Following their last second loss to the Oakland Raiders, the Buffalo Bills found themselves in a virtual tie with division rival Boston. The 10-2-1 Patriots would spend this week enjoying a bye, preparing for their big showdown with the Bills next week in Fenway Park. Win or lose against the Broncos, the 10-2 Bills will finish the year in the de-facto playoff game in the season finale.

Head coach Lou Saban, recognizing the entire Patriot team was resting, chose to treat his game like a glorified preseason game. Wide receivers Glenn Bass and Elbert Dubenion- coming off injury- would see little time on the field Ed Rutkowski would get the start. . Cookie Gilchrist saw limited action and soon gave way to Wray Carlton- back after missing most of the year. The biggest name regulated to clipboard duty was QB Jack Kemp. Daryle Lamonica- who had relieved Kemp all season long- won his first opportunity to start.

With nothing on the line, the Bills managed to rout the Broncos while still mailing it in. Buffalo struck on their first possession- as Lamonica completed a 46 –yard bomb for a TD with his former college team mate from Notre Dame- Ed Rutkowski. Later in the first, a perfect punt by Paul MaGuire pinned the Broncos on their 1 yard line. Ron McDole nailed Bronco FB Billy Joe for a loss and the safety.

After the Broncos responded with a field goal, the Bills put the game out of reach before the half. Ron McDole again was the catalyst- forcing a Denver fumble deep in their own end. Wray Carlton shook of 3 months worth of rust with a 5-yard TD run. Buffalo would enter the half with a 23-3 lead on Lamonica’s scrambling 23 yard TD run. Gilchrist set up the drive with a pair of punishing runs, and Dubenion had his only reception on the afternoon putting the ball at the Bronco 23. Lamonica ran away from a blitz and found the endzone.

Denver came out of the half not ready to quit- and aided buy both a conservative and sloppy Bills offense in the 3rd quarter- the Broncos managed to claw back. Lionel Taylor grabbed a 30 yard Jacky Lee strike. Capitalizing on turnovers, backup QB Mickey Slaughter hooked up with Bob Scarpitto for 37 yards and another TD, but a blocked extra point left Buffalo on top 23-16. Denver drew within 4 with under 8 minutes in the game as Dick Gussman hit from 45 yards out.

The Bills then ran off 9 consecutive running plays with Carlton and Gilchrist pounding the Denver defense. On the 10th play of the drive, Lamonica called his own number and plunged in from the one. The game ended 30-19 in favor of the Bills. For Lamonica, it was a lackluster performance despite the two rushing TDs. He fumbled 3 times and pitched an interception as the Bills offense turned the ball over 7 times. While the Bills offense managed a mere 64 net yards passing, Gilchrist and Carlton led the Bills to 154 rushing yards. The big story of the game was the Buffalo defense- as the Broncos could only cobble together 117 total yards of offense.

Next week- The top two AFL records collide as Buffalo Bills and Boston Patriots battle for the second year in a row for the rights to represent the east division in the championship game.