It’s June 26th 1998, O.J Simpson is the most Infamous man on the planet. Jim Kelly was retired and spending much of his time running a non profit organization dedicated to his son (who was born with Krabbe’s disease), called Hunter’s Hope. The Bills just finished their first season post-Kelly at 6-10 with the three items of note being that Todd Collins was not the answer at Quarterback, Marv Levy retiring at season’s end, and the Bills having their largest regular season comeback of all time (a 26 point comeback in Week 4 against the Colts). But a movie of note was released that day that never did at the time or now get much publicity. An indie film that was directed and led by Buffalo’s own Vincent Gallo, Buffalo 66.
The movie is about a man who just got released from prison and kidnaps a young tap dancer (played by Christina Ricci, who at this time was mainly known as playing Wednesday Adams in the Adams Family but would have more prominent roles later in her career). The lead character kidnaps this girl to portray as his wife to take with him to meet his estranged parents who he hasn’t seen in years. However, his parents appear to care more about their beloved Buffalo Bills than their own son (also the only reason why the family would have even the slightest of a bond). The parents have no clue that their son had been in prison and did not seem to care too much about what he’s been up to.
I don’t want to delve into the plot too much but recommend you watch this movie if this style of film is your type. It’s a good flick, I’m sure that many of you are wondering what is my point here. My point is the lead character does have sociopathic tendencies, and by the dark ominous style the movie is filmed it makes the character and Buffalo look very depressing, but at the root of it the lead is looking for what every person is in life. The lead character is looking for acceptance, appreciation, and most notably love. I can’t say if Vincent Gallo’s self played lead is portraying himself (which I’m sure he is in some form) but what I can say is that the lead character in this movie embodies Buffalo. Buffalo is a town that gets cold and dreary in the winter time. It’s gone through some economic hardships over the years. It’s only allure for tourism is nearby Niagara Falls. Buffalo 66 is one of the few movies ever made that took place in Buffalo (where as New York City, Chicago, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles have multiple movies a year that plots are based in these cities). This movie has the Bills as an actual subplot to the film (spoiler which I stated above). Buffalo much like it’s lead in the movie is a forgotten place stuffed in the corner of the country. We are past the happiest part of this story (which many will say losing four Super Bowls isn’t a very happy story). Until the past season (2020) there is no success to see here. You will read about a lot of bad quarterback play, poor coaching, no MVP awards, no Super Bowl appearances, more fighting for it’s very existence. This is the part of the story where we get to the point all along. This is the part of the story where I tell you what makes the Buffalo Bills as human as any of us. Some may say I’m writing a eulogy of the Bills like it’s the end of their story. This is not the end, far from it. But this is the part of the story where the romance begins. Who said that baseball is the only sport that has romance. The following season may be one of the most romantic stories of them all, let’s get to it.
1998
The Bills would release Todd Collins before the 1998 season and replace him with former USC Quarterback and fourth round pick Rob Johnson. Johnson was Mark Brunell’s backup in Jacksonville and showed some ability in a cameo in Week 1 of the 1997 Season. Johnson had a great day completing 20-24 for 294 yards and two touchdowns in a 28-27 come from behind victory in Baltimore. The Bills were enamored with the Quarterback and knew Collins was not the answer so they would trade a first and fourth round pick to the Jags in return for Johnson. Rob Johnson would get signed after the acquisition for at the time a monsterous 5 year 25 million dollar deal. With that type of collateral the Bills in theory had their Quarterback. For the head coaching position the Bills would promote their defensive coordinator and former Broncos head coach Wade Phillips. Phillips had improved what was a slipping defense in the mid 1990’s into a top unit. Even in 1997 the defense was still not the issue (even with the poor record). Phillips had bounced around the league a bit, but had always been lauded as a players coach.
Wade Phillips would have almost impossible shoes to fill taking over for a legend. The season would start off rough with the Bills losing their first three games including blowing an 18 point second half lead to the hapless Rams in Week 3 to a dejected Rich Stadium crowd (still not as bad as losing to Browning Nagle). Wade Phillips and Rob Johnson appeared to not be the answer at least early in the Season. However. the Bills would pull off a big upset of the 49ers in Week 5 and had a very winnable game against the Colts in Indy in Week 6 and could turn around their season still. But the Bills would fall down early 9-0 and Johnson would suffer a rib injury (already his second injury of the season). The Bills would bring in their backup, Boston College fans may remember him, 1984 Heisman Trophy Winner Doug Flutie…..
Doug Flutie was a legend in college leading an unknown program in Boston College all the way 5th in the Final AP Poll in 1984. However, because of Doug Flutie’s small stature (only 5’10) he would fall to the 11th round in the 1985 Draft (Rams are the correct team in case you needed to answer a future trivia question at a sports bar). Flutie would play in the USFL for a season before playing in the NFL for four years getting his most playing time in 1988 with the Patriots. Flutie had a decent record 6-3, but only had a passer rating of 63.3 (well below league average). After the 1989 Season Flutie would flee the NFL to play in Canada where he would again become a legend. Flutie would win 3 Grey Cups (the Canadian Super Bowl), 3 MVP’s, and 6 most outstanding player award. He was simply light years better than any other player in the league. Flutie has the all time record for most passing yards (6,619 in 1991) and touchdowns in a single season (48 in 1994). Flutie was probably the best player in the history of the Canadian football league even to this day. The Bills director of Personnel A.J Smith recommended the Bills signed Flutie in the 1998 Offseason as Flutie was looking to take another crack at the NFL. Even though Flutie was the backup he was willing to work and wait, on October 11th 1998, Flutie would get his chance.
Flutie would immediately lead the Bills on a 71 yard drive capping off the drive with a 7 yard touchdown to tight end Jay Riemersma. Then in the third quarter would go on three straight scoring drives as the Bills would blow the game wide open. The Colts would make the game look competitive late but the Bills 31-24 victory was not as close as the score would indicate. Flutie would go 23-28 for 223 yards and two touchdowns (quite the day indeed). The following week the Bills would introduce the undefeated Jaguars to Buffalo. It would be Flutie’s first NFL start in 9 years (which at the time was the longest in NFL History for a gap in between starts, oddly one of the players who broke the record was you guessed it Todd Collins).
The game would be a low scoring slugfest. Flutie would struggle against one of the stingiest defenses in all of football. But the Bills defense would step up as well and keep the Bills in the game. Flutie would get one final chance down 16-10 with 1:50 left to play, one timeout and 70 yards to win the game. Flutie would lead the Bills 69 yards down the field in a minute and a half, one yard away from an amazing comeback. After a clock play it’s second and goal 21 seconds on the clock. Doug Flutie with a fade to receiver Eric Moulds (more on Moulds later) just off his fingertips, incomplete (should have been caught), 3rd and goal now.. Fade to Andre Reed but just a little bit high and incomplete. 4th and goal, the one trick in the Bills hat was the most underrated part of Doug Flutie’s game. Doug Flutie was never a burner but he had great mobility and throughout his time in his career could burn defenses all night on 3rd and 8 if the defense left him an opening. The call is made and Doug Flutie rolls out to the left, a slower quarterback likely would have not been able to outrun Jags Linebacker Kevin Hardy but Flutie had underrated speed and athleticism and would take it to paydirt and continue his run as he would leap into the stands. Then Flutie would leap into Bruce Smith’s arms as the smallest guy on the team would be congratulated by the biggest guy on the team. Rich Stadium for the first time in years is losing it’s collective mind. This would be on the short list with the 1980 opener against the Dolphins, the 1990 AFC Championship game, Norwood’s field goal in the 1991 AFC Championship game, and the 1992 AFC Wildcard game as one the highest moments of hysteria Rich Stadium would ever have at this point. How can you not be romantic about football.
Doug Flutie would retain the job after the Jags game and go 8-3 as the starter and lead the Bills to a 10-6 record and a return to the postseason as a Wildcard team. Doug Flutie would win the AP Comeback player of the year award and get elected to his first pro bowl. Doug Flutie would have a cereal created called Flutie Flakes (pretty much a knock off of Frosted Flakes). Much of the proceeds from the cereal would go to the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation for Autism (in honor of Flutie’s son who was Autistic). How could you not love this man. He was one of the truly great American Sports stories, for the playoffs the Bills are onto Miami (it’s Dan Marino and those dang Dolphins again!)…
The Bills would have a back and forth game with the Dolphins. The star of the game was not Doug Flutie but wide receiver Eric Moulds who would have an all time NFL Playoff record of 240 yards receiving…
Eric Moulds was drafted in the 1st round (24th overall) out of Mississippi State in 1996. Even with the high draft pick Moulds would not get much playing time until 1998. Once Moulds became a full time player he would flourish having 1,368 yards while averaging a ridiculous 20.4 yards per catch (I would certainly say a big play receiver). Moulds would be one of three receivers (Hall of Famers Andre Reed and James Lofton being the others) to be elected to the Bills all time 50th anniversary team. Moulds from 1998-2005 would have season averages of 79 receptions for 1,065 yards and 5 touchdowns while playing with okay to mediocre quarterback play. Moulds was a bright light during a dark time in the Bills history…
Speaking of a dark time the Bills would lose the game at Miami 24-17, with Doug Flutie getting strip sacked by Dolphins defensive end Trace Armstrong in the red zone thwarting the Bills chance at a comeback. The drama would be over however at QB (or was it), this was Doug Flutie’s team now..
1999
1999 would be a fantastic season for the Bills as they would win 11 games (the most since 1993). Doug Flutie was not fantastic (a 75.1 passer rating) but still steady throughout the year, but what carried the Bills in 1999 was their defense. The Bills allowed a franchise low for a 16 game season (14.3 points per game). They also lead the league in fewest yards per game (252.8) and was second in yards per play (4.3). Rob Johnson would start Week 17 that season against the Colts and would be fantastic going 24-32 for 287 yards and two touchdowns. With Doug Flutie just being okay that Season Wade Phillips felt like that end of season performance merited Rob Johnson to get the start in the Wildcard round at Tennessee, or rumor has it Ralph Wilson forced Phillips hand wanting the 25 million dollar man to get his shot over the middling Flutie, gotta love those rumors…
For the game we would rather not discuss what happened. Doug Christie (yup still there) would kick a 41 yard field goal to give the Bills a 16-15 lead with 16 seconds left. What would happen on the ensuing kickoff was what deemed a legal lateral by Frank Wycheck to Derrick Mason and we will just not discuss this play any further. What if Doug Flutie had started, his story is more romantic and he was 10-5 as the starter that season (we like romance in our football remember). The Bills allowed only 194 yards of total offense to an APEX Steve McNair (another on the most underrated Quarterbacks of All time list) led offense and somehow still lost the game. Why did Wade Phillips (or Ralph Wilson) mess with the mojo, if you believe in fate, the fate was tampered. Those Titans would make it all the way to the Super Bowl that year. What if it was Flutie and the Bills traveling to Indy the following week against a young Colts team just happy to be in the playoffs. It could have been the best defense in football against the greatest who on turf in the big game (Rams-Bills). Didn’t you watch the Bills-Giants, Giants-Patriots and Seahawks-Broncos Super Bowls? Defense wins championships and the 99 Bills had arguably the best defense in football, I believe in an alternate universe the 1999 Bills could have gone all the way. But it is just another of many what if’s in the history of sports. GM John Butler feeling like it was time for change would make dramatic changes heading into the new millennium releasing Andre Reed, Thurman Thomas and Bruce Smith. Reed and Thomas were well past their prime and had not been elite players for years. Smith however was a player in my opinion the Bills should have retained as he proved to still be an outstanding defensive end for four more years in Washington, but as the wise man once said, it happened, who cares.
2000
Rob Johnson would be named the starter for the 2000 Season. Johnson would start 11 games and Flutie five. The Bills defense would again be outstanding being 3rd in yards and yards per play but would fall all the way to 18th in points against. Why so good at yards prevention but not points prevention, welcome to the stupid world of special teams..
Week 3 the Bills would give up a 97 yard kickoff return to Kevin Williams in a 27-14 loss to the Jets. But the Special teams would really doom the Bills starting In Week 13 with the Bills at 7-4. With the Bills only down 17-14 with under 6 minutes to play at Tampa (or the Bills house of infamous horror), Karl Williams would take a punt 73 yards to the house to seal a 31-17 Bucs Victory. In a 33-6 Week 14 loss to the Dolphins, the Dolphins would continuously start with great field position because of the Bills punter Chris Mohr averaging a putrid 28.6 average yards per punt. The Bills would lose 44-20 in Week 15 even though they only allowed 237 yards of offense to Indy (more turnovers than special teams but the stage was already set for this collapse). In Week 16 the Bills would lose 13-10 to the 4-10 Pats in overtime with both of their regulation scoring drives coming on short fields due to Chris Mohr punts. The 2000 Buffalo Bills special teams units were rated as the Worst of the decade by Football Outsiders. Wade Philipps fate has been set, he would be let go at the end of the Season.
2001
With Doug Flutie out of town the team was now Rob Johnson’s. However, Johnson would get hurt again breaking his collarbone and at this point the Bills had seen enough from Johnson who would get released at season’s end. The Bills with a decaying roster would fall to 3-13 and last place in the AFC East for the first time since 1985. With a new coach (bounty hunter) Gregg Williams and new GM Tom Donahue the Bills would have a new sense of direction and 2001 was not surprisingly a rebuilding year that doesn’t deserve much of a mention. At least the first three draft picks would hit (Corner Nate Clements, Defensive End Aaron Schobel and running back Travis Henry). Meanwhile the divisional rival Patriots would go on a magical run that year, after an 0-2 start would win the Super Bowl behind some unknown guy named Tom Brady and an old villain, now a head coach, Bill Belichick. But on the bright side former pro Bowl Quarterback Drew Bledsoe is healthy and available and the Bills need a Quarterback. A first round pick to the Pats later Drew Bledsoe is in Buffalo (how dare the Pats trade their incumbent starter to their divisional rival they will truly pay for this right?).
2002
With Drew Bledsoe behind center the Bills would immediately become viable again offensively. Those plucky special teams would get the Bills in Week 1 as the Jets would win 37-31 in overtime on Charlie Morton’s second kickoff return touchdown of the day. But in Week 2 the Bills would win 45-39 in overtime in Minnesota with Drew Bledsoe throwing for a still team record 463 (!!) yards and three touchdowns including a game winning 48 yarder to Peerless Price in overtime. The Bills would exchange some wins and losses but would be sitting at 5-3 at the midway point of the season with Drew Bledsoe throwing for 2,500 yards and 14 touchdowns, looking like an MVP candidate. Bledsoe at this point is turning in one of the QB best seasons in Bills history. Week 9’s opponent is the Pats on a 4 game losing streak, and they are coming to Rich Stadium. It is time for the Bills to show the world that the Bills made the biggest trade steal in the history of football and from their staunchest rival mind you…….
New Bills kicker Mike Hollis would miss two field goals early, Tom Brady would light up the Bills defense throughout the first half and all of a sudden it’s 17-0 Pats. Drew Bledsoe would lead the Bills on a late first half drive capping it off with a touchdown to Peerless Price to cut the halftime deficit to 10 giving the Bills some hope. The Bills would get the ball to start the second half and the Bills would drive to the Pats 32 with it now being 4th and 2. The kicker has been struggling but it’s a mild day for Buffalo (40 degrees with no wind) so a field goal attempt is not out of the realm of possibility or the Bills can just go for it, what they end up doing is one of the most gutless and idiotic decisions a coach has ever made in league history. Gregg Williams decides to punt down 10 at the opponents 32 early in the third Quarter on 4th and 2. Predictably the Patriots on the ensuing drive score a touchdown, then the Bills would again have to punt, then on the Pats next drive they score again and it’s 31-7 and the game is over.
The Bills would fade down the stretch after this game as Drew Bledsoe would be decent but not great and the defense which wasn’t very good to begin with would still not be very good and the Bills would finish with an 8-8 Record (last place but only a game out of first). It’s hard not to see that decision by Gregg Williams being the turning point of a once promising season. A decision that has to be one of the worst coaching decisions (and least talked about bad coaching moves) in the history of football.
2003
If the 20th Century the speed bump team was the Dolphins the, in the 21st Century that team was certainly the New England Patriots. In Week 1 of 2003 here comes to town, you guessed it the New England Patriots. The Bills have lost now 5 in a row to their all of a sudden new nemesis and to say that Bills fans were getting tired of seeing Tom Brady’s chin dimple and Bill Belichick’s hoodie would be an understatement. The Bills of the aughts would not have many glorious moments but Week 1 of the 2003 Season at Ralph Wilson Stadium (Rich Products lease would end after the 1999 Season) would be the banner moment in Buffalo of the entire decade. The Bills would dominate the game from start to finish with maybe the moment of the entire season being big defensive tackle Sam Adams (not the beer maker) 37 yard pick six of Tom Brady. To stick it to the Pats a little more for younger football fans think of Vince Wilfork intercepting a pass and rumbling it to the house and you have a correlation to this moment, the only superlative appropriate for this play is awesome! The Bills would cruise to a 31-0 victory. This game would solidify the Bills as a contender in the AFC and question the Patriots as a true threat (the Pats missed the playoffs in 02 and after this game many doubted their longterm legitimacy, boy were they wrong huh, the Pats only won the Super Bowl this year). With a 38-17 win at Jacksonville in Week 2 Drew Bledsoe throwing for 314 yards and 2 touchdowns the Bills look like a Super Bowl contender, buckle your seatbelts the Bills are back.
Then the offense would stall, the most embarrassing loss of the year was a 38-5 loss on a Sunday night in Kansas City in a game that the Bills had 7 turnovers. Bledsoe did not look the same, the defense was better than 2002 but not good enough to make up for a sloppy offense. The Bills would lose the next three games, 10-6, 12-10 and 17-14. The Bills were beginning to look like a team that played in the 1970’s having under 560 yards of total offense combined in all three of those losses. The Bills were again looking like a boring team but let’s talk about something cool before we move on past what ended as a 6-10 year.
In Week 11 against the Houston Texans the Bills were down 12-8 with the Texans at their own 34 yard line with six seconds left. Houston’s Wide Receiver Andre Johnson would run all the way through the back of the endzone for a safety as time would expire to secure a 12-10 Texans victory. Why is this significant? History was avoided as a 12-10 score is not too unusual (it’s happened 20 times in NFL History including this game). But a 12-8 final had actually happened twice (I was shocked to even see that). It happened in 1998 between the Tennessee Oilers (yes they were a team for two years) and the Ravens. The other happened in 1927 between the Frankford Yellow Jackets and the Chicago Cardinals. I love random facts but the final 14 games of the 2003 Buffalo Bills season was so uninspiring that even they could not be a part of random NFL History. Gregg Williams would not be retained after the season.
2004
The Bills would hire Mike Mularkey (the former Steelers offensive Coordinator) to be their next head coach. The hire seemed uninspiring to many but Mularkey was able to get a renaissance out of once top prospect (and XFL legend) Tommy Maddox. So Ralph Wilson thought Mularkey could do the same after an uninspiring 2003 Season from Drew Bledsoe. But the Bills would continue their free fall from 2003 losing their first four games with three of the defeats coming by 3 points or less. The most painful of them all was in Week 1 when the Bills had kept the Jags out of the endzone for 59:53 seconds of the game only for the Jags to score on the games final play to squeak out a 13-10 victory (so much random Jags-Bills history!).
In Week 6 the Bills would play the Dolphins in a game that would feature last two winless teams for the first time since 1968 (ouch). The Bills would win 20-13 so at least they weren’t the last team to win a game in 2004! But after exchanging wins and losses including a Week 10 29-6 beatdown at the hands of those naughty Patriots (on a Sunday night mind you) the Bills sat at 3-6 and looking to have another lost season, then out of nowhere the most What the hell was that would occur…….
The next six Weeks would be the biggest demolition of any six game stretch in team history and this stretch came out of nowhere. The Bills were 3-6 with a minus 23 point differential, they were the epitome of a mediocre football team. Then the new six games would go as such..
Bills would smoke the Rams 37-17, destroy the NFC West leading Seahawks in Seattle 38-9, win a wild game in Miami 42-32, crush the hapless Browns 37-7, hammer the Bengals in a must win road game 33-17, and annihilate the putrid 49ers 41-7 in Candlestick Park (the scene of a big moment in 1980 for Buffalo historians). In this six game stretch the Bills went 6-0 with a point differential of plus 139 (outscoring opponents by 23 points a game or over 3 touchdowns with the extra point per contest). They did it winning four of the six games on the road with really the only game that was even competitive in the second half being a weird game in Miami. The Bills could still make the playoffs, they were playing a home game against the 14-1 Steelers. Tough game right…..
The Steelers had locked up the number one seed and would be sitting many starters including Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. The Steelers had nothing to play for and the Bills had everything to play for. This would be different for the other games during this period of time from the offset. The machine that Mike Mularkey built in Tommy Maddox was driving the Steelers down the field early at will as he would put the Steelers up 10-7 late in the 1st Quarter. Then all of a sudden 10-7 turned into 16-7, this could not be happening. But in the third Quarter the Bills defense would make a play. Down 16-10 now Tommy Maddox would prove to be human throwing a pick six to Nate Clements (the Bills league leading 39th forced turnover of the Season) to give the Bills a one point lead. The Bills would make a stop and go on another long drive, time to put this baby to bed. But an offensive pass interference call on receiver Josh Reed would stall a drive in the Red Zone. In comes new kicker Rian Lindell for a 28 yard field goal to extend the lead, but the kick sailed to the right. I will not say those two words Bills fans but the kick was unfortunately no good. The Steelers would make a successful field goal on the next drive to retake the lead and then disaster would happen. Seldom used Ricardo Colclough would sack an oblivous Drew Bledsoe on a Corner Blitz and some guy named James Harrison (he ended being okay at football) picked up the loose ball midair and took the pigskin to the endzone for the dagger. The Bills would somehow lose a game they had to have against a team playing many reserves. The Bills would have one of the best defenses of the 2000’s in 2004. The 04 Bills allowed 4.3 yards per play and forced 39 turnovers. They had a point diffential of plus 111 and yet still missed the playoffs. The 2004 Buffalo Bills if you go by these metrics were one of the best teams of this century to miss the postseason. I know that 9-7 is the ultimate fringe playoff record in history but this Bills team should have been better than that record. We should have had some more romance in our life (like a Doug Flutie or Sam Adams moment). But it wasn’t meant to be, such a tragedy. But if you missed the playoffs might as well blow it up right?
2005
After the 04 Season the Bills had seen enough from Drew Bledsoe. He was a fine Quarterback but his skills had declined and if anything his lack of awareness and mobility on that strip six in the Steelers game at the end of 04 Sealed his fate. The Bills had already drafted J.P Losman in the first round (22nd overall and the Bills traded their second round pick to Dallas to acquire him) in 2004 out of Tulane to be the future signal caller. The Tulane Green Wave is a factory of NFL Quarterbacks by the way. Shaun King and Patrick Ramsey went there, Losman was supposed to be a big hit right?
J.P Losman was so bad in 2005 (passer rating of 64.9) he would get benched for veteran Kelly Holcomb. Holcomb was certainly the better Quarterback when playing that season which made the decision justified. The lowlight of the year would be a 24-23 Week 13 loss to Sage Rosenfels and the Dolphins when the Bills went into the 4th Quarter leading 23-3, can’t get much lower than that. GM Tom Donahoe would get fired after the season, Mike Mularkey would resign soon after. The Bills are becoming a joke, this story has got depressing. They need a new face, a new life. We are at the low point of our story.
2006
Marv Levy was missing the game of football. He was 80 years old but the state of his beloved Bills was crushing him inside. Marv Levy wanted to help revive a once elite organization. Levy would return as the GM and vice president of football operations. There was some rumors that Levy would return as the coach but Levy had no desire to go back to the sidelines. Levy would hire former Bears Coach Dick Jauron to lead the Bills back to the promised land.
For the 06 Season the Bills would bring J.P Losman back behind center, hoping a full offseason would bring some confidence and success for the former Green Wave signal caller. The season would start off promising in New England, but the Bills would lose 19-17 in a way only the Bills of the aughts could. On a 4th Quarter safety. The Bills would start 3-6 but then things would turn around with a midseason run. The run began with J.P Losman throwing a game winning Touchdown to Peerless price with 9 seconds left for a thrilling 24-21 Week 11 Win in Houston. Then in Week 12 in another game against the Jags (the random Jags-Bills history continues) the Jags would tie the game with 28 Seconds left. But J.P Losman would make an awesome 34 yard completion to special teams demon Roscoe Parish on the sidelines to setup the game winning field goal from Rian Lindell to win 27-24. The Bills would get to 7-7 after after a 21-0 Week 15 Win over the Dolphins with J.P Losman throwing three touchdown passes. J.P is starting to look like a solid starter and the Bills have a chance to sneak into the postseason. Here comes the turnaround to our story….
In Week 16 against the Titans the Bills are up 29-20 going into the 4th Quarter but Titans Quarterback Vince Young also on a magical run this season (the Titans also 7-7 but started 0-5) would lead the Titans to 10 unanswered points to take a 30-29 lead with two minutes to play. J.P Losman in response would do his job and lead the Bills back into field goal range. It’s 4th and 5 at the Titans 28 with 40 seconds left. Rian Lindell is already 5 for 5 on field goals in this game (including a 45 yarder). But Dick Jauron didn’t trust Lindell kicking into the wind and went for it. Losman would throw up a desperation throw after the protection broke down that was picked off and the Bills would lose the game and be eliminated from playoff contention. Another Questionable coaching decision by a Bills coach that derailed momentum during a promising run. The Bills would lose Week 17 at Baltimore to finish 7-9
2007
Thurman Thomas had just been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Joining Jim Kelly (who was elected on first ballot in 2002) and Marv Levy (elected in 2001). Bruce Smith would make it two years later and Andre Reed after many years of waiting would finally get his call to Canton in 2014. This was the core of that great Bills run. They all had their happy ending to a turbulent story. They all had their individual movie, but that movie was years ago and is now a classic good ol days story. The Bills are now in 2007, they haven’t made the postseason in 8 years now. There had been some great moments (the 31-0 opening day blowout of the Pats first comes to mind). But outside of 2004 the Bills would have nothing to play for in the final week of the Season over this time. J.P Losman showed some potential in 2006 and heading into 2007 there was some optimism that the Bills could compete for a playoff spot but that would all change immediately in Week 1…
Week 1 2007 may have been the most disasterous start to a Bills season ever. The Bills were looking like they were going to get a hard fought win over the Broncos even though old friend Travis Henry did run for 139 yards. It was 14-12 and the Broncos are on the cusp of field goal range at the Bills 35 with 18 seconds remaining. Broncos Quarterback Jay Cutler would complete a pass to Javon Walker inbounds for 11 yards with now 10 seconds left. What would happen next is the NFL version of a fire drill. Offense off the field special teams on the field with Broncos having no timeouts left. You would think there is no way this can be done in 10 seconds (wasn’t even necessary Broncos could have clocked the ball to give their field goal unit an appropriate play clock) but the Broncos would switch personnel in extraordinary fashion in only 8 seconds and Jason Elam would kick the 42 yarder through the uprights as time expired for a soul crushing 15-14 defeat.
This was not the most note worthy moment of this game however. Earlier in the game on a kickoff there was what appeared to be a normal collision that is on almost every kickoff. Bills Tight End Kevin Everett would collide with the Broncos Dominik Hixon in what appeared to be a normal special teams block by the Broncos gunner. But Everett would lay on the field motionless. It was the scariest moment in the history of Ralph Wilson Stadium. A player laying there on the field not moving. Everett would be taken on a stretcher and rushed to the hospital. Everett would suffer a fracture and dislocation of his cervical spine that the doctors deemed life threatening and at minimum was expected to leave him paralyzed. Thankfully two days later Everett started moving his arms and legs and three months later was walking again. His career was certainly over but the fact that Everett is even walking and living a normal life is one of the miracles that happen every day in life that we take for granted. Kevin Everett is a success story and should be treated as such.
The Bills would have a solid draft in 07, drafting some guy named Marshawn Lynch in the first round out of California. Many of you know him as a guy in acting endeavors (namely HBO hit series Westworld) and for being the spokesman of a candy that has all the colors of the rainbow. In other words Lynch was a hit (sort of). Second round pick Paul Posluszny would be a solid player that would became an outstanding player after he left Buffalo. But the Bills most notable pick of this draft was third round pick Quarterback Trent Edwards out of Stanford.
Edwards was a solid prospect but his biggest attributes was his leadership and intelligence (he did go to Stanford!!). Edwards would get the job in Week 3 after J.P Losman would get hurt again. Edwards looked poised to lead the Bills to a signature win in a Week 5 Monday night game against the undefeated Cowboys before well let’s not show Jerry Jones in the press box please and move on (man the 07 Bills had some bad luck). But in a turn of good fortune Trent Edwards would lead the Bills to four wins in a row midseason. Even though the Bills weren’t really playoff contenders in 2007 the Bills seemed to have a sense of direction now with a star young Running back and a promising young Quarterback. The most Bizarre game of a Season full of bizarre games came in a Week 13 game at Washington…
The Bills would be down 16-14 with 04 seconds left with Rian Lindell lining up for a 51 yarder to win the game (a long field goal but makeable on a mild windless day in D.C, also Lindell had made four field goals already in this game). Washington’s coach Joe Gibbs trying to ice the kicker (not abnormal happens almost all the time in this situation) calls a timeout. A couple of minutes later with Lindell lining up for the kick Gibbs think’s he’s coaching at the university of Virginia instead of the Washington Football Team and would call yet another timeout. This is not legal in the NFL and Gibbs would be flagged for unsportsman like conduct which would make a difficult 51 yard field goal a very makeable 36 yarder which Lindell would nail for the Bills victory, usually this is done by a Bills coach during this time period so I must say well done Joe.
The last bizarre game to discuss in 2007 is the Bills at Browns in Week 15. These two teams have both had little to no success in the 2000’s thus far (believe it or not the Browns did have a playoff appearance in 2002) but the Bills were 7-6 and the Browns were 8-5 and both were at least in the playoff discussion (the Bills were fringe playoff contenders at this point). The conditions on this Sunday were absolutely brutal. Snow was dumping onto the field with over 30 mile an hour winds. With the visibility from the blizzard conditions being so bad many camera angles throughout the game you would not even be able to see the field of play. The most hilarious play of the game would be early in the 2nd Quarter with the Browns up 3-0. The Bills would be lining up to punt but the snap would be high and slip through punter Brian Moorman’s hands. As the ball is rolling backwards Moorman would just kick the ball through the back of the endzone for the safety even though there wasn’t a soul around him for 20 yards. It was like he gave up and so did the Bills. Losing 8-0 in a game that many would later say to please burn the tape (this wouldn’t even be the worst Browns-Bills game of the decade spoiler alert). The Bills would lose the last two games to again finish 7-9, oh vey.
2008
Marv Levy would step down as GM after the 2007 Season after 2 years on the job. He said he might be open to coaching again but his fire for being an executive just wasn’t there anymore. Long time executive Russ Brandon would take over Levy’s role.
For the 2008 Season it could have not had started off any differently than 2007. The Bills would win 34-10 over the four time NFC West champ Seahawks in Week 1 with the play of note being a fake field goal 19 yard touchdown pass from Brian Moorman to defensive end Ryan Denney (Moorman redeeming himself for the punt blunder in the snow). The Bills would have a come from behind victory in Week 3 over the Raiders with Marshawn Lynch showing signs of beast mode running for two touchdowns and breaking would be tacklers all day. After a blowout win over the St. Louis Rams (remember them) in Week 4 the Bills would be sitting at 4-0. Next up for the Bills is a trip to Arizona to play another upstart team in the Cardinals (another team with a brutal history, especially in recent years but showing signs of being relevant much like these Bills)…..
I was sitting at the 50 yard line upper level and saw this play first hand. It’s the Bills first drive and it’s 3rd and 5 from the Bills 30 yard line. Trent Edwards would complete an 13 yard pass to tight end James Hardy for the first down. But on the play Trent Edwards would lay on the field motionless. The hit Cardinals safety Adrian Wilson made on Trent Edwards would almost certainly be a 15 yard penalty but in 2008 would draw no such flag. Trent Edwards would suffer a concussion and would return for the next Bills game but was never the same Quarterback again after this moment. He played with a hesitancy that eats Quarterbacks alive in the NFL. He never trusted his instincts and it showed in his play. The Bills looked like Super Bowl contenders through the first four weeks but after this hit at about 1:30 PST on October, 5th 2008 the dream died in that moment. The Bills would lose 41-17 to the eventual NFC Champions. The Bills would go 3-9 the rest of the way. The Bills are looking like a real life Jeff Fisher finishing 7-9 for the 3rd straight season. If you enjoy comedy, let’s go to Week 15 in New York.
The Bills are sitting at 7-6 playing at the 8-5 New York Jets. The Jets have some guy from up North by the name Brett Farva (or Farve I think is how you pronounce his name) at Quarterback. It is later noted that Farve had a torn biceps at this time which would be why he couldn’t really throw the football with much velocity at all late the in the 2008 Season and would lead to the Jets own free fall. Trent Edwards is out with a groin injury and old friend J.P Losman is starting at QB. In a sloppy downright weird game the Bills have a 27-24 lead with the ball and 2:06 left in the game. Adam Sandler is in the house and he looks concerned that his G******** Jets (as the kid in Big Daddy would say) is going to blow this game, but don’t you worry Adam this is the aughts Bills we are talking about. It’s 2nd and 5 at the Bills 27 yard line, Marshawn Lynch is wearing out the Jets defensive front and had already run for a first down on this drive. How can the Bills blow this? I know how about we have J.P Losman roll out to pass…
Losman would get stripped from behind by Jets safety Abram Elam which certainly was on a run blitz but when he noticed Losman actually rolling out with the football would chase down an unsuspecting Losman down from behind. If the three stooges were filming a football moment this would be it, the ball would ricochet off two Jets rolling around the ground harmlessly before Jets defensive End Shaun Ellis would pick up the ball bulldoze over Bills tackle Langston Walker on his rumble to the endzone for the game winning touchdown. This may have not been the worst game of the 2008 Season but it certainly was the most ridiculous.
2009-2010
The end of the aughts into the 2010’s would continue to not be very successful for the Bills. The Bills would make a splash signing polarizing (but still productive) wide receiver Terrell Owens in the offseason. Owens would be solid in his one year in Buffalo but nothing overwhelmingly special would occur outside of a 98 yard touchdown catch in a Week 11 loss at Jacksonville.
The Bills would play what many dubbed the worst game of the century thus far in 2009. A 6-3 loss to the Browns in Week 5 in which Browns Quarterback Derek Anderson would go 2-17 for 23 yards and would still win the game. Nice work Bills.
After a 41-17 loss in Week 10 at Tennessee the Bills had seen enough of Dick Jauron and his 7-9 shenanigans and would relieve him of his duties and promote Defensive Coordinator Perry Fewell. The Bills would flounder to a 6-10 finish and end the decade with five head coaches, ten starting quarterbacks, only one winning season and zero playoff appearances. To pour more salt to an open wound the Bills in 2008 would start playing a game a year in Toronto. This agreement was formed by the NFL as an experiment to see if a team could exist in two markets. There was obvious skepticism from Bills nation that owner Ralph Wilson was fishing at ideas of moving the team out of Buffalo again with an old stadium and not much on field success. Truth was this almost certainly was a façade to eventually move the Bills north of the border (or west of Buffalo) full time. The Buffalo Bills are yet again are fighting for their very existence. I thought you would be giving us romance and happiness Drew? Well for some love and romance let’s shift to November 28th 2010…
The Bills would be 2-8 and having another dreadful year. The Bills would be at Ralph Wilson Stadium playing against the 7-3 Pittsburgh Steelers. The Bills on this day would play their best game of the 2010 Season (win or loss and I know the Bills just had an incredible 21 point comeback to beat the equally bad Bengals the previous week). But this is the 08 Super Bowl champs and the eventual in this Season AFC Champs. The Bills are playing with a juggernaut and have them on the ropes in overtime with the game tied at 16 first and ten for the Bills at the Steelers 40..
Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick (yes the still currently playing Ryan Fitzpatrick, yeah he’s been around for a while) drops back to pass and throws and absolute dime on a go route to wide receiver Stevie Johnson in stride. Johnson however drops the ball for what would have been a game winning touchdown. The Bills drive stalls and the Steelers go down the field and kick the winning field goal for a 19-16 victory, this moment feels like being dumped on your wedding day, I know I am terrible at bringing joy to the World, but in everyone moment of tragedy can come triumph…..
Stevie Johnson on the dropped ball laid in the endzone dejected and motionless for a good time. He would in a postgame tweet a comment on the dropped ball. Johnson would recover from this moment to have a nice season and decent NFL career. ESPN analyst Adam Schefter would respond to Johnson’s postgame tweet with a fun light hearted joke towards Stevie Johnson. Three Bills fans would give Adam Schefter a little fun of their own on twitter in response to Schefter who in turn would block these Bills fans from his Twitter account. A man named Del Reid (one of the three Bills fans on the message board) would start a running joke on twitter with other Bills fans citing that Adam Schefter had shunned out the Bills Mafia. What became a joke amongst fans on message boards took a new life in the following offseason. Linebacker Nick Barnett was a free agent coming off a Super Bowl victory with the Packers and was one of the best linebackers in football. He of all places was interested in coming to Buffalo (a rarity for this time for marquee free agents). Barnett’s reason was the Bills mafia and the Bills rabid fan base that he was excited to be a part of. Stevie Johnson himself and long time running back Fred Jackson would start to embrace the term #BillsMafia heading into the upcoming season. This movement would over the next decade bring to a public light what I always knew myself as the Bills having one of the most rabid, loyal fanbases in all of football. This movement would eventually cut the cord on any talk of moving to Canada or Austin or anywhere for that matter outside of Western New York. The Bills Mafia movement may have saved the Buffalo Bills from losing it’s very existence. True or not this is what I believe, Billsmafia has always believed. I told you we would have a romantic, happy ending.