How does this afc championship stack up to the bills previous ones?

[Steptide]

The last time the bills were in an afc championship game, I was 13 years old. I remember the 4 superbowl fairly well, but at that age, I didn't follow football the way I do now. 

 

For the older folk here, I'm curious how this particular game coming up compares. We are a 2 seed against a 1 seed. Did that happen in those years? Were we generally under dogs in those afc championship games? Even at the age of 40, this feeling/excitement/anxiety is totally new for me 

[Frat-Train]

It’s different now that I’m at the “4th floor” as well.  It may also feel different because it feels like it’s ours to lose...

 

 

[Scott7975]

In those days I was similar to how Pats fans were in the sense that I went into the game just knowing we were going to win.  I was 100% against the Colts.  Probably 70/30 against the Ravens.  This week I am 50/50.

[Big74Mac]

This has the makings of a epic game. I remember those games well the anxiety is the same for me now as it was then. The bills teams were great back then and even when they were not the top seed you always knew they could win. This team feels more like the 88 Team that won the AFC east and was about to become the Super bowl team it became. Maybe it can happen this year but don't be surprised if it takes another year or two. That 88 team needed a bit more and these Bills may be shaped allot like that. 

[Beast]

Happened in our very first AFC Title game after the 1988 season.

 

We were second seed, Cincinnati was first.

 

Cincinnati won 21-10.

 

The next four AFC Championship games the Bills were expected to win and, win they did. The third one might have been a toss up but I believe the country felt Buffalo would beat Miami in Miami....and they did just that convincingly so.

Edited January 18, 2021 by Beast

[Bob Chandler's Hands]

I recall thinking they were unlikely to win in '88, felt pretty good against the Raiders in '90, and expected them to win all the subsequent games after that. We owned the AFC in those days. 

[Steptide]

7 minutes ago, Scott7975 said:

In those days I was similar to how Pats fans were in the sense that I went into the game just knowing we were going to win.  I was 100% against the Colts.  Probably 70/30 against the Ravens.  This week I am 50/50.

That's where I'm at currently. I can go both ways as to why kc will win and why the bills will win 

[RobbRiddick]

I can't remember if we were underdogs in the Miami one but I do know I wasn't confident about it. That was the same playoffs as the Comeback so there was a feeling that it was meant to be, but we also had to go on the road to the Steelers and then the Dolphins. And with Kelly coming back for this one I was worried that the magic the team had with Reich wouldn't carry over.

 

As I remember Kelly just killed the Phins with an endless stream of screens to Thurman.

 

The game against the Chiefs I remember the whole football world wanted us to lose even more than the previous year because they were hoping for a matchup of Montana against his former team.

 

I was just a teen then myself so I figured there would be many more Championship games down the road. How wrong I was

 

Edited January 18, 2021 by RobbRiddick

[BearNorth]

until the playoff games, when good defenses played tough against our juggernaut offense, I thought we had progressed since the first KC game, when we had some missing pieces, and Josh was in a shoulder brace and less that 100%.  we were also missing Knox, Murphy, Phillips and Milano who all played well against the Birds.

 

 

[spartacus]

3 minutes ago, RobbRiddick said:

I can't remember if we were underdogs in the Miami one but I do know I wasn't confident about it. That was the same playoffs as the Comeback so there was a feeling that it was meant to be, but we also had to go on the road to the Steelers and then the Dolphins. And with Kelly coming back for this one I was worried that the magic the team had with Reich wouldn't carry over.

 

As I remember Kelly just killed the Phins with an endless stream of screens to Thurman.

 

The game against the Chiefs I remember the whole football world wanted us to lose even more than the previous year because they were hoping for a matchup of Montana against his former team.

 

I was just a teen then myself so I figured there would be many more Championship games down the road. How wrong I was

 

recently saw a replay of the championship game in Miami

just a comedy of errors from Miami that gifted the Bills tons of points

 

 

[CincyBillsFan]

10 minutes ago, Big74Mac said:

This has the makings of a epic game. I remember those games well the anxiety is the same for me now as it was then. The bills teams were great back then and even when they were not the top seed you always knew they could win. This team feels more like the 88 Team that won the AFC east and was about to become the Super bowl team it became. Maybe it can happen this year but don't be surprised if it takes another year or two. That 88 team needed a bit more and these Bills may be shaped allot like that. 

 

I agree that this one feels like the 1988 game against Cincinnati.  Expectations were high that year as we began gathering talent around Kelly & co but I didn't expect a trip to the conference championship.  I would have been happy with an AFC East crown and trip to the playoffs that year.

 

 

 

 

[Brennan Huff]

The last one took place 27 years ago

[D. L. Hot-Flamethrower]

I don't feel like this is '88, salary cap makes it difficult to compare. However, you really can win quicker and in a smaller window than those days. The Bills in '88 had played the Bengals earlier and had our strong defense dismantled. In the AFCCG we were 4 pt underdogs and quite honestly didn't have the offense yet. In '90 I was confident we were solid favs (-7) and destroyed the Raiders. In '91 we were huge favs against Denver, we were all very confident, and frankly were fortunate to escape. In '92 we owned Miami in those days, and after the comeback against Houston , knee we had a great chance. '93 I remember feeling so proud of the team, it felt like we had achieved more than I ever dreamed. So TBH I don't really see much of a parallel. This team is unique.

[Utah John]

I agree this one is more like the 88 Cinci game than the others. 

 

The biggest different from the glory years is that those teams were expected to be great every year, and the pressure was on them to win.  This year there weren't great expectations, and in fact due to the schedule playing the AFC West and NFC West with all that travel, I figured a 9-7 season was realistic.  Who knew Allen would get so good so quickly?  So this year feels like we're playing with house money, nothing to lose, and if it doesn't happen we have a very bright future for the next five years or so.

[GRHater69]

The Cincy game is the reason I will forever dislike Cris Colinsworth. If you watched that game, the Bengals got a first down as the result of a personal foul on Derrick Burroughs on a critical drive late and deep into Bills territory. Colinsworth went on NBC the next day and said in all his typical smarm that their receivers were deliberately cheap shoting his ankles since he had an issue earlier that year and trying to get him to crack. I get that Burroughs shouldn't have lost his cool (he apologized for it postgame) but for Colinsworth to admit that and be proud of it? That's why I will always think he's a douche.

 

Edited January 18, 2021 by GRHater69

[Gen2]

The series of AFL championships in the 90's, the Bills had the players with "star power" names, if I remember correctly they were pretty much expected to win.

 

What THIS championship game reminds me of is the 1964 game against the Chargers. Even though the Bills had a better season, the Chargers had the star power names on their side, they had a high powered offense that no one could stop (sound familiar?) and everyone figured the Chargers were going to pass on the Bills like crazy. The Chargers star receiver was a bit dinged up for that game but they also had stars like Keith Lincoln, Paul Lowe, and Tobin Rote/John Hadl, no one gave the Bills much of a chance for victory.

 

On the first drive the Chargers march down the field and score a TD. On their second drive Lincoln swings out of the backfield for a pass, Mike Stratton delivers a perfectly timed crushing tackle that breaks Lincoln's ribs, and to borrow a phrase from Hank Bullough ... "that pretty much took their sails out of the wind.

 

The Bills shut the Chargers out for the rest of the game and win 20-7

[ProcessTruster]

Yeah, I'm a hundred years old so I remember it all.  Bills were The Power in the AFC in the early 90's, plus the AFC was pretty weak at that time.  So the Bills would blow through lighter-weight AFC teams (Phins, Raiders, Oilers, Chiefs) in the conference playoffs and then collide with bigger, stronger NFC teams with just as much firepower and meet their match.   Eg. Redskins simply overpowered the Bills in the second of the 4 SBs.. wasn't. even a game.   Parcells simply outcoached Levy in the first, played keepaway and won.   Both of the Dallas games were won bc Bills turned the ball over like crazy and the Cowboys were bigger, stronger and beat up the Bills.   The rules were different at the time and you could blow up WRs on crossing routes, etc. and the NFC teams did this.   An oversimplification, for sure, go watch the games on YouTube,  pretty interesting.  

 

Anyway, today's game is more like a game of flag FB than is was then.   Quickness and speed win out ultimately over big and bad.   So Chiefs/Bills likely to be more of track meet than the last Bills/Chiefs.  If Mahomes is 100%, this game will be great.  

Edited January 18, 2021 by ProcessTruster

[buffalo2218]

I remember the AFCCG against the Dolphins in Miami. My friend was a Dan Marino nut hugger talking all kinds of smack and trash before the game started. By the time the score was 26-3, I brutally exacted revenge

[Mojo44]

I remember the 1964 AFL championship game in Buffalo against the chargers. San Diego was a big favorite. Then, Mike Stratton put the iconic kit on Keith Lincoln and the rest is history. They played again for the 1965 championship which was a much easier win for the bills. Yes, I am that old.

[Artful Dodger]

In 1991, the Bills beat the Oakland Raiders 51-3 in the AFC Championship Game.  That was my single best moment as a Bills' fan.

Edited January 18, 2021 by Artful Dodger