Now that the 1972 Miami Dolphins have scratched the Buffalo Bills off their list of potential challengers to their record of an undefeated season, let's look back to another time that the Bills eliminated themselves from contention for this record. On October 7, 1991, the high-flying 5-0 Bills mailed in their second-worst performance of that season (second only to the ugly loss to Washington in the Superbowl) in prime time, before a national television audience on Monday Night Football. The Chiefs won the game 33-6, thanks to five Buffalo turnovers which highlighted an entirely uninspired performance by the Bills. Coach Marv Levy said after the game that in most football blow-outs, the difference between the teams is rarely as great as the score would suggest. I remember the game well. The Bills proceeded to cruise to a 13-3 regular season record which secured them home field advantage for the AFC playoffs and their second consecutive trip to the Superbowl. They were a dominant team which stumbled badly in that week 6 game but fully recovered.
I am not predicting a Superbowl birth this season but I do hope that the Bills will recover from last night's debacle in Nashville - the site of their most infamous meltdown in a playoff game 20 years ago when a play called Homerun Throwback ended their season after a playoff game appeared to be won. The schedule does not get easier from here. If, in retrospect, last night's stinker proves to have been a wake-up call, then Bills fans probably will see it as an anomaly in an otherwise successful season. But if the team's success over the first four weeks of the season fades to mediocrity or worse, the Tuesday in Tennessee will be seen as the turning point.
Despite some success moving the ball in the first half, the Bills looked un-prepared and rusty - which, as the CBS crew pointed out repeatedly on the broadcast, was what most were expecting from their opponents, a Titans team which had not played in 16 days, has been ravaged by positive COVID tests and locked out of their practice facility for most of the time since their last game. After a 9-7 regular season, the Titans, had a strong playoff run last season which took them to the AFC Championship game. Coming into the game at 3-0, they looked sharp and dominant. Ryan Tannehill in particular, after languishing for seven seasons with the Dolphins, looked like a Pro Bowl quarterback and had a flawless game last night. Signed two years ago as almost an afterthought by the Titans, he has clearly found his stride in the Music City.
Josh Allen, on the other had, looked more like he did in 2018 than he has over the past four weeks. His two interceptions were both due to inaccurate or ill-conceived throws. The team's discipline was questionable as they took a season-high 10 penalties, many of which, like false starts and illegal shifts on offence, were obviously the result of mental errors. After their win over the Raiders the previous week, the Bills probably suffered to some extent from having the identity of their next opponent in question as the Titans continued to teeter on the precipice of a second postponed game as they battled the virus. The Bills were scheduled to play the Chiefs at home tomorrow night and the coaching staff would have prepared the team for a short week before the schedule was adjusted. This of course isn't really an excuse as the Titans had similar or more difficult challenges.
Up next for the Bills: a re-match from 29 years ago - Monday Night Football against the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs. Only this time, the game will be played in Orchard Park. New York State still has not authorized any fan attendance for Bills games. Last night in Nashville, attendance was 8,403 which is a number more in line with the average-sized crowd at a top-tier Friday night Tennessee high school game in usual times. Look for Sean McDermott to have his team ready to resume the season's trajectory set over the first four weeks.
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