The last time the Buffalo Bills played in Cleveland, they were still raw and hungry, which is way different than the grizzled, yet youth-driven bunch that’ll be heading there for the first time in six years on Sunday.

The Bills were in excellent shape at 6-2 in Week 10 of the 2019 NFL season and rolled into town to face a Browns team that had all the hype before the season, but had lost four straight and were at 2-6.

What happened last time Bills played Browns in Cleveland?

Baker Mayfield and the Browns drove down the field in six plays for a touchdown on the opening drive, with the rival from Josh Allen’s draft class finding Jarvis Landry for the game’s first points. Austin Seibert missed an extra point, and that turned to be critical late in the game.

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Sandwiched around a run-heavy Bills touchdown drive, capped off by an Allen 10-yard scamper that gave them a 7-6 lead in the second quarter, was a very satisfying sequence for Bills fans.

On two of the Browns’ next three possessions following their opening drive, they had the ball inside the Bills’ 3-yard line for 11 plays. Cleveland had eight plays on the first possession, and even though there were a couple of penalties on the Bills, Buffalo had a goal-line stand.

The Bills stopped the Browns on three straight goal-to-go plays on the second such possession, and Cleveland lined up to go for it on 4th-and-goal. However, a false start penalty prompted them to kick a field goal and make it a 9-7 game.

Five questions before Josh Allen, Bills face Browns

Buffalo wasn’t as fortunate on the next drive, as Stephen Hauschka shanked a 34-yard field goal wide left with time winding down, leaving the Browns with their lead into halftime.

Out of the locker room, the Bills got an immediate spark. Corey Bojorquez downed a punt at the 7-yard line, then Tremaine Edmunds sacked Mayfield in the end zone for a safety on the next play to tie the game.

The Browns tacked on a field goal on their next drive to take the lead while the Bills’ offense was stuck in quicksand, with three punts and a turnover on downs on their first four second-half possessions.

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Allen got his act together and led a seven-play, 48-yard drive and ran in a score from a yard out to give Buffalo the lead back with 5:26 left. He finished the day 22-of-41 for 266 yards passing and scored twice on the ground, but was off that day.

Mayfield responded in kind, finding Rashard Higgins in the end zone to reclaim the lead after a long drive of his own. The Bills had one more shot, but Hauschka whiffed from 53, handing the Bills a 19-16 loss.

The Bills’ and Browns’ dynamics are much more different than they were in 2019, but there can be that lingering reminder of that game for Allen as the AFC playoff race nears its end.

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A recent study published by three state agencies warns electricity shortages are coming to Illinois.

The shortages will start in PJM Interconnection’s regional transmission system by 2029, with the shortage hitting Illinois’ ComEd territory (which is within PJM) beginning in 2030, and then kicks in hard by 2032.

Capacity shortages in downstate Ameren’s territory are expected to begin in 2031 and escalate through 2035, when the stuff hits the fan. Ameren is in the Midcontinent Independent System Operator’s, or MISO’s, regional transmission network.

The report acknowledges that some fossil fuel power plants might have to remain open at least in the short-term, despite the state’s ambitious climate goals. A bill passed the legislature in October to facilitate that.

The Illinois Power Agency, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and the Illinois Commerce Commission conducted the study.

Massive increases in power needs by data centers are the “primary driver” of increased electricity demand, according to the report. Those gigantic increases were not foreseen when the state designed its landmark clean energy law in 2021 requiring net-zero carbon energy by 2045.

Coal and gas plants “are planned to retire across both [PJM and MISO] due to age, economics and emissions limits,” the new report points out, and that’s also contributing to the coming shortage.

Also problematic is the fact that new gas plant equipment takes 5-7 years to purchase and install, and the plants face additional siting and permitting barriers. Wind and solar face serious obstacles as well..

All that results in this warning from the three state agencies: “These conditions create a credible risk of regional capacity shortfalls that will impact Illinois’ future ability to import power during critical hours and may cause reliability issues in Illinois even if Illinois market zones have enough capacity to meet their [resource adequacy] requirements as determined by [PJM and MISO].”

Translation: Even if Illinois produces more power, we still might be in big trouble because other states are facing similar problems.

In the ComEd region alone, projected load growth “drives a 24% increase in resource adequacy requirements between 2025 and 2030, which contributes to growing dependence on external capacity even before the onset of an outright shortfall in 2032.”

However, the report claims, “The state can successfully navigate both near-term reliability risks and longer-term decarbonization goals through a diversified resource strategy.” That strategy includes “the continued use” of fossil fuel plants “even as their energy output declines with higher renewable penetration.”

Another study will be published in 2027. The report said that study will likely include increased renewables and battery storage but will also look at “delays and/or reductions” to emissions requirements allowed by the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act, which passed in October.

That’s cutting it awful close. Some business groups, including the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association, want the state to act immediately to keep existing fossil fuel plants open.

Forty years ago, Illinois had some of the highest electric utility rates in the Midwest. Then, after the state deregulated the industry, our costs became far more competitive and the state used those low rates to lure new businesses.

But then abundant supply (encouraged by deregulation) pushed rates to a point where some nuclear power plant owners couldn’t afford to operate, so Illinois had to force consumers to subsidize the plants.

Then, with the gigantic data center and resulting artificial intelligence booms, along with aging plants going offline, electricity started becoming scarce again and rates have gone up.

Unilaterally cutting off data center expansion here won’t work because the state is part of those two large regional power distribution networks. They’ll just cross the state lines and continue consuming our juice.

Maybe the AI bubble will burst. But what is clear is that Illinois laws have to be flexible enough to deal with the unexpected, and that obviously hasn’t been the case

Yes, coal plants were closing anyway because they aren’t cost competitive. Same with some gas plants. But government operates so slowly that few have confidence it can turn the ship around in time to avert a coming shortage.

Everyone is pointing to the recently passed Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act as a possible solution because it gives the state more pollution control flexibility, but even that may not be adequate if there’s not enough will at the top to make extra sure we don’t enter a crisis stage.

The governor has expressed confidence that the state can handle this. But businesspeople are rightly freaking out.

Climate change is real. But if the lights don’t go on, or the local factories close, nobody will care about excuses. They’ll just want it fixed.

Rich Miller also publishes Capitol Fax, a daily political newsletter, and CapitolFax.com.

Alabama football completed Step 1. The Crimson Tide beat Oklahoma 34-24 on Friday, earning its first College Football Playoff victory.

With the first round completed, UA has a tougher test ahead. No. 1 Indiana awaits in the Rose Bowl quarterfinal, on Jan. 1 in Pasadena. As Alabama celebrates its victory and begins to prepare, here’s what to know about the 13-0 Hoosiers.

The coach

To say that Curt Cignetti has done a good job at Indiana is perhaps college football’s largest understatement. Cignetti, who took over last season, has turned the Big Ten’s ultimate doormat into the nation’s top team.

Cignetti joined up from James Madison before the 2024 season. He immediately took a program that had grown stale under Tom Allen to the CFP, then turned around and did even better this year.

“I just know that winning lifts all boats,” Cignetti said after the playoff field was announced. “In terms of fan support in the stadium, donations, all parts of the university, downtown when you pack the stadium, bring a lot of people to Bloomington, it helps their sales. A lot of pride in Hoosier Nation. The largest alumni base in America, over 800,000 people. I’d say right now the arrow is pointing up. We probably got a lot of momentum going in those kind of areas.”

Cignetti has a connection to Alabama as well. He worked as the Crimson Tide’s wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator under Nick Saban from 2007 through 2011, helping set the groundwork for Saban’s dynasty in Tuscaloosa.

In addition to Indiana in James Madison, he was a head coach at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Elon after leaving the Tide.

The quarterback

For the first time in program history, Indiana has a Heisman Trophy winner. Quarterback Fernando Mendoza beat out a group of finalists that included Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia, Notre Dame’s Jeremiyah Love and Ohio State’s Julian Sayin.

Mendoza has thrown for 2,980 yards this season, with 33 touchdowns and six interceptions. He has completed 226 of his 316 passes so far.

“Our focus right now is winning the College Football Playoff,” Mendoza told reporters Monday in Bloomington. “That’s what would make this trophy so much sweeter. I believe this trophy is a little bit of a push of confidence on us, on the team, that we’re making history for the IU team in history to be 13-0 and also to bring home a Heisman Trophy to Bloomington.”

The junior, who hails from Florida, transferred into Indiana from Cal this year. He spent two seasons in Berkeley before joining the Hoosiers.

The season

Indiana was the losingest program in the Football Bowl Subdivision entering this season. Some predicted it would be a step back for the Hoosiers, who lost several key players from last season’s playoff team.

Instead, IU won its first Big Ten title since 1967. It enters the CFP undefeated.

“I think that if we hooked everybody up in this room on a lie detector test and told them, hey, do you think Fernando Mendoza is going to win the Heisman this year and we’re going to be 13-0, Big Ten champs, the team has a lot of self-belief and unwavering belief, but I think it’s tough to make those predictions,” Mendoza said Monday.

To cap off the season, Indiana, which had faced criticism for its strength of schedule throughout the year, pulled off a huge upset in Indianapolis. The Hoosiers beat then No. 1 Ohio State, earning the top seed in the CFP and a spot in the Rose Bowl.