BADOLBILZ Posted December 28, 2019 Share Posted December 28, 2019 7 hours ago, Bermuda Triangle said: The Bills were never 8-4 that season....in fact, they didn't even win 8 games on the season, as they finished 7-9. The Bills were 7-6 after they beat Miami, and both Miami and NE finished 10-6. Also, while Reich certainly didn't play well in the final 2 games, he wasn't "awful" The context was that the Bills had gotten to 7-6....one game behind Miami at 8-5......but had the tie breaker having swept Miami. Most felt we were going to catch Miami....the Dolphins had a game against a playoff bound KC team coming up the following week.......and it looked like the Bills could win out and enter the playoffs 10-6. Keep in mind that New England was coming up from behind after a very bad start. On December 4th we weren't too concerned about beating them at home. The loss against the Vikings was coupled with a Miami win versus KC and the following week the Bills didn't even show up against the Patriots. And yes Reich was really bad. He threw 1 TD and 4 interceptions in the last two games and lead the offense to just 26 points total in the last 2+ games after he was forced into action. He was ***** AWFUL. The 4th Reich.......aka Frank billievers.........were left speechless by the impotence of their leader when he was needed most. In the 3 games prior to Minnesota the offense had started to produce. The team put up 42 versus the Dolphins........and then just 43 in the last 3 games combined. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil The Thrill Posted December 28, 2019 Share Posted December 28, 2019 17 hours ago, machine gun kelly said: I couldn’t stand Jeff Wright. The claim was he was more athletic than Smerlas, but Smerlas was meant to be a 3-4 Nose Tackle. He clogged the middle just like big old Teddy Washington later in the 90’s. What was amazing to me was how the all time sack leader in Bruce, was an end in a traditional 3-4 DE. When the debate over him and White comes up who was fantastic, what Bruce did in this system was nothing short of amazing. He should go down as the GOAT of DE in the NFL. I know that was a tangent but just reminded me of those days. What is amazing now is this defense and team is ascending and a dynasty is coming. Of course would love to win the SB, but if we can convincingly beat the Texans and pay back the Pats if we draw them and beat them in NE. I can live with losing to KC or Baltimore this year and get more talent for next year, Sorry but Jeff Wright was NOT good. He’s make a few nice plays but he was not a good NT. Its no surprise that the Bills consistently got blown off the ball by bigger OL’s in the Super Bowl. Wright was a big part of that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
machine gun kelly Posted December 28, 2019 Share Posted December 28, 2019 Phil, that’s basically what I said. I couldn’t stand Wright and he sucked. I juxtaposed him to Smerlas and Washington who were run stuffing NT. I’m not sure what wasn’t clear. If I was ambiguous, I apologize. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albany,n.y. Posted December 28, 2019 Share Posted December 28, 2019 12 hours ago, BADOLBILZ said: The context was that the Bills had gotten to 7-6....one game behind Miami at 8-5......but had the tie breaker having swept Miami. Most felt we were going to catch Miami....the Dolphins had a game against a playoff bound KC team coming up the following week.......and it looked like the Bills could win out and enter the playoffs 10-6. Keep in mind that New England was coming up from behind after a very bad start. On December 4th we weren't too concerned about beating them at home. The loss against the Vikings was coupled with a Miami win versus KC and the following week the Bills didn't even show up against the Patriots. And yes Reich was really bad. He threw 1 TD and 4 interceptions in the last two games and lead the offense to just 26 points total in the last 2+ games after he was forced into action. He was ***** AWFUL. The 4th Reich.......aka Frank billievers.........were left speechless by the impotence of their leader when he was needed most. In the 3 games prior to Minnesota the offense had started to produce. The team put up 42 versus the Dolphins........and then just 43 in the last 3 games combined. I remember watching those games thinking that if Kelly had remained healthy, Reich would have never been exposed and by playing it cost him millions in free agency. So instead of getting a big free agent contract, Reich had to settle for a spot on expansion Carolina as a bridge QB to 1st round pick Kerry Collins. I'm not sure whether Reich just didn't age well and was basically done at age 33, or that he was never that good but was able to look good when surrounded by great players in their primes like Reed, Thomas & a pretty good O-line. Either way, by 33 Reich was no longer worth franchise QB money on the open market. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Royale with Cheese Posted December 28, 2019 Share Posted December 28, 2019 I was 13. The Bills has been in the playoffs every year I can remember. The first game I remember watching was the ‘88 AFC Championship game against Cincy. So when they didn’t make the playoffs...it was strange. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GRHater69 Posted December 28, 2019 Share Posted December 28, 2019 Here's how I remember that Vikings' loss. The Bills were driving to essentially deliver the knockout punch and Kelly threw a pick over the middle to then Vikings' MLB Jack DelRio. From there, our defense couldn't stop Warren Moon from driving to a go ahead TD and when we got the ball back, Frank couldn't do anything with it. The reason I remember this so well is that 5 years later I actually met Tony Dungy and we talked about that particular game. He remembered it in greater detail than I did because it was a big win for them to come in here and beat the Bills. Had the Bills won that game, odds are they would have won the division and held off a pesky Patriots team in doing so that year. But then they may not have spent the $$ to upgrade the D and kept Walt Corey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skibum Posted December 28, 2019 Share Posted December 28, 2019 I was always impressed that the Bills more-or-less rebounded after 94-95 and continued to put up winning seasons for a few more years. I really thought it was all over in 95. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsPride12 Posted December 28, 2019 Share Posted December 28, 2019 Not only did the Bills miss the playoffs that year but it would also be the first year the Bills weren't playing in the Super Bowl in four years. I can remember younger kids being confused then "This isn't the Super Bowl the Bills aren't playing in it" Amazing when you think about it after what was to follow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComradeKayAdams Posted December 29, 2019 Share Posted December 29, 2019 13 hours ago, skibum said: I was always impressed that the Bills more-or-less rebounded after 94-95 and continued to put up winning seasons for a few more years. I really thought it was all over in 95. Many thanks to Wade Phillips, one of the best DC's ever and the biggest reason for the Bills staying as competitive as they were from 1995-2000. As an amateur Buffalo Bills historian, I look at 1994 as a watershed season for the franchise because it marked the end of a team whose identity was its dominating offense and the beginning of a team whose identity was its strong defense. If you were to magically insert Wade's 1999 defense in place of Walt Corey's defenses of the early 90's, the Bills win all 4 Super Bowls. Too bad Butler couldn't have done a better job constructing that OL in the salary cap era, because that 1999 team was special... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elijah Posted December 29, 2019 Share Posted December 29, 2019 I suppose this is a good thread to ask in.. I’m 21 so Wade Phillips was just before my team.. Why did the team fire him? On paper he appeared to be a pretty good coach in Buffalo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComradeKayAdams Posted December 29, 2019 Share Posted December 29, 2019 6 hours ago, elijah said: I suppose this is a good thread to ask in.. I’m 21 so Wade Phillips was just before my team.. Why did the team fire him? On paper he appeared to be a pretty good coach in Buffalo Ralph Wilson wanted Wade Phillips to fire his special team coach, Ronnie Jones, because the 2000 Bills had one of the worst special teams units in NFL history. Wade refused, partly out of loyalty, and maybe partly out of getting tired of Ralph meddling as an owner (Ralph had also forced Wade to start Rob Johnson instead of Doug Flutie for the Music CIty Miracle playoff game in 1999). Ralph didn't like this, so he fired Wade. In retrospect, Wade Phillips was probably doomed anyway beyond 2000. The team had no franchise QB in sight, no OL, a gigantic salary cap crisis about to explode in 2001, and of course the impending rise of the Brady/Belichick nightmare in 2001. Wade Phillips himself has admitted that he never had the personality to be a quality NFL head coach (as opposed to a coordinator). I think 1999 was always meant to be the franchise's last serious attempt at a Super Bowl for a while, and they BLEW IT. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corta765 Posted December 29, 2019 Share Posted December 29, 2019 7 hours ago, KayAdams said: Ralph Wilson wanted Wade Phillips to fire his special team coach, Ronnie Jones, because the 2000 Bills had one of the worst special teams units in NFL history. Wade refused, partly out of loyalty, and maybe partly out of getting tired of Ralph meddling as an owner (Ralph had also forced Wade to start Rob Johnson instead of Doug Flutie for the Music CIty Miracle playoff game in 1999). Ralph didn't like this, so he fired Wade. In retrospect, Wade Phillips was probably doomed anyway beyond 2000. The team had no franchise QB in sight, no OL, a gigantic salary cap crisis about to explode in 2001, and of course the impending rise of the Brady/Belichick nightmare in 2001. Wade Phillips himself has admitted that he never had the personality to be a quality NFL head coach (as opposed to a coordinator). I think 1999 was always meant to be the franchise's last serious attempt at a Super Bowl for a while, and they BLEW IT. Agreed on 1999 being the last shot at a SB. That was a really solid veteran team which had the issues you listed. I would even add Ralph’s age and the teams future in Buffalo was a problem as no one knew what would happen and that absolutely took the focus away from football. i think the way they lost also had a big impact on the franchise in a shock type of way also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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