I've been a Bills fan since 1974 I think, the day my grandmother took a 7-year-old Redskins fan into a western NY clothing store to buy me a football jersey. And do you think they had any Redskins shirts? No. This was the year after O.J. had gone for 2,003 and I came out of there with a brand new, sweet, royal, 32 jersey with Bills across the front. Thanks Grandma?
So, there have been a lot of disappointing Bills losses over the years, starting with that 1974 playoff loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. And yes, I live in Erie, PA, so any Steelers (or Browns) loss hurts particularly. The Steelers used that '74 plaoff game to launch themselves to four Super Bowl titles in six years, while the Bills, well, two years later we were 2-12, and won one playoff game in the next 14 years. But then we had 1988 - a completely wonderful, kind of a surprise year when were went 12-4 and made the AFC championship game. That year was so satisfying, I'll push the reset button on disappointing losses up to that point. The list that follows is off the top of my head and includes game from 1988 on. (If you need specifics like score and dates, you're not a true Bills fan.)
8. Dallas Monday night loss - This one sucked because we blew it on a lost on-side kick (like the one we couldn't convert yesterday), it was at home, and it was in front of a national audience. On a personal note, I'm a Yankees fan and the Yanks lost a key playoff game to the Indians (remember I'm from Erie) that night - which I had the pleasure of watching simultaneously with the Bills loss.
7. Stevie Johnson's drop in the end zone vs. Steelers: Once again, I'm from Erie.
6. Yesterday's loss vs. Oakland: According to Grantland's Bill Barnwell, Bills only had like a 5% chance of making playoffs heading into the weekend and we still would have had to win at New England. But still, talk about a punch to the gut. So many things went wrong. Oakand, 2-12 coming into the game, ran all over and we couldn't run at all on them. Bills came out flat. It certainly brought to mind that atrocious game vs. Pittsburgh a few years back when we couldn't beat their third string...
5. Miami Playoff game w/ Flutie at QB: From what I remember we had several chances to convert a TD in the fourth quarter but couldn't get it done. Eric Moulds had more than 200 yards receiving and we lost. I also missed the first half of this one because, well, a guy in a Browns t-shirt (remember the Browns had no team at this time) showed up at my house at kickoff to show me how to use the incubator to combat my newborn son's slight case of jaundice. You can't make this shit up!
4. 1989 Browns Playoff Game: Once again the Erie thing.
3. Steelers Playoff Play-in fiasco: There were just so many things wrong with this game - as I said, it was similar to the Oakland game. Let's take the fans, for example. I seem to remember the announcer wondering how the Steelers fans could have let Bills fans get so many tickets for the game - before he was corrected and informed the game was actually in Buffalo - so the reverse was actually true, and even though we were playing for our playoff lives, well there were a lot of Steeler fans there. And we lost. To their third string. And Bledsoe was jettisoned, and J.P. Losman became our starter...One positive note, Steelers fans took pity on us after this one.
2. Giants Super Bowl: Wide right. Gag!
1. Titans - Music City Miracle: Vomit.
So, yesterday's loss was only like the 6th most disappointing Bills loss in the past 25 years. That's not so bad, is it.
So, there have been a lot of disappointing Bills losses over the years, starting with that 1974 playoff loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. And yes, I live in Erie, PA, so any Steelers (or Browns) loss hurts particularly. The Steelers used that '74 plaoff game to launch themselves to four Super Bowl titles in six years, while the Bills, well, two years later we were 2-12, and won one playoff game in the next 14 years. But then we had 1988 - a completely wonderful, kind of a surprise year when were went 12-4 and made the AFC championship game. That year was so satisfying, I'll push the reset button on disappointing losses up to that point. The list that follows is off the top of my head and includes game from 1988 on. (If you need specifics like score and dates, you're not a true Bills fan.)
8. Dallas Monday night loss - This one sucked because we blew it on a lost on-side kick (like the one we couldn't convert yesterday), it was at home, and it was in front of a national audience. On a personal note, I'm a Yankees fan and the Yanks lost a key playoff game to the Indians (remember I'm from Erie) that night - which I had the pleasure of watching simultaneously with the Bills loss.
7. Stevie Johnson's drop in the end zone vs. Steelers: Once again, I'm from Erie.
6. Yesterday's loss vs. Oakland: According to Grantland's Bill Barnwell, Bills only had like a 5% chance of making playoffs heading into the weekend and we still would have had to win at New England. But still, talk about a punch to the gut. So many things went wrong. Oakand, 2-12 coming into the game, ran all over and we couldn't run at all on them. Bills came out flat. It certainly brought to mind that atrocious game vs. Pittsburgh a few years back when we couldn't beat their third string...
5. Miami Playoff game w/ Flutie at QB: From what I remember we had several chances to convert a TD in the fourth quarter but couldn't get it done. Eric Moulds had more than 200 yards receiving and we lost. I also missed the first half of this one because, well, a guy in a Browns t-shirt (remember the Browns had no team at this time) showed up at my house at kickoff to show me how to use the incubator to combat my newborn son's slight case of jaundice. You can't make this shit up!
4. 1989 Browns Playoff Game: Once again the Erie thing.
3. Steelers Playoff Play-in fiasco: There were just so many things wrong with this game - as I said, it was similar to the Oakland game. Let's take the fans, for example. I seem to remember the announcer wondering how the Steelers fans could have let Bills fans get so many tickets for the game - before he was corrected and informed the game was actually in Buffalo - so the reverse was actually true, and even though we were playing for our playoff lives, well there were a lot of Steeler fans there. And we lost. To their third string. And Bledsoe was jettisoned, and J.P. Losman became our starter...One positive note, Steelers fans took pity on us after this one.
2. Giants Super Bowl: Wide right. Gag!
1. Titans - Music City Miracle: Vomit.
So, yesterday's loss was only like the 6th most disappointing Bills loss in the past 25 years. That's not so bad, is it.
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