When Knockouts Don't Materialize, Bullied Bills Need Plan B

As a kid discovering the world of sports, I loved, in no particular order:

--- The Buffalo Bills, because of Jim Braxton and Joe Ferguson (never was a huge O.J. Simpson fan, for some reason -- might have been the Hertz commercials). And growing up around here, the other choices were to be a complete contrarian and root for the Miami Dolphins or a scummy front-runner and align myself with the Pittsburgh Steelers or Dallas Cowboys;

--- The New York Mets, because the skyline in their logo reminded me of old, darkly exotic Batman comics. And growing up around here, the other choice was to be a scummy front-runner and cheer on the Reggie-era Yankees;

--- The Philadelphia 76ers, because of Dr. J and Darryl Dawkins. And growing up around here, the Buffalo Braves’ brief era of Bob McAdoo-led near-glory preceded the development of my sporting consciousness;

--- The New York Rangers, because of Phil Esposito. And they nearly upset Buffalo in a 1978 best-of-three playoff series, and despite growing up around here, I was enough of a contrarian to fall for the underdog in my least favorite of the four major sports; and

--- Earnie Shavers, because, duh.

Shavers was everything a kid could want in a heavyweight boxer – shaved head, great mid-‘70s moustache, slabs of muscle that shook ominously as he bounced in place moments before the opening bell and consciousness-sapping power that threatened to end any fight at any moment thereafter. The intimidation level he projected earned him an audition for the part of Clubber Lang in Rocky III, but Sylvester Stallone opted for the nuanced acting chops of Mr. T over Shavers’ real-life fearsomeness.

I first saw Shavers when he nearly took the championship – and there was just one back then, in my day (I’ve always wanted to write that) – from Muhammad Ali, who I still resented for stealing a decision from Jimmy Young in a title fight my grandfather loudly declared unjust.

“Earnie hit me so hard, he shook my kinfolk back in Africa,” a suitably impressed Ali would say after winning a close, but unanimous, 15-round decision.

One Friday night a couple years later, Shavers won me 50 cents (a quarter each from two friends who did not understand the power of The Acorn, whose vastly superior alternative nickname, “The Black Destroyer,” was apparently not network-friendly in 1979) when he fought Ken Norton to see who would get the next shot at new champ Larry Holmes.

Norton had beaten Ali in one of their three meetings on the judges’ scorecards, and quite probably two in reality, then barely lost to Holmes in the greatest fight I’d seen to that point. None of which meant anything when Shavers came out at the opening bell and did this:

So by the time Shavers’ well-earned title shot came around six months later, I had no doubt he would finally wear the crown. So what if Holmes had nearly shut Earnie out the first time around, losing just one of the 12 rounds, and that only on one judge’s card?

No way could any mortal stand up forever to Shavers’ punches, especially that overhand right.

So I didn’t worry when most of the first seven rounds went like their first go-round – Holmes moving side to side, stopping only to stick his left jab in Earnie’s face, preventing the Acorn from landing anything of substance. Until Shavers did this:

Watching it again, I still have absolutely no idea how Holmes got up from that right, or stayed upright until the bell. Clearly, neither did Shavers, who gassed himself – as was his wont -- while trying to follow up, and resumed eating punches until finally getting stopped in the 11^th.

From there, Shavers knocked out some suckers. He also got beaten any time he ran into somebody who could box and move, or, like Raising Arizona star Randall “Tex” Cobb, defy physiology by taking his best shot and punching back.

You might be wondering what all this is doing in a column ostensibly about the Bills. Well, we took the kids to Cleveland on Sunday for the season finale between the Indians and Boston Red Sox, which meant following Buffalo’s visit from the New York Giants online, through the wonders of Gamedaycenter technology, then watching the replay at some later point if necessary.

Turned out to be a great move.

As the three-and-outs mounted, with Tyrod Taylor completing third-down passes well short of the yellow line or misfiring completely, while Buffalo’s nationally acclaimed defense yielded enough of Eli Manning’s underneath throws for the Giants to methodically build a 16-3 halftime lead on the way to a 24-10 crowd-silencing win, I kept thinking of Earnie.

Like The Acorn, Rex Ryan’s Bills have shown the ability to overwhelm lesser opponents with pure force. Also like Shavers, they have demonstrated that when that doesn’t work, there is no Plan B.

On Sunday, Buffalo barely had a Plan A.

Alternately running Karlos Williams again and again into the teeth of a Giants’ defense packed tight to stop him and throwing short passes in the resulting long-yardage situations never came close to working, especially without the downfield threat offered by Sammy Watkins. Not only did Williams, who came in averaging 7.8 yards per carry, only dent New York for a little more than 6 feet per try, the pounding eventually concussed the rookie, leaving the Bills without an obvious lead back heading into Sunday’s game at Tennessee.

Nor did Ryan or defensive coordinator Dennis Thurman ever figure out how to counter Manning’s quick tosses, largely abandoning their trademark blitzes for the same strangely passive tactics that yielded a franchise-worst performance against Tom Brady and New England two weeks earlier.

As columnist Mark Cannizzaro predicted in the New York Post, the “bully” Ryan built crumbled after getting hit in the face. The Bills ultimately lost their composure in a way that short-circuited any hope for a comeback.

While I took some shots at Mr. Cannizzaro's past work in my Bills-Giants preview, I have to admit: When you're right, you're right.

Pretty safe to guess Tennessee has taken note of the schemes that have exploited the flaws in Buffalo’s, and has had the benefit of a bye week to prepare. While most rookie quarterbacks would be raw meat for voracious blitzes, Marcus Mariota made a college career of quick throws and through three weeks as a professional, has completed almost 63 percent of his passes with eight touchdowns and just two interceptions.

Another quality Ryan’s Bills share with Shavers – their best performances lose a little luster in restrospect.

Rocking Ali before losing by a couple of rounds on the cards earned Earnie the acclaim of the boxing world, keeping him in the upper half of the heavyweight Top 10 and earning him his big fights with Holmes and Norton. Ali, however, turned out to have been just about thoroughly shot, losing his belt the next time out to Leon Spinks, the 1976 Olympic gold medalist who turned out to be the worst fighter to ever hold the undisputed title.

Norton, likewise, proved to be used up by his war with Holmes and skidding downhill when he faced Shavers, going on to endure an even quicker, more brutal knockout by another one-dimensional slugger, Gerry Cooney before thankfully retiring.

Buffalo’s season-opening thrashing of Indianapolis is also less impressive in light of the Colts’ struggles since. While they have won two straight against fellow members of the NFL’s lamest division, the AFC South, their inability to protect Andrew Luck ultimately led to the presumptive next superstar quarterback missing Sunday’s game with a shoulder injury, leaving a cloud over the rest of their year.

Same goes for the beat-down the Bills delivered in South Florida, given that the Jets did basically the same thing Sunday in London, with a raft of stories before and after the subsequent firing of Joe Philbin showing the disarray in which the Dolphins spent the season’s first month.

Which brings us back to the Titans. As good as Mariota has looked, they are 1-2, with the only win coming over feeble Tampa Bay.

Mariota has also been sacked 12 times in his first three starts for the Titans, so the possibility exists for an early, Norton-style obliteration on Sunday in Nashville.

Or another crashing disappointment if those thunderous shots Ryan and the Bills have been promising since he was fired fail to land.

(NOTE: You, too, can follow @DavidStaba on the Twitter. That would be cool.)