughout.
A loss and the Bills can essentially kiss their playoff hopes goodbye. The Jets, Pats and Dolphins all own better records right now in the division and the Colts and Ravens are a game up on Buffalo for the two Wild Card spots. The Bills could really make a statement tonight and turn around their season.
