Loch Ness has its lake monster. North and Central America have el Chupacabra. The Himalayas have the yeti. And Buffalo had the tight end. All are mythical creatures who maintain the power of virtual invisibility save for a few occasional sightings. That was true until week one of the NFL season when millions of Bills fans around the country began asking themselves, Who in the name of Pete Metzelaars is Scott Chandler?
There has been plenty to be frustrated over during the dozen years since Buffalo participated in the playoffs. While a lack of a true receiving tight end has been on that list, it often gets overshadowed by the coaching and quarterback carousels and the offensive line “wall” that even the first two of the three little pigs would scoff at. Coming into 2011 seemed no different. Despite not having a consistent athlete at the position since Jay Riemersma left the organization, Buffalo’s front office and coach announced they were content at tight end and had no desire to pluck from arguably the greatest TE class in the history of free agency. More than 99% of Bills fans (and that’s a conservative estimate) shook their heads and awaited a season with only one semi-proven catcher out of all wide receivers and ends on the roster combined.
In a game filled with surprises for all football fans, no surprise could have been greater than the emergence of Scott Chandler. The 2007 Iowa product was a big part of why Buffalo won 41-7. Chandler finally showed why Buddy Nix scouted him as a fourth round draft pick back with San Diego, bringing in more catches than teams he’s played for in his career.
The former Hawkeye came into Sunday’s game boasting one career catch for eight yards. He has played for the Chargers, the Dallas Cowboys, the Giants, the Cowboys again, and now, though he certainly took the scenic route from San Diego, he has found a home with the Bills.
The only people that may have been more surprised than Bills fans by Chandler’s performance were the coaches and players in Kansas City. They clearly did their homework and they were punished severely for it. If Kansas City dug up any tape on their opponents in the past decade, they would see that covering the tight end was the last thing they needed to concern themselves with. If they hit the books for a while, they would learn that except for once (Kevin Everett), Buffalo hasn’t spent a first-, second-, or third-round draft pick on the position in that course of time. And Nix and Chan Gailey’s comments this off-season regarding the position only confirmed what the Chiefs and everyone else knew. The southern gentlemen sure snowballed all of us, and just like the yeti, Bills fans love the snow.
Now with a five-catch, two-touchdown game under his belt, Chandler looks ahead in hopes of continuing to be a huge part of this team getting points and picking up first downs to keep their defense fresh enough to hold teams to seven points. But as Oakland travels to Buffalo, the secret’s out on Scott Chandler. The Raiders and the rest of the NFL know it. And now what we wait to find out is … will it matter?