No Punt Game - Reality vs. Myth

[Ethan in Cleveland]

Just watched thew whole game on You Tube.  The offenses did play great but it really should be called the "Mostly no defense game with a bunch of opportunistic turnovers game".  The turnovers were really good plays by the defense even as they got shredded on most of the other plays.  Bruce had a nice forced fumble.  Odomes and Merton Hanks make nice interceptions.  Rice was injured and left game early in the first quarter. Lofton dropped a TD on a post pattern but made key plays late in the game.  Bills gave up a TD to Taylor on 3rd and 20.  Odomes recovered a fumble that probably should have been an incomplete pass.  

There were a few times the Bills may have been forced to punt that were interesting.  The first was a 3rd and 5 in second quarter.  Bills ran screen to Thomas and he made Romanowski miss at the LOS and picked up a first down.  Amazing subtle move by Thurman that kept the drive going.  Second time was very odd.  Third and 1 at mid-field.  Kenneth Davis fumbled the ball and 49ers recovered.  If he had held on to the ball he would have been stopped and Bills probably would have punted with lead at mid-field.  And on the final drive, the Bills were able to kneel down and run out the clock.  Kelly on first down burned 3 seconds before kneeling down and the 49ers wasted about 4 more seconds before calling timeout  If  for not these few seconds, they would have had to punt on 4th down with maybe 2 seconds left on the game clock.  

The plays of the game were late in the fourth quarter. Bills had 3rd and 16 after a broken play/sack.  Kelly completes crossing route to Reed for 12  (great open field tackle by Eric Davis) and left a 4th and 4.  Bills went for it and completed to Lofton.  A FG attempt down by 4 with 3:37 left to play was an option but Levy went for it.  Next play Thurman scores TD up the middle. 

On the 49ers last drive ,the defense did make a couple plays. Bruce drew a nice holding penalty after getting called for an Offside that the officials missed a subtle movement by the LT.  After Young misses an open WR on an corner route to the pylon,  Jeff Wright makes I believe his only impactful play of the day. He penetrates quickly and forces an incomplete pass by Young to force 4th down.  Kicker misses wide right.  

FYI, the officials were really quite good in this game.  Made some really nice calls on boundary and possession plays.  

As for the play by play, wow was Bob Trumpy terrible as an analyst.  Just truly awful.  Enberg was ok but made a bunch of mistakes even on the final play thinking the 49ers had another TO to use.   They didn't even make mention of no punts until 1:47 left in the game.  

Odd fact that Enberg got right.  Prior to the kneel downs it was the 3rd highest yards gained combined in NFL history.  With the kneel downs it fell back to fourth.  

 

Hull was mostly brilliant in this game. But Wolford was just outstanding.  Had he stayed he would be a Wall of Fame candidate.  

[Boca BIlls]

24 minutes ago, Ethan in Portland said:

Mostly no defense game with a bunch of opportunistic turnovers game

Or called the no punt game b.c there was... No punts.

[vorpma]

1 minute ago, Boca BIlls said:

Or called the no punt game b.c there was... No punts.

Not sure why that is so hard to get; man the season cannot get here fast enough!!!!

[BuffAlone]

Over a 1000 yds total offense as well. A spectacle of the modern game. At the time there were 3 records broken in that game....no punts, most total yardage, and??? I can't quite remember the last one...was it no timeouts?

 Great game to rewatch

[Just Joshin']

Was it no defense or great offenses? 

[The Wiz]

27 minutes ago, Boca BIlls said:

Or called the no punt game b.c there was... No punts.

And it rolls off the tongue a little easier than the "mostly no defense with a bunch of opportunistic turnovers" game. 

[Ethan in Cleveland]

15 minutes ago, BuffAlone said:

Over a 1000 yds total offense as well. A spectacle of the modern game. At the time there were 3 records broken in that game....no punts, most total yardage, and??? I can't quite remember the last one...was it no timeouts?

 Great game to rewatch

There were plenty of time outs used and it wasn't the most total yardage game  - it was 4th.  Other than the no punts I don't think any other records were set.  See what I mean myth vs reality.  

[Mark Vader]

9 minutes ago, Just Joshin' said:

Was it no defense or great offenses? 

A game that fans love and coaches hate.

[BigDingus]

10 minutes ago, Mark Vader said:

A game that fans love and coaches hate.

 

Like the Chiefs vs Rams game this past season.

It was amazing to watch those 2 offenses duke it out, and the defenses did come through with some great turnovers too. 

[GunnerBill]

6 minutes ago, BigDingus said:

 

Like the Chiefs vs Rams game this past season.

It was amazing to watch those 2 offenses duke it out, and the defenses did come through with some great turnovers too. 

 

The no punt game was before my time but I thought Rams - Chiefs was overhyped.

[vorpma]

28 minutes ago, Just Joshin' said:

Was it no defense or great offenses? 

Awesome offense; this post is crazy!

[Flip Johnson]

It was the no punt game and an unbelievable time to be a Bills fan.

 

Playing SF really carried some extra weight in those days. Everyone anticipated a Bills-49ers Super Bowl in XXV and it didn't materialize. Beating them with a national audience two years later and showing off our unstoppable offense was hard to forget.

 

Two of the best offenses of the era, two of the top 15 QBs of all time at their peak, in the sunshine at Candlestick with Dick Enberg on the call ...awesome.

[fansince88]

To think we had no posts for over 24 hours and it was broke by asking if a game that happened with no punts is being questioned about whether there were really no punts??? Interesting 

3 hours ago, Ethan in Portland said:

Just watched thew whole game on You Tube.  The offenses did play great but it really should be called the "Mostly no defense game with a bunch of opportunistic turnovers game".  The turnovers were really good plays by the defense even as they got shredded on most of the other plays.  Bruce had a nice forced fumble.  Odomes and Merton Hanks make nice interceptions.  Rice was injured and left game early in the first quarter. Lofton dropped a TD on a post pattern but made key plays late in the game.  Bills gave up a TD to Taylor on 3rd and 20.  Odomes recovered a fumble that probably should have been an incomplete pass.  

There were a few times the Bills may have been forced to punt that were interesting.  The first was a 3rd and 5 in second quarter.  Bills ran screen to Thomas and he made Romanowski miss at the LOS and picked up a first down.  Amazing subtle move by Thurman that kept the drive going.  Second time was very odd.  Third and 1 at mid-field.  Kenneth Davis fumbled the ball and 49ers recovered.  If he had held on to the ball he would have been stopped and Bills probably would have punted with lead at mid-field.  And on the final drive, the Bills were able to kneel down and run out the clock.  Kelly on first down burned 3 seconds before kneeling down and the 49ers wasted about 4 more seconds before calling timeout  If  for not these few seconds, they would have had to punt on 4th down with maybe 2 seconds left on the game clock.  

The plays of the game were late in the fourth quarter. Bills had 3rd and 16 after a broken play/sack.  Kelly completes crossing route to Reed for 12  (great open field tackle by Eric Davis) and left a 4th and 4.  Bills went for it and completed to Lofton.  A FG attempt down by 4 with 3:37 left to play was an option but Levy went for it.  Next play Thurman scores TD up the middle. 

On the 49ers last drive ,the defense did make a couple plays. Bruce drew a nice holding penalty after getting called for an Offside that the officials missed a subtle movement by the LT.  After Young misses an open WR on an corner route to the pylon,  Jeff Wright makes I believe his only impactful play of the day. He penetrates quickly and forces an incomplete pass by Young to force 4th down.  Kicker misses wide right.  

FYI, the officials were really quite good in this game.  Made some really nice calls on boundary and possession plays.  

As for the play by play, wow was Bob Trumpy terrible as an analyst.  Just truly awful.  Enberg was ok but made a bunch of mistakes even on the final play thinking the 49ers had another TO to use.   They didn't even make mention of no punts until 1:47 left in the game.  

Odd fact that Enberg got right.  Prior to the kneel downs it was the 3rd highest yards gained combined in NFL history.  With the kneel downs it fell back to fourth.  

 

Hull was mostly brilliant in this game. But Wolford was just outstanding.  Had he stayed he would be a Wall of Fame candidate.  

Link?

[White Linen]

3 hours ago, Boca BIlls said:

Or called the no punt game b.c there was... No punts.

 

Yeah but, shouldn't it be called the game where neither team punted game?  

[Ronin]

2 hours ago, vorpma said:

Awesome offense; this post is crazy!

 

I'll tell you what was crazy, we were at the game and afterwards on the radio they were raking Young across the coals talking about how he'd never amount to anything.  We're just laughing thinking what on earth these people were watching, dude had 450 passing yards, mostly to Mike Sherrard and John Taylor, another 50 rushing, half as much as their RBs, 3 TDs.  The rest of course is history but we were literally laughing our asses off.  

 

 

 

Edited July 8, 2019 by Ronin

[Orlando Tim]

you and I should never hang out- i over analyze everything and you and I would spend hours on three plays.?

[Punching Bag]

4 hours ago, Mark Vader said:

A game that fans love and coaches hate.

 

Well OCs do not mind that much.....

 

I was with a group that went to Hall of Fame and they did a raffle for it, I think it was on bus.  I won a copy of the No Punt game which people kept asking to borrow but unfortunately I lost it somewhere in house. Yes I still have a working VCR to watch it if I found it.

[billsbackto81]

5 hours ago, Ethan in Portland said:

Just watched thew whole game on You Tube.  The offenses did play great but it really should be called the "Mostly no defense game with a bunch of opportunistic turnovers game".  The turnovers were really good plays by the defense even as they got shredded on most of the other plays.  Bruce had a nice forced fumble.  Odomes and Merton Hanks make nice interceptions.  Rice was injured and left game early in the first quarter. Lofton dropped a TD on a post pattern but made key plays late in the game.  Bills gave up a TD to Taylor on 3rd and 20.  Odomes recovered a fumble that probably should have been an incomplete pass.  

There were a few times the Bills may have been forced to punt that were interesting.  The first was a 3rd and 5 in second quarter.  Bills ran screen to Thomas and he made Romanowski miss at the LOS and picked up a first down.  Amazing subtle move by Thurman that kept the drive going.  Second time was very odd.  Third and 1 at mid-field.  Kenneth Davis fumbled the ball and 49ers recovered.  If he had held on to the ball he would have been stopped and Bills probably would have punted with lead at mid-field.  And on the final drive, the Bills were able to kneel down and run out the clock.  Kelly on first down burned 3 seconds before kneeling down and the 49ers wasted about 4 more seconds before calling timeout  If  for not these few seconds, they would have had to punt on 4th down with maybe 2 seconds left on the game clock.  

The plays of the game were late in the fourth quarter. Bills had 3rd and 16 after a broken play/sack.  Kelly completes crossing route to Reed for 12  (great open field tackle by Eric Davis) and left a 4th and 4.  Bills went for it and completed to Lofton.  A FG attempt down by 4 with 3:37 left to play was an option but Levy went for it.  Next play Thurman scores TD up the middle. 

On the 49ers last drive ,the defense did make a couple plays. Bruce drew a nice holding penalty after getting called for an Offside that the officials missed a subtle movement by the LT.  After Young misses an open WR on an corner route to the pylon,  Jeff Wright makes I believe his only impactful play of the day. He penetrates quickly and forces an incomplete pass by Young to force 4th down.  Kicker misses wide right.  

FYI, the officials were really quite good in this game.  Made some really nice calls on boundary and possession plays.  

As for the play by play, wow was Bob Trumpy terrible as an analyst.  Just truly awful.  Enberg was ok but made a bunch of mistakes even on the final play thinking the 49ers had another TO to use.   They didn't even make mention of no punts until 1:47 left in the game.  

Odd fact that Enberg got right.  Prior to the kneel downs it was the 3rd highest yards gained combined in NFL history.  With the kneel downs it fell back to fourth.  

 

Hull was mostly brilliant in this game. But Wolford was just outstanding.  Had he stayed he would be a Wall of Fame candidate.  

Super Bowls 49 and 51 should be know as " The 4th Qtr  Bone Headed Coach Play Calling Games".

 

See, anyone can do it. If of course it's factual.

[ExiledInIllinois]

So what are you saying?  This feat will never be duplicated and Bills will always hold the record as winning team?  Kinda like rushing for 2,000 yards in a 14 game season.  There will never be another 14 game season, so the record is safe as written in the books!

5 hours ago, Just Joshin' said:

Was it no defense or great offenses? 

Neither.  There were turnovers.  NOW... IF both teams had no TOs... That would be something because it would point to terrible Ds vs. awesome Os.

Edited July 8, 2019 by ExiledInIllinois

[ExiledInIllinois]

 

 

Anyway... Its all mental master ***** this topic...

 

My grandfather would say:

 

"If the hound didn't stop to take a ***** (dump), he would have got the fox!"

 

I think, I finally found a thread where that off the wall quote really applies! LMAO

Edited July 8, 2019 by ExiledInIllinois

[gonzo1105]

I also watched the game again recently. I was probably 8 years old or so when it originally happened. 

 

The OP is right. The game was tremendously sloppy for two teams who didn’t punt. There were a lot of turnovers. I also felt as though from an athletic standpoint that the Bills defense wasn’t very good in the secondary during their SB years. 

 

I also watched the AFC title game in Miami before they lost to the Cowboys and despite winning, Kelly played horribly, the Bills left them in the game, and easily could have won that game by 30. Pretty easy to see the carry over in why they got steamrolled by the Cowboys

[eball]

11 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

The no punt game was before my time but I thought Rams - Chiefs was overhyped.

 

One of the reasons the no-punt game was so great is because it was between two of the established premiere teams of the era.  Think of how many HOFers played in that game between the two teams?  It really is a classic.

 

 

Edited July 8, 2019 by eball

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

A game was played

 

A lot of points were scored 

 

Neither team punted

 

"No Punt Game" sounds right to me 

 

[JESSEFEFFER]

Getting in my wayback machine, but wasn't it played at Candlestick when there was still a baseball field cut in the turf?  Maybe they played their entire seasons with it that way.  I think defenses had problems playing on that field as the footing could be real dicey for reactive coverage or pass rush moves.  Almost like playing on a slippery, winter weather field where the offense has the advantage.  As the OP rewatched the entire game, did it seem to play that way?

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

7 minutes ago, JESSEFEFFER said:

Getting in my wayback machine, but wasn't it played at Candlestick when there was still a baseball field cut in the turf?  Maybe they played their entire seasons with it that way.  I think defenses had problems playing on that field as the footing could be real dicey for reactive coverage or pass rush moves.  Almost like playing on a slippery, winter weather field where the offense has the advantage.  As the OP rewatched the entire game, did it seem to play that way?

 

I also believe it was in played in SF and on a baseball field 

 

 

Quarterbacks Steve Young and Jim Kelly are the prime reasons for the no-punt game. SF's Young passes for 449 yards and three touchdowns, while the Bills' Kelly passes for 403 yards and three TDs as the teams account for 1,086 yards of offense.

 

There is plenty of offensive action in Buffalo's 34-31 victory over San Francisco, but the 49ers' Klaus Wilmsmeyer and Bills' Chris Mohr are bored. That's because neither player gets a chance to do his thing. They are punters, and for the only time in NFL history, a game is played without either team punting.

 

https://www.espn.com/classic/s/moment010913-no-punt-game.html

 

Buffalo Bills at San Francisco 49ers - September 13th, 1992

 

 

Edited July 8, 2019 by ShadyBillsFan

[SoCal Deek]

What myth? It was a game where neither team punted. I don’t recall it being that big of a deal even during that season. Just a fun, early season match up between two good teams. (It was the Super Bowl match up Chris Berman predicted for years...I’ll give you that.)

[Ned Flanders]

2 hours ago, eball said:

 

One of the reasons the no-punt game was so great is because it was between two of the established premiere teams of the era.  Think of how many HOFers played in that game between the two teams?  It really is a classic.

 

 

I watched the game at an old Bills bar, Grevey's in Falls Church, VA and by the 4th quarter, the cooks came out of the kitchen to watch...it was that kind of game.

[hondo in seattle]

32 minutes ago, SoCal Deek said:

What myth? It was a game where neither team punted. I don’t recall it being that big of a deal even during that season. Just a fun, early season match up between two good teams. (It was the Super Bowl match up Chris Berman predicted for years...I’ll give you that.)

 

Agreed.  I watched the No Punt game so there is nothing mythological about it to me.  Just one simple fact: it was the first game in the modern era with no punts. 

 

It was a really fun game to watch with the lead going back and forth.  Next to The Comeback, this might be the game I enjoyed most in my many years of Bills fandom.  

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

8 minutes ago, hondo in seattle said:

 

Agreed.  I watched the No Punt game so there is nothing mythological about it to me.  Just one simple fact: it was the first game in the modern era with no punts. 

 

It was a really fun game to watch with the lead going back and forth.  Next to The Comeback, this might be the game I enjoyed most in my many years of Bills fandom.  

it was definitely one of the top 5 Bills games that I can recall.  

 

[Ethan in Cleveland]

2 hours ago, JESSEFEFFER said:

Getting in my wayback machine, but wasn't it played at Candlestick when there was still a baseball field cut in the turf?  Maybe they played their entire seasons with it that way.  I think defenses had problems playing on that field as the footing could be real dicey for reactive coverage or pass rush moves.  Almost like playing on a slippery, winter weather field where the offense has the advantage.  As the OP rewatched the entire game, did it seem to play that way?

Yes and no. The 4th and 4 play was on dirt and Trumpy mentioned that. It may have been an advantage for Lofton on that play. As for the rest of the game I didn't see how it affected play. The Hanks interception of Kelly was on dirt too and he made a nice break on the ball.

[Don Otreply]

Yup, no punting, the rest is frankly irrelevant in that it’s entire reason for being brought up is that it was a, now what for it, ... a no punt game...

just sayin,

 

Go Bills!!

[Ethan in Cleveland]

50 minutes ago, SoCal Deek said:

What myth? It was a game where neither team punted. I don’t recall it being that big of a deal even during that season. Just a fun, early season match up between two good teams. (It was the Super Bowl match up Chris Berman predicted for years...I’ll give you that.)

The myth is that there were no punts because the offenses couldn't be stopped. That isn't true. The defenses made plays. It was just so odd. Like I said the turnovers were mostly good plays by the defense on a day where both defenses were getting gashed.

[Ethan in Cleveland]

8 hours ago, gonzo1105 said:

I also watched the game again recently. I was probably 8 years old or so when it originally happened. 

 

The OP is right. The game was tremendously sloppy for two teams who didn’t punt. There were a lot of turnovers. I also felt as though from an athletic standpoint that the Bills defense wasn’t very good in the secondary during their SB years. 

 

I also watched the AFC title game in Miami before they lost to the Cowboys and despite winning, Kelly played horribly, the Bills left them in the game, and easily could have won that game by 30. Pretty easy to see the carry over in why they got steamrolled by the Cowboys

I watched that one too. Kelly was coming off injury and he played tough but sloppy. Marino played worse. Smith had an amazing sack on a 3 step drop early in the game where he split the LG and LT. Just an incredible play. 

Shula and Miami just choked at home. 

[BigDingus]

15 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

The no punt game was before my time but I thought Rams - Chiefs was overhyped.

 

I don't even remember the hype surrounding it. I just remember the enjoyment I got from watching it live.

It was really awesome to watch two prolific offenses battle it out. Was not disappointed.

[34-78-83]

53 minutes ago, Ethan in Portland said:

I watched that one too. Kelly was coming off injury and he played tough but sloppy. Marino played worse. Smith had an amazing sack on a 3 step drop early in the game where he split the LG and LT. Just an incredible play. 

Shula and Miami just choked at home. 

Correct. Kelly was coming back too early from a bad knee injury... so bad that they designed their entire passing game around screen and swing passes that day to keep the rush off of Kelly.

[GunnerBill]

8 minutes ago, BigDingus said:

 

I don't even remember the hype surrounding it. I just remember the enjoyment I got from watching it live.

It was really awesome to watch two prolific offenses battle it out. Was not disappointed.

 

I wanted the suspense that someone might be stopped at some point. If I just wanted lots of scoring and lots of points I'd watch basketball. I don't. Because it sucks. 

 

EDIT: Again the above refers to Rams - Chiefs not the no punt game which was before my time and I have never watched. 

Edited July 8, 2019 by GunnerBill

[Mark Vader]

13 hours ago, Ronin said:

 

I'll tell you what was crazy, we were at the game and afterwards on the radio they were raking Young across the coals talking about how he'd never amount to anything.  We're just laughing thinking what on earth these people were watching, dude had 450 passing yards, mostly to Mike Sherrard and John Taylor, another 50 rushing, half as much as their RBs, 3 TDs.  The rest of course is history but we were literally laughing our asses off.  

 

 

 

I was at this game too, and what you are describing does not surprise me.

49'er fans were furious when the team traded Joe Montana, and many of them would not give Steve Young any benefit of the doubt.

[Ronin]

26 minutes ago, Mark Vader said:

I was at this game too, and what you are describing does not surprise me.

49'er fans were furious when the team traded Joe Montana, and many of them would not give Steve Young any benefit of the doubt.

 

Yup, that's exactly what it was.  And funnier yet because Montana was so obviously done by that point.  

 

GREAT game tho, outstanding time.  We hooked up with a group of Bills fans in the lots, some of the best tailgating next to Rich.  

[Punching Bag]

4 hours ago, Ned Flanders said:

I watched the game at an old Bills bar, Grevey's in Falls Church, VA and by the 4th quarter, the cooks came out of the kitchen to watch...it was that kind of game.

Grevey's is closed now. It was my football bar from when I moved from Buffalo to Northern Virginia.  I did not even have a TV until Kelly's first winning season but that had more to with me getting married and my wife wanting a TV.

[Ned Flanders]

30 minutes ago, Limeaid said:

Grevey's is closed now. It was my football bar from when I moved from Buffalo to Northern Virginia. 

Yup, a Five Guys now.  Kevin Grevey is sitting poolside some place nice now, sipping a cool drink, thanks to Bills fans.