Vikings 2018 Season, Week 3: Bills News and Notes

The Minnesota Vikings are back home this week at U.S. Bank Stadium to face the winless Buffalo Bills, in a matchup of teams seemingly going in different directions. The Bills began their season with Nathan Peterman at quarterback, but after the second-year pro spotted the Ravens a 40-point lead, Bills Head coach Sean McDermott said LOLNOPE and turned to rookie passer Josh Allen (no relation).

Last week, Allen made his first career start against the Chargers and looked every bit the rookie that he is - a couple of nice passes, a couple of bonehead mistakes, mixed with a whole lot of scrambling around looking lost. But it wasn’t enough, as San Diego Los Angeles won by a score of 30-20.

If there’s a franchise to which Vikings fans may feel most akin, it may just be Buffalo - co-losers of four Super Bowls, a fun-loving blue collar fanbase, Hall-of-Fame players, etc. Buffalo lost 37-24 to Washington in Super Bowl XXVI, right there in Minneapolis, at the old HHH Metrodome. One of the Bills’ most beloved players was Don Beebe, father of current Vikings practice squadder Chad Beebe. Both teams operate in small television markets away from the glaring spotlight of mass-market news coverage and gossip-column sensationalism. In fact, according to Forbes, the Buffalo Bills are the least-valued NFL franchise, at a value of around $1.6 Billion. Strangely though, the Buffalo Bills may have been the spark that created one of the biggest tabloid darlings of this era:

One thing Vikings fans probably don’t quite understand about the fanbase - who call themselves the Bills Mafia - is the whole table slamming thing. It’s definitely not in a Minnesotan’s DNA to ruin a perfectly good garage sale/hotdish table. The Erie County Sheriff’s Department recently banned the practice, leading to a bit of a backlash from fans.

Here’s a pretty nice compilation of several table slams.

Nearby Niagara Falls has long been a romantic destination for young couples. It’s where Jim and Pam got hitched. Well, maybe that’s what former Bills Wide Receiver Jordan Matthews was talking about when he told reporters

“When I was in Buffalo, there was like nothing to do there, except … have fun with your wife. She got pregnant. So we always say we got a Buffalo baby. Ain’t nothing to do there, except each other.”

The Bills on Offense

This pretty much sums up Bills fans thoughts about Nathan Peterman, who generated twelve total yards of offense to go along with two interceptions versus the Ravens. Now, former Vikings kicker Daniel Carlson had a bad day last Sunday against the Packers, but that? THAT’s a bad day!

And so, the Peterman era ended and the Josh Allen era began. The rookie from Wyoming was selected 7th overall in the 2018 draft, and got his first career touchdown pass against San Die the Chargers last week, a nice 3-yarder in a tight window to Kelvin Benjamin.

Matthews certainly could have provided some much-needed help to the Buffalo receiving corps this season. Kelvin Benjamin, Zay Jones, Robert Foster, and tight end Charles Clay for a not-very-intimidating set of offensive weapons. In fact, the Vikings pairing of Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen have more yards receiving than the all twelve Bills receivers that have caught passes this season. One thing Laquon Treadwell the Vikings and Bills do have in common is a bad case of the “dropsies”

Speaking of Zay Jones, you may remember him from his bizarre arrest in Los Angeles earlier this year, when he was caught on camera, naked as a jaybird, fighting his brother, former Vikings wideout Cayleb Jones. Well, now it’s his mother who is acting bizarre, tweeting (later deleted) that her son has to tell Kelvin Benjamin where to line up on each play, forcing Zay to apologize.

Another Jones on the bills roster - Running Back Taiwan Jones - gave the new helmet-to-helmet rules a test last week, recovering a ball in the end zone, losing his helmet, then getting drilled by a Chargers player, prompting the question: Can it be helmet-to-helmet if there’s only one helmet involved?

And this is what the injury looked like a day later

In much darker news, LeSean “Shady” McCoy is under the microscope again this week, having been accused by his ex-girlfriend, Stephanie Maisonet, of abusing their 6-year-old son. McCoy had already been accused by another ex, Delicia Cordon, claiming that the running back orchestrated her brutal beating during a home invasion in July. Cordon has offered a $20,000 reward for information about the robbery and assault. Y’know… If you’re the Buffalo Bills, do you really want another running back with dangerous domestic issues?

The Bills on Defense

Bills Cornerback Vontae Davis sparked national sports media outrage when he abruptly retired from football at halftime of the game against Los Angeles, saying he “shouldn’t be out here, anymore.”

The two-time Pro-Bowler had signed with the Bills this season, after starting his career in Miami, then moving on to Indianapolis.

Just like Frank Sinatra, Vontae did it his way.

The Bills defensive line is coached by Bill Teerlink. He’s the son of former Vikings defensive line coach John Teerlink, who helped the undesized John Randle become perhaps the greatest pass-rushing defensive tackle in history. One of his best players is five-time Pro-Bowl defensive tackle Kyle Williams, who - at 35-years-old can still get it done. From the “Department of Names that Sound like they Belong to Guys Who Check Water Meters”, the Bills’ pass rush is centered around Defensive Ends Jerry Hughes and Trent Murphy. However, the two haven’t been able to generate much pressure thus far, combining for a total of 1 ½ sacks on the season. Hughes’ sack moved him into eighth-place in Bills history with a total of 36.

Ridiculous Quote of the Week

This one is from a while back, and touched off a little bit of preseason controversy, but it’s a real quote, from a real player, and it’s reeeeaaaaaally ridiculous:

Note: Eli Manning’s completion percentage sits around 59.9%, Cam Newton’s is 58.7%. I’m really not convinced that 1.2% will make a difference, big fella.