So, what is this all about? A shout out to glitch99 and bataviabill who planted the idea that a single play could define the Buffalo Bills’ 2017 season. That’s what this is about. If you’ve followed the “Plays that defined” series, I’ve set a goal to tell the story of each game using a handful of representative plays to create a distilled version of each contest. Can we tell the story of the entire season using only one play? You bet we can, and the voting for it begins today.
Before scrolling any further, the first thing you should do is to come up with a one or two sentence narrative that you feel embodies the 2017 regular season. Keep that narrative handy because you’ll vote for whichever plays best embody it. For example; a narrative for an undefeated season might be “The Bills dominated everyone.” You’d then vote for the play that best captures “dominance.”
A few method notes before we begin:
- The regular season that broke the drought was the most important story (and also had 16 games making a nice bracket). So we’ll use regular season only.
- Conferences were easy enough with “Home” and “Away.”
- Each play below was selected to be most in line with the narrative that was spun in the “Plays that defined” series. Every play also comes with a brief explanation on the narrative I felt it captured. Take that as a starting point only. You don’t need to agree with my account, just vote for the play that captures your narrative best.
- Seeding was conducted using point differentials. There was a three-way tie in the Away Conference, so highest point total was used as the deciding factor.
Home Conference Round One
Game One
Oakland Raiders (+20)
Story: Straight up owning the other team
vs.
New Orleans Saints (-37)
Story: Gettin’ straight up owned
Poll
Which play best defines the season?
This poll is closed
-
82%
Matt Milano fumble recovery and TD
-
17%
Allowing Drew Brees a rushing TD
Game Two
Denver Broncos (+10)
Story: Defense leads the way against faltering competition
vs.
New England Patriots (-20)
Story: Creativity and best efforts couldn’t get it done
Poll
Which play best defines the season?
This poll is closed
-
67%
Tre’Davious White interception
-
32%
Joe Webb incomplete pass
Game Three
New York Jets (+9)
Story: Solid but unspectacular gets it done
vs.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (+3)
Story: We’re still learning
Poll
Which play best defines the season?
This poll is closed
-
34%
Charles Clay TD
-
65%
Bills end half with a strange play call
Game Four
Miami Dolphins (+8)
Story: Shoulda ran away with it, but let the opponent back into it
vs.
Indianapolis Colts (+6)
Story: We needed a miracle. And we got one.
Poll
Which play best defines the season?
This poll is closed
-
9%
Shareece Wright interception
-
90%
Joe Webb 34-yard pass to Deonte Thompson
Vote in all four polls as we narrow down the field!