Football Sunday. Bills 1st Ever AFC Title Game. Jan. ‘89

[RobbRiddick]

I love watching the intros to games from this era. Such a different time. Dick Enberg was a great announcer and I loved Merlin Olsen too. 

 

I also had hair at this point in time. Great days

[njbuff]

If DerricK Burroughs didn't do a poor imitation of Mike Tyson against Tim McGee......

 

the Bills still would have had a chance in this game, even as poorly as they played offensively.

 

 

[klos63]

5 hours ago, Bermuda Triangle said:

One of the worst facemask calls I've ever seen was in that game.  Bruce Smith grabbed Esiason by the jersey and brought him down for a sack.  Refs called a 15-yard facemask.  

I think that would have been Bruce's 3rd sack of the first quarter. He ate Munoz alive until he got hurt later in the game.

4 hours ago, ticketssince61 said:

 

Thanks for the correction on Lou Piccone - sorry (but it still stings)

 

On Bruce Smith, it was the REGULAR season game against the Bengals that year not the playoff game

 

"There also was talk that Smith was battling a bad case of the flu that day. He has refused to address the subject specifically."

 

Thanks again for correcting. 

 

Sorry - a few people corrected me that I had confused a few games - those were not the game

and Ferguson overthrew a wide open Hooks in the endzone on the next play.

[Wheels Not So Golden Now]

3 hours ago, njbuff said:

If DerricK Burroughs didn't do a poor imitation of Mike Tyson against Tim McGee......

 

the Bills still would have had a chance in this game, even as poorly as they played offensively.

 

 

I lived in Cincinnati at that the time.  Later that week I heard Chris Collinsworth on the radio saying the Bengals knew they could easily get into Burroughs' head and mess with him.  He laughed about Burroughs falling for their "strategy". https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiMocjxnM3xAhXOXM0KHUGaC0QQFnoECAMQAw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.chicagotribune.com%2Fnews%2Fct-xpm-1989-01-09-8902240376-story.html&usg=AOvVaw32mWUa_btUbe-nE3LmQQJe

 

[Bills fan since 87]

4 hours ago, RobbRiddick said:

I love watching the intros to games from this era. Such a different time. Dick Enberg was a great announcer and I loved Merlin Olsen too. 

 

I also had hair at this point in time. Great days

 

Ditto.  Love the old 80s announce teams and pregame shows.  

[ThurmanThomasEnglishMuffin]

This team and the 1990 team are my favorite. So much potential, knew we were in for a ride.

 

This game did more to help Buffalo than hurt it. It made Marv retool the offensive approach.

[Bills fan since 87]

12 hours ago, ThurmanThomasEnglishMuffin said:

This team and the 1990 team are my favorite. So much potential, knew we were in for a ride.

 

This game did more to help Buffalo than hurt it. It made Marv retool the offensive approach.

 

Still would have loved the win though 😀 this was the third to last game I can remeber crying after.  I was 12.  The Ronnie Harmon drop and Norwood got me the next two years also:-(

Edited July 7, 2021 by Bills fan since 87

[billsfan89]

On 7/4/2021 at 8:44 AM, Redneck said:

Interesting - Kelly had 15 TD's an 17 picks that season, in his 3rd year with The Bills.  Would that last in the NFL today?

Just a completely different era, even the best passing seasons from 1988 (Marino 4400 yards, 28 TD’s to 23 INT’s, Jim Evert 3900 yards, 31 TD’s to 18 INT’s and Cunningham 3800 yards 24 TD’s to 16 INT’s) would be pretty pedestrian numbers in today’s game.

 

Teams passed less and the rules were more friendly to the defense. Also modern offenses have grown and adapted better to shorter and mid range passes. You just can’t compare the numbers without context.

[wakingfane]

Interesting to see though that a rule like "in the grasp" was applied very liberally, at least in this game. Josh Allen would have been sacked last year at least twice as much if the refs called in the grasp the same nowadays. And they also called unnecessary roughness for driving the QB to the ground... And for spearing/ leading with the helmet. And the announcers called it like those defenders made boneheaded plays, not like the refs were too much of  "over officious jerks"

[Einstein's Dog]

This title is just wrong "Bills 1st Ever AFC Title Game. Jan. 89"  What?  

 

How quickly we forget 1966!  The very first AFC title game.  Bills lost to KC for the right to get into the first Superbowl.

 

C'mon two pages in and people are letting this slide.

[Chandler#81]

5 minutes ago, Einstein's Dog said:

This title is just wrong "Bills 1st Ever AFC Title Game. Jan. 89"  What?  

 

How quickly we forget 1966!  The very first AFC title game.  Bills lost to KC for the right to get into the first Superbowl.

 

C'mon two pages in and people are letting this slide.

You’re new here, so I’m giving you a pass. Just 1. The 1960’s were AFL teams. No Conferences.🤦‍♂️

 

Chandler Rule#1 Newbs shouldn’t even be seen, let alone heard from.

[Einstein's Dog]

2 minutes ago, Chandler#81 said:

You’re new here, so I’m giving you a pass. Just 1. The 1960’s were AFL teams. No Conferences.🤦‍♂️

 

Chandler Rule#1 Newbs shouldn’t even be seen, let alone heard from.

Quit digging your hole here Chandler. 

 

The Bills were in the deciding game to get into the Superbowl (and it wasn't called the Superbowl then).  The deciding game is called the Conference Championship (doesn't matter what it was called then, that's what we call it now).

 

If you're counting how many Superbowls a team won, Green Bay counts that first one.  If you're counting how many Conference Championships a team has been in, you count the games that got you there.

 

It's important for you youngsters to know and recognize Bills history.

 

 

[TheBrownBear]

I remember watching this game and feeling as if we were never really in it despite being down by just a few points for the majority of the game.  Felt like Cincinnati was clearly the better team and could put their foot down on our throat whenever they needed too.  Also didn't help that there were 20+mph winds during the game.

[TheFunPolice]

It's amazing how far the game has come since then, especially when it comes to stadiums, but also offense.

 

AFC Title Game and it looked worse than most high school fields. 

 

Also, back then, if you were down 10 in the 4th quarter it was pretty much over. 

[Chandler#81]

2 hours ago, Einstein's Dog said:

Quit digging your hole here Chandler. 

 

The Bills were in the deciding game to get into the Superbowl (and it wasn't called the Superbowl then).  The deciding game is called the Conference Championship (doesn't matter what it was called then, that's what we call it now).

 

If you're counting how many Superbowls a team won, Green Bay counts that first one.  If you're counting how many Conference Championships a team has been in, you count the games that got you there.

 

It's important for you youngsters to know and recognize Bills history.

 

 

It matters that you’re WRONG! Just sit there in your Wrongness and be wrong.

[Matt_In_NH]

I did not realize they did not count the afl championship in 1966 to be an afc championship game.   I guess this was prior to the merger.  But it was for the right to play in SB1.  Played in Buffalo.  
 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1966_American_Football_League_Championship_Game

[Turk71]

On 7/4/2021 at 9:34 AM, SoCal Deek said:

My memory of that game was watching it from a ski lodge in Northern California. I went skiing because it never really occurred to me that the Bills were within a game of going to the Super Bowl. Back then it seemed like a dream and a destiny reserved for other franchises. Little did I know that all would change for the next half a decade. 

I was living and skiing in Park City UT at the time. A bunch of us skied Park West (The Canyons now) and then my buddy Herman from Montreal had a big Bills party for the game. I honestly don't remember much of the game but I know we had a blast.☺