OJ had 273 yards rushing and the Bills lost...

[Ethan in Cleveland]

When Cook went over 200 with 4 minutes left in the third quarter I looked up the single game rushing record for the Bills. I thought it might be OJ and I was shocked to see he went for 273 in a loss!! I was only 6 at the time so I have no memory of this. 

Curious to hear what some members recall from that game.

That 273 yards is still 6th all time. OJ is only player in NFL history with two games of 250 yards or more. Derrick Henry has a 250 and 238. Bills have three rushing performances in the top 20 with OJ at 273 and 250 and Cookie at 243. 

I'm glad McDermott pulled Cook, but with that much time left and a Carolina defense that was giving up huge chunks, he could have easily gotten 250+. 

[Virgil]

Haha.  You’re old 😜

[dave mcbride]

I watched it! I was 9 at the time. It was a thanksgiving day game and while he was unstoppable, the Bills lost because they were rolling with the worst QB in franchise history, Gary Marangi. Marangi was 4 for 21 for 29 yards, a pick and 1-2 lost fumbles. Greg Landry had a Joe Montana-like day in comparison: 8 of 20 for 143 yards, 2 TDs, and a pick. That Bills team was TERRIBLE, mostly because Fergy missed the entire second half of the season. 

[First Round Bust]

OJ 273 yards... breaking his own record

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhqzVtwwKVg

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1538380783508542

Thanksgiving Day 1976 - Bills lost to Detroit - 27-14

Kind of a summary of the Bills during the OJ era - gaudy personal stats and medioce-at-best teams that lost to the Phins for the entire freaking decade fueling the anger-frustation for those of us that lived thru years of that crap...

Coach Saban quits the team (again)...Starting QB Ferguson hurt mid-season..and you can figure the rest...

[ShakAttack]

This stat reminds me of Myles Garrett.... yesterday.

[RiotAct]

would have been cool to see him break the record for sure!  But definitely understand the decision to pull him.  Don’t need any more injuries on top of all the ones we already have…

[eSJayDee]

From what I remember of the game, unlike now when we're often way ahead & "shutdown" trying to be productive on offense, in this case, it seemed like once things were out of reach, all we did was feed OJ the ball (more than we normally did).  That might be in part cuz that's the only way we were able to be productive on offense.

[hondo in seattle]

47 minutes ago, Ethan in Cleveland said:

When Cook went over 200 with 4 minutes left in the third quarter I looked up the single game rushing record for the Bills. I thought it might be OJ and I was shocked to see he went for 273 in a loss!! I was only 6 at the time so I have no memory of this. 

Curious to hear what some members recall from that game.

That 273 yards is still 6th all time. OJ is only player in NFL history with two games of 250 yards or more. Derrick Henry has a 250 and 238. Bills have three rushing performances in the top 20 with OJ at 273 and 250 and Cookie at 243. 

I'm glad McDermott pulled Cook, but with that much time left and a Carolina defense that was giving up huge chunks, he could have easily gotten 250+. 

 

You gotta understand context to appreciate OJ's accomplishments.

First of all, the NFL was different back then.  Even though QBs were already producing more yards than RBs, RBs were still considered just as important.  In the 1960s when OJ was drafted, more RBs than QBs won Heisman trophies and got picked first overall.  OJ's rookie contract was the biggest rookie contract in history, surpassing any QB's.  

 

So defenses were built differently back then.  Nickel and Dime defenses were called "Pass-Prevent" and mostly used only at the very end of a half.  OJ played against heavy 4-3 and 3-4 fronts - no light boxes ever.  Coaches thought you had to "establish the run first" to make downfield passing work, so defenses were determined to stop offenses from running.  LBers were big, brawny, blood-thirsty thugs who took sadistic joy in punishing RBs, not the small, rangy, coverage LBs of today.  DEs were freakishly huge bone-crushing run-stuffers, rather than pirouetting sack-artists with elite "lean" like Von.  

 

Finally, OJ was the engine of the Bills offense so opposing defenses had one clear overriding goal: stop OJ - or at least slow him down.  In 1973, when OJ rushed for 2,000+, our QB (Joe Ferguson) passed for less than 1,000 yards despite starting every game.  The main function of a Bills QB was to hand off to OJ and defenses knew this.  

 

As for the Thanksgiving game in Detroit, I remember thinking that the numbers were great but (1) we lost, and (2) it wasn't OJ's best game in the sense that the holes were bigger than in some other games, the yards easier to come by. In terms of athleticism and artistry, OJ has better games.  

 

Then again, the Bills QB that day was backup Gary Marangi.  He wasn't quite as bad as Nate Peterman, but comes very close.  He went 4 of 21 for 29 yards and a pick on that Thanksgiving.  In other words, our passing attack was no threat at all, and the Lions' top-ranked defense were entirely focused on stopping OJ yet couldn't.   

 

 

 

 

Edited 2 hours ago by hondo in seattle

[D. L. Hot-Flamethrower]

I remember it, watching my former hero get going downhill was a thing of beauty. From 1972-76, for a five year period, no one ever did it better. Too bad it turned out how it did.

[BuffaloBill]

24 minutes ago, RiotAct said:

would have been cool to see him break the record for sure!  But definitely understand the decision to pull him.  Don’t need any more injuries on top of all the ones we already have…

Could you imagine this board had they left him in and then he gets hurt?    

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

16 minutes ago, hondo in seattle said:

Then again, the Bills QB that day was backup Gary Marangi.  He wasn't quite as bad as Nate Peterman, but comes very close. 

A coworker firmly believed that the best coaching advice that should have been offered to Marangi was

"Throw to Blount."

or whichever DB was team appropriate. 😁

[Dan Darragh]

1 hour ago, dave mcbride said:

I watched it! I was 9 at the time. It was a thanksgiving day game and while he was unstoppable, the Bills lost because they were rolling with the worst QB in franchise history, Gary Marangi. Marangi was 4 for 21 for 29 yards, a pick and 1-2 lost fumbles. Greg Landry had a Joe Montana-like day in comparison: 8 of 20 for 143 yards, 2 TDs, and a pick. That Bills team was TERRIBLE, mostly because Fergy missed the entire second half of the season. 

I take issue with that.  Gary Marangi was truly horrible but there are so many contenders for the title, not least of whom is the late Dan Darragh.

[Virgil]

1 hour ago, ShakAttack said:

This stat reminds me of Myles Garrett.... yesterday.

 

I feel absolutely zero sympathy for him.   He picked the money over winning and that's what he got. 

[Walking Tall]

Gary Marangi was our QB that day. That tells you everything you need to know. We had a better chance down two touchdowns running the ball than letting Marangi pass it.