Buffalo Rumblings
The Buffalo Bills (10-4) travel to Cleveland, OH looking for their third-straight win when the Bills face the Cleveland Browns (3-11) at 1 p.m. EST Sunday afternoon.
Before this Week 16 clash, let’s revisit the series history, relive some of the more memorable matchups, break down those common connections, and go through the list of players who played for both teams. Hint: there are 77 players who saw action for both the Bills and Browns.
Sunday’s game will mark the 23rd meeting all time, with Cleveland holding a 13-10 lead in the series. The Browns won the first-ever matchup, 27-10 on November 26, 1972, but Buffalo picked up its first win in the rivalry two years later, knocking off Cleveland 15-10 on November 24, 1974 to improve to 8-3. That Bills team would go on to secure the franchise’s first playoff berth since joining the NFL in 1970 as part of the AFL-NFL merger.
Cleveland won seven of the next eight games, including a heartbreaker in the divisional round of the 1989 season. Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly passed for 405 yards with four touchdowns, but was picked off with the Bills driving for the go-ahead score late in the game as Buffalo fell 34-30.
The two teams split the next six games in the series, and the Bills have won five of the last seven matchups, including a 31-23 triumph on November 20, 2022, a game that was relocated to Detroit, MI after several feet of snow fell in Western New York.
In that matchup, quarterback Josh Allen and the Bills scored on all five second-half possessions, running backs James Cook III and Devin Singletary each ran for 86 yards (with Singletary scoring on a five-yard run), and kicker Tyler Bass made six field goals in the win. Linebackers Tyrell Dodson and Matt Milano combined for 25 total tackles, Milano added a sack, the Bills’ special teams blocked a field goal and the defense came up with a key stop on Jacoby Brissett’s quarterback sneak on 4th & 1 in the third quarter.
The Bills, who enjoyed leads of 28-10 and 31-16, allowed the Browns to pull within eight on Brissett’s two-yard touchdown toss to wides receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones with 19 seconds remaining, but running back Taiwan Jones knocked the ensuing onside kick out of bounds and Allen took a knee to seal the win.
It would be the first of back-to-back games in Detroit. Four days later, on Thanksgiving, the Bills defeated the Detroit Lions by a score of 28-25.
Fun fact, Part 1: Don’t worry, Bills fans, I’m not going to torment you here with a recap of the worst football game I’ve ever seen in person, Buffalo’s 6-3 home loss to Cleveland on October 11, 2009. The Browns won despite starting quarterback Derek Anderson completing only 2-of-17 passes for 23 yards with an interception, becoming the first team to win a game when its quarterback completed two or fewer...
