| January 01, 2004 | « Previous Story | HOME | Next Story » | Posted at 05:50 PM |
Following the Super Bowl debacle in Pasadena, the Buffalo Bills made some major changes on and off the field. Four days after the game, GM Bill Polian shocked both the team and fans alike when he announced his own dismissal during a press conference February 4th. The architect of the team, he turned the reigns over to chief scout John Butler. It was revealed that Polian had philosophical and business differences with Owner Ralph Wilson's business manager/treasurer Jeff Littmann. Polian went to work for the NFL offices in New York to help administer the leagues' Management Council. His new role was to advise teams on the new NFL free agency plan.
With the new free agency system, the Bills assigned NT Jeff Wright and T Will Wolford the team's transition tag- guaranteeing both players the average of the top ten salaries- or the right to match any offer received by any other club. They chose not to name anyone the team's "Franchise Player"- who would have been untouchable by any completing clubs.
Indianapolis stepped in and made Wolford a blockbuster offer- $7.65 million over 3 seasons- with an escalator clause that would make him the highest paid offensive player on the team (excluding QBs). The Bills protested with the league claiming it was an unfair proposal- since Buffalo was loaded with high priced expensive stars on offense- (the Bills were the 6th highest paid team in the league) while the Colts were not. The Bills lost their appeal, and lost Wolford as well. The NFL soon closed the loophole, but it was too late for the Bills.
Other players lost in free agency included Pro-Bowl LB Shane Conlon who signed with the LA Rams. LB Carlton Bailey jumped to the New York Giants. DB Clifford Hicks signed with division rival New York Jets. James Lofton, the NFL's leading receiver in yardage and Buffalo's co-leader in TD receptions from the previous season, was not brought back for the 1993 season. Buffalo did acquire WR Bill Brooks via free agency after 7 seasons with the Colts.
The 1993 NFL draft brought the Bills North Carolina CB Thomas Smith with their top pick. NT John Parella was selected with the second round pick, and WR Russell Copeland was selected in the 4th. The draft was reduced to only 8 rounds, down from 12 the year before. New England selected future Buffalo Bill QB Drew Bledsoe with the #1 overall pick.
Buffalo opened the preseason in Berlin, Germany against the Vikings and suffered a 20-6 defeat. In a quick turnaround, Buffalo trounced Joe Montana and the Kansas City Chiefs 30-7. The see saw preseason continued with an embarrassing 32-12 defeat to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Bills finished up at home with a 17-16 win over the Atlanta Falcons. Center Kent Hull and TE Keith McKeller underwent surgery for knee injuries and would not be ready to open the season.
Week 3 saw the hated Dolphins come to town and dominate the Bills in their own building for the second straight season. Miami jumped out to a 19-0 lead early before Steve Christy answered with 2 late 1st half field goals. Miami then marched the second half kick-off the length of the field for Stoyanovich's 3rd FG of the game. The drive consumed almost 9 minutes. Bill Brooks drew the Bills to within 9 on his 27-yard TD reception with 7:23 remaining, but it was all the Bills could muster in the 22-13 loss.
Buffalo lost their second in a row as the Los Angeles Raiders came to Rich Stadium in week 12. After spotting the Raiders a 3-0 lead, Thomas' 3 yard TD run put Buffalo up in the 2nd quarter. The Raiders responded with a Jeff Hostetler's 11-yard scramble for a TD. Don Beebe put the Bills on top again with a 65-yard TD catch for the 14-10 halftime lead. Thurman Thomas added a 2 yard run for a score to give Buffalo a 24-16 lead in the 4th, but the Raiders rallied. Tim Brown's 29-yard TD with 5 minutes remaining gave the Raiders a 25-24 victory, and dropped the Bills to 8-4, 1 game out of the Eastern division race.
Buffalo took the opening drive 75 yards in 10 plays to open the scoring with a Ken Davis 1-yard TD run. Failing the extra point, the Dolphins took the lead 7-6 when Mark Ingram caught a 14-yard TD from Miami QB Scott Mitchell. The teams traded FGs before an interception by JB Brown of a Jim Kelly pass set up a Keith Jackson 16 yard TD reception. Buffalo responded with an 80 yard march to the endzone, with Ken Davis adding his second TD of the day on a 12 yard run. Buffalo took the lead for good when Christie added a 32-yard FG with 1:19 in the half. Mickey Washington picked off Scott Mitchell on the very next play and returned it 27 yards for a 26-17 Bills lead.
After Miami added a FG on the last play of the half, the Bills came out in the 3rd quarter on fire, scoring 3 TDs in the first 5:59. On Miami's first play Keith Jackson was stripped by Darryl Talley and Nate Odomes returned it 25 yards for the score 17 seconds into the second half. After the kick, the Buffalo defense struck for the third turnover in under 2 minutes when Matt Darby picked off Mitchell and gave the Bills the ball at the Miami 19. Ken Davis scored his third TD of the game four plays later. Steve DeBerg replaced Mitchell at the Dolphins helm, but the Bills defense forced another turnover 4 play later. Kelly struck Don Beebe with a 27-yard TD pass for the 47-20 lead just 6 minutes into the 3rd. Miami added 2 meaningless scores as the Bills would claim the top spot in the division.
The Bills trailed, 17-6, late in the first half and, 23-22, late in the third quarter before QB Jim Kelly capped perhaps the most brilliant performance of his career with a 22-yard TD pass to WR Bill Brooks, his second of the game for the winning points 2:55 into the fourth quarter. The Bills overcame the losses of their leading receiver and best run-blocker, TE Pete Metzelaars, who left the game late in the third quarter with a dislocated finger, and RB Thurman Thomas, who left early in the fourth with a mild concussion.
After a scoreless first quarter, the Raiders struck first with a K Jeff Jaeger 30-yard FG. Each team traded a pair of rushing TDs as Bills RB Kenneth Davis plunged in from 1 yard out and Thomas scored on an 8-yard run. Raiders RB Napoleon McCallum added two 1-yard TD runs in between Buffalo's two scores to give them a 17-13 lead at the intermission. Buffalo's defense was as effective as its offense in the final two quarters, as the Bills took control of the game in the second half by outscoring the Raiders, 16-6, and picking up 18 first downs to L.A.'s one, which came on a touchdown.
The Buffalo Bills made NFL history on Jan. 23, 1994, when they routed the Chiefs, 30-13, to become the first team to win four straight AFC Championships. Buffalo remains the only team in NFL history to appear in four straight Super Bowls.
Joe Montana was gunning for his first Super Bowl appearance as a member of the Chiefs, but Buffalo was fueled by a strong 33-carry, 186-yard performance by Thurman Thomas. The Bills came out running to rack up 229 yards rushing and 160 yards passing on the afternoon. Buffalo's defense limited Kansas City to just 52 yards rushing and also battered both Montana and backup Dave Krieg, who had 286 yards passing combined.
Both teams started out slowly and punted twice, before the Bills put together a six-play, 47-yard drive culminating in Thomas' 12-yard touchdown run. With 6:49 remaining in the first quarter, the Bills had a 7-0 lead. Kansas City came back late in the first quarter and went 51 yards in 10 plays, ending in a Nick Lowery 31-yard field goal with 2:14 remaining. Bennie Thompson forced Russell Copeland to fumble the ensuing kickoff, and 1:35 later, Lowery kicked an identical 31-yarder to bring the Chiefs to 7-6 as the quarter ended.
That was as close as the Chiefs would get, however. Thomas again was the key player as Buffalo went down the field 80 yards on 14 plays, with Thomas scoring his second touchdown of the first half with 2:58 gone in the second quarter. Buffalo held a 14-6 lead. The Chiefs were forced to punt, and the ensuing 41-yard drive led to Steve Christie's 23-yarder with 7:02 remaining before the half and a 17-6 Bills' lead. The defense again held the Chiefs, and again the Bills took the punt and marched downfield for a field goal. Buffalo went 56 yards on 10 plays, and Christie kicked a 25 yarder with 2:01 remaining for a 20-6 lead. Montana drove Kansas City to the Buffalo 5. But on their second attempt to score a touchdown from inside the 10, Montana was intercepted by Henry Jones, and Buffalo took the 20-6 lead into halftime. Buffalo finished the half with a 263-141 yard advantage over the Chiefs, while Thomas already had racked up 108 yards and two touchdowns at the break.
Things just got worse for the Chiefs in the third quarter, as Montana was sandwiched by Bruce Smith and Jeff Wright on the third play of the quarter and left the game with a concussion. Dave Krieg took over for the Chiefs, and he managed to trim the Buffalo lead late in the third quarter by engineering a 14-play, 90-yard drive that ended with Marcus Allen's one-yard run and a 20-13 Bills lead with 3:06 left in the quarter. Buffalo turned a 14-play, 79-yard drive into Christie's third field goal of the afternoon, this one a 18-yarder with 11:55 left in regulation, and a 23-13 Buffalo lead. Buffalo held the Chiefs to three-and-out on their next drive, and Thomas added his third touchdown of the day with a three-yard run with 5:30 remaining. The score was the last of the game to give Buffalo their fourth straight AFC Championship with a 30-13 win over the Chiefs.
By winning, Dallas joined San Francisco and Pittsburgh as the only franchises with four Super Bowl victories. The Bills, meanwhile, extended a dubious string by losing in the Super Bowl for the fourth consecutive year.
To win, the Cowboys had to rally from a 13-6 halftime deficit. Buffalo had forged its lead on Thurman Thomas's 4-yard touchdown run and a pair of field goals by Steve Christie, including a 54-yard kick, the longest in Super Bowl history.
But just 55 seconds into the second half, Thomas was stripped of the ball by Dallas defensive tackle Leon Lett. Safety James Washington recovered and weaved his way 46 yards for a touchdown to tie the game at 13-13. After forcing the Bills to punt, the Cowboys began their next possession on their 36-yard line and Smith, the game's most valuable player, took over.
He carried seven times for 61 yards on the ensuing 8-play, 64-yard drive, capping the march with a 15-yard touchdown run to give Dallas the lead for good with 8:42 remaining in the third quarter.
Early in the fourth quarter, Washington intercepted Jim Kelly's pass and returned it 12 yards to Buffalo's 34. A penalty moved the ball back to the 39, but Smith carried twice for 10 yards and caught a screen pass for nine, and quarterback Troy Aikman completed a 16-yard pass to Alvin Harper to give the Cowboys a first-and-goal at the 6.
Smith took it from there, cracking the end zone on fourth-and-goal from the 1 to put Dallas ahead 27-13 with 9:50 remaining. Eddie Murray's third field goal, from 20 yards with 2:50 left, ended any doubt about the game's outcome.
Smith had 30 carries in all, with 19 of his attempts and 92 yards coming after intermission. Washington, normally a reserve who played most of the game because the Cowboys used five defensive backs to combat the Bills' No-Huddle offense, had 11 tackles and forced another fumble by Thomas in the first quarter.
Aikman completed 19 of 27 passes for 207 yards. Buffalo's Kelly completed a Super Bowl-record 31 passes in 50 attempts for 260 yards.
Dallas, the first team in NFL history to begin the regular season 0-2 and go on to win the Super Bowl, also became the fifth to win back-to-back titles, following Green Bay, Miami, Pittsburgh (the Steelers did it twice), and San Francisco.
Buffalo became the third team, along with Minnesota and Denver, to lose four Super Bowls.
1993 Draft-
1993 Stats- 1993 Results-
