1994 - Kelly & Reed vs Favre & Sharpe - NFL Throwback

[BigDingus]

Was going through old game footage & figured I'd post this one. 

 

Allen is such a great & unique talent that it's almost easy to let hyperbole take over & downplay how great Kelly was.

 

His rhythm, the timing, the way he throws, and just how quick he was is a thing of beauty to watch. He escapes pressure not with his feet, but by being so quick to get the ball out of his hands (much like Brady). He knows when & where guys are going to be, then just as he hits the final step of his drop, the ball is released. 

 

If not, he takes a few steps in one direction & then lets it rip. 

 

Can't forget Reed either. He was all over the field making plays. A true WR1 that could out-physical anyone. Him & Kelly out-dueled Favre & Sharpe, and I'm glad I stumbled across this game. 

 

Also, I don't see how anyone can think these unis weren't beautiful! Hard to not feel nostalgic seeing that field, the red endzones, the red helmets + blue jerseys, man... it's criminal we don't use these as throwbacks. 

 

Anyway, hope someone out there enjoys as much as I did!

 

 

[Matt_In_NH]

I was there!  Reed was open all day.  

[The Firebaugh Kid]

They absolutely have to bring these uniforms back. 
I think we all deserve to see Buffalo win a Super Bowl in them. 

[BillsPride12]

I vividly remember wanting to go to this game so bad as a kid...on top of being a Bills fan I really liked those Packers teams with Favre and Sharpe too.

Nope my parents didn't get my tickets to it....thanks for stirring up some unresolved childhood PTSD 

[buffblue]

I remember 94, and this period of the season in particular, as being the last time where it felt like Jimbo was still an upper echelon guy. Games like this and the one in Joe Robbie against Miami showed Kelly could still sling it. The 83 yard TD pass to Reed to clinch the game against the Dolphins was one of the best throws of his career imo. 

 

Jim became more of a game manager after 1994. In 1995 he cut his int's down but the Bills were more of a defense and run oriented squad. You could really see his arm strength begin to lessen. 1996 brought renewed Super Bowl hope in the offseason. I remember being so stoked about the additions of Moulds and Quinn Early, and there was even high hopes for Lonnie Johnson lol. But it became clear almost immediately that Kelly was through. Everything ended so abruptly. I was at that Jags WC loss where Jimbo was carted off in his last game and it was so deflating.

Edited 11 hours ago by buffblue

[Walking Tall]

Fact:

 

The Green Bay Packers have never won a regular season game in western New York.

[Another Fan]

I actually liked him as a poster but this thread reminds me a little of Icebowl.  lol.

 

 

 

[sven233]

2 hours ago, BigDingus said:

Was going through old game footage & figured I'd post this one. 

 

Allen is such a great & unique talent that it's almost easy to let hyperbole take over & downplay how great Kelly was.

 

His rhythm, the timing, the way he throws, and just how quick he was is a thing of beauty to watch. He escapes pressure not with his feet, but by being so quick to get the ball out of his hands (much like Brady). He knows when & where guys are going to be, then just as he hits the final step of his drop, the ball is released. 

 

If not, he takes a few steps in one direction & then lets it rip. 

 

Can't forget Reed either. He was all over the field making plays. A true WR1 that could out-physical anyone. Him & Kelly out-dueled Favre & Sharpe, and I'm glad I stumbled across this game. 

 

Also, I don't see how anyone can think these unis weren't beautiful! Hard to not feel nostalgic seeing that field, the red endzones, the red helmets + blue jerseys, man... it's criminal we don't use these as throwbacks. 

 

Anyway, hope someone out there enjoys as much as I did!

 

 

 

It really is impossible to compare Kelly to Allen, or really any QB from that era to today's players.  The game is just so different.  As someone who has had the privileged of watching both Kelly and Allen's careers live (multiple times for each thanks to recordings), there are not just obvious differences in the game, but there are so many subtle things as well and those differences just impact the way the game is played.  In Kelly's era, it was all about timing and getting the ball out on time.  The offense dictated to the defense.  In today's game, it's almost the exact opposite.  WR's have options on many routes depending on the defense being played.  QB's have to play more reactionary as well and a lot of the decisions that they make are based on where they see overages switch to post snap.  That's why in today's game so many of the big plays that happen do so out of structure rather than the 80s and 90s where QBs would just call a "Go" route and throw it because that was what was called because they were forcing defenses to adapt to them.

 

You look at stats from a 30 years ago and you just assume that the guys today are just that much better.  In terms of athletes, that is for sure true in most cases.  That said, guys like Kelly, Marino, Favre, Elway, etc. were so in control of the game.  Everything happened within the structure of the play.  They dropped back, set, and delivered the ball for better or worse.  They always seem to know at the top of their drop, if not sooner, where the ball was going.  They didn't always have the right answers, especially when you look at INT numbers, but they were always going to get the ball out on time way more often than not.

 

I have probably a 100+ Bills games from the mid 80s to current day that I watch and it's crazy sometimes to watch the game slowly evolve over the years.  Not saying I enjoy one era more than another.  They each have things that make them special and I actually like that.  But yeah.....don't just look at the numbers when trying to compare the old and new guard.  You can't do that.  Just enjoy greatness in both eras.

[Old Coot]

In your intro you refer to Allen in your QB praise. Do you mean Kelly?

 

 

[Buffalo716]

2 hours ago, Walking Tall said:

Fact:

 

The Green Bay Packers have never won a regular season game in western New York.

Yep 0-8 or something if I recall 

 

Shows you how tough it is to come into our Barn for any franchise

[BigDingus]

19 minutes ago, Old Coot said:

In your intro you refer to Allen in your QB praise. Do you mean Kelly?

 

 

No, I meant that we all consider Allen such an amazing player, that most Bills fans already rank him above Kelly as the best Bills QB ever. 

 

Not only that, I've seen fans slowly push Kelly further & further down the list of best Bills players of all time (myself included). The way people talk about him is if he was just a solid QB that got the ball to the better players around him, but watching him again reminded me that simply isn't true. 

 

He had a ton of talent, only in different ways to modern QBs. I remember many commentators & sports talk shows calling Kelly a LB that played QB due to how tough he was, but you hear the same thing today regarding Allen. Difference is when they say it about Allen, they mean he's built like a truck & runs like one too. 

 

Sorry if my wording was confusing. 

[Bills!Win!]

2 hours ago, Walking Tall said:

Fact:

 

The Green Bay Packers have never won a regular season game in western New York.

And they’ll never win at Rich stadium/the Ralph/highmark since it’s closing this year. Are they the only team?

Edited 9 hours ago by Bills!Win!

[Buffalo716]

5 minutes ago, Bills!Win! said:

And they’ll never win at Rich stadium/the Ralph/highmark since it’s closing this year. Are they the only team?

Off the top of my head I believe so 

 

I haven't checked  the Panthers or Houston's record at the Ralph

[Walking Tall]

28 minutes ago, Bills!Win! said:

And they’ll never win at Rich stadium/the Ralph/highmark since it’s closing this year. Are they the only team?

Tampa….but Tampa didn’t play in Buffalo the first 33 years of their existence.

 

Also, the Cardinals never won at the Bills current stadium. But they did win one at War Memorial.

Edited 8 hours ago by Walking Tall

[Marlton Bills]

7 hours ago, BigDingus said:

 

No, I meant that we all consider Allen such an amazing player, that most Bills fans already rank him above Kelly as the best Bills QB ever. 

 

Not only that, I've seen fans slowly push Kelly further & further down the list of best Bills players of all time (myself included). The way people talk about him is if he was just a solid QB that got the ball to the better players around him, but watching him again reminded me that simply isn't true. 

 

He had a ton of talent, only in different ways to modern QBs. I remember many commentators & sports talk shows calling Kelly a LB that played QB due to how tough he was, but you hear the same thing today regarding Allen. Difference is when they say it about Allen, they mean he's built like a truck & runs like one too. 

 

Sorry if my wording was confusing. 

I’m sure most remember but I always like to point out that his stats don’t include the three seasons he missed due to playing in the USFL. I would estimate an additional (at least):

 10,000 yards

 70 TD’s

20 INT’s

 

 something like that.  

[nuklz2594]

need the red helmets back!!!