dave mcbride Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Who was the opposing coach and OC in the Bills most disappointing loss since the Super Bowls? Coughlin and Gilbride in '96. The Bills lost at home to the Jags in the playoffs, surrendering the lead three times in a game that they simply blew. It was Kelly's last game. They had no business losing that game, and failed to take advantage of one of their best defensive units ever. Bruce Smith had the season of his life in '96 (he was defensive player of the year), and had a sick number of pressures (an unrecorded stat, but he had 47 that season) to go along with 14.5 sacks. The hatred against Gilbride on this board when he was here was interesting. In retrospect, he had a bad offensive line and a QB who never could deliver in games against good opponents. When he was in Jax and NY, the opposite applied (and still applies). Sometimes it's the players. He has also been ahead of the curve when it came to recognizing that the NFL was becoming a passing league. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bills44 Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 IMO, Home Run Throwback was far more disappointing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave mcbride Posted February 6, 2012 Author Share Posted February 6, 2012 IMO, Home Run Throwback was far more disappointing. The Titans were probably the better team (they were 13-3, after all, and beat the 14-2 Jags three times before reaching the Super Bowl). While the Bills shouldn't have lost that game, it wasn't as if they were playing at home against an inferior opponent. Moreover, they stupidly started an inferior QB. The 96 loss was the last gasp of a great era, and they were built to win the Super Bowl that year. A lot of prognosticators picked them to go all the way. It was a disappointing season, and the loss at home the Jags was like a punch in the gut. At least that's how I remembered it. After that, there has never been a seaon where I thought they could compete for a Super Bowl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpberr Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Music City Miracle was a shotgun blast to the chest. I don't even remember that Jacksonville game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave mcbride Posted February 6, 2012 Author Share Posted February 6, 2012 (edited) Music City Miracle was a shotgun blast to the chest. I don't even remember that Jacksonville game. Wow. I remember it as clear as day. I couldn't believe they lost. I thought they had it in the bag after Jeff Burris returned an INT for a TD in the fourth to make it 27-20. I also thought that Kelly probably didn't fumble on his final play (I thought his knee was down). If that doesn't get ruled a fumble, the Bills have a better than even chance at winning. Edited February 6, 2012 by dave mcbride Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 (edited) Kelly's knee was down. It wasn't a fumble. But there was no review at that time. Edited February 6, 2012 by Doc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave mcbride Posted February 6, 2012 Author Share Posted February 6, 2012 (edited) Kelly's knee was down. It wasn't a fumble. But there was no review at that time. Thank you. I remember being very, very pissed. In fact, I'm still pissed. Edited February 6, 2012 by dave mcbride Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob's House Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 That Monday night loss to the Pats a few years ago when McLovin fumbled away a sure win still stings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justice Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 There's so many to choose from. The Music City Miracle, the week 17 loss to the Steelers' back-ups that prevented us from going to the playoffs, the MNF debacle against New England and the playoff loss at Miami come to mind. If I had to choose one it would be the Music City Miracle, because I thought we had a realistic chance to go to the Super Bowl that year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave mcbride Posted February 6, 2012 Author Share Posted February 6, 2012 That Monday night loss to the Pats a few years ago when McLovin fumbled away a sure win still stings. But that was just a run-of-the mill regular season game. It sucked, but it was hardly as wrenching as a brutal playoff loss in a season that saw probably the greatest single season performance by a Bill in team history (apologies to OJ). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hmsmystic Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 The loss to Pittsburgs backups at home to knock the Bills out of the playoff chase a few yearsback. An unknown named "Fast" Willie Parker shredded our defense. Painful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpberr Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 The Bills had their shots in the 4th quarter of that Jacksonville game. The MSM was just a sudden, devastating ending to a football game post SB years like I hadn't seen before or since that fateful day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metal Man Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 I was at that game and it definitely was a tough loss. The Kelly fumble was BS, but IIRC it was Natrone Means running wild all over the D that did the Bills in that day. Seemed like for a couple years there the Bills D just did not have an answer for those big punishing backs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Kelly's knee was down. It wasn't a fumble. But there was no review at that time. But I recall they showed the replay on the big screen and froze the shot right when Kelly's knee was down and he still had the ball. That was a disappointing game, but silly to blame Gilbride when the defense got run over all day long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave mcbride Posted February 6, 2012 Author Share Posted February 6, 2012 But I recall they showed the replay on the big screen and froze the shot right when Kelly's knee was down and he still had the ball. That was a disappointing game, but silly to blame Gilbride when the defense got run over all day long. I'm not blaming Gilbride - just pointing out that he was the coordinator. He did call a good game. I also remember a game tying TD reception on 4th down by Jimmy Smith ... Ugh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bills44 Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 I was at that game and it definitely was a tough loss. The Kelly fumble was BS, but IIRC it was Natrone Means running wild all over the D that did the Bills in that day. Seemed like for a couple years there the Bills D just did not have an answer for those big punishing backs. Means had to have had over 150 yards that day. That team was on its last legs. Also, Kelly's "fumble" was the result of a blow to the head (Chris Hudson, maybe?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordio Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 (edited) But that was just a run-of-the mill regular season game. It sucked, but it was hardly as wrenching as a brutal playoff loss in a season that saw probably the greatest single season performance by a Bill in team history (apologies to OJ). I was at that playoff game. Only 24 at the time. Went with about 10 guys. Remember the weather was pretty warm that day(maybe around 50). One of my friends brought this kid up from DC & him & his dad were season ticket holders to the Redskins. The blackout was not lifted that game if memory serves me correct but pretty packed house from what I remember. We were sitting in the tunnel endzones & the kid from DC could not believe how into it the fans were. We were banging on the seats making a ton of noise. I remember being pretty sad after that game because I had a feeling that was Kelly's last game. The Bills were hardly a super bowl contender that year though. They had to beat KC the week before just to get into the playoff. I attended every home game that year & you could really see from the stands that Kelly was done. I think he put up decent numbers that year but honestly from the stands you could clearly see he lost his fastball. Smith may have had a great year that year but Boselli ate his lunch that day. Bitchslapped him around the entire game, the one big run by Means after the play Smith was on the ground & Boselli about 20 yards ahead of Smith going to the huddle turn around waiving to Smith as to say "come Bruce you want some more." To this day, the Titans game hurts the most. That Bills team was a true super bowl contender with a top flight defense. Not even close comparing that defense to the one that lost to the Jags. Tenn & the Bills were the 2 best teams in the AFC that year imo. Bills were banged up by I think that defense could of carried the bills to the super bowl. Edited February 6, 2012 by Gordio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rico Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Who was the opposing coach and OC in the Bills most disappointing loss since the Super Bowls? Coughlin and Gilbride in '96. The Bills lost at home to the Jags in the playoffs, surrendering the lead three times in a game that they simply blew. It was Kelly's last game. They had no business losing that game, and failed to take advantage of one of their best defensive units ever. Bruce Smith had the season of his life in '96 (he was defensive player of the year), and had a sick number of pressures (an unrecorded stat, but he had 47 that season) to go along with 14.5 sacks. The hatred against Gilbride on this board when he was here was interesting. In retrospect, he had a bad offensive line and a QB who never could deliver in games against good opponents. When he was in Jax and NY, the opposite applied (and still applies). Sometimes it's the players. He has also been ahead of the curve when it came to recognizing that the NFL was becoming a passing league. Great point, especially about the QB. Bledsoe was a coach-killer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave mcbride Posted February 6, 2012 Author Share Posted February 6, 2012 Great point, especially about the QB. Bledsoe was a coach-killer. Bledsoe was NOT a good QB. He had a horrible record against winning teams his entire career. Plus it's not like he played well in the postseason the year they did make it to the SB in 96. They scored 13 points against Jax in the title game, and his one big pass was a pop fly/wounded duck to Terry Glenn in the first quarter. Willie Clay saved them in that game. They force fed the Steelers Curtis Martin in the first round, and the defense again controlled the affair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HuSeYiN1978 Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 (edited) Music city miracle has gotta be the most disappointing but one that I remember that really upset me was a regular season game a few years back against the fins where we surely were winning and then an unknown QB named sage rosenfels rallied up and scored 3 unanswered touchdowns to win the game... N also mnf against the boys and mnf against the brownies with no time left were also stingers... Edited February 6, 2012 by HuSeYiN1978 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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