These Things Always Happen to the (Buffalo) Bills
For six years in the early 1990s, Don Lane hosted a Tuesday Night Football program on the ABC. The format was simple – a 90 minute show divided up as follows: around 60 minutes spent on the 'game of the week' highlights, a further 15 minutes or so of highlights from another feature game, a turbo-charged highlights package of all the other games that ran for around ten minutes or so and then an update of the standings in each division and some summary comments from Lane. As a kid drawing closer to his teenage years upon introduction to this show, I was quickly hooked.
Early on in the days of my avid watching of the show, the Buffalo Bills were featured a number of times and quickly became my team of choice. Quarterback Jim Kelly was able to comfortably run a successful no-huddle offense, Thurman Thomas provided an excellent foil as the primary running back, Andre Reed was the pick of the wide receivers, Bruce Smith was a defensive end who would end up in the Hall Of Fame and Marv Levy was the venerable head coach. Year after year, they were amongst the best teams. But as any Buffalo fan will quickly tell you, this period of strength led to more heartbreak than anything else. As we approach the Super Bowl XLV between Green Bay and Pittsburgh, let's look back on the four consecutive Super Bowl appearances of the Bills and how they unfolded… or should that be unravelled?
1990-91
Regular season record: 13-3 (Won the AFC East, number one AFC seed)
Divisional Playoffs Round: Defeated Miami Dolphins 44-34
AFC Championship Round: Defeated Los Angeles Raiders 51-3
Super Bowl XXV: Lost to New York Giants 20-19
With nine Bills players being selected to represent the AFC at the Pro Bowl, a dominant AFC Championship performance where they scored 41 first half points and Jeff Hostetler playing at quarterback for the Giants after an injury to Phil Simms, the Bills went into Super Bowl XXV as seven point favourites. However, the Giants' brain trust (including head coach Bill Parcells and two future Super Bowl champion head coaches – Bill Belichick as defensive co-ordinator and Tom Coughlin as the wide receivers coach) had a master plan – try to construct long attacking drives to dominate ‘time in possession’, and allow some leeway to Thurman Thomas' running game in order to prevent quick strikes from Jim Kelly and the Buffalo passing attack. Both plans worked a treat – the Giants held possession for just over 40 of the 60 minutes, and while Thurman Thomas ran for over 130 yards, Jim Kelly was never able to break free. With all of that said, the Bills led 12-3 with 3:43 left in the second quarter and the Giants trapped on their own 13-yard line. The Giants then rolled 87 yards for a touchdown and a 12-10 score at the half, then opened the third quarter with a touchdown drive that took nine and a half minutes to hit the front 17-12. The Bills regained the lead with a Thurman Thomas touchdown on the first play of the final quarter to make it 19-17, before a seven and a half minute drive by the Giants was capped by a field goal to move back in front by a point. The final drive of the game began with Buffalo still trailing 20-19 and taking possession at their own 10-yard line. They advanced the ball across midfield and with eight seconds left, Scott Norwood attempted a 47 yard field goal to win the game. Norwood missed the kick just to the right – mention the phrase 'wide right' to Bills fans two decades on and they will still know exactly which event you are referring to as they shake their heads sadly. The Giants were champions and the run of disappointments was only beginning for the good people of Buffalo.
1991-92
Regular season record: 13-3 (Won the AFC East, number one AFC seed)
Divisional Playoffs Round: Defeated Kansas City Chiefs 37-14
AFC Championship Round: Defeated Denver Broncos 10-7
Super Bowl XXVI: Lost to Washington Redskins 37-24
Another convincing regular season was followed by a convincing win against the Chiefs, where the Bills skipped out to a 24-0 lead at one stage before cruising to victory. However, a scrappy (and lucky, given that Denver missed three field goal attempts) win against the Broncos and the dominant form of opponents Washington (who posted a 14-2 regular season and two playoff wins by a combined score of 65-17) saw the Bills enter Super Bowl XXVI as seven point underdogs. Unlike the previous year, the momentum of this Super Bowl did not ebb and flow at all – a Jim Kelly interception sixteen seconds into the third quarter that was returned for a touchdown saw Washington's lead extend to 24-0. The Redskins led 31-10 after three quarters and 37-10 at one stage in the final quarter before two touchdowns to the Bills led to a somewhat flattering final score for the losers. Jim Kelly in particular had a poor day – completing only 28 of 58 pass attempts for 275 yards and one touchdown, whilst throwing four interceptions and losing a fumble.
1992-93
Regular season record: 11-5 (Second in the AFC East, number four AFC seed)
Wild Card Round: Defeated Houston Oilers 41-38 (in overtime)
Divisional Playoffs Round: Defeated Pittsburgh Steelers 24-3
AFC Championship Round: Defeated Miami Dolphins 29-10
Super Bowl XXVII: Lost to Dallas Cowboys 52-17
After a loss in the final week of the regular season to Houston, the Bills dropped out of top spot in the AFC East and also out of a top-2 AFC seed, instead being forced to host a rematch against the Oilers during Wild Card week. What followed was a match of extremes – with Jim Kelly out injured and back-up QB Frank Reich under centre, the Bills fell behind 35-3 early in the third quarter before staging a phenomenal comeback, tying the game at 38 in the final quarter and capping off the win with a Steve Christie field goal in overtime. The Bills carried this momentum on the road with them in the next two weeks, restricting Pittsburgh to just three points before causing five Miami turnovers in a comfortable AFC Championship win. Despite this momentum and twelve Bills players being selected for the Pro Bowl that season, Dallas were six and a half point favourites for Super Bowl XXVII. The Bills grabbed an early 7-0 lead but from that point onwards things went awry at the most critical of moments. Early in the second quarter, they trailed 14-7 but had a first and goal attempt from the Dallas 4-yard line. After three unsuccessful rushing attempts, an easy field goal opportunity was not taken – instead, Jim Kelly threw an interception on fourth down. The returning Jim Kelly was hurt on the next drive and Frank Reich resumed the QB duties, with a field goal reducing the margin to 14-10 with 3:24 left in the second quarter. At the end of the second quarter Dallas led 28-10 – a quick touchdown drive was followed by a Bills turnover and another Cowboys touchdown. All told, the Bills turned the ball over eight times on the day, with four interceptions and four fumbles removing any possibility of a fairytale victory.
1993-94
Regular season record: 12-4 (Won the AFC East, number one AFC seed)
Divisional Playoffs Round: Defeated Los Angeles Raiders 29-23
AFC Championship Round: Defeated Kansas City Chiefs 30-13
Super Bowl XXVIII: Lost to Dallas Cowboys 30-13
Back to a more traditional Bills' Super Bowl charge in 1993-94: a number one seed and first round playoff bye, followed by two solid home victories to wrap up the AFC Championship and a rematch against the Cowboys. Bookmakers were giving the Bills even less respect this time around, with the Cowboys being sent out as ten and a half point favourites. Buffalo defied the pundits in the first half, heading to the locker room at the main break with a 13-6 lead. But much as the last four minutes of the second quarter in Super Bowl XXVII had been definitive, so too were the first 45 seconds of the third quarter the following year – a Thurman Thomas fumble was returned for a touchdown by James Washington to level the scores at 13. A three-and-out Buffalo drive was responded to with another Cowboys touchdown for a 20-13 lead. Jim Kelly was then intercepted, and a final Dallas touchdown on the ensuing drive stretched the lead to 27-13, a position from which the Bills would not recover. Whilst Thurman Thomas was quoted as taking personal responsibility for costing his side the game with his fumble early in the third quarter, the most poignant quote of the Bills’ Super Bowl era came from Andre Reed: "This (Super Bowl loss) is the worst, we should have won. Then they come up with 24 unanswered points. That last fumble was once in a million. These things always happen to the Bills. It rips the heart out of you." The last two sentences in particular stand out:
These things always happen to the Bills. It rips the heart out of you.
The Bills continued to be a semi-regular feature of the AFC playoff picture for a number of years, with their final appearance to date in 1999-00 when they lost to Tennessee on the final play of an AFC wild card playoff game, a play which is still referred to as the 'Music City Miracle'. Ironically enough, this Tennessee team were formerly the Houston Oilers before the franchise was relocated in 1997 (originally named the Tennessee Oilers, before changing to the current moniker of Tennessee Titans in 1999). Revenge for the 1993 wild card playoff loss perhaps? Since that time, mediocrity has been the order of the day for the Bills franchise, and the long suffering Buffalo fans have yet to gain redemption for a series of blown opportunities in the early 1990s.
Contrast this with the tantalising Super Bowl XLV match-up we’re presented with. A Packers franchise which achieved such success under head coach Vince Lombardi in the 1960s that the Super Bowl winner takes home the Vince Lombardi Trophy, celebrated a Super Bowl victory under Brett Favre in 1996-97 and is now surging again under the leadership of quarterback Aaron Rodgers. A Steelers franchise that dominated the 1970s landscape along with the Cowboys and Raiders and is now looking for a third championship in the Mike Tomlin/ Ben Roethlisberger era. Whatever happens on Sunday February 6, we will certainly not hear either of the following phrases uttered: “These things always happen to the Packers. It rips the heart out of you” or “These things always happen to the Steelers. It rips the heart out of you.”
Why not? It’s simple – these things don’t happen to sides like the Packers and Steelers. They always happen to sides like the Bills.
