The NFL has many emotional players and coaches. The whole sport of football from little league to the NFL is an emotional rollercoaster because of what it takes to not only be great but win. Teams and players put so much into getting ready to play. The energy exerted on the field keeps us all in awe and builds respect for the players from fans. The respect can turn to love overnight with a win over a certain team or a fantastic performance. We witnessed the emotion of the game in it’s rawest form when Derek Carr went to the post-game podium and unloaded all of his emotions about his time in Las Vegas coupled with a devastating loss to a team they were “supposed” to beat. More proof that most athletes have their ear to the turf and hear all of the expectations, criticisms and disappointment the fans and media broadcast. Derek Carr spoke directly to what it takes to just play in an NFL game and the results can change everything for a player and/or a team.
The Buffalo Bills played a superb game against a tough to beat Detroit Lions team. Thanksgiving 2022 witnessed more emotion from Buffalo QB Josh Allen. It was not unusual to see Josh Allen hug Stefon Diggs like he was hugging his son coming back from war combat. It was not unusual to see Josh Allen perform a primal scream when the game was finally won. The relief and adrenaline could explain all of it. However, its too much emotion for a high intensity, less than 40 seconds to make a decision NFL football game.
From Diggs to Allen to OC Dorsey to Head Coach McDermot – there is too much emotion on gameday to really focus on the talents, player play correction and decisions needed to be successful. Its understood that they have been so close and they can literally taste the Super Bowl appearance and the Super Bowl win. High emotion is needed and has been a part of many successful teams to play this game well. The NFL audience does not want to see robots play. They love the show of emotion. The fans of the Bills are one of the most emotional due to their history. Football game outcomes have a lot of luck involved. The best team does not always win. The literal bounce of the ball can affect a whole season. It happens year after year. Seems to have happened to Buffalo more than any other team. We all agree Buffalo has all the pieces needed to win the Super Bowl. The offense and defense has all of the power and design needed to stop any offense and score on any defense.
McDermot needs to get a handle on the emotions that fill every stadium the Bills play in. Its his job to measure the emotion of the team and do his best to temper anything that could get in the way of the best decision making and performance. The Bills are going to get everyone’s best shot. Most of the games the Bills lose are closely contested. Once the Bills get a lead on a team they have a way to get on a roll and are unstoppable. They need the emotion to be capped a little from where it is now. There are too many other variables that could cause their Super Bowl run to be cut short. Emotion, which is totally controllable, needs to be managed.