#24: What if the Bills didn’t lose against Tampa Bay in 1988?

austinmeadows

This is a series I started doing last year. Be sure to check out the archives.

You have made this look during a sporting event, right?

You fidget a bit in your bar seat. You roll your eyes and gasp for air. You take your hands and pretend you are washing your face, but you are merely just brushing your eyes and pushing both sides of your head back as if you are giving yourself a face lift. You’ll shake your head back in forth as if you are telling your kid ice cream won’t happen before dinner. Did I really just witness that on TV?

Meet frustration.

Frustration after watching your team squander a game. Squander a moment to make your Sunday into a happy day. I’ve probably made the look over 100 times. On any given Sunday, I’ll see a bunch of different fans make the face while they watch their team suffer a gut wrenching lost. Can I be honest? I kind of relish the moment when fans for different teams feel the same pain I’ve felt those 100 times before. Yes, call me sadistic.

The first time I saw that look happened in 1988 during a Bills vs Bucs game.

It wasn’t me making that look as I was only 8 years old and didn’t really follow the Bills, but I did follow what my older sister was watching on TV. I saw the mannerisms I described earlier. I saw her clinched fists beating into the couch every 5-10 minutes during this pathetic showing. Upsets are great theater in sports, but they suck if you are the one getting upset.

To set the scene, the Bills were really good (11-2) and the Bucs were a fricken grease fire (3-10). Keep in mind this was during a time when Tampa Bay was the laughing stock of the NFL. They only had two winning seasons up until that point and were not to be confused with being a team on the rise. At the time, the Bills were the top seed in the AFC and seemed to be steamrolling their way to the playoffs. They had clinched the AFC East two weeks earlier, which seems pretty remarkable when they had only played 11 games, so their goal going forward was getting home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

Tampa should have been a win, right? Can anyone remember a game in Bills history where they had been heavily favored only to lose a game like this? I can only go back to loses against the Pats in 1991 and the Jets in 1992 as prime examples. Those loses didn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things as the Bills made it to the Super Bowl both years, but this loss did.

I don’t remember much of the game, but I could tell by my sister’s expression, she wasn’t pleased. She was downright pissed. For years, she waited for the Bills to finally turn the corner and what seemed like a cake walk became a walk of shame. The Bills lost, 10-5. Seriously? Who the hell loses by that score? Um, no one actually. That’s the only time a final score has been that in NFL history. From looking at the box score, it seemed like Tampa Bay played the perfect underdog game. They didn’t make any mistakes (Zero turnovers) and controlled the time of possession by out rushing the Bills 110 to 39. The Bills, of course, made a bunch of mistakes. They turned the ball over twice and committed 12 penalties.

As the final whistle sounded, my sister got off the couch and went to her room. Disappointed. How could the Bills blow this game?

What if the Bills beat the Bucs?

Simple: They would have home field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. Sure, the Bills lost against the Colts in the season finale after blowing a 14-3 4th quarter lead, costing them home field, but the Colts were decent (Finished 9-7), the Bucs were not. Most Bills fans know how the postseason ended, a tough loss against the Bengals in the AFC Championship, 21-10, in the unfriendly confines of River Front Stadium. The Bills only trailed the Bengals by four in the 4th quarter when Icky Woods iced the game on a 1-yard TD plunge. You should have seen my sister then…Frustration turned to rage. She must have said at least 10 times during the AFC championship game that we should have been watching this in Buffalo. 80,000 twisted demented fans wanting Boomer Esiason’s head on a platter. It would have been epic.

So, do the Bills win the AFC Championship game if played in Buffalo? We all know the Bills were outstanding at home during that era. The team went undefeated at home during the season and only lost 6 home games from 1988-1993. When fans/media used to say The road to the Super Bowl goes through Buffalo, it would send chills to the rest of the AFC. The Bills did play the Bengals the following year in Buffalo, and kicked their asses, 24-7. Is it a stretch for them to beat them in Buffalo in January of ’88? Absolutely not. The Bengals were only 4-4 on the road during the ’88 season.

So if the Bills beat the Bengals, you get Chris Berman’s dream Super Bowl of Bills vs. 49ers. I know most would probably have the Bills losing because when you think 49ers during the 80s, you think of a powerhouse team. However, the 49ers during the ’88 season struggled, finishing only 10-6. They got hot at the right time during the playoffs, but were pretty close to losing to the Bengals in the SB. More than likely, the Bills probably would have lost that game. Greeeeaaaaat..the Bills would have then lost five Super Bowls. Like we haven’t suffered enough. But, there could be a silver lining here.

A number of theories have always been thrown to why the Bills looked out of sync against the Giants in SBXXV. Some thought the Bills were too immature and just weren’t ready to go against a more experienced team like NY. Rumors about the Bills being too cocky and partying during the week have made the rounds at the campfire. If the Bills get their brains beat in during SBXXIII, maybe they are better prepared going into SBXXV. Maybe they aren’t so captivated by the hype of SB week like they were doing their first go around. A lot of maybes, right? Also, a lot of frustrated looking fans.

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