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When the Bills played on T-Day against the Cardinals!!

PUNT750

By PUNT750
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PUNT750 Rookie

PUNT750

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NOVEMBER 27, 1975 AT THE ST. LOUIS CARDINALS

In 1975 and 1977, the struggling St. Louis Cardinals replaced Dallas as the host of one of the annual Thanksgiving Day games.

It was an unpopular move by the NFL, ratings for Cardinal games were much lower than Cowboy games, and “America’s Team” was quickly, and permanently, returned to their traditional slot.

The Buffalo Bills were the Cardinals’ opponent in 1975. A snowstorm delayed the Bills arrival in St. Louis until just two hours before kickoff but that had little effect on the Bills, who crushed the Cardinals, 32-14.  Buffalo entered the game led by O.J. Simpson, who was leading the NFL rushing, but it was another Buffalo running back, Jim Braxton, who would have the game of his life. Simpson rushed 23 times for 85 yards and a touchdown, but Braxton rushed for a career-high 160 yards and three scores.Quarterback Joe Ferguson completed 11 passes for 128 yards.

The win pulled the Bills to within a half-game of the division leading Miami Dolphins.

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PUNT750 Rookie

PUNT750

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3 minutes ago, gobills1212 said:

Are you making this up??? Sounds like some fan fiction;) wikipedia has been known to lie... just ask the guy who called sal to talk about the fired ST coordinator lol

It's true!  No Wikipedia stuff!  Check the Bills record books!

Boatdrinks Hall of Famer

Boatdrinks

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That’s an interesting backstory on that game ; I definitely wasn’t aware of it. I remember the game vaguely, sort of intertwined with a memory of being at my Grandmothers house on Thanksgiving while the Bills were on TV. I was all of 7 years old at the time lol. Funny how certain things just stick in the memory bank, I recall that the game was not against the Cowboys, but never bothered to look it up. 

row_33 Hall of Famer

row_33

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1977 was the worst year of the last 50, Juice finally crumbled after carrying the team for five years and they wound up with one rushing TD from Braxton for the running game all season

 

Juice and Earl only had five top level seasons each...  the life of a RB...

 

GRHater69 Rookie

GRHater69

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The '75 game is burned into my memory because we just destroyed the Cardinals. Saban ran a tight ship during his time here, but that day because of the flight delay the team was loose and so was he as they barely made it in time for warmups. 

 

Yes '77 was a bad year, but I would argue '84 and '85 were worse.

 

 

Stranded in Boston Practice Squad

Stranded in Boston

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What a great game that was! I dimly recalled that OJ was out injured that day, and "Bubby" Braxton carried the load, but OJ apparently did play (thanks for setting that straight, PUNT750). But I remember clear as day the headline of the Buffalo Evening News sports page the next day -- "Bills Dine on Red Birds".  ?

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D. L. Hot-Flamethrower All Pro

D. L. Hot-Flamethrower

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I was like 12 on that day and remember watching the game. The big thing I remember was the defense (which was weak), had a great game and sacked Jim Hart multiple times. The Cardinals O-Line at the time gave up less than 10 sacks the whole year.

chaccof RFA

chaccof

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3 hours ago, GRHater69 said:

The '75 game is burned into my memory because we just destroyed the Cardinals. Saban ran a tight ship during his time here, but that day because of the flight delay the team was loose and so was he as they barely made it in time for warmups. 

 

Yes '77 was a bad year, but I would argue '84 and '85 were worse.

 

 

Yes, '84 and '85 were the low point of the Bills many seasons....but because of those suckfests the team was able to draft Bruce Smith so that was nice...

plenzmd1 Hall of Famer

plenzmd1

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10 hours ago, PUNT750 said:

NOVEMBER 27, 1975 AT THE ST. LOUIS CARDINALS

In 1975 and 1977, the struggling St. Louis Cardinals replaced Dallas as the host of one of the annual Thanksgiving Day games.

It was an unpopular move by the NFL, ratings for Cardinal games were much lower than Cowboy games, and “America’s Team” was quickly, and permanently, returned to their traditional slot.

The Buffalo Bills were the Cardinals’ opponent in 1975. A snowstorm delayed the Bills arrival in St. Louis until just two hours before kickoff but that had little effect on the Bills, who crushed the Cardinals, 32-14.  Buffalo entered the game led by O.J. Simpson, who was leading the NFL rushing, but it was another Buffalo running back, Jim Braxton, who would have the game of his life. Simpson rushed 23 times for 85 yards and a touchdown, but Braxton rushed for a career-high 160 yards and three scores.Quarterback Joe Ferguson completed 11 passes for 128 yards.

The win pulled the Bills to within a half-game of the division leading Miami Dolphins.

i had no idea..i was 13 at the time..should remember, but just dont. Thanks for posting

badassgixxer05 RFA

badassgixxer05

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3 minutes ago, plenzmd1 said:

i had no idea..i was 13 at the time..should remember, but just dont. Thanks for posting

My parents were prob still smoking weed and skipping school around this time. I didn't come to be until 83. ?

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plenzmd1 Hall of Famer

plenzmd1

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13 minutes ago, badassgixxer05 said:

My parents were prob still smoking weed and skipping school around this time. I didn't come to be until 83. ?

so doing the same things i was doing?

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row_33 Hall of Famer

row_33

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5 hours ago, GRHater69 said:

The '75 game is burned into my memory because we just destroyed the Cardinals. Saban ran a tight ship during his time here, but that day because of the flight delay the team was loose and so was he as they barely made it in time for warmups. 

 

Yes '77 was a bad year, but I would argue '84 and '85 were worse.

 

 

 

those were awful

 

but losing Juice after his great 5-year run and seeing there was nothing in the tank AT ALL was especially horrendous in 1977

 

 

 

and pro sports is supposed to be the best when you are 11, and this was my football team...... :(

 

 

 

 

Edited by row_33
Ned Flanders Veteran

Ned Flanders

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11 hours ago, gobills1212 said:

Are you making this up??? Sounds like some fan fiction;) wikipedia has been known to lie... just ask the guy who called sal to talk about the fired ST coordinator lol

He's not making it up, just a good copy and paste job...would have been nice to cite the source:

 

https://www.newyorkupstate.com/buffalo-bills/2019/11/the-buffalo-bills-have-played-on-thanksgiving-more-often-than-you-might-have-thought.html

Ned Flanders Veteran

Ned Flanders

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43 minutes ago, plenzmd1 said:

i had no idea..i was 13 at the time..should remember, but just dont. Thanks for posting

1975 was a weird year...started off 4-0 and lost to the lowly Giants on MNF (which inexplicably wasn't sold out...I vividly recall listening to the game on the radio).

 

Bills also blew a 21-0 lead at home to the Colts, couldn't beat the Fish, sputtered to the finish line and finished 8-6...with OJ leading the league in rushing/rushing TDs.

 

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/buf/1975.htm

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RJ (not THAT RJ) Veteran

RJ (not THAT RJ)

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4 minutes ago, Ned Flanders said:

1975 was a weird year...started off 4-0 and lost to the lowly Giants on MNF (which inexplicably wasn't sold out...I vividly recall listening to the game on the radio).

 

Bills also blew a 21-0 lead at home to the Colts, couldn't beat the Fish, sputtered to the finish line and finished 8-6...with OJ leading the league in rushing/rushing TDs.

 

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/buf/1975.htm

 

So true, 1975 really started out to be the year the OJ-led Bills would break through to a championship. They beat the SB Champ Steelers in PIT to avenge their playoff loss of the year before,  got to 4-0, and were leading 14-0 in that MNF game against the Giants. Then the wheels fell off, the defense couldn't stop anyone (blowing the 21-0 lead to the Colts at home, losing in Cincinnati on MNF, 33-24 in a game where Cincy never had to punt), and the Mercury Morris Phantom Fumble the week after that Thanksgiving Day win over STL ended the playoff dreams. Then came the Marangi Year of 1976 and the dream fizzled out....

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