Scott Norwoods other big miss

[T master]

On 4/4/2020 at 3:16 PM, JAMIEBUF12 said:

So as a kid I was always pissed that Ronnie Harmon didn’t catch what I thought was a easy catch the 2nd to last play before Jim Kelly threw the game ending interception.

Last night after all these years I rewatched the 1989 divisional playoff game in its entirety on Youtube and I had totally forgotten that on the previous td Scott Norwood slipped on his butt and missed the extra point to put the Bills behind by 4 points instead of 3 with like 3 minutes to go.So Norwood basically screwed up badly two years in a row??

 

Yah the only thing is that the second year would have never happened if the Bills D would have stepped up & not missed so many tackles that allowed the Giants to stay on the field Norwood although it is a fact did miss the game winning FG in the SB was the scape goat because that loss was on the D as good as they were !! 

 

And the possibility of a little to much partying the night before Just saying ...

[RJ (not THAT RJ)]

On 4/5/2020 at 6:41 AM, Dan Darragh said:

You can blame Norwood or Harmon for that loss, but consider these other factors:

• footing was bad all day, Cleveland kicker missed a makeable FG in the first half because he slipped
• on the PAT, looks to me like the snap was high
• Harmon made some key catches down the stretch before the drop
• Bills wouldn't have been in that position if the DBs hadn't been practicing Social Distancing from Webster Slaughter all afternoon.  He caught 2 TDs with nobody near him
• Ditto if the special teams hadn't surrendered Cleveland's first-ever postseason kickoff return TD

Lots of things contributed to that loss.  Norwood was still a Buffalo hero and nothing can take away the Harmon hail mary catch against the Patriots.

 

Harmon never caught a Hail Mary against the Pats. That was Roland Hooks in 1981, when Ronnie Harmon was in high school.

4 minutes ago, T master said:

 

Yah the only thing is that the second year would have never happened if the Bills D would have stepped up & not missed so many tackles that allowed the Giants to stay on the field Norwood although it is a fact did miss the game winning FG in the SB was the scape goat because that loss was on the D as good as they were !! 

 

And the possibility of a little to much partying the night before Just saying ...

 

I get impatient with the partying argument, since when teams win after partying like crazy (take the Raiders in SBXV) everyone says they won because they were good and loose. 

[Seasons1992]

24 minutes ago, RJ (not THAT RJ) said:

It did not start right down the middle... it started right and stayed there for an agonizingly long time as we all waited for it to curl in....

 

I'm still not gonna watch that replay, so I go by my memory at age 12 and I'm sticking by it.

[Dr. K]

On 4/4/2020 at 4:36 PM, Phil The Thrill said:

Good find... I didn’t starting the Bills seriously until the 1990 season.  
 

Ive always said this - Bill Polian replaced Scott Norwood 2 years too late.  He dropped off quite a bit after the 1988 and was completely unreliable on grass.  We’re not talking 40 or 50 yard PAT’s.  He was missed those gimme 19 yard PAT’s on grass turf like he did in Cleveland.

 

Norwood’s apologists will say he never should have been in that position because he wasn’t good on grass or from 40+.  I’m sorry but even in 1991, if your kicker can’t make that kick, you need a replacement.  Ironically it was Matt Bahr’s long FG in San Francisco that won the game for the Giants the week before “the kick.”

 

Norwood’s performance was far from impressive in 1990 or 1991.  He didn’t really have any clutch as kick, as Christie would in 1992.   You might be able to argue that a better kicker might win them atleast 1 Super Bowl.  
 

@JAMIEBUF12 Great nostalgia thread.

I agree. Norwood was iffy for at least that entire season before Super Bowl XXV. I never felt confident when he lined up to try a kick. He missed a couple of gimmes against Denver earlier that season in a game the Bills pulled out by a miracle comeback.

 

If the Bills had Stever Christie a couple of years earlier they would have at least one SB victory. 

 

[BillsPride12]

6 hours ago, RJ (not THAT RJ) said:

 

Harmon never caught a Hail Mary against the Pats. That was Roland Hooks in 1981, when Ronnie Harmon was in high school.

 

I get impatient with the partying argument, since when teams win after partying like crazy (take the Raiders in SBXV) everyone says they won because they were good and loose. 

I get the point your trying to make and I'm sure all teams get out and enjoy themselves a bit during Super Bowl week but the Bills were notoriously known for not having any restraint during the Super Bowl weeks.  Even Dallas Cowboys players have commented that they reigned things back the few nights before the game but the Bills didn't.  I'm not one of those people that think that's the only reason they didn't win the Super Bowls but the whole partying too much during Super Bowl week does have some merit to it and after losing four straight that is something that is always going to be attached to those teams.  

[Boatdrinks]

7 hours ago, matter2003 said:

 

Long FGs in those days were not nearly as common.  50 yards was considered closer to what 60 yards is considered today...a very long FG with a high likelihood of a miss. Norwood was not the only kicker in the league who did not have a big leg back then.

 

I am not saying Norwood did not have his struggles especially later in his career, just saying you are basing some of your assumptions on how things work today instead of how they worked 30+ years ago in regards to FG kicking.

 

They were playing a backup QB for starters.

Again, the Giants were without Simms during a portion of their first meeting in mid DEC of the ‘90 season. They also defeated the 49ers and Montana on the road the week prior to SB XXV with that same backup QB. There was no reason to think the Bills would wipe the floor with the Giants unless you gave too much weight to 51-3 vs Raiders. 

[The Jokeman]

On 4/4/2020 at 7:32 PM, KD in CA said:

 

IIRC, Kelly threw an ill advised dump off pass a play or two earlier that gained nothing and cost them a ton of time.  He should have been throwing downfield.

Kelly couldn't pass downfield that whole game, the Giants basically took Andre Reed out of the game. The whole game was horrible for the offense as weren't good at sustaining drives causing the defense to be on the field waay too much. That's one thing as think our defenses were better than given credit for back then, I wonder if slowly things down on offense once we got a lead would have been the smarter thing to do. 

[eball]

On 4/4/2020 at 6:08 PM, Success said:

Too much overconfidence.

 

Yeah, it's better to have just a little bit of overconfidence.

[JaCrispy]

Scott!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Edited April 7, 2020 by JaCrispy

[Tenhigh]

On 4/4/2020 at 4:36 PM, Phil The Thrill said:

 

Norwood’s apologists will say he never should have been in that position because he wasn’t good on grass or from 40+.  I’m sorry but even in 1991, if your kicker can’t make that kick, you need a replacement.  Ironically it was Matt Bahr’s long FG in San Francisco that won the game for the Giants the week before “the kick.”

 

 

Is it me, or do you use the word "apologist" a lot?  

[LABILLBACKER]

We were never winning that game with Belichick as DC and our pathetic D couldn't get off the field to save their lives.

[vincec]

On 4/4/2020 at 4:16 PM, JAMIEBUF12 said:

So as a kid I was always pissed that Ronnie Harmon didn’t catch what I thought was a easy catch the 2nd to last play before Jim Kelly threw the game ending interception.

Last night after all these years I rewatched the 1989 divisional playoff game in its entirety on Youtube and I had totally forgotten that on the previous td Scott Norwood slipped on his butt and missed the extra point to put the Bills behind by 4 points instead of 3 with like 3 minutes to go.So Norwood basically screwed up badly two years in a row??

Norwood sucked, but all Harmon had to do was catch the damn ball for the win.

[Phil The Thrill]

10 hours ago, Tenhigh said:

Is it me, or do you use the word "apologist" a lot?  

It’s just you.  There are a lot of apologists here.  It’s a common word in the English language 

[Tenhigh]

9 hours ago, Phil The Thrill said:

It’s just you.  There are a lot of apologists here.  It’s a common word in the English language 

Probably just me, my apologies.  But it is a common word, and unfortunately becoming more common as most use it as an insult to deride those who have differing opinions. 

[Dan Darragh]

On 4/6/2020 at 5:16 PM, RJ (not THAT RJ) said:

 

Harmon never caught a Hail Mary against the Pats. That was Roland Hooks in 1981, when Ronnie Harmon was in high school.

 

 

You're right, same initials though