A thought was brought up by ESPN.com’s Gregg Easterbrook, aka the “Tuesday Morning Quarterback,” in his column Tuesday: a Detroit Lions-Buffalo Bills Super Bowl.
Three years ago, this would have been unthinkable.
In 2008, the Bills started 4-0 but ended the year on a 3-9 stretch, securing a ninth straight year without a playoff appearance. The quarterback was Trent Edwards (except when JP Losman played one game). This was Stevie Johnson’s rookie year.
In 2008, the Lions went 0-16. General Manager Matt Millen was fired during the Lions’ Week 4 bye, along with most of the coaching staff. The Lions had gone through the same non-playoff drought. The quarterbacks were an aging Daunte Culpepper, Jon Kitna, Dan Orlovsky and rookie Drew Stanton. This was Calvin Johnson’s second year.
(Oh, fun note: Orlovsky tried out for the Peyton Manning-for-one-season role for Jim Caldwell and the Indianapolis Colts on Tuesday.)
In 2011, the Bills and Lions have both started 3-0, each showing resilience. The Lions have come back (twice) from 18 points or more, and the Bills pulled off a stunning comeback and upset of the high-flying New England Patriots last Sunday, picking off Tom Brady FOUR TIMES (sidenote: Brady threw 4 picks all of last year). Detroit quarterback Matthew Stafford is fifth in the NFL with 977 passing yards and tied with Buffalo signal-caller (and Harvard graduate) Ryan Fitzpatrick (and some guy named Drew Brees) for second in the league with nine touchdown chucks.
What?
That’s more TD passes than belt-wearing champion Aaron Rodgers (eight), fantasy machine Matt Schaub (six) and the Pride of Pittsburgh, Ben Roethlisberger (three).
No.
Matthew Stafford? The guy who threw 20 picks in his first year? Only played three games last year and got hurt? A career completion percentage of 57 percent?
The Harvard guy? That’s not a football powerhouse. Never thrown over 60 percent complete in his pro career? Just got to 3,000 passing yards in 13 games last year? Fitzpatrick?
Yep. Those two.
Who knows why these teams are in this position? We can’t help but mention those wide receivers named Johnson. Stevie, or Steve, has scored a touchdown in each of the three games this year and has pulled in 20 receptions. He had 10 touchdowns and 82 catches last year. Calvin’s caught six of Stafford’s nine touchdowns (that’s two a game). Calvin had 12 all of last year.
If you can do math (you don’t have to, I’ll tell you), those wideouts are on the way to Pro Bowls and career-high seasons.
Are there question marks? Sure. Buffalo’s given up 73 points on the year and 1162 yards. Detroit’s running game is questionable; lead rusher Jahvid Best is averaging 2.9 yards a carry.
But as the stats, the standings and the gameplay show the leadership of these two young quarterbacks, one from a traditional football school (Stafford went to the University of Georgia) and one from an Ivy League school who is beginning the season as the starter for the first time. And the No. 1 receiver that most every Super Bowl team has.
Will a Bills-Lions Super Bowl happen? A bunch of teams need to fall on their tail for it to happen, to be honest. New England, the defending champs Green Bay (the only other undefeated team), the tough Baltimore Ravens, continual sentimental favorites New Orleans, even the hurting Philadelphia Eagles: they aren’t going away just because a Bills-Lions Super Bowl is a possibility.
Brady, despite his four picks against the Bills, is still on pace to break Dan Marino’s all-time passing yards record. Jermichael Finley, Ryan Grant and the now-healthy Packers are undefeated. Joe Flacco’s up there in the statistics with Stafford and Fitzpatrick as the receiving corps in Baltimore is redefining itself. Brees has a solid running combination (Mark Ingram and Darren Sproles) for the Saints, and the Eagles are skilled enough on paper to put up a fight, even if Vick misses a few games.
Yet, the Bills and Lions are 3-0. The Super Bowl likes teams with good records (naturally). While the Lions have never gone, the Bills (in)famously went to four of the big games and lost all four.
It would be nice, wouldn’t it?