Dear Mr. Belichick,

You've assembled yourself quite a football team.  Hall Of Fame quarterback, impenetrable offensive line, scary-good corp of receivers.  And while the defense keeps turning over, they just seem to be getting better.  Barring something crazy happening this year, it's hard not to view New England as the probable AFC representatives in this season's Super Bowl.

That's kind of why I'm writing to you.  I need to ask you a favor.

You have an insanely easy matchup tonight against the Buffalo Bills.  If you wanted to, you could probably outscore Buffalo by 40 points.  It'd be a great opportunity for you to make a statement and let the rest of the league know that you have your QB again, and the NFL is on notice.  Really seize the opportunity to strike fear in the hearts of your prospective opponents.

But, on behalf of Buffalo Bills fans everywhere, I have to ask you to do just the opposite of that.

Remember after Katrina hit New Orleans, how the rest of the nation stood up to help their countrymen in need?  It didn't matter if you lived on the East or West Coast; across the nation, citizens chipped in to ease the suffering any way they could.  This could be your moment.

I don't want to equate Western New York with a city suffering a major natural disaster.  Clearly a down-trodden, economically ruined Buffalo isn't on par with the situation New Orleans suffered through.  Just the same, it's a pretty sad, depressed area.  The people of Buffalo have nothing going for them outside of the laughable hope that the Bills or Sabres might finally bring home a trophy.

That surely isn't happening this season (at least for the Bills).  But for one night, one Monday Night, you could single-handedly give the millions of die-hard Bills fans just a glimmer of hope.

I'm not asking you to throw the game, but would you mind throwing the game?

Imagine Tuesday morning in Buffalo, after the upstart Bills, lead by weak-armed Trent Edwards and lame-duck Dick Jauron knock off the mighty Patriots.  The sun would shine on the abandoned factories, Neil Diamond songs would rain from the Heavens, and Buffalonians everywhere would smile.

You have that power, Mr. Belichick.  The power to raise the spirits of half the State of New York.

Buffalo will be lucky to win 6 games this season.  You know this, and I know this.  The Bills are the personification of Buffalonians.  They just don't have a whole lot going for them right now, and are just a few months away from having to trudge through another freezing, snow-laden winter.

If you have a heart, let them have tonight.  You can run the table the rest of the season.  You're probably going to anyway.  Is that one loss really going to matter when you're hoisting the Lombardi Trophy come February?  I doubt it.

But that one win would mean a whole lot to the people of Buffalo.

What say you, Bill?  Can you throw us a freakin' bone?

Signed,

Buffalo Bills Fans Everywhere