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Did Kelly Retire too soon?


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Kelly really had a very mdiocre final season, by his own standards, for the most part. But he, and the team, put together a nice string toward the end, to clinch a playoff spot...it was if, even though they were old, knowing how to win a game, was just a habit to them...most of the big stars of the past were starting to feel the damage that playing a lot of football games in 5 years, could do to the body. Bruce Smith was really the only one of the greats, that was still near the top of his game.

 

My memory is a little hazy, but, I also recall, during the last 4 weeks of that season, Kelly was one of the highest rated QB's in the leauge...the team was very much in a transition, with aging core vets, some free agents additions, and some rookies, like Moulds. I remember them pretty much getting their asses handed to them by the Dolphins in a Sunday night game, but, somewhere, late in the third quarter, for about 10 minutes of game time, they flashed back to the early 90's team, came up with about three or four improbalbe, huge, plays (both the offense and defense) to steal a game away from Miami, that they really had no business winning...

 

Also, IIRC, there were some rumours about off the field stuff that was giving Kelly some worries too...that phantom injury in practice may have been orchestrated for him to get his personal life in order...

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Another thing that hurt Kelly toward the end was the lack of a deep threat. Copeland was slower than death. Brooks and Early weren't burners. We all know what Reed specialized in...

 

After Lofton got old quick and Beebe left, nobody respected their ability to go downfield...the whole defense was packed within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage.

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It's worth something that after Polian built the core by 1990, the Bills added virtually no talent for five years. The team was in shambles and held together by Bruce, Thurman, and Andre as late as 1999.

 

The Bills landed Beebe - a steal in the third round - in 1989, but virtually nobody else. The 1990 draft was headlined by James Williams and Glenn Parker. They struck gold with Phil Hansen in 1991, but after him, the next impact player taken after the first round was Marcellus Wiley in 1997.

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It's worth something that after Polian built the core by 1990, the Bills added virtually no talent for five years. The team was in shambles and held together by Bruce, Thurman, and Andre as late as 1999.

 

The Bills landed Beebe - a steal in the third round - in 1989, but virtually nobody else. The 1990 draft was headlined by James Williams and Glenn Parker. They struck gold with Phil Hansen in 1991, but after him, the next impact player taken after the first round was Marcellus Wiley in 1997.

 

 

But... but... but... Bill Polian is a Super Genius, who has never had a bad draft! Right? :w00t:

 

And no, I am not denying his success. This is just to remind all of us that most "dynasties" are teams that managed to gather a good group of players in a concentrated period of time (itself a product of good drafting, judicious spending, and a generous dollop of good luck), seasoned with a few felicitous choices of role players. The very existence of great players on the team makes it difficult to select their replacements until they are about done, which is why so many "dynasties" (a term I do not like, for another conversation) suffer down periods after those core great players leave the scene.

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Kelly really had a very mdiocre final season, by his own standards, for the most part. But he, and the team, put together a nice string toward the end, to clinch a playoff spot...it was if, even though they were old, knowing how to win a game, was just a habit to them...most of the big stars of the past were starting to feel the damage that playing a lot of football games in 5 years, could do to the body. Bruce Smith was really the only one of the greats, that was still near the top of his game.

 

My memory is a little hazy, but, I also recall, during the last 4 weeks of that season, Kelly was one of the highest rated QB's in the leauge...the team was very much in a transition, with aging core vets, some free agents additions, and some rookies, like Moulds. I remember them pretty much getting their asses handed to them by the Dolphins in a Sunday night game, but, somewhere, late in the third quarter, for about 10 minutes of game time, they flashed back to the early 90's team, came up with about three or four improbalbe, huge, plays (both the offense and defense) to steal a game away from Miami, that they really had no business winning...

 

Also, IIRC, there were some rumours about off the field stuff that was giving Kelly some worries too...that phantom injury in practice may have been orchestrated for him to get his personal life in order...

 

I believe the Bills ran up an impressive win streak towards the end, but loss 2-3 games before beating KC to the end season in order to clinch a playoff spot.

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I believe the Bills ran up an impressive win streak towards the end, but loss 2-3 games before beating KC to the end season in order to clinch a playoff spot.

 

 

Exactly right... they won 4 in a row to get to 9-3, which led many people to hope this would be the year they pulled it together one last time, then lost three straight, including an awful 14-13 loss at Miami and a loss to Indy, before having to beat KC, then lost at home to Jax in the playoffs.

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But... but... but... Bill Polian is a Super Genius, who has never had a bad draft! Right?

 

Well, bear in mind that the Bills did okay in 1991, and then Polian was fired before the 1993 draft. It's Butler's draft prowess that's the most greatly exaggerated, I think. Again, he was better than anyone we've had since, but it doesn't mean he was doing a great job.

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Well, bear in mind that the Bills did okay in 1991, and then Polian was fired before the 1993 draft. It's Butler's draft prowess that's the most greatly exaggerated, I think. Again, he was better than anyone we've had since, but it doesn't mean he was doing a great job.

 

 

Good point there.

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It's a shame we couldn't get our hands on some games from the 1995 regular season. I'd love to see Kelly with that wide receiver line-up. I remember very little about that season, only the playoff game against the Jaguars.

 

Of course with copyright laws there isn't much footage out there on Youtube or any other site that I'm aware of. I went to the Bills store and they don't sell any DVD's. I went to NFL.com and the only DVD available of the Bills is the comeback game which I've seen 10 million times.

 

I like the format of the 'game of the week' on the NFL network where they cut all of the garbage out and the plays are one after another. Too bad they don't do this for old games. Not that there's a huge market out there for Buffalo Bills games in the 95' regular season, but I for one, would love to have access to some games. Why doesn't the NFL do more with old footage?

 

Contact THIS guy...he has the 1995 Buffalo Bills NFL Yearbook on DVD.

 

http://billkuhn.wordpress.com/my-vintage-s...deo-collection/

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