| December 24, 2005 | « Previous Story | HOME | Next Story » | Posted at 09:27 AM |
BillsZone salutes 35 seasons of Buffalo Bills memories on Monday Night Football. Stay tuned all week as we recall many great Bills contests on the NFL's brightest stage.
The Buffalo Bills opened the 1974 season with, what ABC Sports producer Roone Arledge dubbed “Mother Love’s Travelling Freak Show”. Monday Night Football came to town with a date with John Madden’s Oakland Raiders- a team that owned the night during the 1970’s.
Showing the balance that Saban was striving for, OJ Simpson (12 carries-76 yds) and FB Jim Braxton (19 –68) shared the load in the backfield. QB Joe Ferguson opened the scoring with a 4 yard pass to JD Hill in the 2nd quarter. Oakland then scored 13 unanswered points, on the strength of 2 George Blanda FG’s and a 15 yard run by Raider HB Clarence Davis.
Heading deep into the 4th quarter, the game was a tight to the vest defensive battle, with both clubs moving the ball well on the ground. With 1:56 remaining in the game, Ferguson capped of a late drive as he found WR Ahmad Rashad in the End Zone for an 8 yard TD pass. With a 14-13 lead, the Bills looked like they sealed the victory by forcing a Raider turnover deep in Oakland territory.
Disaster struck the Bills, when Jim Braxton coughed up the ball trying to kill the clock. Raider Safety Skip Thomas scooped up the loose ball and streaked 29 yards into the end zone with 1:15 remaining, giving Oakland a 20-14 advantage. The game rested in the hands of second year QB Joe Ferguson, who only had 4 TD passes in his entire rookie year, but had two on the night so far. Ferguson moved the club down the field quickly, as he hit Ahmad Rashad for the second time in 90 seconds- with a 33 yard TD strike. With a 21-20 lead, the Raiders still had life. An architect of many comebacks, Raider QB Ken Stabler moved the Raiders to the Buffalo 33. George Blanda’s 50 yard kick to win missed, and the Bills took their opener in wild style, Buffalo 21 Oakland 20
Sept. 16, 1974 -- Oakland at Buffalo Scoring By Quarter
1 2 3 4 Total Oakland 0 3 10 7 20 Buffalo 0 7 0 14 21
Scoring Summary
| 1st Quarter | |||
| No scoring | |||
| 2nd Quarter | |||
| BUF TD | Hill 4 YD pass from Joe Ferguson (Leypoldt kick), 4:25 | BUFFALO 7-0 | |
| OAK FG | Blanda 34 YD, 13:49 | BUFFALO 7-3 | |
| 3rd Quarter | |||
| OAK TD | Davis 15 run (Blanda kick), 4:25 | OAKLAND 10-7 | |
| OAK FG | Blanda 41 YD, 11:25 | OAKLAND 13-7 | |
| 4th Quarter | |||
| BUF TD | Rashad 8 pass from Ferguson (Leypoldt kick), 13:04 | BUFFALO 14-13 | |
| OAK TD | Thoms 29 fumble recovery (Blanda kick), 13:45 | OAKLAND 20-14 | |
| BUF TD | Rashad 13 pass from Ferguson (Leypoldt kick), 14:34 | BUFFALO 21-20 | |
Team Statistics
| Oakland | Buffalo | |
| Rushing Yards | 152 | 200 |
| Passing Yards | 100 | 106 |
| Total Yards | 252 | 306 |
Passing
| RAIDERS | CMP | ATT | YDS | TD | INT |
| Ken Stabler | 9 | 22 | 122 | 0 | 1 |
| BILLS | CMP | ATT | YDS | TD | INT |
| Joe Ferguson | 10 | 20 | 122 | 3 | 0 |
Rushing
| RAIDERS | ATT | YDS | AVG | TD |
| Charlie Smith | 14 | 64 | 4.6 | 0 |
| Clarence Davis | 10 | 61 | 6.1 | 1 |
| Marv Hubbard | 10 | 27 | 2.7 | 0 |
| Ken Stabler | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
| BILLS | ATT | YDS | AVG | TD |
| O.J. Simpson | 12 | 78 | 6.5 | 0 |
| Jim Braxton | 19 | 69 | 3.6 | 0 |
| Gary Hayman | 7 | 31 | 4.4 | 0 |
| Joe Ferguson | 5 | 16 | 3.2 | 0 |
| Wayne Mosley | 2 | 6 | 3.0 | 0 |
Receiving
| RAIDERS | REC | YDS | AVG | TD |
| Cliff Branch | 4 | 60 | 15.0 | 0 |
| Fred Biletnikoff | 3 | 34 | 11.3 | 0 |
| Marv Hubbard | 1 | 15 | 15.0 | 0 |
| Charlie Smith | 1 | 13 | 13.0 | 0 |
| BILLS | REC | YDS | AVG | TD |
| Ahmad Rashad | 5 | 68 | 13.6 | 2 |
| J. D. Hill | 3 | 31 | 10.3 | 1 |
| Paul Seymour | 1 | 13 | 13.0 | 0 |
| Jim Braxton | 1 | 10 | 10.0 | 0 |
Interceptions
| RAIDERS | INT | YDS | TD |
| None | |||
| BILLS | INT | YDS | TD |
| Tony Greene | 1 | 12 | 0 |
