Once-proud Bills now in basement

By STEVE DOERSCHUK

Canton Repository

BEREA

If it was cold in Buffalo when the Bills lost four straight Super Bowls, imagine being a fan of that team now.

Even the Browns went to the playoffs more frequently — once — than the Bills in the 2000s.

Once upon a decade, Browns fans became disgusted when a former Buffalo player, Marty Schottenheimer, couldn’t coach Cleveland past the AFC title game.

Now, Schottenheimer’s playoff-laden late 1980s echo like an impossible dream on one shore of Lake Erie. Less than two miles up that shore, Buffalo laments how much better losing the big game was compared to losing as a disease.

While it pained Buffalo to drop Super Bowls capping the 1990, ’91, ’92 and ’93 seasons, that was a wondrous place to be compared to where the Browns will find the Bills Sunday.

Consider:

The Bills, Lions and Texans were the only NFL members never to reach a playoff game in the 2000s.

The Browns are 5-7 and have won four of their last six games. The Bills are 2-10 after getting mauled 38-14 at Minnesota.

Attendance in Cleveland has been fairly stable. Attendance in Buffalo has slumped, and the team is sharing one regular-season game a year with Toronto.

Whereas the Browns were 10-6 in 2007, The Bills haven’t been above .500 since going 9-7 in 2004.

Colt McCoy has inspired hope he can be the Browns first regular winner at quarterback since Bernie Kosar. The Bills have been looking for a quarterback since Jim Kelly hung SSRqem up, currently going with Ryan Fitzpatrick.

It isn’t completely hopeless. At least, it didn’t seem so before the Bills were embarrassed at Minnesota.

“I was completely surprised,” Bills coach Chan Gailey said. “I learned something about our team out there. Don’t ask me what. That’s my business.”

At one point, the Bills were telling themselves they could have been 4-4, if not better.

But depleted by injuries and deflated by failing to finish off the Steelers two Sundays ago, they collapsed at Minnesota, making five turnovers and getting nailed for three personal fouls.

“Can you regroup from something like this?” Gailey said.

It sounded as if he was asking himself.