Phil The Thrill Posted December 8, 2018 Posted December 8, 2018 Check this classic game out. I was pretty young when it was played so this was pretty cool to watch. The Bills and Dolphins rivalry at its finest. So a few thoughts from this game: The atmosphere and energy in the old Rich Stadium was electric. Tons of people everywhere. Kelly and his receivers were at the top of their game. Andre Reed did a ton of damage to Louis Oliver in the middle of the field. The “Buffalo winter” advantage is a myth. Dan Marino and the warm weather proved that snowy conditions have very little impact at slowing a good offense and QB. Nate Odomos was just PNWED by Mark Duper time and time again. Don Shula was somewhat overrated as a HC toward the end of his career. Scott Norwood should have been replaced prior to the 1990 season. He was not good. You see the short FG that he kicked barey made it through the uprights and the ball traveled sideways. This came back to bite them in the arse at SB25. Bills D-line could get no pressure on Mario. Maybe it’s the field? Yet the receivers seemed to have no problem running on the snow. Andre Reed ran some awesome crossing routes. Disappointed that we didn’t see the clip of a dejected Marino nearly crying on the sideline when time was running down in the game. What are are your thoughts? 1
row_33 Posted December 8, 2018 Posted December 8, 2018 (edited) Shula rode his SB success into the ground for two decades, hard to put blame on this, but fish fans in my life despised him the last 10 years. The TV announcers crowed about his untouchable genius nonstop but the results were never the same after the Sea of Hands game. Norwood was a decent kicker who was unfortunately asked to make a crucial kick from the far end of his range. A terrible strategy in football. Ironic that Marino, who was ten times the QB Griese was, couldn’t play for a team that would dominate the Bills like the 70s Fish. many thanks for the memory return on a day off! Edited December 8, 2018 by row_33 4
LeGOATski Posted December 8, 2018 Posted December 8, 2018 Man, those phins unis were ugly. The velocity on Marino's throws... Allen's look the same.
NoHuddleKelly12 Posted December 8, 2018 Posted December 8, 2018 (edited) This is one of the games that sticks out the most for me during the Bills SB run—set the stage for playoff dominance over the fish, and showed that Kelly was perfectly capable of always going toe to toe with the Dolphin wunderkind at QB when the chips were down, and in fact always bested him in the playoffs. Quick note as to the fair weather team vs snowy Rich stadium issue—Marino like Kelly was born and bred in the QB cradle of western PA where it gets plenty cold and snowy, plus he also played his college ball at Pitt (NP’s alma mater, lol) So the fact is Marino would have played plenty of snow games in his life from the time he started with backyard ball. Not sure it matters all that much but for whatever it’s worth, the conditions on this day would not have fazed Danny anyway. Thanks for sharing this! Edited December 8, 2018 by NoHuddleKelly12
row_33 Posted December 8, 2018 Posted December 8, 2018 My prize game of that era was Dec 90 and beating the full strength Giants at The Meadowlands, even with Kelly hurt the day the Bills were now truly the best in football, held until the Norwood kick 1
RalphWilson'sNewWar Posted December 8, 2018 Posted December 8, 2018 (edited) This was a fun game to be at! Of course being pretty young, 8 years old, the memories aren’t all crystal clear. Some plays here and there. AND I recall the Halftime Band was Cancelled so they could plow the field. I do recall that my family had a deal though, I got to go to the Divisonal Game but another family member took the second ticket to the Raiders Championship game. Had to pick which one I wanted to go to. Think I made out alright! ? Edited December 8, 2018 by RalphWilson'sNewWar 1
Phil The Thrill Posted December 8, 2018 Author Posted December 8, 2018 48 minutes ago, row_33 said: Shula rode his SB success into the ground for two decades, hard to put blame on this, but fish fans in my life despised him the last 10 years. The TV announcers crowed about his untouchable genius nonstop but the results were never the same after the Sea of Hands game. Norwood was a decent kicker who was unfortunately asked to make a crucial kick from the far end of his range. A terrible strategy in football. Ironic that Marino, who was ten times the QB Griese was, couldn’t play for a team that would dominate the Bills like the 70s Fish. many thanks for the memory return on a day off! Disagree on Norwood. He struggled mightily in 1990 and was far from his 1988 Pro Bowl form. The warning signs were there that Norwood was on the decline in 1990. In 1991 season it was blatantly obvious. Notice how he never kicked for another team after his release? Teams noticed.... he was done
ChevyVanMiller Posted December 8, 2018 Posted December 8, 2018 Always surprised to see how few fans wore Bills gear to,the games in that era. A hat or coat here and there, but jerseys almost never.
row_33 Posted December 8, 2018 Posted December 8, 2018 21 minutes ago, Phil The Thrill said: Disagree on Norwood. He struggled mightily in 1990 and was far from his 1988 Pro Bowl form. The warning signs were there that Norwood was on the decline in 1990. In 1991 season it was blatantly obvious. Notice how he never kicked for another team after his release? Teams noticed.... he was done I said he was a decent kicker, was trying to be a bit nice, it was way too much to ask of him to make that.... The fans and media made him out to be a great kicker during his time in town, the hype never ended Steve Christie would have made that kick blindfolded 1
Phil The Thrill Posted December 8, 2018 Author Posted December 8, 2018 16 minutes ago, row_33 said: I said he was a decent kicker, was trying to be a bit nice, it was way too much to ask of him to make that.... The fans and media made him out to be a great kicker during his time in town, the hype never ended Steve Christie would have made that kick blindfolded Well to his credit, he did have a great season in 1988. It was a career year and also the year the Bills won the AFCE in many years. He did make several big kicks that year, so I think that endeared himself to Bills fans. The problem was he was not that great the rest of his career. I feel that during those years teams stuck with players and coaches for a longer amount of time. This is probably why they kept him 2 seasons too long. 1 1
The Jokeman Posted December 8, 2018 Posted December 8, 2018 1 hour ago, Phil The Thrill said: Well to his credit, he did have a great season in 1988. It was a career year and also the year the Bills won the AFCE in many years. He did make several big kicks that year, so I think that endeared himself to Bills fans. The problem was he was not that great the rest of his career. I feel that during those years teams stuck with players and coaches for a longer amount of time. This is probably why they kept him 2 seasons too long. All things considered Kelly's clock management in that final drive was poor, he could have easily run another play before the final kick and think Levy would know know Norwood's limits.
Estelle Getty Posted December 8, 2018 Posted December 8, 2018 My biggest takeaway was how hard they all hit and constantly lead with the crown of their helmets. The game has definitely changed and after watching all of that head trauma I think it is for the better. 1
NoHuddleKelly12 Posted December 8, 2018 Posted December 8, 2018 (edited) 15 minutes ago, The Jokeman said: All things considered Kelly's clock management in that final drive was poor, he could have easily run another play before the final kick and think Levy would know know Norwood's limits. Norwood was hitting solidly in pregame warmups from 45+ so that was at the outside range yes, but doable. And in terms of clock mgmt, running one more play would have been dicey at best—and too much risk for something bad happening (fumble, INT, penalty, clock runoff in bounds) to chance not getting a kick off at all. You might say Kelly put them in position to win at the end like Allen did just last week when it was all said and done, and it just didn’t work out—it happens. Just hate that in both examples it happened to us. But let’s see how this team responds this week. Edited December 8, 2018 by NoHuddleKelly12
row_33 Posted December 8, 2018 Posted December 8, 2018 1 hour ago, The Jokeman said: All things considered Kelly's clock management in that final drive was poor, he could have easily run another play before the final kick and think Levy would know know Norwood's limits. That was the Bills strategy, to squeak out a winning FG at Norwood’s outer range it failed Parcells and Belichick completely outcoached the Bills and stole that SB and the rest is history 2 hours ago, Phil The Thrill said: Well to his credit, he did have a great season in 1988. It was a career year and also the year the Bills won the AFCE in many years. He did make several big kicks that year, so I think that endeared himself to Bills fans. The problem was he was not that great the rest of his career. I feel that during those years teams stuck with players and coaches for a longer amount of time. This is probably why they kept him 2 seasons too long. They kept him around for another year, so he wasn’t ruined by the miss, but Christie immediately showed what an elite kicker looked like
NoHuddleKelly12 Posted December 8, 2018 Posted December 8, 2018 The fan at 5:04 mark has a great newspaper—hope he saved it for the JA run! ??
TroutDog Posted December 8, 2018 Posted December 8, 2018 I see men playing the game of football. While that is still done, the ridiculous penalties, questioning what a ‘catch’ is, not allowing a QB to be really touched, etc the game has declined. I still love it (with guilt) and am glad they are working to protect the players, but some aspects have pushed the envelope. Boy, those were fun years for Bills football! I believe we’ll see them again soon! I watched this one from home. ? 1
Nextmanup Posted December 8, 2018 Posted December 8, 2018 4 hours ago, Phil The Thrill said: Check this classic game out. I was pretty young when it was played so this was pretty cool to watch. The Bills and Dolphins rivalry at its finest. So a few thoughts from this game: The atmosphere and energy in the old Rich Stadium was electric. Tons of people everywhere. Kelly and his receivers were at the top of their game. Andre Reed did a ton of damage to Louis Oliver in the middle of the field. The “Buffalo winter” advantage is a myth. Dan Marino and the warm weather proved that snowy conditions have very little impact at slowing a good offense and QB. Nate Odomos was just PNWED by Mark Duper time and time again. Don Shula was somewhat overrated as a HC toward the end of his career. Scott Norwood should have been replaced prior to the 1990 season. He was not good. You see the short FG that he kicked barey made it through the uprights and the ball traveled sideways. This came back to bite them in the arse at SB25. Bills D-line could get no pressure on Mario. Maybe it’s the field? Yet the receivers seemed to have no problem running on the snow. Andre Reed ran some awesome crossing routes. Disappointed that we didn’t see the clip of a dejected Marino nearly crying on the sideline when time was running down in the game. What are are your thoughts? Glad you've become aware of this. Every time I hear some pundit talk about Buffalo in the cold and snow I cringe, including the current HC of the team. The best Bills era on record is when we had a revolutionary, dynamic passing attack. McDermott's "win all games 10-7" philosophy is outdated and doomed to failure.
NoHuddleKelly12 Posted December 8, 2018 Posted December 8, 2018 37 minutes ago, Nextmanup said: Glad you've become aware of this. Every time I hear some pundit talk about Buffalo in the cold and snow I cringe, including the current HC of the team. The best Bills era on record is when we had a revolutionary, dynamic passing attack. McDermott's "win all games 10-7" philosophy is outdated and doomed to failure. IDK; seems to me like the Bills have been pushing the ball vertically over the past month and other threads here are backing up the notion that Daboll is making a concerted effort to use JA’s skill set in all respects including mid-deep routes. I’d say we’re a lot of things but a short game passing attack or all Shady/Ivory all the time? Not so much. If McD was not on board with that, it wouldn’t be happening. I think the 4 week stretch of truly awfulness while JA was out has tainted a lot of us and the discussion of the O philosophy. But we’ll see what happens the rest of the way. 1
LSHMEAB Posted December 8, 2018 Posted December 8, 2018 Did you see Kelly adjust mid throw on the lollipop to Reed in the 2nd quarter? That's what I want to see from Allen.
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