mileena Posted June 8, 2018 Posted June 8, 2018 (edited) I was listening to SiriusXM the other day. Since Dwight Clark died, they were having a segment on each team's most clutch play ever. Of course, they talked about San Francisco's Montana to Clark "Catch" in the 1981 NFC Championship Game as being clutch. And the Pittsburgh Steelers "Immaculate Reception". Both plays clearly started the Super Bowl dynasties for each team. Without them, there never would have been those dynasties. So I nominate these two plays as Buffalo's most clutch play ever: 1. 1989: Jim Kelly's TD run with 2 seconds left at Miami, with the Bills behind 24-20. Video: http://www.buffalobills.com/video/videos/Van-Miller-Moments-1989-Victory-over-Miami/033457c7-302e-4b49-9792-dacf51d0f62e I watched that game live on NBC and the network did not show Buffalo's extra point to make it 27-24. Everyone thought the game was over with the Bills ahead 26-24 with no time left, and NBC stopped coverage and went to the next show. But the refs made the teams come back on the field for the extra point I read in a news article the enxt day. I remember being furious at this. I was screaming at the TV they still had to kick the extra point, but no one listened to me. This play set up the Bills to become great during the 90's. 2. In 1981, two consecutive catches by backup RB Roland Hooks from Joe Ferguson at home to beat New England 20-17. The game was blacked out, depsite the Bills being in the midst of a playoff run, so our family gathered around the radio to listen to Van Miller's play-by-play. The Bills were 6-5 and had just suffered two consecutive losses, and now they had to face the 2-9 Patriots at the Rich. Wih 35 seconds left and Buffalo at its on 27 down 17-13, Ferguson hit Roland Hooks for a spectacular 37-yard circus catch. Then, with no timeouts, the Bills ran up to the line (I don't think spiking the ball to stop the clock had been invented yet). With 12 seconds left at the Patriots 36, Feguson hit Hooks again with a Hail Mary catch to give the Bills the win. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XJNNLuwNMw [Note: NFL has it wrong above: Roland Hooks was NOT a WR!!] These plays propelled the Bills to a 10-6 record that year and to the wild card, where we crushed the Jets and then narrowly lost in the divsional round to the Bengals. The next season, Sports Illustrated, in a written article (there was no online back in those days), predicted the Bills would win the SB in 1982. I remember, as a kid then, being so excited. The Bills did go onto an NFL-best 2-0 record in 1982 and were on their way to a SB victory had it not been for the ensuing 8-week long strike and killed the Bills chances. After the strike, the Bills were not the same team, and lost 5 of 7 games to finish 4-5 and out of the playoffs. To make matters worse, our main rival, the Miami Dolphins, went onto the SB that year; and our other main rival, the Jets, made it to the AFC Championship game. I was devasted. Many years of Buffalo misery ensued before the arrival of Jim Kelly gave us hope. Edited June 8, 2018 by mileena 3
golfball323 Posted June 8, 2018 Posted June 8, 2018 Andy Dalton to Tyler Boyd. Forever and Always 18 5 3
mileena Posted June 8, 2018 Author Posted June 8, 2018 3 minutes ago, golfball323 said: Andy Dalton to Tyler Boyd. Forever and Always Pretty bad when another team is given credit for your team's most clutch play ever.
dwight in philly Posted June 8, 2018 Posted June 8, 2018 Steve Christie hitting the field goal against Houston.in the comeback game 6
Seasons1992 Posted June 8, 2018 Posted June 8, 2018 17 minutes ago, row_33 said: not this.... That's not funny and not a good way to send people to their weekends! 1
vorpma Posted June 8, 2018 Posted June 8, 2018 Steve Christie recovery the short kick against Houston in 1992 after we scored making it 34 - 10; I knew we had a chance!
plenzmd1 Posted June 8, 2018 Posted June 8, 2018 1 minute ago, vorpma said: Steve Christie recovery the short kick against Houston in 1992 after we scored making it 34 - 10; I knew we had a chance! That would be a 15 yard penalty and prolly ejection for Pike for targeting under the new rules
mrags Posted June 8, 2018 Posted June 8, 2018 I don’t remember the 90s that well as I was younger. I’ll go ahead with Freddie’s run against the Pats in the closing seconds of the first win against them in like 8 years. And to go down short of the end zone was key. Watching the Pats sit there and not be able to do anything about it was glorious. 2 3
Gray Beard Posted June 8, 2018 Posted June 8, 2018 I’m not a Rob Johnson fan, but didn’t he save a game with a dive for the pylon once? Perhaps a week or two before the infamous Titans game? 1
LeGOATski Posted June 8, 2018 Posted June 8, 2018 34 minutes ago, dwight in philly said: Steve Christie hitting the field goal against Houston.in the comeback game This. The comeback game is the Bills' most clutch moment. Obviously. 1
Freddie's Dead Posted June 8, 2018 Posted June 8, 2018 34 minutes ago, dwight in philly said: Steve Christie hitting the field goal against Houston.in the comeback game Clutch play in that game was Marvcus going for it on 4th and 3 with Andre making the sliding TD catch. 1 1
Cash Posted June 8, 2018 Posted June 8, 2018 8 minutes ago, Gray Beard said: I’m not a Rob Johnson fan, but didn’t he save a game with a dive for the pylon once? Perhaps a week or two before the infamous Titans game? From memory, I believe that was on the road against the 49ers, and it was during our 3-1 (4-1? Maybe Flutie got win #4?) start in 1998. It was a nice play by Rob Johnson, but hopefully wouldn't make my top 5 of clutch Bills plays I've seen. I originally was doing to say "definitely wouldn't", but then I realized that I haven't seen a ton of super-clutch Bills moments. The early 90s teams were so good they usually didn't need to be clutch, and most of the teams in the drought didn't really have opportunities to be clutch. Even if someone makes an amazing play to win a game, how much does it matter if that was the difference between 6-10 and 7-9? Sorry to be a downer! Let's get more clips of clutch Bills plays in here and jog my memory! Love the idea of this thread. And so far, I agree that Christie's comeback FG should have the top spot.
Buffalo Boy Posted June 8, 2018 Posted June 8, 2018 Freddy Smerlas blocking the winning Jets field goal to send the last game of the 88 season into OT for the AFC East crown 4 1
HereComesTheReignAgain Posted June 8, 2018 Posted June 8, 2018 The Jim Kelly run against Miami immediately comes to mind. And man do I miss hearing Van Miller calling the games! 2
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