On Monday night, as the Buffalo Bills were beating up on the New England Patriots, Drew Bledsoe and some of his former teammates from both clubs held a virtual watch party on a video call.
The group included former Bills Eric Moulds, Takeo Spikes, Alex Van Pelt and Trey Teague, along with ex-Patriots Tedy Bruschi and Ty Law.
It was arranged as an event for some top customers of Bledsoe's Doubleback winery in Walla Walla, Wash., but mainly became a chance for the former teammates to catch up, laugh and share old stories.
As Josh Allen continued his assault on the single-season records that Bledsoe set with the Bills in 2002, a thought occurred to Bledsoe and Moulds, his top target.
"We think that the records this season in Buffalo need to have an asterisk next to them, because they haven't been in any (adverse) weather," Bledsoe, with tongue firmly planted in cheek, told The Buffalo News by phone this week. "I mean, come on, it's been like 70 degrees in November. That's not real Buffalo. We had to throw the ball around in the snow and the rain and the sleet, and these guys are out there in short sleeves in November.
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"I just don't think it's fair. I don't think these records are actually valid. And Eric Moulds will back me up."
They had a good laugh over that one.
The Bills captured their first divisional crown since 1995 with a Week 15 win over the Denver Broncos. See a game-by-game look at how Buffalo stole AFC East royalties from perennial champs New England. Josh Allen, Cole Beasley, Stefon Diggs, Tre White and Jerry Hughes all star in this slideshow.
In all seriousness, Bledsoe, who turns 49 in February, is a big fan of Allen and of the Bills. He's thrilled with Allen's performance and couldn't be happier that it includes breaking Bledsoe's franchise marks for completions (378 to Bledsoe's 375), total yards (4,738 to Bledsoe's 4,426) and 300-yard passing games (eight to Bledsoe's seven), and Jim Kelly's record for touchdown passes (34 to Kelly's 33).
With 4,320 passing yards, Allen is 39 from equaling Bledsoe's record, but it is unclear if Allen will play, or how much, in Sunday's regular-season finale against the Miami Dolphins.
"What Josh is doing, it's a great credit to him and it's also a great credit to their coaching staff," Bledsoe said. "His accuracy, timing, decision-making, everything that he's doing is at an elite level now. Watching him operate is just really fun. Obviously, I'm a bit biased, but, man, watching great quarterback play just gets me excited."
The similarities between Allen and Bledsoe are striking.
Allen is 6-foot-5 and 237 pounds. Bledsoe's listed height and weight as a player was 6-5, 238.
Both are from small towns on the West Coast. Allen is a native of Firebaugh, Calif. (population: 8,300), while Bledsoe was born in Ellensburg, Wash. (population: 21,000).
Both are/were highly effective from the pocket.
Of course, that last comparison only goes so far.
"What Josh is doing in operating from the pocket and distributing the football, that part I can at least relate to. That was my job; I was going to work from the pocket and distribute the ball to the real athletes on the field," Bledsoe said. "But where he really changes things is when he pulls the ball down and he goes and runs. You look at what he can do running the ball, he's got the speed, but he also has that physical side to him where when he gets around the goal line, he can get it across the line. And so that part is a real difference-maker.
"I think Steve Young was the first one to point out way back in the day that being a mobile quarterback is only good if you can operate from the pocket, first, and then you have the addition of being able to run the football. If you can do both of those things, man, you become really, really tough to defend. And that's what Josh is doing."
Allen isn't the only dynamic force on the Bills' offense, a fact Bledsoe's son and others watching Monday night's game with them greatly appreciated. Bledsoe said they were "in the depths of despair" before Stefon Diggs' three touchdown catches "saved them in their fantasy football championship games."
Bledsoe recognizes that this is a far different Bills team than any in recent memory, but not only because it won its first AFC East title since 1995 or, at 12-3, has its most victories since 1993.
"Even when they have success, they're usually kind of low-scoring affairs – run the ball and play defense," Bledsoe said. "All of a sudden, you watch the Bills and it's explosive. They're putting up points and scoring from all over the field."
Lack of mobility notwithstanding, Bledsoe was able to make a significant impact after joining the Bills in '02 in a rare intradivisional trade with the Patriots, who had made the former Washington State standout the top overall pick of the 1993 draft. The Bills gave the Pats a first-round draft pick in exchange for the then-ninth-year veteran after Tom Brady began his legendary ascent.
With Bledsoe at the controls of a pass-happy, high-flying offense, the Bills got off to a 5-3 start. However, as injuries mounted, they sputtered to a 3-5 finish. Still, Bledsoe's play was impressive enough to earn him a fourth career trip to the Pro Bowl.
"First of all, it was really fun, especially early in the season," he said. "Late in the season, we had some offensive line injuries and things changed late in the season. But early in the season, it was just a ton of fun, man. Eric Moulds and Peerless Price and Jay Riemersma at tight end ... and the secret weapon in that whole thing, honestly, was (fullback) Larry Centers coming out of the backfield. ... Even with those explosive receivers down the field, if I couldn't get the ball to them, I could drop it off to Larry and he could go take off and do stuff with it.
"We had Travis Henry running the ball and Josh Reed, who we had just drafted out of LSU. So we just had weapons all over the field ... As things progressed through the season, we got banged up and that changed things pretty dramatically. But through the midway point of the season, we were kind of lighting the world on fire."
That's what the Bills are doing now. As with fans and many players from Buffalo's past, Bledsoe is enjoying the ride.
He said his loyalty will always be with the Patriots, but with New England out of the postseason picture, he's fully on board with seeing the Bills win it all. According to Bledsoe, some of his former Patriot teammates shared that sentiment during Monday night's video call.
"The thing that was kind of cool was I think even these longtime, iconic Patriots Hall of Famers, in their heart of hearts, they're actually really happy to see it for the Bills," he said. "We talked about what that experience was like going and playing in Buffalo as an opponent. It was kind of funny. We were talking about (fans throwing) snowballs at the buses and all that stuff.
"But the truth is, I think that anybody that goes and plays against the Bills a number times, they understand how fervent that fan base is. Even if you're a division rival, you can't help but cheer for the Bills a little bit. And for me, after playing there for three years, if the Bills go on and win it all, I'll be ecstatic.
"I may even paint my face and jump on a table."
