A Semi-Success Weekend For Haters

A Semi-Success Weekend For Haters

When your team isn’t good enough to compete for a title, you resign yourself to rooting against your rivals.

This weekend, the Miami Dolphins and their fans had two opportunities to participate in what is known as a “hate watch”.

A hate watch is when you watch a game solely to root against one of the teams. With the Buffalo Bills and New England Patriots playing for the opportunity to advance to the AFC championship game, it gave us Dolphins fans a reason to watch the games beyond being addicted to the sport. 

Buffalo faced off against the Denver Broncos and lost 33-30 in Overtime. This game had it all if you were rooting against the Bills. First, Josh Allen turned in an absolute disaster class of a performance. While he threw for 283 yards and 3 touchdowns, those were undermined by two interceptions and two fumbles, including the worst fumble you’ll ever see, which allowed Denver to kick a field goal late in the second quarter to go up 20-10 before halftime. 

Even with Allen’s lackluster play, the Bills were still able to have a chance in overtime, but Allen’s final turnover of the day enabled the Broncos to kick a field goal and punch their ticket to the final round of the AFC bracket. The pick wasn’t entirely his fault, as receiver Brandin Cooks looked like he was going to come down with it before having the ball ripped from his grip.

Many online thought that it should have been a catch and down by contact, though from my perspective it seemed like Cooks didn’t survive the ground and the call was correct.

Of course, that was undermined by a very similar play not being ruled as an interception in the Rams and Bears game.

Once again, the NFL struggles with consistency, but as a Bills hater, my sympathies only extend so far. 

With one successful hate watch under our belts, we turned our attention to New England and their game against the Houston Texans.

Unfortunately, this one wasn’t as fun to watch, though it did have its moments. New England quarterback Drake Maye was harassed all day by the stellar Texan defense. He threw one pick and fumbled 4 times, but his poor performance was outdone by C. J. Stroud, who tossed 4 picks and generally looked overwhelmed. It was a performance reminiscent of some of Tua Tagovailoa’s worst games, and despite a great defensive effort, Houston was unable to overcome their signal caller’s shortcomings. 

That isn’t to put the blame entirely on Stroud, though he deserves the lion’s share of it. New England’s defense came to play particularly in the run game. Each attempt from the Texans resulted in their offensive line being blown up and forced into their own backfield. Houston’s leading rusher was Jo’quavious Marks, who had just 17 yards on 14 carries. It pains me to say it, but New England once again looks like the team to beat in the AFC.

That is especially true when factoring in Denver losing its starting quarterback, Bo Nix, to an ankle fracture. This forces former Patriot Jarrett Stidham in action against his old team for the right to make the Super Bowl, a stroke of luck typical for New England. While it seems like the Patriots already have their Super Bowl ticket punched, I’ll be watching as a true hater, rooting for the Broncos to shock the world.

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