Looking back in time- Bills vs Rams

by Bills Time Zone

The Rams have faced off against the Bills eight times in the regular season, with the teams splitting those contests, 4-4. The Rams last played the Bills, in Buffalo, on Sept. 20, 1998, with St. Louis taking a 34-33 decision. Prior to that meeting, the Bills had won three straight from the Rams, dating back to 1989. The teams first met on Sept. 27, 1970 in Buffalo, with the Rams earning a 19-0 shutout victory.

Rams 34, Bills 33 -9/20/98

The Buffalo Bills lost an 18 point lead to suffer their third loss of the season. Buffalo managed to produce this lead despite surrendering 9 sacks in the game, giving them 22 sacks given up after only 3 weeks. Rob Johnson Connected with FB Sam Gash to open the scoring in the game, and connected on a 13 yard TD pass to put Buffalo up 14-10 at the half. Buffalo scored 2 quick TDs to open the third quarter- Thurman Thomas' 14 yard run capped a 7 play, 80 yard drive that opened the third. Kurt Schulz intercepted Ram QB Tony Banks less than a minute later. Johnson connected with TE Jay Riemersma with his 3rd TD pass on the day on the very next snap.

The Rams began their comeback when at the end of the 3rd quarter, Rams DE Ray Agnew recovered a fumble to set up a Jeff Wilkins FG. The Rams followed up with Amp Lee's 23-yard TD reception. Christie answered with a FG to open the 4th quarter, but the Ram's Greg Hill and his 1-yard TD plunge and a 2-point conversion made it 31-28. Ted Washington dropped Hill for a loss in the endzone for a safety to push Buffalo's lead to 33-28. The Rams began the winning drive on their own 20 with 3:57 left. After they moved down the field with a 34-yard completion to Ricky Proehl and a 14-yard shuffle pass to Amp Lee, Banks ran in for the go-ahead touchdown, with 11 seconds in the game. Hill finished with a career-high 158 yards on 19 carries.

Bills 45, Rams 27- 12/10/95

Week 14 found the Bills in St Louis playing the recently relocated Rams. The Buffalo offense had their best game of the season, scoring 6 TDs in a 45-27 win. Darick Holmes had a pair of TDs, and Thurman Thomas added 129 yards, including a 49 yard run , and scored once. Thomas became the club leader with his 42nd career 100 yard game. Steve Tasker added 2 TD receptions of his own during the game. Buffalo’s 45-27 victory moved them to 9-4 on the season and they remained 1 game on top of the AFC East with 2 to play- and the Miami Dolphins coming to town.

Bills 40, Rams 7 - 9/6/1992

Buffalo exploded out of the gate against an old familiar face. Chuck Knox, former coach of the Bills from 1978-82, took over the reigns of the Los Angeles Rams for the second time. The Bills inflicted the worst defeat ever on any Chuck Knox led team as they dismantled the Rams 40-7 before 79,001 at Rich Stadium. Thurman Thomas became only the sixth Bill to record four touchdowns in a game, while amassing 102 yards rushing. Offensive lineman Mitch Frerotte also scored on a trick play at the goal line, as Jim Kelly found him on a tackle eligible 2-yard TD pass. James Lofton became the NFL's all-time leader in receiving, surpassing Steve Largent's record of 13,089 yards.

Bills 23, Rams 20 -9/16/1989

In his first professional start in front of a prime time audience, Frank Reich and the Bills offense had a less than spectacular game for nearly 55 minutes. Reich was picked of on his first drive, but the Buffalo defense came through forcing a Rams punt.. Much maligned the first half of the season, they played inspired defense against the NFL’s most explosive offense. The Bills special teams had a rare miscue when recently acquired Mickey Sutton muffed the return, giving the Rams prime field position on the Bills 16. Buford McGee was on the receiving end of a Jim Everett 4 yard TD pass.

Buffalo managed to pull within 1 at the half on 2 Norwood FGs. The Rams managed to answer with a FG of their own in the third, and appeared to frustrate the conservative Bills offense. Both teams exchanged FGs in the 4th, giving the Rams a 13-9 advantage. With 6 minutes remaining, Reich managed to put together a drive of 86 yards in 10 plays. Thurman Thomas’s 1 yard plunge put Buffalo ahead 16-13 with 3:23 remaining.

The Buffalo defense appeared to finish the Rams off when Everett failed to connect on any of his 4 offensive plays. Taking over on downs at the Ram 20 yard line, Thurman Thomas fought for yards to give the Bills a first down that would end the game. However, Thomas fumbled and the Rams received one more shot at their own 22. Jim Everett made the Bills pay for their mistake, hitting WR Flipper Anderson on a 78 yard bomb on the very next play, giving the Rams an almost certain unlikely victory.

Down 20-16, Reich took over on his own 36 with 1:17 and 3 timeouts remaining. On the first play, Reich hit Andre Reed for 6. Reed fumbled when tackled, but Kent Hull recovered, sustaining the drive. On the next 3 plays, Reich found Thomas open on short dump off passes over the middle, gaining 17, 6, and 15 yards, placing the ball on the Ram 22 yard line. Ronnie Harmon broke open and caught a Reich pass down the sidelines to the Ram 8, stepping out of bounds killing the clock with 20 seconds left. On the next play, Reich hit Reed at the 2 yard line, and with 2 Rams defenders draped on his back, he powered his way across the plane of the goal line. With 16 seconds remaining, Reed put the Bills up for good 23-20.