| August 09, 2005 | « Previous Story | HOME | Next Story » | Posted at 04:05 PM |
Earlier today, the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton Ohio inducted two of the greatest quarterbacks in the League during the late 1980's and 1990's. During their careers, a number of memorable battles were waged against the Buffalo Bills. BillsZone remembers some of those battles and brings you highlights from contests against Dan Marino's Miami Dolphins and Steve Young's San Francisco 49ers.
Game 6 found the Bills in the Orange Bowl, a venue where they have failed to register a win since 1966- Miami’s expansion season. While the Dolphins managed to reach the Super Bowl the previous season, they had serious issues trying to replace their Hall of Fame signal caller of the 70’s Bob Griese. Back up Don Strock wasn’t the answer, and David Woodley was ineffective. The past spring, Dolphin coach Don Shula took a chance on Pittsburgh’s Dan Marino. Woodley started the season at QB, but his erratic play led to his benching after week 5, with rookie Dan Marino getting the nod for his first start ever.
While Buffalo Bills QB Joe Ferguson struggled during the season, he managed to turn in his best performance ever wearing a Bills uniform on this day. He opened the game with 2 long drives, capping them both off with 2 TD passes to WR Byron Franklin. The brash young Marino responded, tying the game 3 minutes into the second half with a 63 yard TD pass to Mark Duper. Not to be out done, Ferguson again put the Bills out front finding FB Booker Moore on an 11 yard TD pass 1:42 into the fourth. Marino surged the Dolphins into the lead with a pair of TD passes a 2 yard score to 
Nate Moore, and a 14 yard TD pass too Mark Clayton with 3:06remaining in the game. Trailing 35-28, Ferguson took over 80 yards from the tying TD. Facing a 3rd and 16, Ferguson hit Byron Franklin for 221 yards. Ferguson would find WR Perry Tuttle for 19 yards and Jerry Butler for 16. Facing 4th and goal at the one with ony 23 seconds remaining, Ferguson capped the 13 play drive by finding Joe Cribbs in the end zone for Cribb’s second TD of the game.
In overtime, Marino twice drove the Dolphins into Bills territory in an attempt to win it. Dolphin’s kicker Uwe von Schamann missed FGs of 52 and 43 yards to keep the Bills alive. Ferguson finally put a stake through the heart of the Dolphins, driving the Bills to the Miami 19 setting up the game winner of the foot of Joe Danelo. In victory, Ferguson set a team record for Attempts (55) , completions (38) and yards (407). The victory put the Bills in first place at 4-2.
After their first round bye, the Bills played host to the Miami Dolphins for their third meeting of the year. The week off allowed Buffalo to get Jim Kelly well enough to get back into the line up and to fine tune their new offensive look. When the no-huddle was unleashed upon the Dolphins, it produced the highest scoring non-overtime game in NFL playoff history.
With intermittent snow showers and bitter cold temperatures, the Bills won the coin flip and elected to receive. Kelly connected with Reed for 20 on the first play of the game. After Thomas broke off a 14 yard run, Kelly found Reed all alone for a 40 yard TD 1:54 into the game. QB Jim Kelly ran the no-huddle offense to a 13-3 first quarter lead . Miami answered the opening drive with a 49-yard Pete Stoyanovich FG. The next two Buffalo drives were capped off with FGs of 24 and 22 yards by K Scott Norwood.
Kelly and Reed connected again on a 43 yard pass play that set up a 5 yard Thomas TD and a 20-3 Bills lead. Miami rallied with a 64 yard Marino to Duper strike on the next series to pull the fins within 10. James Lofton added to the Bills lead with his own 13 yard TD reception, but Miami answered just before the half with a rare Dan Marino TD run to make it 27-17 Buffalo lead. . In a 3rd quarter kickers' dual, Stoyanovich split the uprights from 22 yards out before Norwood drew claim to his 3rd FG of the day with a 28-yard shot. Miami drew to within a FG, 30-27, when Marino hit guard eligible Roy Foster with a 2-yard TD pass. But the Bills added 14 points to their 4th quarter lead when Thomas put the finishing touch on a 63-yard drive by strolling in from the 5. Buffalo wasted no time getting the ball back when LB Hal Garner forced a fumble on the ensuing KO return. Just 2 plays later, Reed grabbed a 23-yard Kelly pass for the Bills final tally. The Dolphins made the final score 44-34 with an 8-yard Marino-to-WR Tony Martin TD pass.
Buffalo's no huddle produced handsomely. Thurman Thomas had 117 yards rushing and 2 TDs. Jim Kelly had 339 yards via the air in a 3 TD performance. Both Andre Reed (4 rec. 122 yards) and James Lofton (7 receptions for 149) torched the Miami secondary.
In one of the wildest games in NFL history, the Bills' Jim Kelly and the 49ers' Steve Young put on quite a show for the 64,053 at Candlestick Park, as both quarterbacks threw for over 400 yards in Buffalo's 34-31 win over San Francisco. Both Kelly and Young were graduates in the USFL a decade earlier, and the reunion of the defunct league's two brightest stars brought back comparisons to the at wide open era of football. The two teams combined for 1,086 yards of offense, fourth-highest in NFL history, and neither team attempted a punt, an NFL first. As for Kelly, he became the first Bills QB to pass for more than 400 yards in a regular-season game, and also passed a career milestone with 20,000 yards in his NFL career.
San Francisco opened the scoring after taking advantage of a Bills' fumble, with Young passing 23 yards to Odessa Turner with 3:26 left in the first quarter. The teams then traded scoring on eight straight possessions. Steve Christie put Buffalo on the board with a 41-yard field goal with :18 remaining in the quarter, but San Francisco upped its lead to 14-3 as FB Tom Rathman capped off an 80-yard drive. Thurman Thomas hauled in a 20-yard pass from Kelly for Buffalo's first touchdown to make the score 14-10 with 9:35 left in the half, but San Francisco's Mike Cofer and Steve Christie traded field goals and the 49ers added another touchdown for a 24-13 San Francisco lead.
However, Buffalo opened the second half with a bang, marching 80 yards in five plays, finishing with a Pete Metzelaars 53-yard reception 2:27 into the third quarter to cut the 49er lead to 4, then Metzelaars added another less than six minutes later to put Buffalo on top. Young answered back, hitting Taylor for a 54-yard strike late in the third quarter, but Buffalo had the final answer, as Thurman Thomas' 11-yard run gave the Bills a 34-31 lead with 3:04 remaining in regulation. The 49ers were able to attempt a 47-yarder with :54 remaining to try to force overtime, but it was no good, giving Buffalo the win. For the afternoon, Kelly finished completing 22 of 33 passes for 403 yards, while Steve Young finished with 26 completions for 449 yards. Andre Reed had 10 catches for 144 yards, Pete Metzelaars had 4 catches for 113, and Thurman Thomas added 94 more on 4 grabs himself.
