Miami at Buffalo in Toronto, Week 14
Sunday, 4:05 p.m.
For football fans in Canada, watching this game might cause some confusion, what with its four downs, lack of rouges and 10-yards-deep end zones. For football fans in western New York, watching this game might cause some depression, what with the widespread belief that it represents the first step in an inevitable permanent move by their team to Toronto.
For football fans elsewhere, watching this game indicates an unusual degree of interest in two teams hovering on the periphery of the playoff chase, fantasy ownership of Ronnie Brown or a gambling problem.
The first regular season NFL game ever played in Canada is the result of a $78 million deal between the Bills and Rogers Communications, a Canadian firm that owns the Rogers Centre, home to the Blue Jays and Argonauts and where this game will be played. The deal calls for a total of eight Bills contests there, five in the regular season and three in preseason play. Team owner Ralph Wilson is committed to keeping the team in Buffalo, but a change in ownership may be in the not-too-distant future, considering he is 90. So plenty of Bills fans are wondering what lies next for a franchise that just last month was ranked by Forbes magazine as the third-most-likely to move to a different city. (In case you're wondering, the top team on that list was the Florida Marlins, which is somewhat ironic given this matchup -- the Dolphins are in no danger of having to find greener pastures.)
Plenty of Bills fans are also wondering who will play quarterback for their team come Sunday. Season-long starter Trent Edwards suffered a groin injury last week against the 49ers and was replaced in the second half by J.P. Losman, who used to start for Buffalo. The team said it may make a game-time decision on who lines up behind center, although ESPN columnist John Clayton is speculating that, given Edwards's recent struggles, the Bills may decide to give Losman a look for a couple of weeks to see what he can do.
Chad Pennington has no such job-security worries. The Dolphins quarterback, a veteran of divisional games from his time with the Jets, has done well against AFC East teams this year, completing 66.4 percent of his passes for 1,132 yards, six touchdowns, two interceptions and a 101.3 passer rating in four games so far. An emerging target is rookie wide receiver Davone Bess, who signed with Miami as an undrafted free agent but has stepped up in the absence of injured Greg Camarillo, catching 11 passes for 171 yards in his past two games.
The Dolphins have traditionally had trouble winning games at Buffalo in December, coming out ahead just twice in nine tries, which is no surprise for a team from sunny Miami visiting the wintry Lake Erie shore. But of course, this game isn't in Buffalo, and guess what? It isn't even outdoors. The Rogers Centre has a retractable roof, but it stays closed when it's not baseball season. So the Bills will lose a longtime home-field advantage -- as if their fans needed another reason to be concerned.
By
Desmond Bieler
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December 5, 2008; 10:00 AM ET
| Category:
Game Previews Week 14
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