What is the worst play in Bills history?

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

11 minutes ago, Freddie's Dead said:

That's postal code to you 

Know your audience... I half considered using that term, but figured EJ always played in the US.

[klos63]

1 hour ago, Freddie's Dead said:

 

You beat me to it.  An obscure play in a relatively meaningless game in the 1997 season, but I was there, so I remember it well.  Todd Collins, who was given the starting job even though vastly inferior to AVP (Wade sucked at picking starting QB's, remember Billie Joe Neckbert, and of course, Scrub Johnson?), put the Bills in a 0-20 hole against the Broncos. 

 

In comes AVP, bringing the Bills all the way back to tie the game at 20-20, sending it into overtime.  Dan Henning then makes, arguably the worst play call in Bills history, a double-reverse option pass call to Andre Reed from our own 32 yard line.  The play design was idiotic, having Andre run left, throwing against his body.  He's sacked, fumbles, AVP recovers for a 20-yard loss.  2nd and 30, we can't get the first down, punt, and Elway carves us up and Elam kicks a chip shot FG to win the game.

 

Complete waste of a heroic effort by AVP, who continued to be crapped on by the Bills coaching staffs for years after this.  The only QB better than AVP in those years was Doug Flutie, but they continued to sit AVP behind garbage like Neckbert and Collins.  AVP was a fat Chad Pennington, smart as *****, with a sub-NFL arm.  But Henning was too stupid to build an offense around that.  Still pisses me off.

Not only a awful play call but you took the opportunity to insult so many people in this one post. Was that really necessary? Sounds like more of a reflection on you then on them.

[BADOLBILZ]

2 hours ago, Freddie's Dead said:

 

You beat me to it.  An obscure play in a relatively meaningless game in the 1997 season, but I was there, so I remember it well.  Todd Collins, who was given the starting job even though vastly inferior to AVP (Wade sucked at picking starting QB's, remember Billie Joe Neckbert, and of course, Scrub Johnson?), put the Bills in a 0-20 hole against the Broncos. 

 

In comes AVP, bringing the Bills all the way back to tie the game at 20-20, sending it into overtime.  Dan Henning then makes, arguably the worst play call in Bills history, a double-reverse option pass call to Andre Reed from our own 32 yard line.  The play design was idiotic, having Andre run left, throwing against his body.  He's sacked, fumbles, AVP recovers for a 20-yard loss.  2nd and 30, we can't get the first down, punt, and Elway carves us up and Elam kicks a chip shot FG to win the game.

 

Complete waste of a heroic effort by AVP, who continued to be crapped on by the Bills coaching staffs for years after this.  The only QB better than AVP in those years was Doug Flutie, but they continued to sit AVP behind garbage like Neckbert and Collins.  AVP was a fat Chad Pennington, smart as *****, with a sub-NFL arm.  But Henning was too stupid to build an offense around that.  Still pisses me off.

 

 

That was the game where Denver got hit with a blizzard on Saturday and much of the team had to be taken to the airport by snowmobile and got into Buffalo very late.

 

The Bills tied the game with a long field goal as regulation expired and I will never forget it because as the ball went thru the uprights,   even in all the noise I could hear the ping of my co-season-ticket-holder's eyeglass lens landing on a hard surface to be lost forever.    He then had to watch Henning's stupidity with one eye.

[Billy Claude]

3 hours ago, chongli said:

 

And Cleveland! They didn't name it the "Mistake on the Lake" for nothing! And they have their own "Fumble" Wikpedia page too:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fumble

 

Definitely, the Browns do have a record about as bad as the Bills and Jets.  You can put down the whole 6-3 Browns Bills game as an embarrassment for both sides.

 

One special feature of the Butt Fumble was it was from a meaningless game between a 6-7 and 10-3 team (albeit Thanksgiving).  The other plays with nicknames such as Wide Right, Home Run Throwback, The Fumble and the Immaculate Reception were all crucial plays that decided playoff games. 

 

The other one other named play that I can think of was the "Just Give It to Them" game between the  Bills and the Patriots though I don't know if anyone but Bills fans would recognize the name while pretty much any NFL fan would recognize Butt-Fumble.

 

Edited May 29, 2021 by Billy Claude

[BillsShredder83]

On 5/28/2021 at 2:08 PM, Royale with Cheese said:

It was a good discussion on WGR and boy, we've had a lot.

 

To me, it's the JP Losman fumble against the Jets.  

 

BTW...preseason counts too.  I forgot who the back up QB was but who got sacked and threw the ball backwards.

 

 

S&M is still alive and thriving I see

On 5/28/2021 at 2:16 PM, HOUSE said:

If this qualifies as worse play sign me up lol she was kinda thicc

[Doc Brown]

1 hour ago, Talley56 said:

There are some obvious ones like wide right, losing the wild card game to Tennessee on the lateral play, Stevie's TD drop against Pitt.  I'll bring up another one that may not have been mentioned:

 

2014 week 16 against Oakland, down only 19-17 with a few minutes to go, 3rd and 22.  The defense proceeds to give up a first down.  Bills lose and are eliminated from the playoffs.  I can't recall if the Bills would have made the playoffs had they won that game but it was still disappointing..  What makes that play so frustrating is that was a legitimately good defense.  Heck, they shut down Aaron Rodgers and the Packers one week earlier.  Then they give up that crap play on 3rd and 22.  That was a huge let down.

That's a good one as I completely forgot about that play pry because we were behind at the time and I was just so sickened we weren't dominating a terrible Raiders team with our playoff lives on the line.  I think it was Andre Holmes who caught it.

 

To me, it was the Bryce Brown fumble through the endzone that will always be buried in my mind as the play that altered the course of the Bills franchise.

[Albany,n.y.]

On 5/28/2021 at 2:52 PM, Shaw66 said:

I was at that game.   The fumble didn't bother me at all.   It was, what, 3-3?    Under two minutes left, Bills are heading toward the open end, with the wind their faces.   So this was going to be the Bills' last possession (unless it goes to overtime, but the game was so miserable, everyone just wanted it to end).   The Bills have only one playmaker - Roscoe Parrish, and returning punts was his best skill.   Roscoe and everyone else in the stadium knew that Roscoe was the best chance the Bills had to score.   Actually, he probably was the ONLY chance the Bills had to score.  So Roscoe took a chance fielding a punt he would ordinarily have let bounce, and he muffed it.  Browns recover gain 15 yards and win it with a field goal.   I never blamed Roscoe for that play.   He did exactly what I wanted him to do - try to catch that ball on the run and take off running.  Didn't work.  

I always stayed to the end of games (unless I had to leave to catch a flight) and at that game I was actually glad Roscoe fumbled so I could start my 4.5 to 5 hour drive home.  I was dreading the thought of overtime at the game I consider the worst NFL game I've ever been at out of the 272 games I've attended.  

 

I have another nominee.  There were multiple sins by the players and coaches

Houston at Bills 11/16/03

Bills were trailing 12-8 at the 2 minute warning, but had advanced to the Texans 31 yard line.  After the 2 minute warning time out, Drew Bledsoe fumbles & Houston recovers.  Bad enough, but it gets worse!  With Houston now in possession & trying to run out the clock, they get called for a penalty.  Now as soon as the penalty is called, London Fletcher is franically waving his arms to decline the penalty.  See, London realized that if the penalty was accepted then Houston, with an additional down, would be able to run out the clock. However, either Gregg or one of his assistants on the sideline told the refs the Bills would accept the penalty.  With the extra down Houston could now hold on to the ball & never give it back to the Bills.  On the final play Andre Johnson took the ball and ran into the endzone as the clock hit 0:00 for a safety.  The Bills accepting the penalty ended any chance at a comeback & the final score was Texans 12 Bills 10.

As we were leaving the stadium, I turned to my friend Petrino & said "Ralph should have fired Gregg as soon as that penalty was accepted"  Unlike the Jets who fired Gregg for losing the Raiders game last season, Ralph let Gregg continue to coach until the season ended.

 

 

Edited May 29, 2021 by Albany,n.y.

[WideNine]

21 hours ago, QCity said:

 

No, that is one of the greatest plays in Bills history!

 

 

 

I have looked for that replay - Friggin Lonnie somehow forgets that there is a man deep on that trick play.

 

Saw that play live with some friends and just had to shake my head. If he had just secured that ball and braced himself - he was a bigger dude than Sharper. Why the hell was he looking at the guys behind him?

One in a long series of really bone-headed plays by Lonnie who had some physical tools, but sadly was a bit of a slow-blinker, and that hit probably did not help improve upon the grey matter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Shaw66]

25 minutes ago, Albany,n.y. said:

I always stayed to the end of games (unless I had to leave to catch a flight) and at that game I was actually glad Roscoe fumbled so I could start my 4.5 to 5 hour drive home.  I was dreading the thought of overtime at the game I consider the worst NFL game I've ever been at out of the 272 games I've attended.  

 

 

 

 

I can't say that I was worrying about the drive home (6.5 hours for me), and I'm nowhere near 272 games attended, but it was the worst NFL game I can remember.   One measure of how bad that game is that just about the best offensive play of the game was a beautiful 30-yard pass to the Browns' tight end, Robert Royal.   He dropped it.  

 

It was also the game when they intended to present Ralph with his Hall of Fame ring at halftime, but the fans already were angry about how bad the team was before the game.   The first half was so bad, the Bills postponed the presentation ceremony our of fear that the booing would be too embarrassing.  

3 hours ago, Freddie's Dead said:

 

This play effectively ended Jeff Tuel's NFL career.  

I think this is incorrect.   I mean, it's incorrect to say that he had an NFL career.  

[ccc_billsfollower]

If preseason counts...

 

How about the HOF game against the Titans where the punter hid the ball and ran for a TD?

[Buffalo Barbarian]

Wide right.

 

 

[corta765]

If we’re taking a game of importance Music City Miracle. If your talking pure stupidity McKelvin fumble vs NE or Losman fumble vs the Jets takes the cake for what I’ve seen.

[Freddie's Dead]

3 hours ago, Talley56 said:

There are some obvious ones like wide right, losing the wild card game to Tennessee on the lateral play, Stevie's TD drop against Pitt.  I'll bring up another one that may not have been mentioned:

 

2014 week 16 against Oakland, down only 19-17 with a few minutes to go, 3rd and 22.  The defense proceeds to give up a first down.  Bills lose and are eliminated from the playoffs.  I can't recall if the Bills would have made the playoffs had they won that game but it was still disappointing..  What makes that play so frustrating is that was a legitimately good defense.  Heck, they shut down Aaron Rodgers and the Packers one week earlier.  Then they give up that crap play on 3rd and 22.  That was a huge let down.

 

That season really ended 2 weeks earlier with Orton's 3rd and puss in Denver, another play that qualifies for this list.

[947]

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqwKRF2Xq6w

 

Edited May 29, 2021 by 947

[SoCal Deek]

1 hour ago, corta765 said:

If we’re taking a game of importance Music City Miracle. If your talking pure stupidity McKelvin fumble vs NE or Losman fumble vs the Jets takes the cake for what I’ve seen.

I might be getting the games mixed up but didn’t mckelvin also fumble against Dallas in that Monday Night game? 

[tylerbillsfan33]

I’d say either Wide Right or the Music City Miracle.

Edited May 31, 2021 by tylerbillsfan33

[Rubes]

I haven’t read all of the pages in this thread, but has anyone mentioned this one? Sorry if I missed it.

 

Bills at home against the Pats**** in 2004? Late 4th quarter, Bills down 7 but driving inside their 20. 4th down and 3, Bills decide to call Drew Bledsoe to run a naked ***** bootleg. The worlds slowest QB is asked to run a naked bootleg against the undefeated Pats**** with the game on the line. Sack, fumble, ran back for a touchdown, game over.

 

Horrible call in clutch time, horrible execution. Just an embarrassment all around.

 

[Dan Darragh]

23 hours ago, 1ManRaid said:

 

I guess on that note, how about the 15 yard penalty for patting your teammate on the helmet...

Or the 15 yard penalty for "maliciously spinning the football" (Eric Moulds)

[corta765]

12 hours ago, SoCal Deek said:

I might be getting the games mixed up but didn’t mckelvin also fumble against Dallas in that Monday Night game? 

Not sure but wouldn’t be surprise he did it a bunch and it all blends together lol

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

38 minutes ago, corta765 said:

Not sure but wouldn’t be surprise he did it a bunch and it all blends together lol

I don't call him Leodis 'Oops' McKelvin for any small reasons. 😁

*
Thanks to Pete Weber's characterization of Lloyd 'Oops' McClendon for the nickname.