Key losses: Darryl Talley, Frank Reich, Mickey Washington, Don Beebe, Kenneth Davis, Jeff Wright and Pete Metzelaars.
Key additions: Bryce Paup, Ted Washington, Jim Jeffcoat, Wade Phillips, Ruben Brown and Darick Holmes
The drive for five had failed. After four straight years of going to the Super Bowl, the Bills finished the 1994 season with a 7-9 record and didn’t qualify for the playoffs for the first time in six years. We were dead, buried and somewhere in football heaven. Not only did the year stink, but the offseason seem to start off on the wrong foot, as the Bills lost fan/locker room favorite Darryll Talley, who took his talents down to Atlanta. I remember how upset members of the defense were about his departure that Bruce Smith and Cornelius Bennett wore his jersey number during training camp. The Bills also lost the orchestrator of the biggest comeback in NFL history and two starters on offense (Beebe and Metzelaars). You could tell that the core of the Bills Super Bowl run was being taken down one piece at a time.
During the offseason, I was pretty much following what a lot of fans and media members were saying: “The Bills were finished.”
However, as Chris Berman would always say, “Nobody circles the wagons like the Buffalo Bills.” GM John Butler had his hands full with trying to put back together a team that went to 4 straight Super Bowls. The biggest problem with the team was the defense. For years, Walt Corey had instituted a bend but don’t break type of defense. However, in 1994, the defense broke. The team ranked 17th in total defense, but the biggest problem was the team’s inability to put pressure on the QB. For the season, the Bills were ranked 26th in sacks (25). Can you imagine, a defense with Bruce Smith and being ranked 26th in sacks? And since the defense couldn’t put pressure on the QB, the pass defense faltered, ranking 23rd in the NFL out of 28 teams.
So, with all these defensive problems, the team acted swiftly in fixing it.
Walt Corey was fired and the Bills soon hired former Broncos head coach, Wade Phillips as the defensive coordinator. Say what you will about Phillips the head coach, but as a defensive coordinator, the guy can coach. He has an attacking style of defense, in which the outside linebackers come off the edge at a furious pace. So, with Phillips in place, the Bills needed someone who could rush the passer on the outside, opposite of Bruce Smith, and that man was Bryce Paup.
At the time, Paup was playing for the Green Bay Packers, where he had respectable numbers as an outside linebacker, averaging 8 sacks a year there. So, at the time of the signing, I was cool with it. I wasn’t falling head over heals for it, but I thought he was an upgrade over the veteran Talley. The Bills were also looking to upgrade nose tackle, as Jeff Wright ended up going to the 49ers. The Bills wanted to bring in a big fat guy as the nose tackle. You can’t get any fatter than Ted Washington. Mt. Washington was a 4-year pro, who bounced around from the 49ers and Broncos. Frankly, not many people heard of this guy when the Bills signed him, but you couldn’t help but marvel at his statuesque girth. The 3rd defensive player added to the Bills via free agency was Jim Jeffcoat. Did you know that the only time the Bills had two players with over 100 career sacks, who played on the team at the same time were Jeffcoat and Smith? Anyways, they signed Jeffcoat to be a situational pass rusher.
Now that the Bills had their signings on defense, they decided to use their first round pick on the offensive line. During the 94′ season, Jim Kelly was sacked 41 times, which was ranked 8th most in the NFL. What would you expect with a team that lost their two pro bowl tackles in back-to-back years? The Bills decided that they needed to reload the line…Enter: Ruben Brown. Brown was a blue chip offensive tackle from Pitt, who was the 2nd lineman selected in the draft. The Bills decided to move Brown to guard, and for what seemed like the first time ever, the Bills decided to start a rookie from day 1. Levy was notorious for wanting rookies to pay their dues on the bench, but this was the “New” NFL. A league that with the salary cap and expansion in full effect, you would have to start rookies. The Bills also decided to use a late round pick on Darick Holmes, who played at the small college of Portland State. With Kenneth Davis gone, the Bills needed someone to back-up Thurman.
Post script: The 1995 Bills were probably the best team the franchise has had over the last 26 years. The team proved that the eulogy that many had given them, was actually just another chapter in the Bills dominance of the 90’s. The team went 10-6, winning the division title and a playoff game. To say that the defense wasn’t impressive would be an understatement. The Bills nearly doubled their sack total the following year with a total of 49, which ranked #1 in the NFL. The key to the defense was Paup, who will probably go down as the best free agent acquisition the Bills have ever had (Talking post free agency), as he raked up 17.5 sacks, which gained him the defensive player of the year award. Ted Washington was awesome, as he was the anchor for a defense that gave up only 3.5 yards a carry. Honestly, the one thing I kept saying to myself during that year was how I wished we had this defense during the four Super Bowls, because we would have won one. Bank it and take it to the house.
Offensively, the Bills had a better balanced attack. The team rushed for almost 2,000 yards, which ranked 6th in the NFL. Not only did Thurman Thomas gain over 1,000 yards, but Darick Holmes was instrumental in helping the running game out. The rookie had 698 yards rushing and with Darick and Thurman, the Bills had a thunder and lightning type of backfield. Holmes was a beast for the Bills, as I can remember him carrying 2-3 defenders at a time. Trust me, watch these highlights listed below. Even without Andre Reed for most of the year, Kelly was sharp, throwing for 22 touchdowns and only 14 interceptions. The surprise for the Bills offensively came from Bill Brooks, who actually set a team record with 11 touchdown grabs.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGYhsX_zH6U&w=480&h=390]
The season ended in Pittsburgh during the division round playoffs. Entering the game, the Bills were without Bruce Smith, who had a really bad case of the flu. The Bills came back from a 23-0 deficit by scoring 21 unanswered points. However, the Steelers ripped off 17 straight points, beating the Bills 40-21. The 1995 season was the last time the Bills won a playoff game and a division title. Damn. That sentence was depressing to write.
(Editor’s note: If you do want to revisit that season, click on this youtube channel to watch the highlights.)
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