A View from McFadden’s – 9/11/11

Wow. First the Bills are named the NFL’s best-looking team in a super-scientific, unassailable study, and THEN they not only beat, but WHUP the Chiefs – in Arrowhead, in week one! –41-7! I’m not big on exclamation points, but in this case…!!!!

For one week, at least, the team was as talented as it was good looking. Or, more technically, facially symmetrical.

It begs an important question: is it actually better to look good than to feel good? And maybe (maybe) even more important: are the Bills a lot better than we thought? Or are the Chiefs really, really bad? Today, it seems, the answer was both. The Chiefs were horrible, but Bills were clicking on all cylinders: the defense was tight. Fred Jackson ran like mad. Ryan Fitzpatrick played smart. Shawn Merriman got hurt only once. Neither Roscoe Parrish nor Leodis McKelvin did anything dopey.

It won’t always be like this, but it’s definitely a week to remember.

Speaking of remembering, I think that over the long term this will rank as one of the more memorable games in our history at McFadden’s and Calico Jack’s. McFadden’s was the quietest I’ve ever heard it pre-game, during the tributes to 9/11. But once the Chiefs fumbled the opening kickoff, the place was in scream-only mode for three hours. The bar was so happy, in fact, that unless it got corrected after I left, my table left our waitress an 800% tip.

I don’t need to bother recapping the game or showing clips, because most of you reading this saw the game or read the reports. So, here’s a clip of the game it most reminded me of – another first-week stunner:

This was the team’s largest opening-week point total since beating the Jets to kick off the 1975 season. I couldn’t help but become curious about the Bills’ 1975 season. Coincidentally, that team featured standout wide receiver Bobby Chandler – while today’s effort featured a standout performance from tight end Scott Chandler:

What can the Bills do for an encore? I’ve got to believe the Raiders, at home and on short rest, are vulnerable…leading to another memorable McFadden’s moment:

A quick sidebar: a bearded guy introduced himself to me today, and clearly knew who I was. I had to admit I didn’t recognize him. But, I did once I heard his name: his father used to bring him to Calico Jack’s as a teenager.

We’re actually building a second-generation of NYC Bills Backers.