2017 Defining Moments

[corta765]

Hi everyone long time no see haha. I meant to finish this series before the start of the 2021 season but my wife has our second child and my life was non stop for a bit. Anyway here are the 2017 defining moments piece:

 

We finally have made it to the 2017 defining moment. The season that defied and defined 17 years of pain, heartache, tears, fears, and Billsing.

 

For those of you who have followed me on this painful journey to 2017 thank you, we made it. To those who ignored until now you are smarter then the rest of us.

 

Now the backdrop:

 

2016 left the Bills with a team that had just fired/lost its coach for the second time in two years, had bad cap issues, cultural issues, insider leaks that would’ve sunk the titanic, and in general an org that needed a reset of direction. On January 11th 2017 Panthers defensive coordinator Sean McDermott was hired as the Bills new head coach. He was praised and admired as a candidate due to his detail, strong defenses, and “process” he wanted to establish. Free agency brought two tough losses as WR Robert Woods went home to Los Angeles and the Bills didn’t want to pay top dollar and let Stephon Gilmore walk… to New England. Solid roster players Mike Gillislee and Nickel-Robby Coleman also left. Reinforcements did arrive in CB/SF addition Micah Hyde from Green Bay and a lesser known safety from Cleveland Jordan Poyer. The Carolina connection struck as Mike Tolbert came in as a FB. Another sizable addition came at kicker as Dan Carpenter was cut and former Seahawks kicker Steve Hauschka was added. Tyrod Taylor’s contract was effectively redone as a one year deal and he remained as the starter.

 

Heading into the draft there were questions on whether the Bills would take a QB as there head been some talk of Buffalo wanting Pat Mahomes and Mitch Trubisky. At the draft the Bills ended up trading the pick to the Kansas City Chiefs who selected QB Pat Mahomes. Buffalo in turn used the 27th overall pick for an LSU CB named TreDavious White to replace Gilmore who had left. Buffalo used the KC 1st the following year to help draft QB Josh Allen and LB Tremaine Edmunds. The rest of the draft saw the Bills draft future key contributors OL Dion Dawkins and Matt Milano. Less then 12 hrs after the draft GM Doug Whaley was fired along with the entire scouting department. Whaley had improved the teams talent base and W/L record but the team itself never took the next step to become a true contender. With Whaley gone the Bills replaced him with a rising Panthers personnel man Brandon Beane who had a close relationship with McDermott. The entire front office was reshaped under their watch and of the 28 players Whaley had drafted from 2014-17 only 9 remained on roster by the end of August.

 

August came and the Bills made a solid signing with Anquan Boldin on August 7th who was recently cut by the Lions. The thought was Boldin was a perfect WR3 to help mentor Buffalos young WR Corp that had Watkins and new draft pick Zay Jones. Chaos ensued four days later after a solid showing in the first preseason game by the Bills as Sammy Watkins was traded to the Rams for CB E.J Gaines and a 2nd round pick. Additionally CB Ronald Darby was traded to the Eagles for WR Jordan Matthew’s and a 3rd round pick.  In terms of cap and draft picks it made sense as it increased the Bills draft capital they were building and long term opened up cap space. For the current year it felt like a sell off as the top CB and WR were traded. There was a case to be made prior to the trade that the Bills being competitive wasn’t too outlandish with Taylor and McCoy and Watkins a decent punch on offense and with more competent coaching the defense rebounding. Once the trades went through things looked a lot more dire. Anquan Boldin ended up retiring on August 20th in frustration from these moves and things looked pretty shaky entering the season in terms of what the Bills could really do on the field.

 

Going into the season opener against the Jets expectations for the team were as low as they had been since 2011. The schedule looked daunting as the Bills not only had to deal with the Patriots but the NFC Champion Falcons, a stout Saints squad, playoff teams in Oakland/KC/Miami, and a bunch of solid teams like the Panthers who has a health Cam, the Bucs who were coming off a 9-7 year, and Broncos who were also 9-7. The Jets game itself was considered one of the few winnable games and by some media a toilet bowl of sorts as the Jets had also purged their roster. Many people had the Bills as a team top 5 draft wise then near the playoffs as the season began. 

 

With that lead in:

 

Week 1: New York Jets, 21-12 win: On an absolutely beautiful day to open the season the Bills won a spirited affair with the Jets. LeSean McCoy had a brilliant game to kick off an amazing season including a 21 yard catch and run early on. Jordan Matthew’s made his one big play in Buffalo with a 47 yd reception that helped setup the Bills 2nd TD to Andre Holmes. The Bills held a tight lead throughout until Mike Tolberts 1 yd TD with 12:51 left in the game to go up 21-12. The defense made the big plays to define the game in the 4th as Jordan Poyer had a nice interception of Jets QB Josh McCown midway through and Micah Hyde ended the game with 1:44 left on another McCown INT.

 

Week 2 at Carolina Panthers, 9-3 loss: After a nice opening day win the Bills traveled to Charlotte for a homecoming for head coach Sean McD and staff plus a few players. This game was a defensive blood bath with the Bills defense recording 6 sacks (including 2 by Jerry Hughes) while the Panthers had 3 sacks. The difference was the Panthers held the ball for 38 mins. The Bills defense held Cam Newton and the Panthers offense to FGs including a huge drop late in the game on 3rd 2 at the Bills 2 when Christian McCaffrey couldn’t hold the ball as the Bills defenders blew up the play. The game forever though is defined by the Zay Jones drop. Down 9-3 Tyrod actually moved the offense to the Panthers 32 thanks to an Andre Holmes 9 yard catch. From there the Bills struggled setting up a dramatic 4th and 11 Tyrod Taylor looked deep right where Zay Jones was wide open inside the Panthers red zone. He threw the pas to Jones who was wide open…and dropped the ball at 5 yard line. It was not a perfect pass but it was more then good enough that any competent NFL WR should’ve caught it. The Bills fell to 1-1 and the drop seemed to haunt Jones the rest of his time in Buffalo.

 

Week 3: Denver Broncos, 26-16 win: With the defense looking much better compared to the prior 2 years there was hope that if the offense could manage maybe the Bills could be more competitive then originally thought. This game was played on a record heat wave as temperatures were in the high 90s. The Bills first TD to go up 7-3 hit Zay Jones hands on a cross route and bounced right to WR Andre Holmes. The game itself was back and forth as Jaamal Charles had a TD for the Broncos and Jordan Matthew’s led the Bills with 61 yds receiving. Steve Hauschkas 55 yd FG at half tied the game at 13-13. After a Broncos FG early in the 3rd quarter the Bills took the lead on a Taylor to Clay TD pass. From there Broncos QB Trevor Siemian kept throwing INTs as EJ Gaines and Tre White each picked him off. The big game changer though happened with the Bills up 23-16 with 7:43 left. Tyrod Taylor’s pass fell incomplete to Jordan Matthew’s and Taylor fell down. Bronco All Pro Von Miller went to give Taylor a hand to help him up only to pull his hand back. The refs decided that was a 15 yd penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct putting the Bills in FG range. The Bills iced the game with a FG to go up 10.

 

Week 4: at Atlanta Falcons, 23-17 win: This was the first big moment/win for McD and crew that maybe things were a little different. At 2-1 the Bills went to the NFC Champs home with little thought media wise they could upset ATL. After a tight first half down 10-7 the defense made two huge plays to swing the game in the 3rd quarter. The first was Jerry Hughes sack and fumble on Matt Ryan that Tre White returned for a 52 yd TD. Right after that Micah Hyde made a spectacular interception that just missed hitting the turf on a big deep pass by Ryan at the Bills 12 which was intended for Taylor Gabriel. Buffalo went up 17-10 on a FG. Atlanta did tie the game on a Ryan to Justin Hardy but the Bills D kept up their strong play in the 4th after a Bills FG. Another Hyde INT gave the Bills the ball and they got a big 55 yd FG by Hauschka to go up 23-17. The Falcons went 12 plays on their last drive but the Bills held on 4th and 1 on their 10 yd line despite only having 10 players on the field. The upset happened and the Bills had their biggest road win since 2000.

 

Week 5: at Cincinnati Bengals, 20-16 loss: The Bills had a chance to go 4-1 but against a veteran Bengal team their youth got exposed in a tight loss. AJ Green had a big day for 189 yds and a TD as Tre White had a learning day. Despite being down in the 1st half the Bills got back up 13-10 with 1:59 left in the 3rd quarter thanks to a Lorenzo Alexander force fumble on AJ Green deep in the Bills end which Jordan Poyer was able to return and help setup the FG. The game swung soon after as on 3rd and 10 Andy Dalton got AJ Green on a 47 yd gain down to the Bills 5. The Bengals scored on a Joe Mixon TD to go up 17-13. The Bills offense couldn’t take advantage of a Bills punt return by Brandon Tate down to the Bengals 12 and had to settle for a FG. The Bengals would get another FG and the Bills offense failed late as Tyrod over through Zay Jones late for an INT.

 

Week 6: Bye Week hey they don’t look half bad

 

Week 7: Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 30-27 win: This game was wild especially in the fourth quarter as the lead changed four times throughout. Fun fact Bills WR Deonte Thompson had 107 yds in this game. Matt Milano got a great INT late in the first half to setup a FG and give the Bills a 13-10 lead. Logan Thomas TD catch from Taylor 4 mins into the 3rd put the Bills up 17-6. From there both teams scored back and forth including the Bucs TD to tie the game at 20 when Oj Howard was left wide open for some reason for 30 yds. A McCoy fumble allowed the Bucs to go up 27-20 (McCoy had a great game though 2 TDs and 122 yds). The Bills offense drove quick to tie including a big 44 yd catch by Thompson and the Bills tied the game 27 all soon after. With 2:28 left in the game the big moment happened as Bucs QB Jameis Winston competed an 8 yd pass to Adam Humphries who got hammered by Bills CB Tre White who forced a fumble and recovered it himself. The Bills successfully ran the clock and kicked the winning kick with only 14 seconds left.

 

Week 8: Oakland Raiders 34-14, win: At 4-2 the Bills had a golden chance to go 5-2 and truly think about ending the playoff drought. Marcell Dareus was traded leading up to the game against a potent Raiders offense. Yet in a misty type rain the Bills showed their worth. Tied at 7-7 late in the 2nd quarter the game swung for real as Matt Milano returned a Raider fumble for 40 yards to put Buffalo up 14-7 at half. With all the momentum and ball out of half the Bills scored 13 straight points to go up 27-7 early 4th quarter effectively sealing the game. Props to Andre Holmes beautiful TD catch in the 1st half in the corner of the end zone where he just kept his feet in. At 5-2 the Bills were stunningly firmly in the playoff picture.

 

Week 9: TNF at New York Jets 34-21 loss: At 5-2 the Bills had what looked like a golden opportunity to get it 6-2 for the first time since the mid 90s as they took on a 3-5 but spunky Jets team in their only night matchup. Unfortunately the Jets came out playing like a team with purpose and the Bills did not making many mistakes throughout. The Jets got up on a 10 yd Josh McCown TD run and the Bills were playing catch from there. Late in the 2nd quarter down 10-7 the Bills were driving into the Jets territory with a chance to at least tie or take the lead. On 3rd and 7 Tyrod threw a 6 yard pass right to Jordan Matthew’s who should’ve just went down as the was already stopped. Instead Matthew’s tried to go forward and fumbled the ball to the Jets. You could see at that point the Bills energy go out and the Jets get boosted. The Bills went three and out at the start of the 2nd gable while the Jets further cemented their lead with a 25 yard TD by Robby Anderson from Josh McCown. That was pretty much it as the Jets got a TD on another turnover and the Bills defense was on their heals. Tyrod got two late TD drives to make it look closer, but the Bills fell to 5-3.

 

Week 10: New Orleans Saints 47-10 loss: coming home off a tough TNF loss the Bills has a tough matchup against a Saints team that was 6-2 and ascending. Buffalo decided not to show up as the Saints ran for nearly 300 yds and 6 TDs in a crappy 40 degree and rain game. The only Bills highlight was a 36 yd run by McCoy that setup a Buffalo FG to go up 3-0. Nathan Peterman got to come in spot duty and got a TD late to make it 47-10. There was no moment just pure Saints domination.

 

Week 11: at LA Chargers 54-24 loss: aka The Nathan Peterman Experience game. Nathan Peterman got the start over Tyrod in an attempt to inject some life into the team and offense. Oh he injected life to the tune of 5 INTs in the 1st half putting LA up 37-7 at half. Peterman was so bad that Tyrod still ended up being the leading passer despite not even playing until the second half. Again no moment but if you ever for some reason have the thought of not liking Josh Allen please sit down and watch the 10 minutes of highlights from this game to fix your mind.

 

Week 12: at Kansas City Chiefs 16-10 win: At a true season crossroads being 5-5, on a 3 game losing streak, and a major QB failure, rookie head coach Sean McD has his back against the wall going into a tough road environment in KC. The Bills proved themselves despite this as the Bills defense returned to playing opportunistic defense and the offense did just enough to pull the game out. Zay Jones got Buffalos lone TD on a Taylor pass from 11 yds out at the end of the 1st quarter. Buffalo had the lead throughout but the Chiefs closed the gap to 13-10 thanks to an Alex Smith TD pass to Albert Wilson mid 3rd quarter. Buffalo got a FG to make it 16-0 soon after. From their both defenses tightened up as neither offense could do much. The game was won when TreDavious White intercepted Alex Smith on the Chiefs final drive. At 6-5 Buffalo had a shot at the playoffs.

 

Week 13: New England Patriots 23-3 loss: coming home the Bills faced their rivals. The first half Buffalos defense kept the Pats in check as they led at half 9-3. Tyrod had an awful INT on the first drive after marching the team down to the Pats red zone. The second half NE was able to get two TD drives while the Bills offense just couldn’t do anything. The major moment of this game was Pats TE Rob Gronkowskis cheap shot on Tre White after an INT that resulted in a concussion for White. A large segment of Bills fans have never forgiven Gronkowski or forgotten about this play.

 

Week 14: Indianapolis Colts 13-7 OT win: in a game forever known as the snow bowl the Bills needed a win to keep their playoff hopes going. That morning a weather band off Lake Erie sat right over the Ralph as the game neared it’s start and dumped snow the entire game. I was front row in the end zone and it forever the most surreal experience I’ve had at a sporting event. As for the game each team struggled moving the ball because of the weather. Bills QB Nathan Peterman got the Bills up 7-0 with a corner TD pass to newly acquired WR Kelvin Benjamin who did a great job keeping his feet in bounds. The Colts eventually tied the game as they grinded the ball down the field to even the game late in the 4th at 7-7. Peterman got injured so backup backup QB Joe Webb was in at this point. A Webb interception looked like disaster but Colts kicker Adam Vinateri missed his 43 yd FG. The defining moment though was McCoys TD run late in OT leading to snow being thrown by fans and players in celebration.

 

Week 15: Miami Dolphins 24-16 win: In the home finale the Bills took care of business against the Jay Cutler led Dolphins. LeSean McCoy broke 10,000 career yards and had two TDs in the game. Tyrod Taylor contributed a passing TD to McCoy as well as a TD run on the day. The Bills got up to a 24-6 lead, but the dolphins clawed back to make it 24-16 with 39 seconds left. The Dolphins then recovered the onside kick after Preston Brown bobbled the kick, but Cutler threw his 3rd INT (Poyer and Shareece Wright the others) to Tre White to end the game. At 8-6 the Bills had a true look at the playoffs.

 

Week 16: at New England Patriots 37-16 loss: At 8-6 Buffalo was in the playoff race and a win would help keep them in a spot while a loss would make things murky. The first half saw Jordan Poyer pick 6 Brady to give the Bills a 10-3 lead. The Patriots got the lead up 13-10 and the Bills drove downfield looking to tie or take the lead right before half. In one of the worst officiating calls you will see the game swung when Tyrod Taylors TD pass to Kelvin Benjamin was ruled incomplete due to Benjamin not having full possession of ball as he touched his feet in bounds. Any video replay could see this was false and it was a TD but such was the call. The Bills did kick a FG to go into half tied 13-13, but you could feel things were off after that. Buffalo out of the half for another FG to go up 16-13 but the Patriots scored after back to back pass interference calls with a Mike Gillislee TD. From there the Bills offense couldn’t do much and the defense wore out. The Bills still had a chance with 13:50 left in the game down 23-16 with a 3rd and 2 at the NE 33, but McCoy was stuffed and McD chose the bad idea of kicking a FG rather then going for it on 4th and 1. The normally reliable Steven Hauschka missed from 50 and the Pats scored a TD on following possession effectively ending the game. Despite the loss the Bills still went into week 17 with a shot for the playoffs thanks to some fortunate circumstances across the AFC.

 

Week 17: at Miami Dolphins 22-16 win and playoffs clinched: The Bills player at 4pm opposite the Ravens Bengals game at the same time which the Bills needed a Bengals win with their own to make the playoffs. Buffalo jumped out to a 10-0 lead thanks to a Nick O’Leary TD catch from Taylor. In the 2nd half Buffalo went up 19-0 as Bills DT legend Kyle Williams ran a TD in from 1 yard out. The Bills got a Hauschka FG with 11:50 to go in the game to go up 22-3. From there they had to hold off a furious Dolphins comeback as David Fales scored back to back TD drives for the Phins to make it 22-16. The Phins like the prior game got the onside kick again, but Jordan Poyer intercepted a deep pass to clinch a Buffalo win and winning season at 9-7 for only the third time since 2000. The defining moment of the game of course was not a Bills play, but after the game when Andy Dalton scored a last second 49 yard TD to Tyler Boyd won the Bengals an upset over the Ravens. The Bills locker room exploded as did the city of Buffalo as the drought was finally dead. For the first time in over 17 years the Bills were back in the playoffs.

 

Playoffs! (Check notes yep Playoffs!)

 

Wildcard: At Jacksonville Jaguars 10-3 loss: 

 

Writers note~ From the moment the Bills clinched their playoff berth until the game started Bills fans were partying and celebrating. Since 2017 we have had a lot of great moments and wins, but outside of the 2020 playoff run I would say 2017s week leading up to the game was the most fun I’ve had as a Bills fan. I had people regularly of opposing teams congratulating me on the Bills making the playoffs as if I had any role to the team. For the legions of Bills fans who went through the drought that week was as much about celebrating and enjoying finally being something again even if it was just a little. It was also a validation that for all those awful years there was some hope and success for the fanbase.

 

The game came and you had people like Bill Cowher jumping through tables on TV for the Bills and the fans took over Jacksonville. Then the game began anddddd not much happened haha. The Jags defense was as good as advertised, but the Bills defense matched that effort. Buffalo got a FG late in the 1st half to go up 3-0, but that was a wasted effort as the Bills were 1st and goal at the Jags 1 only to sabotage themselves with penalties and move back to the Jags 13. Midway into the second the pendulum moment of the game came as the Jags went in a 15 play drive downfield. Buffalo held firm in the red zone bringing up 4th and 1. Jags QB Blake Bortles found Jags TE Ben Koyack in the back of the end zone for a TD to put the Jags up 7-3. The Jags would get another FG will the Bills offense just couldn’t make much headway. Still the Bills got the ball back with one last chance to tie, but Tyrod got injured and backup Nathan Peterman successfully ended the game with an INT on the Jags 38 to Jalen Ramsey. 

 

The loss was a disappointment but overall Bills fans had a lot to be happy about and look forward to after the season ended.

 

A personal thank you to everyone who has read this series and made it to this season. I was going to continue this fun memory ride through 2020 but I am not sure as it is a lot of research and rewatching haha. Either way I’ve had fun doing this and look forward to 22. Go Bills!

Edited March 11, 2022 by corta765

[Dopey]

Is there way to listen to this like audio books online?

[Whkfc]

I no longer recognize anything before the draft of Josh Allen

 

[PonyBoy]

War & Peace has nothing on this thread. 

[Rico]

Whaley getting fired.

[Augie]

I lived thru it once. 

[benderbender]

Went to the sweltering Denver game. While it was week 3 and we were only 1-1, it felt different. Like a way too early turning point.  But it was the first time in forever that we went into a game that we were expected to lose and outperformed. Broncos fans were so smug walking in, but man was it a long walk out for them.

Edited March 10, 2022 by benderbender

[Don Otreply]

3 hours ago, PonyBoy said:

War & Peace has nothing on this thread. 

Nor does L Ron Hubbard’s “Battle field Earth”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

all 800 plus pages of it…😂

[Bookie Man]

That seems so long ago, even though it wasn't. I could barely remember any of those games. I had to rewatch them all on youtube. I appreciate what Tyrod gave us, but watching those games makes me appreciate what we have .. a lot. 

[Dopey]

45 minutes ago, ßookie_tech said:

That seems so long ago, even though it wasn't. I could barely remember any of those games. I had to rewatch them all on youtube. I appreciate what Tyrod gave us, but watching those games makes me appreciate what we have .. a lot. 

Nothing against Tyrod ,but he was really frustrating to watch.

[Jay_Fixit]

2017 the last season of no QB so the next year the Bills: 

Draft round 1 pick 7

Josh Allen wears 17

Now we’re about to embark on 17 straight years of playoffs.

 

17. one less than 18 and one more than 16.

 

[eball]

Were there any undefined moments in 2017?  Based upon this OP, I don’t think so.

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

10 hours ago, Don Otreply said:

Nor does L Ron Hubbard’s “Battle field Earth”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

all 800 plus pages of it…😂

Beats the movie.  It's not the worst pulp sci-fi novel one could find.

Edited March 11, 2022 by Ridgewaycynic2013

[corta765]

1 hour ago, eball said:

Were there any undefined moments in 2017?  Based upon this OP, I don’t think so.

I cannot confirm if a d*ldo was thrown against NE so

thats undefined 

Edited March 11, 2022 by corta765

[corta765]

10 hours ago, Dopey said:

Nothing against Tyrod ,but he was really frustrating to watch.

My frustration was he would show great ability in spurts but then it would go away.

[Dopey]

1 minute ago, corta765 said:

My frustration was he would show great ability in spurts but then it would go away.

Appeared gun shy at times. Afraid to make a mistake. 

[corta765]

14 hours ago, benderbender said:

Went to the sweltering Denver game. While it was week 3 and we were only 1-1, it felt different. Like a way too early turning point.  But it was the first time in forever that we went into a game that we were expected to lose and outperformed. Broncos fans were so smug walking in, but man was it a long walk out for them.

 

Because it was such an unseasonably hot day we watched the game outside. It is the only time in my life I brought fans in the back yard to blow on us because it was like 90. Yea Denver fans were a bit full of themselves heading into that game, I remember reading some posts so it was quite nice to send them home with a L. I was happily surprised that despite the heat and our fans drinking reputation no one got really sick or injuired as a result.

[MiltonWaddams]

16 hours ago, Whkfc said:

I no longer recognize anything before the draft of Josh Allen

 

And I identify as a fan of the 2021 Super Bowl Champion Buffalo Bills. Sometimes we tell ourselves lies to make us feel good.

[corta765]

12 minutes ago, MiltonWaddams said:

And I identify as a fan of the 2021 Super Bowl Champion Buffalo Bills. Sometimes we tell ourselves lies to make us feel good.

 

Technically we were back to back (15-16) off season champions accordingly to Rex so we go that going for us

[Ethan in Cleveland]

Saints game foreshadowed other games where the defense simply collapses under McDermott. 

I flew to see the Chsrgers game. Most miserable experience I have ever had at a Bills game.  This game also foreshadowed McDermott's poor personnel choices.  Starting Peterman on the road while Bills were in playoff contention was unconscionable. I left at halftime.

I liked TT more than most on this board. I fell for his low turnover rate. If he could play the Dolphins every week he would be in the HOF...lol.

Having made the playoffs and ending the drought, there was no way I was not going to that game. I flew with my son to Jacksonville. So disappointing.  TT was awful. If be hits a wide open Clay(I think it was him) on an easy TD pass Bills take a lead and probably win. But really the whole team was bad and McD's defense collapses again allowing Bortles' running to win the game.