dollars 2 donuts Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 Sorry if this has been asked before, but I just haven't seen this discussed before at the odd times I come into TSW. Additionally, sorry if this is too far back for some of you, but for the elderly of this Board, it seems like yesterday. For those who don't know let me give you a little history lesson: 1980 - Week 15, Bills lose to the Patriots and Fergy hurts his ankle early in the game. The next week, hobbled by a sprain that years later we would find out is actually a broken ankle, Joe leads us to a victory over the upstart 49ers with a rookie Joe Montana, an 11-5 record and a division title. We go out West and lose to the Chargers (whom we defeated earlier in the year out there, 26-24) in the divisional round, due to a 50 yard TD pass by Fouts with about 2:14 to play. SD holds and wins 20-14. As some (maybe many of you know), Oakland beats Cleveland and goes to SD to beat the Chargers and eventually the Super Bowl 15 over Jaws and the Eagles. The obvious question: would a healthy Joe Ferguson have made the difference? Could we have beat the Chargers in SD, as we did earlier in the year, if Joe had two good legs? Secondly, could we have beaten the Raiders? Yes, the Raiders were a different team with Plunkett at the helm than we had beat up on them in Buffalo earlier in the year. However, as the Wild Card, they would have had to come to Buffalo to beat us, instead of going out to sunny SD. BTW, yes, I know that they had to go to frozen Cleveland and win 14-12, so weather may not have mattered, but in all honestly, I don't like comparing some of the lucky things the Cardiac Kids of Cleveland did with what the Bills did with a top flight defense and Fergy, Cribbs, Butler and Lewis did on Offense. Of all the teams in the Bills history and all the turmoil we have put ourselves through as fans, this is the one that I really thought could have been something more than what they were. If we make it to the Super Bowl how long does Knox stay around, even given his problems with Wilson? Do we still let Fergy go in '84 even though he is the "savior" that took us to our first SB? Do we let Cribbs go? Again, sorry if this is old territory for most of you, but seeing our success lately makes me think back to our other good teams and other potentially great seasons and finishes that just drifted away through time. Peace and go Bills! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nucci Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 You look up some highlights from that game on youtube. If Fergy is healthy, we win!! He had to come out of that game for a couple plays also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plenzmd1 Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 I thought we were going to the Bowl, but that is tempered somewhat as that was the first REALLY good Bills team i really rooted for. I was 17 , and I had not had my heart broken mulitple times by the Bills yet, so hope sprung eternal. Anyways, Fergy being hurt did help matters. I thought we were better than SD. However, I honestly cannot remeber the Raiders from that year, so tough for me to say how far we would have gone. As an aside, we did not let Cribbs go, he left on his own accord to go to the USFL if I remeber correctly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ned Flanders Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 Losing to the lowly Colts TWICE that year cost us home field and a shot at the Super Bowl. The Fergy ankle injury didn't help. Like many here, I've watched the 51-3 game many times...at half time, with the Bills up 41-3, Paul Maguire says something like "All this team needed was home field advantage." He was alluding more to the 1988 team (which would have had home field if not for late season loses to an again-lowly Colt team and Tampa Bay), but he was making a case for the 1980 team as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davefan66 Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 As an aside, we did not let Cribbs go, he left on his own accord to go to the USFL if I remeber correctly Yep, Cribbs left to go the the Birmingham Stallions of the USFL due to a contract dispute. Also, I remember the game (somewhat), as I recall the general consensus was we would have won that game. Probably one of the gustiest performances by a QB. Anyone know who our backup was? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McD Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 Didn't the Bills have a TD taken away because of a penalty in that game as well? I remember something to that effect...I was pretty young but remember my uncle becoming COMPLETELY UNGLUED after a TD was disallowed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ned Flanders Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 Anyone know who our backup was? Gary Marangi....I think Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dollars 2 donuts Posted October 22, 2008 Author Share Posted October 22, 2008 Yep, Cribbs left to go the the Birmingham Stallions of the USFL due to a contract dispute. Also, I remember the game (somewhat), as I recall the general consensus was we would have won that game. Probably one of the gustiest performances by a QB. Anyone know who our backup was? Dan Manucci - no one wanted him to play ...and yes, I know Cribbs left of his own accord, but would we have fought more to keep him? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davefan66 Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 Gary Marangi....I think Just looked it up, Dan Manucci and David Humm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ned Flanders Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 Just looked it up, Dan Manucci and David Humm Correct...my feeble mind strikes again 1980 Bills Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davefan66 Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 Dan Manucci - no one wanted him to play ...and yes, I know Cribbs left of his own accord, but would we have fought more to keep him? No. Our record the previous 3 seasons, starting in 1984, were 2-14, 8-8 and 4-5. Don't think he really wanted to here. Also, wasn't that the time period Ralph go the "cheap" tag, warranted or unwarranted? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ConradDobler Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 Dan Manucci - no one wanted him to play ...and yes, I know Cribbs left of his own accord, but would we have fought more to keep him? We DID fight to keep Cribbs. His agent was Jerry Argovitz, who was a silent partner in the USFL. He pulled Cribbs and Billy Sims to that league with his conflict-of-interest dealings with the Bills and Lions. Cribbs "almost" signed his contract with the Bills several times, only to come back with another set of demands. Same for Sims. Detroit sued the pants off that Texan SOB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dollars 2 donuts Posted October 22, 2008 Author Share Posted October 22, 2008 No. Our record the previous 3 seasons, starting in 1984, were 2-14, 8-8 and 4-5. Don't think he really wanted to here.Also, wasn't that the time period Ralph go the "cheap" tag, warranted or unwarranted? Yeah, Dave, and it didn't help that Cribbs' agent was also one of the Owners of the Memphis Showboats. I'm not joking, that was the case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plenzmd1 Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 Didn't the Bills have a TD taken away because of a penalty in that game as well? I remember something to that effect...I was pretty young but remember my uncle becoming COMPLETELY UNGLUED after a TD was disallowed. Sometimes I get this game and the Cinci one I believe the next year mixed up. Little help here folks. If it is indeed the Cinci game you are referring to, what happened was we had a 4th and 4 lets call it. Fergy calls time out, they come bck to the huddle and fergy hits little Loui Piccone for 7 yds over the middle, the Bills are still alive. Oh wait, whats that, a little yellow flag on the field???? delay of game, the play did not get off in time( way before the play clock was shown on the screen my younger posters) and all of WNY was ready t0o collectively shoot ourselves. HTF can you take too much time coming out of a TIME OUT!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tcali Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 No. Our record the previous 3 seasons, starting in 1984, were 2-14, 8-8 and 4-5. Don't think he really wanted to here.Also, wasn't that the time period Ralph go the "cheap" tag, warranted or unwarranted? Stew friggin cheapskate Barber was the GM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarkLessWagMore Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 We go out West and lose to the Chargers (whom we defeated earlier in the year out there, 26-24) in the divisional round, due to a 50 yard TD pass by Fouts with about 2:14 to play. SD holds and wins 20-14. The obvious question: would a healthy Joe Ferguson have made the difference? Could we have beat the Chargers in SD, as we did earlier in the year, if Joe had two good legs? Good topic and an outstanding performance by Fergy. But the real killer is that we win that game if Charley Romes doesn't drop a sure interception that Fouts put right in his gut on the play before the winning TD pass. That was my first real taste of of feeling our Buffalo teams being snakebit. The play I am speaking of is at 7:30 of the video here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdelma Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 That was a good team, Fergy had some big balls to play, not like the losers now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Romes Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 Good topic and an outstanding performance by Fergy. But the real killer is that we win that game if Charley Romes doesn't drop a sure interception that Fouts put right in his gut on the play before the winning TD pass. That was my first real taste of of feeling our Buffalo teams being snakebit. The play I am speaking of is at 7:30 of the video here. watch it cpa. do you want to get t-boned coming over the middle? why don't you talk about the play at 9:10 of the 1st half youtube video of that game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Typical TBD Guy Posted October 23, 2008 Share Posted October 23, 2008 Stew friggin cheapskate Barber was the GM And who did Stew Barber work for?! Ralph friggin cheapskate Wilson. Ralph may have had a dramatic change of heart throughout the 90's and the TD era, but any Buffalo Bills historian would agree that Ralph has been excessively frugal for the majority of his reign. 1967-1986 was a rough two decades of Bills football, but it didn't have to be as bad as it was if Uncle Scrooge had opened up his wallet for some talent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LabattBlue Posted October 23, 2008 Share Posted October 23, 2008 I still hate you Ron Smith!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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