On the NFL season’s opening Sunday, I sat down with millions of other Americans to watch the Buffalo Bills host the Baltimore Ravens. The matchup was superb on paper, featuring two teams with realistic Super Bowl hopes and lingering bad blood from last year’s playoffs. Nor did the action itself disappoint: Down 15 with four minutes to play, Buffalo engineered a comeback that turned the game into “an instant NFL classic,” to quote the Wall Street Journal’s next-day coverage. For those who stuck with the contest until its end, the heroics on display were almost literally unbelievable. 

Alas, I wasn’t one of the faithful. I very rarely am.