I’m restarting my “What if?” series and if you’d like to read the first 31 stories, give a gander.
When it comes to Buffalo sports, there aren’t a lot of great records we cherish. In fact, there’s a lot we despise. 16 years of no playoffs vs. zero championships vs. only losers of 4 straight Super Bowls. It can take awhile to come up with a list of records that I cherish, but sometimes you don’t have to bother listing anything when you already know what is #1.
The Comeback.
As we all know the largest comeback in NFL history is a 32-point deficit the Bills overcame against the Houston Oilers. It was a win that basically was the epitome of those teams. Even at their darkest hour, their defiance towards others who said they had to give it up, was probably their most endearing quality. Its been over 20 years since that feat was achieved. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen another team start a comeback rally to win a game and then say “Phew…At least it wasn’t a 32-point deficit”. While some may love the 4 straight Super Bowl record, there’s always a “but” after it because the Bills ended up losing those games (Sigh). However, with the comeback, there’s nothing of that sort. Its positives all the way through.
The one thing that doesn’t get played often enough with analyzing that game is “HOW IN THE BLUE HELL DID THEY COME BACK?!” Normally the game is looked back in celebration and rightfully so, but we had no business winning this game. 32 points down with our backup QB and RB playing? The Bills 2nd best defensive player was out? I’m sorry, but if you were to replay that exact scenario of being down by 32 points 100 times, the likelihood is that the Oilers win every single time. That’s why the record has stood this long with only 5 teams since “The Comeback” to comeback from at least 20+ down. When you dig that big of a hole, you are fucked. Its an anomaly to comeback from such a huge deficit.
So what happens if Frank Reich doesn’t have the 2nd half of his life or that Houston doesn’t choke?
Frank Reich is an afterthought
Look, I love Frank Reich. To me, he was by far the most likable Bills player on those SB teams. He was the guy you wanted to bring him to mom and have your daughter marry. However, if you take away the comeback game and the game that proceeded it against the Steelers, Reich only won one start during the Super Bowl years. Sure, it was a crucial one that gave the Bills homefield advantage in the playoffs in 1990, but he really didn’t do much else besides that 1992 playoff run. He had his moments in 1989 with going 3-0, but that year will always reak with the whole “Bickering Bills” stigma. If “The comeback” doesn’t happen, I don’t think we have such vivid memories of Reich. He sure as hell wouldn’t be a talking head on any Bills retrospect shows for those teams. I mean, its not like producers are interviewing Steve Beuerlein to give his takes on the Cowboys.
Would the Bills make changes?
There used to be this old media saying that when the Bills had a disappointing season, Ralph Wilson would demand that at least 2-3 people (Mostly coaches) be thrown into a volcano. Could this have been the case after losing to the Oilers in the Wildcard game? The 1992 season was an odd one. The Bills started the season hot, going 4-0. However, they finished the season on a bit of downer, going 7-5. Statistically speaking, Jim Kelly threw 10 fewer TD passes (23) than in 1991 and had 2 more INTs (19). The defense was slightly above average as they finished 14th out of 28 teams in total defense. The previous season the Bills finished 19th in scoring defense and were dreadful against the run. So, its not like the defense was setting records and if you lose a game in which you give up 38 points, maybe Walt Corey gets thrown into the volcano?
Keep in mind that when the Oilers blew the game, they fired their DC after a season in which they ranked 6th overall. In terms of players, maybe the Bills become more aggressive in FA. The Bills had lost James Lofton/Shane Conlan/Will Wolford in FA and only added Billy Brooks, who was ordinary until his 1995 season. When they missed the playoffs in 1994 which ave them their first real taste of a disappointing season since 1987, they made a lot of changes with firing their DC and bringing in Paup/Jeffcoat/Washington. Maybe having the year end that early on such a downer would have made the team make changes.
Does Houston make the SB?
The Houston Oilers were an extremely talented team that for whatever reason always underachieved in the playoffs. Their offense during the Bills SB years was pretty much the equal to the Bills as they finished in the top 6 from 90-93. Their defense was in the top 10 in 3 of those 4 years. They were loaded, but they were just a basket case when the chips were on the table in a playoff game. From 1988-1993, the Oilers made the playoffs every year but won just 2 playoff games (All wildcard). Maybe after beating the Bills, this would have made them get off that playoff snide. The AFC in 1992 wasn’t really good. The Steelers, who would have faced the Oilers if they held on against the Bills, were the new kids on the block with Cowher and Neil O’Donnell, but they weren’t nearly as talented. Maybe Houston beats Miami in the AFC Title game and goes on to face Dallas. Again, I can’t stress it enough that the Oilers had Super Bowl talent. They were much better than their playoff record indicated.
On a sidenote about Houston, keep in mind that after they fired their DC they brought in Buddy Ryan who ended up punching Kevin Gilbride on the sidelines and set-up a giant shitstorm for the 1993 season. After failing in 1993 to do anything in the playoffs, the Oilers blew up their core team and fans became totally disinterested in the franchise as rumors started to swirl that they were primed for relocation. They moved to Tennessee by the 1997 season. If the Oilers went far in the ’92 playoffs, maybe they stay in Houston and they don’t blow up the team the following year.
3 Falls of Buffalo?
There goes that record of 4 straight Super Bowls. There goes the punchline of being the only North American team to lose 4 straight championship games. Maybe the Super Bowl jokes die at that moment. On the flipside, maybe this would have been good for them. Hear me out. I always felt that the reason why the Super Bowl losses seemed to get worse was because losing the previous ones were creeping in the players’ heads. I felt it really hit them against Dallas the first time around. I mean, you wanna talk about anomalies with coming back from 32-points down? How about committing 9 turnovers in a Super Bowl when you have like 6 HOF players? That just doesn’t happen. Maybe having a break between Super Bowl XXV/XXVI and Super Bowl XXVIII would have been beneficial for the players.
Steve Tasker said on the 4 Falls from Buffalo that the Bills were just dead by the time the 4th SB came because of all those games they played. Maybe playing 3 fewer games would have recharged their batteries and they would have been better against Dallas the 2nd time around. Maybe playing with just 2 SB losses under their belt instead of 3 would have been an easier burden to deal with against Dallas in SB28. Of course, maybe the Bills wouldn’t have been driven enough to get back to the SB for 4 straight years because they wanted to get rid of the stench of losing 3 straight.
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