The Bills reached the postseason for the first time since 1999 after beating the Dolphins on Sunday, but they were kept on pins and needles until the Bengals took down the Ravens before celebrating.
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With the temperature at 2 degrees, fans ditched their New Year’s Eve plans to welcome the postseason-bound Bills at Buffalo Niagara International Airport early Monday morning.
Buffalo ended the longest active playoff drought in U.S. pro sports Sunday after winning at Miami.
“Buffalo wouldn’t be Buffalo if it wasn’t for people coming out here in weather like this,” said Kyle Bower, a Bills fan who happened to be visiting from West Palm Beach, Florida.
The Bills landed shortly before 1 a.m. and were met by a few hundred fans, who had been chanting “Let’s go, Buffalo!” and singing the team’s touchdown celebration song, “Shout!”
Welcomed home by the best fans in the world.
WOW. #GoBills pic.twitter.com/wSdKx9g2JW
— Buffalo Bills (@buffalobills) January 1, 2018
As the team disembarked, fans chanted “We want Kyle!” for defensive lineman Kyle Williams, a 12th-year pro and the longest-tenured player on the roster. Williams was in tears as he passed the fans.
Supporters formed two rows and watched as players drove their cars in a procession down the middle to exit. One fan held a sign that said “Party Like It’s 1999,” a reference to the team’s last playoff appearance. Buffalo hasn’t won a playoff game since 1995.
About 40 cars had gathered in the parking lot by midnight, and many of them honked to ring in the new year in a festive, frosty scene.
“We were just excited. A perfect night to come out and support the team,” said Kristin Cahill, who was with her son, Joseph Kemp. “This hasn’t happened in his lifetime. He’s 16.”
Her son suggested greeting the Bills after the team tweeted its travel plans for the trip back from Miami.
“He brought it up, and I said, `Let’s go.” Cahill said. “We didn’t have any plans.”
Playoff spots won’t be the only things on the line when the 2017 NFL regular season concludes Sunday.
A host of players across the league are in line to pocket significant bonuses if they can reach certain performance incentives based on their Week 17 play. ESPN’s Adam Schefter, citing sources, looks at some of the most significant:
• Miami Dolphins defensive end Cameron Wake collects a $1 million incentive for 55 percent playing time this season. Entering Sunday, he’s at close to 60 percent and is expected to clinch it against the Buffalo Bills.
• Titans tight end Delanie Walker earns a $500,000 incentive this season for going to the Pro Bowl and for Tennessee making the playoffs. Walker already has been voted to the Pro Bowl, so if Tennessee wins Sunday to get into the playoffs, Walker earns another half-million dollars.
Who will lock up the remaining postseason berths? Will Eli Manning be playing in his last game with the Giants? Yes, Week 17 should be interesting.
Will Matt Ryan and the Falcons score a big win against the Panthers to guarantee themselves a playoff spot?
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• Philadelphia Eagles running back LeGarrette Blount, who has 729 rushing yards this season, has a $300,000 incentive for 750 rushing yards. Blount needs 21 rushing yards against the Dallas Cowboys to hit that mark.
• Los Angeles Rams defensive lineman Michael Brockers, who has 4.5 sacks, earns a $125,000 bonus for 5.5 sacks this season. Brockers needs one sack versus the San Francisco 49ers for the payout.
• Oakland Raiders running back Marshawn Lynch, who has 790 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns this season, has a $600,000 bonus for 800 rushing yards and another $250,000 bonus for nine rushing TDs. Lynch, therefore, needs 10 rushing yards against the Los Angeles Chargers and two rushing scores to collect both monetary awards.
• Raiders wideout Seth Roberts, who has 38 catches this season, has a $150,000 bonus for 45 catches this season and needs seven receptions to claim it.
• Atlanta Falcons defensive end Adrian Clayborn, who has 9.5 sacks this season, needs an additional half-sack against the Carolina Panthers to collect a $1.25 million bonus for 10 sacks this season. Clayborn’s sack total this season already has earned him a $750,000 bonus.
• Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen, who has 85 catches this season, has a $250,000 incentive for 90 catches. Thielen needs five catches against the Chicago Bears to collect the additional bonus; he already has collected $750,000 for reaching 80 catches this season.
• New Orleans Saints defensive end Cam Jordan, who has 12 sacks, has an escalator in his contract for 2018 that will pay him an additional $250,000 in base salary if he reaches 13 sacks this season.
• Bears wide receiver Kendall Wright, who has 54 catches, needs six more to achieve a $375,000 bonus for 60 catches this season.
• Jets receiver Jermaine Kearse, who has 60 catches for 751 yards, has a $300,000 incentive for 65 catches — as well as a $250,000 incentive that he already has achieved for 750 receiving yards.
Seattle Seahawks cornerback Justin Coleman was not fined by the NFL for his celebratory leap into a Salvation Army kettle last week, according to a league source.
Coleman jumped into one of the oversized red kettles behind the end zones at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, after returning an interception 30 yards for a touchdown in Seattle’s win over the Dallas Cowboys on Christmas Eve.
The celebration mirrored one done by Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott last season. Elliott also avoided a fine.
Justin Coleman lept into a Salvation Army kettle after his pick-six against the Cowboys. Tim Heitman/USA TODAY Sports
Officials flagged Coleman 15 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct; NFL celebration rules prohibit players from using props.
Coleman said his celebration was preplanned.
“I was telling the guys, if I catch a pick-six in that end zone, I’m gonna jump in the kettle and throw the ball out,” he said after the Seahawks’ 21-12 victory. “It don’t matter. I was just telling them, that’s what’s going to happen. Everybody was telling me I was going to catch a pick, and it came to me. I give God the glory.”
It was Coleman’s second pick-six of the season. He had one in Week 4 against the Indianapolis Colts.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Wide receiver Brandon Marshall wants to return to the New York Giants next season. He thinks there are two quality years left in his 33-year-old body, and he wants to complete a résumé that will lead him to the Hall of Fame.
Marshall signed a two-year deal with the Giants last offseason. He missed the final 11 games of this season with an ankle injury that required surgery.
It hasn’t stopped him from training and rehabbing at the team facility. He has been working as if there is life after 2017.
“I’m all-in on football. I’ve rebuilt my body. I think I’m two great years away from — and I’ll say it, I want to be a Hall of Famer, and I think I got two great years to go to be mentioned with some of the greats,” Marshall said. “I’m not just playing this game just to be a guy; I want to be remembered for the product that I put out on the field.
“So these last few years have been tough, last year with the Jets, this year with the Giants. But I’m hopeful that the next couple years for me will be some amazing years and some of my best work.”
Brandon Marshall has one more year on his deal with the Giants and could earn up to $5.5 million, but he produced just 18 catches for 154 yards in five games this season before being injured. Mark LoMoglio/Icon Sportswire
Marshall is said to be progressing well in his rehab. He is already running and will be doing so without restrictions in a couple of weeks.
Newly hired general manager Dave Gettleman will have a decision to make. Marshall should be healthy and is signed for one more year. He could earn up to $5.5 million, but he produced just 18 catches for 154 yards in five games before suffering the injury and needing surgery.
Marshall understands the reality of the situation.
“You know how it is, you get to the plus side of 30, a production slip, you get injured, the business side of it, history says that you’re going to get cut or they are going to ask you to take a pay cut,” he said. “That’s the business side of it, that’s history. So I’m prepared for that. I’ve had a lot of change in my life, but one of the reasons why I came to this organization was for stability and also not to be an environment that we created this year, right? So I was looking for more stability, but I’m built for this and I’ll learn from it.”
Does that mean he would be open to a pay cut to return to the Giants?
“Well, one, it’s not about the money for me,” Marshall said. “I’ve done well, my wife and I, we’ve done a great job. So it’s not about the money. I’m good for life, my kids are good for life. But I’m back to my beast, bullish, Brandon Marshall ways. The things that you guys have seen get me in trouble Year 1, Year 2, Year 3, Year 4, I’m back to that type of mentality. I want it all. It’s about respect, it’s about finishing strong, and although it’s not about the money, but I’m approaching it as whatever is for me, I want it all. If that’s $100,000, $500,000, $1 million, I want it all. Whatever I’m worth, I want it all.”
Marshall is on his fifth professional team. He has played for the Denver Broncos, Miami Dolphins and Chicago Bears, in addition to the Jets and Giants. He has 959 career catches for 12,215 yards and 82 touchdowns. He’s currently top 25 all time in catches and receiving touchdowns.
What’s noticeably missing from his potential Hall of Fame résumé is playoff production. Marshall has never appeared in a postseason game throughout his 12-year career.
He was hoping that would change with the Giants. Instead, this season was a disaster. The Giants (2-13) lost three wide receivers for the season — including Marshall and Odell Beckham Jr. — in one Week 5 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. It didn’t get much better from there.
After experiencing his share of problems throughout his career, Marshall admittedly tried to lay low with the Giants. He said it felt good not to be in the middle of the drama for once.
The veteran receiver tried to play a different role with the Giants this year. He’s one of the players embattled cornerback Eli Apple said he had conversations with throughout the season and offered advice.
Marshall is attempting to serve as a resource and mentor.
“I do have compassion for him. I talk to him and I want to spend time with him this offseason,” Marshall said.
“And I told him it’s not about football. I want to help him get through this because, from my story, I ended up in a mental institute for three months,” Marshall said, referencing his journey to a borderline personality disorder diagnosis, which led to him becoming a passionate advocate for mental health. “I was in the outpatient program because, like so many other guys, we were Atlas, you know the guy who was holding up the world. You’re holding up your family and everybody around, right? What that does to a person, especially a young kid fresh out of college with no life experiences, that can break somebody down.”
Marshall knows. He says he made it through similar experiences early in a career that he hopes has a couple of years remaining.
