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Ranking Opening Day Over The Last Ten Years


corta765

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The NFL opens tonight and I am excited and thought about what the best Bills openers have been over the last decade and wanted to power rank them. I am basing this on entertainment value, feeling after the game (W/L), and importance to the season. Feel free to agree, disagree, strongly disagree, or just swear at my opinion :)

 

10. 2018 Ravens 47 Bills 3: Opening Day is suppose to give you some good vibes and even if you lose you can find some areas of hope for the season. NOPE, by half time you knew this was going to be a long year and just had to hope Allen could make some progress as a rookie. I think Josh had a few nice plays in the 4th otherwise this was a nuclear disaster and the worst opening day loss for the Bills going back to the 1980s.

 

9. 2016 Ravens 13 Bills 7: May I add we should never be allowed to play Baltimore on opening day. The only reason this game isn't 10 is because you at least had a little hope for the season and it was close. Otherwise there was one note worthy play in this game which was a 66 yd Mike Wallace TD for the Ravens, otherwise it was beyond a snoozer as nothing happened. Oh and if you were not a Rex fan this game made you feel even more strongly as we entered year 2 with him that this wasn't going to work.

 

8. 2012 Jets 48 Bills 28: The 2012 season was suppose to be the drought breaker for the Bills thanks to the additions of Mario Williams, Mark Anderson, and a healthy offense plus Dave Wannstadt as the new DC. Instead in a highlight filled scoring affair the Bills got rocked hard in NYC killing any good vibes coming in. CJ Spiller was fantastic, but the Bills defense and special teams were awful and Fitzpatrick had one of his bad days. Still in the 4th there was a tiny chance of hope when the Bills got it to 41-28 with 6 minutes left. Don't worry the defense allowed another TD soon after.

 

7. 2011 Bills 41 Chiefs 7: This game was a big surprise as the Bills were not expected to win as the Chiefs had won the division the year prior and had a pretty solid roster. Yet Buffalo's quick passing game stunned KC and turnovers allowed the Bills to get out to a 20-7 lead by halftime and 34-7 lead by the end of the 3rd quarter. The game itself basically was over by early 3rd quarter and Bills fans could relish a nice win.

 

6. 2017 Bills 21 Jets 12: This game was the opener for McBeane and crew, but it was billed as the toilet bowl and both the Jets and Bills had traded away and lost a lot of valuable contributors (Woods, Watkins, Gilmore for Buffalo). The game itself had some nice moments while not super exciting and McCoy had a good game as the Bills were opportunistic enough on offense and made many good defensive plays to stop the Jets. In terms of weather it was the best day of the decade with a beautiful low 70s sunny day.

 

5. 2013 Patriots 23 Bills 21: Ok yes I listed a loss above wins but hang with me for a moment. Heading into the season there was optimism that Marrone and crew could turn the thing around and EJ had a nice preseason. Heading into the game because EJ was coming off injury there was the legit possibility 7th round pick Jeff Tuel would start. Additionally the Pats were cemented as a world beater so no one gave Buffalo much of a chance. Instead the Bills hung in right to the end and had the lead through most of the second half. While the Bills did lose there was genuine optimism at the time things were different and the game itself was a lot of fun to watch right up until the end (damn Pats).

 

4. 2020 Bills 27 Jets 13: Despite not having fans the Bills came out flying against the Jets and Josh had his first 300 yd game. The offense looked really good and gave a nice preview for the season to come. Given the COVID situation this game was a real bright spot despite no fans being able to attend that the year would be special.

 

3. 2019 Bills 17 Jets 16: In potentially the most important opening day victory in franchise history the Bills roared back from a 16-0 hole to win 17-16. This game was hyped as Allen vs Darnold for the future, but it was both teams defenses that made some timely plays and turnovers. There was a sense that whoever won this game would setup their season for the playoffs and for both QB's (especially Allen given the criticism he got) this was a big time to prove themselves in year 2. The Bills came out on top and John Browns TD late to win the game is still an all time favorite memory.

 

2. 2015 Bills 27 Colts 13: The first game of the Rex era actually felt like "hey Rex is for real and they can really be something".. at least for that day. The Colts came in off an AFC Title appearance and added Andre Johnson and Frank Gore to an offense led by Andrew Luck, they were a real challenge. Instead all 3 facets of the Bills throttled Indy in a light rain as the Bills to a frenzied home crowd walked away 1-0. Shoutout to Percy Havin on the opening 51 yd TD for one heck of a dive in endzone on a perfectly thrown Tyrod Taylor ball.

 

1. 2014 Bills 23 Bears 20 OT: Year 2 of Marrone with Sammy added and playoff type expectations brought the most dramatic opener of the decade. Add in Ralph had passed and the Pegula's were the front runners for the team and it was a big day for the Bills. In a wild back and forth game that included a Kyle Williams INT it took OT to seal it. In OT Fred Jackson made the run of his life as he went all the way to the Bears 2 yard line which included him stiff arming Bears Safety Chris Conte into the next dimension. A Dan Carpenter FG won it and Bills fans celebrated.

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16 minutes ago, JohnBonhamRocks said:

Still remember trying to watch that Bills win over the Bears driving home from Indiana and the feed kept cutting out at the worst moments. Watched that Jackson run 5-10 times once I got home. 

 

So my wife and I since 2013 have a Bills party for the opening game (minus 15 we were there we hosted Miami week 3) with our family and friends like 50-60 people two TV's outside wayy too much fun etc, its wild. This was year 2 of our Bills party experiment and when he ran the backyard to the point the neighbors heard it. We ran up the straight with 20 people and the shout song playing and then watched the run about 20 times over. I do not think we stopped partying until 10:30 that night, it was a great time.

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I was at #10 in Baltimore.  Plus it was my b-day and it was pouring rain.  A suck-fest from the start.  The only thing I can say is that I was in attendance at Josh Allen's first regular season appearance (6-15, 74yds) and, I believe, Nate Peterman's last start.  After that debacle they had to hand Allen the job on the spot, ready or not, and he's run with it ever since!!

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3 minutes ago, cage said:

I was at #10 in Baltimore.  Plus it was my b-day and it was pouring rain.  A suck-fest from the start.  The only think I can say is that I was in attendance at Josh Allen's first regular season appearance (6-15, 74yds) and, I believe, Nate Peterman's last start.  After that debacle they had to hand Allen the job on the spot, ready or not, and he's run with it ever since!!

 

I think most fans going into 2018 knew it wasn't going to be a playoff year and it would be a transition type situation. But yea I can only imagine being there opening day and just getting stomped in person like that. Even the bears 41-7 game later in the season I went to was wayyy more fun by comparison.

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40 minutes ago, cage said:

I was at #10 in Baltimore.  Plus it was my b-day and it was pouring rain.  A suck-fest from the start.  The only thing I can say is that I was in attendance at Josh Allen's first regular season appearance (6-15, 74yds) and, I believe, Nate Peterman's last start.  After that debacle they had to hand Allen the job on the spot, ready or not, and he's run with it ever since!!

 

It should be noted that is is also the Vontae Davis quit at halftime game.... actually when I think back now, can we blame him??

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40 minutes ago, corta765 said:

 

Nope that was IND the next week.. at home lol

 

We were actually playing the Chargers, that was the game that Ingram basically wrapped Allen up who proceeded to drag Ingram sideways for 5-7 yards and still got the throw off...it was unfortunately intercepted. 

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1 minute ago, Steptide said:

How do you not have 2008 vs Seattle on here? That game was outstanding. Dissapointing year, but we all hailed trent Edwards as the next Kelly 

Last Ten Years, otherwise it would've along with many others but this is 2011-2020

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8 minutes ago, Steptide said:

How do you not have 2008 vs Seattle on here? That game was outstanding. Dissapointing year, but we all hailed Trent Edwards as the next Kelly 

Talk about one hit changing the entire trajectory of a career. Adrian Wilson.

 

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3 hours ago, H2o said:

Talk about one hit changing the entire trajectory of a career. Adrian Wilson.

 

Man who knows what woulda been. Granted jauron was still head coach, but definitely feels like that hit turned trent Edwards career the opposite direction. 

 

I did a quick YouTube search and found this gem. Holy cow those were dire times. This was actually depressing to watch 

 

 

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