Scott Norwoods other big miss

[JAMIEBUF12]

So as a kid I was always pissed that Ronnie Harmon didn’t catch what I thought was a easy catch the 2nd to last play before Jim Kelly threw the game ending interception.

Last night after all these years I rewatched the 1989 divisional playoff game in its entirety on Youtube and I had totally forgotten that on the previous td Scott Norwood slipped on his butt and missed the extra point to put the Bills behind by 4 points instead of 3 with like 3 minutes to go.So Norwood basically screwed up badly two years in a row??

[DJB]

Gee thanks

 

This is how my afternoon walk went after I read this.

 

 

Edited April 4, 2020 by DJB

[ALLEN1QB]

Oh no I watched that game live and was devastated when Harmon dropped the pass. I also forgot about the kick uggg. Would have won the superbowl and who knows maybe a few of the others. 

[st pete gogolak]

He also missed a critical FG in the 1988 AFC Championship Game against Cincinnati.  Not to pile on or anything.

[Phil The Thrill]

24 minutes ago, JAMIEBUF12 said:

So as a kid I was always pissed that Ronnie Harmon didn’t catch what I thought was a easy catch the 2nd to last play before Jim Kelly threw the game ending interception.

Last night after all these years I rewatched the 1989 divisional playoff game in its entirety on Youtube and I had totally forgotten that on the previous td Scott Norwood slipped on his butt and missed the extra point to put the Bills behind by 4 points instead of 3 with like 3 minutes to go.So Norwood basically screwed up badly two years in a row??

Good find... I didn’t starting the Bills seriously until the 1990 season.  
 

Ive always said this - Bill Polian replaced Scott Norwood 2 years too late.  He dropped off quite a bit after the 1988 and was completely unreliable on grass.  We’re not talking 40 or 50 yard PAT’s.  He was missed those gimme 19 yard PAT’s on grass turf like he did in Cleveland.

 

Norwood’s apologists will say he never should have been in that position because he wasn’t good on grass or from 40+.  I’m sorry but even in 1991, if your kicker can’t make that kick, you need a replacement.  Ironically it was Matt Bahr’s long FG in San Francisco that won the game for the Giants the week before “the kick.”

 

Norwood’s performance was far from impressive in 1990 or 1991.  He didn’t really have any clutch as kick, as Christie would in 1992.   You might be able to argue that a better kicker might win them atleast 1 Super Bowl.  
 

@JAMIEBUF12 Great nostalgia thread.

Edited April 4, 2020 by Phil The Thrill

[4_kidd_4]

Fresh stuff.

[Phil The Thrill]

5 minutes ago, st pete gogolak said:

He also missed a critical FG in the 1988 AFC Championship Game against Cincinnati.  Not to pile on or anything.

True but 1988 was his best season.  Of course, it should have been an omen because he was not good in 1989

[Augie]

I prefer to look forward rather than backwards, especially at the negative stuff unless there is a lesson to be learned. Pretty much the same reason I try not to close the car door on my hand. 

 

I am excited about THIS year! PLEASE don’t take that away from us! 

 

 

.

Edited April 4, 2020 by Augie

[Phil The Thrill]

1 minute ago, Augie said:

I prefer to look forward rather than backwards, especially at the negative stuff unless there is a lesson to be learned. Pretty much the same reason I try not to close the car door on my hand. 

 

I am excited about THIS year! PLEASE don’t take that away from us! 

 

 

.

People say that a lot here but I love the “looking back” threads especially from the great Super Bowl teams.  These threads are a lot of fun.  You can only read so many mock draft projections 

[MJS]

That's the year I was born.

[Augie]

2 minutes ago, Phil The Thrill said:

People say that a lot here but I love the “looking back” threads especially from the great Super Bowl teams.  These threads are a lot of fun.  You can only read so many mock draft projections 

 

Oh! Don’t get me wrong! I’m not poking at anyone for what they like or don’t. You be you, by all means! But going back to look for bad things and sad “what if’s” is just not my style. I just think the windshield is bigger than the rear view mirror for a good reason. 

 

One play I would like to see again was Bruce getting an amazing playoff sack against the Bengals, and they threw a flag because to looked like he MUST have grabbed the face mask like a handle to do THAT, when in fact he was just a beast and it was all jersey!  That is a mix of “we got screwed” and “what a freaking incredible play!” 

 

Just now, MJS said:

That's the year I was born.

 

So you remember it then! 

[shane nelson]

Riddle me this Bills fans: 

 

SB XXV Frank Reich turn the laces to the right, basically a 90 degree angle.  We all know, point the laces straight.  We are told this from the 3rd grade on.  Any one know why they would be to the right like that.  Need to assume that is the way Scott wanted it......but I never understood why. 

[MJS]

5 minutes ago, Augie said:

 

So you remember it then! 

 

I can barely remember the 1999 season!

[stuvian]

time to bring in CSI Buffalo to analyse the DNA evidence

[Wacka]

I was at that game and I remember Ronnie Harmon having alligator arms and not giving his all to try to catch that TD.

[Augie]

3 minutes ago, MJS said:

 

I can barely remember the 1999 season!

 

I can barely remember the last playoff game.......different reason I’m guessing. On the bright side, my neighbors still wave and say hello. I think they had heard all those words before.....

[Best Player Available]

22 minutes ago, shane nelson said:

Riddle me this Bills fans: 

 

SB XXV Frank Reich turn the laces to the right, basically a 90 degree angle.  We all know, point the laces straight.  We are told this from the 3rd grade on.  Any one know why they would be to the right like that.  Need to assume that is the way Scott wanted it......but I never understood why. 

This is the correct response imo. Reich f****d up the hold. And in grass was a hard attempt to correct.

[Beast]

I'll be honest....I wanted the Bills to attempt one more sideline pass before Norwood trotted out there. They had 8 seconds. Nothing there, throw it away. 8 seconds was plenty of time to bring that kick 5-10 yards closer. Marv screwed the pooch on that.

[WotAGuy]

43 minutes ago, shane nelson said:

Riddle me this Bills fans: 

 

SB XXV Frank Reich turn the laces to the right, basically a 90 degree angle.  We all know, point the laces straight.  We are told this from the 3rd grade on.  Any one know why they would be to the right like that.  Need to assume that is the way Scott wanted it......but I never understood why. 

Illuminati

[Seasons1992]

47 minutes ago, shane nelson said:

Riddle me this Bills fans: 

 

SB XXV Frank Reich turn the laces to the right, basically a 90 degree angle.  We all know, point the laces straight.  We are told this from the 3rd grade on.  Any one know why they would be to the right like that.  Need to assume that is the way Scott wanted it......but I never understood why. 

 

This is the reason it went right. It started out down the middle. 

 

Thanks OP for some fresh hand sani in the eyes..........................

[Success]

Norwood did not lose the SB.  He’s a convenient fall guy.

 

The Bills as a team partied that week away.  That was an easy win against an inferior team with a backup QB.

 

Blowing the Raiders out was probably the worst thing that could have happened.  Too much overconfidence.

 

[Sherlock Holmes]

 

1 hour ago, shane nelson said:

Riddle me this Bills fans: 

 

SB XXV Frank Reich turn the laces to the right, basically a 90 degree angle.  We all know, point the laces straight.  We are told this from the 3rd grade on.  Any one know why they would be to the right like that.  Need to assume that is the way Scott wanted it......but I never understood why. 

 

50 minutes ago, Best Player Available said:

This is the correct response imo. Reich f****d up the hold. And in grass was a hard attempt to correct.

 

48 minutes ago, Binghamton Beast said:

I'll be honest....I wanted the Bills to attempt one more sideline pass before Norwood trotted out there. They had 8 seconds. Nothing there, throw it away. 8 seconds was plenty of time to bring that kick 5-10 yards closer. Marv screwed the pooch on that.

 

27 minutes ago, Seasons1992 said:

 

This is the reason it went right. It started out down the middle. 

 

Thanks OP for some fresh hand sani in the eyes..........................

LACES OUT FRANKKKK!!!

[letsgoteam]

1 hour ago, shane nelson said:

Riddle me this Bills fans: 

 

SB XXV Frank Reich turn the laces to the right, basically a 90 degree angle.  We all know, point the laces straight.  We are told this from the 3rd grade on.  Any one know why they would be to the right like that.  Need to assume that is the way Scott wanted it......but I never understood why. 

I was born in 88, so I was too young for the glory years, I would be interested in hearing more about this.

[chongli]

 Here is the game video:

 

 

 

When I watched the game as a kid, I gained serious respect for Andre Reed when he made it 7-0 with a 73-yard TD run [see at 19:19 above]. I realized he was the best receiver in the AFC.

 

Cleveland's kicker Matt Bahr also slipped and missed a FG at 18:00 in the video above.

Edited April 4, 2020 by chongli

[shane nelson]

41 minutes ago, WotAGuy said:

Illuminati

There is a recording of Frank taking the snap and turns the ball to the right.  I may have a recording of a picture of it.  I only noticed it a few years ago.  Will do searching to see if I can find it and post

 

[machine gun kelly]

Augie, I’m with you bud, forget yesterday and let’s look at today and tomorrow and my first game I remember was the 2003 Oj game when I was 3 1/2.  Not because of anything else than listening to my brother, father and two uncles go nuts.  I had to ask Dad, what happened.  He told me years later, history son, history.  Obviously before he turned into an utter blank.

[Beast]

1 hour ago, Success said:

Norwood did not lose the SB.  He’s a convenient fall guy.

 

The Bills as a team partied that week away.  That was an easy win against an inferior team with a backup QB.

 

Blowing the Raiders out was probably the worst thing that could have happened.  Too much overconfidence.

 

The partying is overblown.

 

The Bills, for the most part, executed well that day on offense. Play calling was an issue, not partying.

 

The Giants held the ball for a long time against a smallish Bills defense and pretty much played a perfect game.....and won by the skin of their teeth.

 

Don’t forget the Giants dumped the 2 time defending SB Champs the week before in Candlestick. They were a hell of a team.

 

To blame that loss on partying has become folklore in these parts but when you look at the game, nope. No evidence to be found that partying was a reason for the loss.

Edited April 4, 2020 by Binghamton Beast

[Happy]

2 hours ago, shane nelson said:

Riddle me this Bills fans: 

 

SB XXV Frank Reich turn the laces to the right, basically a 90 degree angle.  We all know, point the laces straight.  We are told this from the 3rd grade on.  Any one know why they would be to the right like that.  Need to assume that is the way Scott wanted it......but I never understood why. 

 

I remember seeing a documentary on NFLN about past Super Bowls, where XXV was discussed.  What came up was that Scott Norwood was missing practice field goals to the left before the game.  He was compensating by favoring to the right during the game.  That last kick he either over compensated or hit the ball like he normally did during the season.  Bad luck that game.

[KD in CA]

2 hours ago, Binghamton Beast said:

I'll be honest....I wanted the Bills to attempt one more sideline pass before Norwood trotted out there. They had 8 seconds. Nothing there, throw it away. 8 seconds was plenty of time to bring that kick 5-10 yards closer. Marv screwed the pooch on that.

 

IIRC, Kelly threw an ill advised dump off pass a play or two earlier that gained nothing and cost them a ton of time.  He should have been throwing downfield.

[Happy]

18 minutes ago, Binghamton Beast said:

Don’t forget the Giants dumped the 2 time defending SB Champs the week before in Candlestick. They were a hell of a team.

 

The Bills beat the Giants in the Meadowlands several weeks prior to SB XXV.  Game was around the second week of December.  The Giants were a great team, but the Bills were better, just not that day in Tampa.

Regarding the partying, I don't think it is overblown at all.  There were reports from the opposing teams (Dallas, at least) where it was no secret the Bills were out late during the week leading up to the game.  

[Chandler#81]

3 hours ago, ALLEN-2-DIGGS-TD!! said:

Oh no I watched that game live and was devastated when Harmon dropped the pass. I also forgot about the kick uggg. Would have won the superbowl and who knows maybe a few of the others. 

No. Denver was the best AFC team that year, even if it took a dramatic 4th quarter TD to beat Cleveland. Then they got blown out by San Fran in the SB.

[RiotAct]

2 hours ago, Augie said:

 

 

I am excited about THIS year! PLEASE don’t take that away from us! 

 

.

[Beast]

20 minutes ago, Happy Gilmore said:

 

The Bills beat the Giants in the Meadowlands several weeks prior to SB XXV.  Game was around the second week of December.  The Giants were a great team, but the Bills were better, just not that day in Tampa.

Regarding the partying, I don't think it is overblown at all.  There were reports from the opposing teams (Dallas, at least) where it was no secret the Bills were out late during the week leading up to the game.  

I know the Bills beat Giants in Dec, Simms went down that game and Hostettler came in.....and the Giants never lost another game he started after that.
 

I can not point to a play in SB 25 that the Bills didn’t make because of partying.That Bills defense took a beating......yet only gave up 20 points.

 

If partying was an issue the Giants would have rolled the Bills that day. Thurman Thomas was one of the biggest partiers on the Bills and he was the best player on the field for both teams.

[machine gun kelly]

42 minutes ago, Binghamton Beast said:

The partying is overblown.

 

The Bills, for the most part, executed well that day on offense. Play calling was an issue, not partying.

 

The Giants held the ball for a long time against a smallish Bills defense and pretty much played a perfect game.....and won by the skin of their teeth.

 

Don’t forget the Giants dumped the 2 time defending SB Champs the week before in Candlestick. They were a hell of a team.

 

To blame that loss on partying has become folklore in these parts but when you look at the game, nope. No evidence to be found that partying was a reason for the loss.

BB - the partying is not folklore as I had friends with them as we are at that age and knew them in their prime, but you are right it wasn’t the only issue.  The biggest mistake which already has been brought up in many threads, some by me was Thurmon ran I believe 14 times for 155 yards. Estimate as it has been a awhile.  They were only keeping three up and playing 8 back.  BB has been on record from his players they wouldn’t let the Bills high powered throwing offense beat them.

 

We could have still done the no huddle which was not brand new as Paul Brown and Wyche had been more of the pioneers before us, but we could have done the no huddle with a lot more running, and as Thurmon gashed their defense and held onto the ball longer, they would be forced to play more of the front 7 up.  Marchibroda, Marv, and Kelly were too stubborn and that is the real reason we lost.  We were out coached.  We had the talent to win, and yes our defense was too small.  I hated Wright as our nose when even though he was getting older, given a 3-4 we needed Smerlas or a replacement like him to clog the middle.  Between Meggett and Anderson, they killed us in the 3rd quarter.

[Wiz]

5 minutes ago, machine gun kelly said:

 

We could have still done the no huddle which was not brand new as Paul Brown and Wyche had been more of the pioneers before us, but we could have done the no huddle with a lot more running, and as Thurmon gashed their defense and held onto the ball longer, they would be forced to play more of the front 7 up.  Marchibroda, Marv, and Kelly were too stubborn and that is the real reason we lost.  We were out coached.  

Also, the clock management on that last drive was truly awful!!  Painful to watch.

 

7 minutes ago, machine gun kelly said:

We had the talent to win, and yes our defense was too small.  I hated Wright as our nose when even though he was getting older, given a 3-4 we needed Smerlas or a replacement like him to clog the middle.  Between Meggett and Anderson, they killed us in the 3rd quarter.

If we had Art Still and Fred Smerlas vs Wright and Leon Seals, we hold up against the run much better and win despite their ages.   

[Success]

30 minutes ago, Binghamton Beast said:

I know the Bills beat Giants in Dec, Simms went down that game and Hostettler came in.....and the Giants never lost another game he started after that.
 

I can not point to a play in SB 25 that the Bills didn’t make because of partying.That Bills defense took a beating......yet only gave up 20 points.

 

If partying was an issue the Giants would have rolled the Bills that day. Thurman Thomas was one of the biggest partiers on the Bills and he was the best player on the field for both teams.

The one play I remember is on that 10 minute drive to start the 3rd quarter.  It was 3rd and very long, and 3 Bills missed 3 easy tackles that would have stopped that drive.

 

That seemed hungover to me, or at least lethargic.  They weren't playing championship football.

 

It may just be overblown legend - but that Bills team should have handled that Giants team fairly easily, and they didn't. Maybe the moment was just too big, or maybe Belichick's D really does deserve to be in the HOF.  But it still feels to this day like they didn't take an insanely important game as seriously as they should have.

 

[Florida Bills Fanatic]

4 hours ago, st pete gogolak said:

He also missed a critical FG in the 1988 AFC Championship Game against Cincinnati.  Not to pile on or anything.

That was small beans compared to Charlie Romes dropping an interception on the Bengals drive that resulted in the game winning score. UGH...

[stuvian]

I think it's well past time to let Norwood get on with his life

[Wiz]

2 hours ago, Florida Bills Fanatic said:

That was small beans compared to Charlie Romes dropping an interception on the Bengals drive that resulted in the game winning score. UGH...

or Derrick Burroughs' personal foul for throwing a fist turning a third and long into a first and goal.  

[The Fiend]

9 hours ago, Chandler#81 said:

No. Denver was the best AFC team that year, even if it took a dramatic 4th quarter TD to beat Cleveland. Then they got blown out by San Fran in the SB.

 

Denver pretty much handled the Browns that year 37-21. You must mean 1986 when they played them, tying them with "the Drive" for a last minute TD that led them to win in OT.

Edited April 5, 2020 by The Fiend