| October 03, 2003 | « Previous Story | HOME | Next Story » | Posted at 08:45 PM |
"For these are the times that try men's souls."
Charles Dickens and Thomas Paine would have made excellent sports writers. For this was a Tale of Two Cities- and this game defied all Common Sense. It was the wildest of all wild card games, and it was one of the greatest games in all of NFL history. It defied logic, it defied the odds, and it made heroes of common no-name players. It was a game that only a handful saw in person, but everyone claims that they were there. It was the Buffalo Bills finest hour (or 3 ½ hours, to be exact)
On January 3rd, 1993, the Buffalo Bills were a team in disarray. In the previous 2 seasons, the Bills posted back to back 13-3 seasons in steamrolling to two consecutive Super Bowls, only to be denied. They wanted desperately to become only the second team in history to advance to three in a row and finally win one. The season started out better than ever with the Bills, thundering out to a 4-0 record and averaging 38 points a game. But the offense stalled, and the Bills finished the season a mediocre 7-5 in the final 12 games.
The final game of the season was the worst loss to take. They were humbled 27-3 on national TV by a Houston Oiler team that was led by Cody Carlson, Warren Moon's understudy filling in for the injured Pro Bowl quarterback. Moon was one of nine Oilers named to the pro bowl that season. The loss was costly as Buffalo not only lost the division title to the Dolphins, but they lost quarterback Jim Kelly with a knee injury. Also injured in that game with a painful hip pointer was the Bills' main ground weapon, Thurman Thomas, who had a career year with 1,487 yards. On defense, the Bills were without Cornelius Bennett, their big play linebacker.
The Oilers employed the famed "Run and Shoot" offense that was invented by Joe Mellor in the 1950's, but perfected by Offensive Coordinator Darrel "Mouse" Davis of the USFL's Houston Gamblers of the 1980's. It employed 4 wide receivers, no tight ends, and a running back. Oddly enough, a brash Jim Kelly right out of Miami was the trigger man of Davis' offense. Jack Pardee was the Gamblers' head coach during those years and brought the flying circus to the NFL when he assumed the Oilers' helm. For the Oilers, Pardee entrusted the Run and Shoot to future and current Bills offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride. (Another future coach of the Bills, Head Coach Gregg Williams, was an assistant DB coach in this game).
One week after the season finale debacle in the Houston Astrodome, the 11-5 Bills hosted the AFC wild card game vs. the 10-6 Oilers in Orchard Park. It was the Oilers' sixth consecutive season making the playoffs as the wild card team. Many in Buffalo were not sold on the idea of the Bills wild card game and only 75,141 of Rich Stadium's 80,000 seats were filled. This game was going to be radio only for Western New York. The Bills could not even catch a break in the weather as it was unseasonably warm and a bit wet (40 degrees). No Old Man Winter to stifle the relentless Oiler passing game.
The Oilers won the toss and opened the game on offense. Warren Moon was back at the helm off his injury, and his month's worth of rest was deadly for the Bills. Throwing to 3 pro bowl receivers in Ernest Givins, Curtis Duncan, and Haywood Jeffries (and if that was not enough, veteran Webster Slaughter), Moon carved up the Bills defense like last week's Christmas turkey.
Buffalo Bills Defensive Coordinator Walt Corey wanted to stem the tide early by employing a unique defense. Without his playmaker Bennett at linebacker, he chose to line up with a 5-man front. It consisted of the usual starters of DE Phil Hansen, NT Jeff Wright, and DE Bruce Smith, but also included LB's Carlton Bailey and Darrell Talley. Shane Conlon, a run stopper, would sit the pine. The Bills were going to employ a dime package to try and stop the Oilers league leading aerial attack. Joining starters James Williams, Henry Jones, and Mark Kelso were Kurt Schultz and Clifford Hicks.
No matter what Corey tried, it did not work. Gilbride kept the Bills defense off balance for the entire first half. Mixing deadly accurate Moon passes with Lorenzo White runs and the occasional Moon scramble, the Oilers marched up and down the Rich Stadium turf. So confident were the Oilers, they made an early 4th and 1 conversion. Moon went 6-7 passing in the opening 80 yard, 14-play drive, hitting Jeffries on a 3-yard TD pass.
Frank Reich assumed the reigns of the Bills offense in Jim Kelly's absence. It was not Reich's first time as a starter in Buffalo, but it was his first in a playoff game. The Bills managed to move their opening possession to the Oiler 20 before stalling and settling for a Steve Christie field goal. So far, the Bills trailed 7-3 with 1:54 remaining in the first.
With the wind now at his back, it was more of the same from Warren Moon. In almost a carbon copy of the first drive, Moon went 6-7 again. Another 80 yards this time in 12 plays. Moon found Webster Slaughter for a 7 yard score. The Bills were losing all sorts of battles. They could not cover the short routes. They could not pressure the QB. And when they did, he scrambled for yards. Worst of all, they were losing control of the clock.
Walt Corey's counterpart, Oiler Defensive Coordinator Jim Eddy, was having a completely different day. After the Oiler defense allowed the opening Bills' drive to yield a field goal, they stiffened and forced the Bills to punt after only 3 plays. Moon went to work again, this time finding Curtis Duncan on a 26 yard TD strike with 4:06 remaining in the half. Houston was riding high with a 21-3 lead.
Reich was able to garner a couple of first downs, including converting a 3rd and 22. But that was it. Driving to the Oiler 33, they turned the ball over on downs. Thurman Thomas' sore hip limited him to 10 carries for 26 yards. The turnover on downs afforded the Oilers one more shot in the 2 minute drill.
With 1:15 left in the half, Moon went to work one more time. In the final minute and a half, the Oilers capped their fourth TD drive with a 27-yard strike to Haywood Jeffries. What was painful about this one was that the Bills had an opportunity to stop the Oiler drive, but Moon drew an encroachment call on a 4th and 1. The stadium was in stunned disbelief. The Bills sidelines were in a state of shock. The scoreboard read 28-3 with many in the crowd calculating their early exit out of the parking lots. The invincible aura the Buffalo Bills built around themselves over two runs to the Super Bowl looked shattered. Marv Levy had the grim task of keeping his team together in the locker room.
In a New York TV studio, two of the three halftime analysts were writing the eulogy for the Bills. Bob Costas and Will McDonough praised the exploits of the Houston Oilers, particularly Warren Moon-
Costas - "A 2-1 ratio for the time of possession" (21:12 Oilers, 8:48 Bills)
McDonough - "This is the most efficient half time performance in NFL playoff history - the best half a QB has ever had - 19-22 219 yards, 4 TD's, 86% completion rate."
The Lone dissenter was Bengals QB and former teammate of Frank Reich at Maryland, Boomer Esiason. He reminded those of Frank Reich's incredible NCAA record setting 31-point comeback for Maryland vs. the vaunted Miami Hurricanes 8 seasons previous. But even he admitted this might be to tough a hill to climb. This was an NFL defense, not a college one.
In the Buffalo Locker room, Walt Corey lit up his unit. He did not mince words.
"I was hollering the same things the fans were hollering at me when we left the field," Corey says. "I can't repeat the words, but the more I talked, the louder I got. The thing that bothered me was their approach. To me, they looked timid. They looked like they were going to get in the right spots, but they weren't going to make anything happen afterward. This is an attitude game. Sometimes you start playing and you're afraid to make things happen or afraid to make a mistake."
"With every word that came out of Walt's mouth, he reached a new temperature level, until he finally just exploded," Recalled Nose Tackle Jeff Wright "He had every right to say the things that he said. We were embarrassing him, we were embarrassing ourselves, we were embarrassing Buffalo Bills fans."
Head Coach Marv Levy took a more philosophical approach.
"You've got thirty more minutes. Maybe it's the last thirty minutes of your season. When your season's over you're going to have to live with yourselves and look yourselves in the eyes. You'd damn well better have reason to feel good about yourselves, regardless of how this game turns out."
Asked later on what he thought his chances for victory, Levy quipped, "I thought I had a better shot at winning the lottery."
One thing Levy did was consult with Special Teams Coach Bruce DeHaven. He wanted the Bills to conduct an onside kick whenever the next opportunity presented itself. DeHaven, mastermind of the Bills excellent special teams units during the Bills playoff years, had devised a unique play. It was one he hoped he would never need (since onside kicks usually were needed in desperate situations). He was ready.
Walt Corey also decided to scrap the defense he employed in the first half. And why not? The six defensive backs he was using were shredded. The prevent defense was getting dinked and dunked on mercilessly. He decided to go back to the basic 3-4 defense he used all season. It would allow for unpredictability on the pass rush and also punish the smaller Houston WR's in the underneath game with the Bills linebackers.
The Bills took the field with the philosophy of "One play at a time" to try to get back into the game. On the third play from scrimmage, Reich's pass to TE Keith McKeller deflected off of the receiver's hands into the waiting arms of Houston Safety Bubba McDowell. He raced down the sidelines untouched to put the Oilers up 35-3 only 1:41 into the second half. One Houston radio announcer was immortalized on NFL films with the prophetic statement "The lights are on here at Rich Stadium, but you might as well turn them off...this one is over". NBC TV announcers were running to the record books quoting the largest margins of victory in NFL playoff games. Ironically, the one that came to mind was set in Rich Stadium two seasons prior, the Bills 51-3 dismantling of the Los Angeles Raiders in the AFC Championship game.
What followed next was a series of incredible plays, coincidences, accidents, and luck that had any of these things occurred differently, could have changed the momentum of the game and afforded the Oilers an easy victory. But the football gods finally awoke for the Buffalo Bills. They would have to soldier on without one of their best weapons, as Thurman Thomas and his hip pointer forced him out of the game. His understudy was RB Ken Davis.
First, there was the unintentional squib kick by Houston's Al Del Greco. The wind altered the ball just as he struck it off the tee, causing it to bounce only to the midfield logo. The Bills were to start with excellent field position. The Oiler defensive backs, inspired and hungry after McDowell's race to the house for an easy 6, were looking for interceptions instead of concentrating on receivers. The first was future and current Bills LB Eddie Robinson. He had 2 hands on another sure interception, but it passed through his arms for a big catch and gain by Bills TE Pete Metzelaars. Another completion to Andre Reed, and tough running by Ken Davis put the Bills on the goal line. On the 10th play of the drive, Davis ran left to the end zone flag, sprung by a great block by the veteran Jim Ritcher. With 8:52 remaining in the 3rd, the Bills were showing signs of life. Houston 35, Buffalo 10.
The second incredible play was Bruce DeHaven's call. It was known as "The Suicide Onside." Everyone on the planet was expecting the onside kick. Everyone except the coaching staff and special teams unit of the Oilers. With only 5 guys up front, and none of them particularly gifted in the hands department, it was ripe for the taking. Unlike a regular onside kick where the kicking team telegraphs the play by overloading one side of the field, this was designed to look like a regular kickoff. Christie and Co. would run up on the ball like a regular kick, but on this occasion Christie dribbled the ball 10 yards straight ahead. Mark Pike, one of the best special teams players in the league (and overshadowed by Bills special teams great Steve Tasker) had only one job. And that was to obliterate Oiler LB Rick Graf, who was set up 15 yards in front of the tee. The ball rolled painfully slow toward Graf, who went to his knees to recover. The instant the ball arrived, so did the 6'4" 275 lb Pike. Graf was suffocated on the play allowing Christie to recover his own kick. The Bills were back in business again at midfield, and with the wind still at their backs.
Reich took the field and on the first play from scrimmage, another fateful play went in the Bills favor. A quick 12-yard pass to WR Don Beebe was caught inches off the carpet. But when Beebe rolled over, Oiler DB Jerry Gray (yes, that Jerry Gray - future Bills Defensive Coordinator) slapped the ball from Beebe's hands for a fumble. But the officials instead blew the play dead, incorrectly calling Beebe down by contact. At this point, you could visualize the field beginning to slant downhill for the Bills. The miracle momentum was building, the crowd coming alive.
The Oilers began to make mental mistakes. Offsides on a crucial 3rd and 1 gave the Bills new downs. And it did not take Reich long to capitalize. On the very next play, Reich heaved the ball down the sidelines to a wide open Beebe, connecting on a 38 yard TD strike. Again, the unfortunate Gray was the victim of fate. Gray chucked Beebe off the line of scrimmage, forcing the speedy receiver to take 2 steps out of bounds, making him ineligible. But the zebras were caught looking the wrong way, and the Bills suddenly found themselves back into the fight, the score 35-17 with 7:56 remaining in the 3rd. Two quick Bills scores in 56 seconds brought a roar from the faithful who stayed. The crowd began to live up to their 12th man reputation.
Christie's ensuing kickoff was a bloop kick, high and short, again hoping to catch the Houston return team off guard, and it almost worked again. Two Oilers collided trying to catch the kick, and they almost muffed it again. The Oilers, looking invincible just 20 minutes earlier, were beginning to crack at their foundations.
Moon and his "well-oiled offense" (pun intended) began to rust. With halftime, and 3 consecutive Bills possessions, the Houston offense was sitting idle for almost an hour of real time. The idleness disrupted the methodical rhythm they developed in the first half. The crowd was alive and on their feet for the first time all game, and Walt Corey's change back to the 3-4 defense gave Moon a new look to adjust to. The Bills were desperately in need of the ball again. This time, the pressure on Moon was there. A pair of incomplete passes sandwiched around a run stuffing tackle by Phil Hanson on Lorenzo White fueled the crowd more. Another fortunate break, Oilers punter Greg Montgomery got off an awful 25-yard kick. The field tilted another few degrees in favor of Buffalo.
Reich opened this drive with an 18 yard strike to James Lofton. Ken Davis mixed in some inspired hard runs to keep the Oiler defense honest. Even when the Bills made mistakes, it shook the Houston secondary to the core. Beebe and Reich hooked up for a 41-yard TD that was negated by a Howard Ballard false start penalty. It exposed the leaky secondary that was not going to get repaired all day. After Davis ripped off a 20 yard run, the Andre Reed show began.
Andre Reed was an enigma, wrapped in a riddle, surrounded by a conundrum all season long. Reed was an unhappy camper all year, as the Bills offense failed to find ways to get him the ball during the Bills 7-5 stretch run. He was held to only 3 TDs all season, with just 1 in the last 11 games. In comparison, TE Pete Metzelaars had 6 TDs and offensive linemen Mitch Frerotte and John Fina combined were TIED with Reed at 3 TDs. But today was going to erase all of that. With 4:21 remaining in the 3rd, Reed and Reich capped off this drive with a 26-yard catch for a score. Oiler CB Steve Jackson got torched as he never concentrated on Reed. Looking into the Bills backfield all the way, Reed cut out then up the sidelines for the easy six. The coverage was so poor, Reed had all day to adjust to Reich's wobbly duck. Houston's once insurmountable lead was again reduced, 35-24.
Warren Moon was now facing a rabid crowd, a pumped defense, and he had no momentum. The Bills had run 18 plays to the Oilers 3, and had out gained them 176 yards to 3 in ten-plus minutes of action in the second half. And if it could only get worse for Moon, he didn't have to wait very long. The Oilers opened this drive with a motion penalty in the offense. It was so loud on the field, the spread offense could not hear the adjustments Moon was barking at the line of scrimmage. On 1st and 15, Moon's pass to Webster Slaughter sailed over the receiver's head and into the hands of the NFL's leading interceptor, Henry Jones.
The Bills assumed control of the field again. Taking over at the Oiler 23, The Houston Defense finally made a stand by holding the Bills to 5 yards on 3 plays. Facing 4th and 5 from the 18, the Bills and Marv Levy went against convention and decided to forgo a field goal. With the wind advantage dwindling, Levy chose to ride the hot hand of his backup quarterback. Andre Reed ran a slant pattern over the middle and dove to come up with his second TD of the game. Steve Jackson again was the victim as the Bills scored their fourth touchdown of the 3rd quarter. With exactly 17 minutes left in regulation, the Bills were alive and well, the score 35-31.
Levy's decision to go for it was dictated by field conditions. Those lucky enough to purchase end zone seats in the north end of the stadium witnessed a blizzard of points over the second and third quarters. With the wind, both sides managed to put up 7 of the game's 8 offensive TD's and 51 of the games 66 points. Sure, a field goal would put you 8 points behind, not bad after looking at a 32-point deficit 8 minutes earlier. But the daunting winds made scoring in the south end of the stadium a daunting task, and there was no such thing as a 2-point conversion in the NFL in 1993.
Levy recounted later "I told the other coaches if we hit a fourth [down], we're going to go for it if it's anywhere near a reasonable distance for the first down," Levy says. "I didn't know that we'd get a touchdown on the play, but the reasoning was that if we made the field goal, we were still down by eight. That quarter was nearly over, and we'd be going into the wind and you'd have to get very close to try a field goal in the fourth quarter."
The struggles for the Oilers offense continued. Dropped screen passes, players losing composure, and Darryl Talley's pressure caused Warren Moon to fumble in the pocket. While the fumble was recovered by the Oilers, it forced another Montgomery punt. It was Montgomery's second of the game, and both were dismal. This one fell one yard short of his other kick, moving only 25 yards. The Bills would open the 4th quarter moving into the wind at the Buffalo 48. Moon's near perfect 1st half was followed up with a 2 for 7, 19 yard 3rd quarter with 1 interception.
The Rich Stadium winds proved to be more of an obstacle for the Bills offense than Jim Eddy's defense. After four consecutive touchdown drives, the Bills could not take advantage of the excellent field position. The winds knocked down a 3rd down pass from Reich, and the Bills were forced to punt. Moon would finally get the wind advantage to jumpstart the Run and Shoot.
Moon began connecting again with his receivers. The rhythm and Oiler momentum began to build. Even some of the breaks that were seemingly endless for the Bills began to fall Houston's way. An apparent interception by Carlton Bailey was reversed by a questionable Bruce Smith roughing-the-passer penalty vs. Moon. Despite 2 sacks by Jeff Wright on the drive, Moon moved the Oilers to the Buffalo 15. Phil Hanson most likely made a game saving tackle on Oilers WR Leonard Harris. On 3rd and 10 from the 20, Moon hit Harris underneath. Harris made a spin move breaking a Shane Conlon tackle, and he had the entire right hand side of the field open to the end zone. Phil Hansen's backside pursuit and second effort caught the receiver 5 yards short of the marker. One more step and the Bills would be facing an 11 point deficit into the wind with 8 minutes remaining.
Oiler Punter Greg Montgomery was already having one of the worst days of his career. Only called on twice all game, he handed the Bills offense excellent field position when they needed it most, with a pair of 25-yard kicks. With 6:53 remaining the Oilers tried to extend their lead back to 7 with a 32-yard Al Del Greco field goal attempt. Montgomery, the holder, could not handle the damp ball on the FG snap. After a game of football "Hot Potato" between Del Greco and Montgomery, the officials blew the play dead when the ball squirted loose into Darrell Talley's hands. If you could call it a break for the Oilers, Talley's 70-yard return to the Oiler 15 was called back. The Bills would still need to drive 74 yards against the wind with time now dwindling.
Ken Davis then took control. Basically used as Thomas' mop-up guy while in Buffalo, this was his chance to make a difference. Sure he held the NFL record with four touchdowns in the 1991 51-3 Bills victory in the AFC championship game against the Raiders, but that game was over long before he even took the field. This was his chance to put the Bills' offense on his shoulders when it mattered most. It was his time in the spotlight. Reich opened the drive with a quick screen to Davis who took it 6 yards to the 31. A rare Beebe drop put the Bills into a 3rd and 4. After the Bills used their second time out, they called a masterful draw play to Davis. Nearly fumbling the exchange, Davis took advantage of the gun-shy Oiler defense that collapsed back into coverage. With the field wide open before him, Ritcher and Wolford cleared the way for a 35-yard jaunt. Only a TD saving shoestring tackle by Jackson prevented Davis from taking it all the way.
With the Houston defense again reeling on their heels, it was time for Andre Reed again. Following up a Beebe reception to the 25-yard line, Reich found Reed on a 3rd down and 2 to sustain the drive to the Houston 17. The very next play, Steve Jackson became a Reed victim for the 3rd time, as Reich nailed him over the middle for a 17-yard TD. It was his 8th catch for 136 yards. With 3:08 remaining, the Bills erased the 32 point deficit to take a 38-35 lead. Rich Stadium exploded into bedlam.
This was Warren Moon's last stand. Remembering the 21-3 lead blown to the Broncos in the previous year's playoffs, he did not want to have it happen again. Going back to what worked in the first half, the Oilers again geared up the Run and Shoot. Dinking and dunking, Moon maneuvered the Oilers downfield. The cacophony of noise from the crowd rose on every snap. No one who purchased a seat used them, as everyone was standing. The tension was immense. On 4th and 4 from the Bills 34, Moon hit Slaughter with an 18-yard strike to the Bills 16. One saving grace for the Bills was the play calling of Kevin Gilbride. Once in the red zone, the Oilers became conservative, almost content to settle for a game tying field goal. Houston did not attempt to throw it into the end zone. Moon threw it away on 1st down, they called a draw play on 2nd down for a small gain. On 3rd and 5, The Bills finally mounted a pass rush on the drive and flushed Moon from the pocket. He ran for it, and was stopped 3 yards shy by Bailey. With 15 seconds left, Del Greco pushed through the game tying Field Goal.
The Houston Oilers called tails as the officials flipped the coin. Unfortunately for them, they won the toss. Ecstatic at winning the toss, they chose fatefully to receive the kick. This gave the Bills the wind, and in overtime that would prove to be a deciding factor. Not known for his exceptionally strong kickoffs, Christie nailed the opening kick of overtime into the end zone for a touchback.
The crowd again rose to blanket the field with a wall of human sound. Barely able to be heard above the ear splitting noise, Moon was able to connect on his 37th and 38th completions on 49 attempts for a total of 7 yards. On 3rd and 3, attempt number 50 would be his last. With plenty of time in the pocket, he looked for Ernest Givins 5 yards down field. Tangling with Talley when the ball was released, Givens was unable to extract himself from the linebacker to get his hands up. The Ball sailed over Givins' head and into the awaiting arms of Bills CB Nate Odomes. During the 2-yard return, the Oilers were slapped with a 15-yard facemask penalty on Jeffries' tackle of Odomes.
With the wind and the ball on the Oiler 20, it was game, set, and match. Ken Davis ran the ball twice into the Oiler line to set up a 3rd down Christie FG try. Reich had one more snap to handle as the holder. From 32 yards out, Christie booted the Bills into the history books.
Jim Kelly, Cornelius Bennett, and Thurman Thomas - all regulated to the role of spectators, watched their understudies make the plays to bring the Bills their sweetest victory. Reich became an instant celebrity. ESPN's Chris Berman anointed him with the nickname "Frank 'Lloyd' Reich, Architect of Comebacks." He now owned both the NFL and NCAA records, overcoming 2 deficits totaling a combined 63 points. On the other side of the field, things were not as pleasant. Twenty-four hours after the game, two Houston assistant coaches, defensive coordinator Jim Eddy and secondary coach Pat Thomas were fired.
The Bills were not finished. Reich and company rode the emotional wave into Pittsburgh and stifled the Steelers 24-3 at Three Rivers Stadium. Next stop was another defeat laid on the Dolphins in the AFC Championship game at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami, 29-10. After giving up 4 consecutive TDs to open the playoffs, Walt Corey's defense held the Oilers, Steelers, and Dolphins to a total of 16 points over 10 full quarters and one short overtime. Unfortunately, the Bills luck ran out in Pasadena, as the Dallas Cowboys handed the Bills their 3rd consecutive Super Bowl defeat 52-17.
What this wild card game did accomplish, however, was to cement the Buffalo Bills as the most resilient team in sports. No matter what obstacle was put in their path, or what hill needed to be climbed, the Bills continued to soldier on. After the crushing defeat to the Cowboys, it would be acceptable to all outside Buffalo, almost EXPECTED, that the Bills would finally fade into the sunset. They did not. They came back again in the 1993 season and defied the world with a 4th and record breaking Super Bowl appearance.
Chris Berman has said for over a decade now, "No one circles the wagons like the Buffalo Bills!" They taught a generation of fans, players, and coaches that while there may be defeat in life, you never stop trying. You never give up! This was evident 3 weeks later in that fateful Dallas Super Bowl, as Frank Reich again assumed the helm of the Bills in relief of the injured Jim Kelly. Down 31-10 and Reich in the game, Bills fans everywhere had in the back of their minds "Now we got them right where we want them."
Reich did manage to get the Bills within 13 before they were overwhelmed with their own mistakes. The never-give-up spirit was immortalized by Buffalo's Don Beebe at the end of that game, who sprinted 50 yards to knock the ball loose at the 1 from Leon Lett on his fumble return.
But on that windswept and wet January day, The Buffalo Bills defied all logic in one of the greatest games in the history of the NFL.
