Buffalo Rumblings
One of the most embarrassing losses in team history that would set “The Drought” in motion
With a team legacy as tortured as the Buffalo Bills, that means not all of these moments will reflect positively on the history of the original Highmark Stadium. After fondly recalling James Lofton setting the NFL all-time receiving yardage total, we’re diving into what many still see as the team’s biggest in-season home gaffe this century.
The 2004 season was a roller coaster of emotions for the Bills, starting 0-4 on the season and sitting at 3-6 through nine games, the season felt lost and hopeless as the team was still looking to find success in new millennium. Drew Bledsoe had thrown for 9 touchdowns to 10 interceptions in those nine contests and was showing his age rapidly.
An easy schedule (the early 2000s NFC West, terrible Dolphins, and Browns teams) along with a resurgent defense and running game fueled Buffalo to six straight wins, outscoring opponents 228-89 over those six weeks and moving to a 9-6 record.
Buffalo entered Week 17 with a “win and in” scenario against the 14-1 Pittsburgh Steelers who made the decision to rest their starting players ahead of the playoffs. All signs pointed towards Buffalo’s first playoff appearance since the Music City Miracle.
The only problem was that the Steelers reserves were also a formidable group. They were quarterbacked by longtime vet Tommy Maddox and had emerging young talent like James Harrison and Willie Parker.
Buffalo had been floating through the season the last six games and faced a group of players who were hungrier than them. The Bills trailed 16-10 at halftime, punting four times and scoring their only touchdown of the half off a Maddox interception that put the ball at the 50-yard line.
Another Bills punt to start the third quarter was followed by a Nate Clements pick-six that gave Buffalo a 17-16 lead. Pittsburgh punted and the Bills would embark on a 14-play, 86-yard drive that ate up 7:34 of game time but ended with Rian Lindell shanking a gimme 28 yard field goal. The immediate play after, Willie Parker busted out on a 58-yard run and Pittsburgh retook the lead with a field goal in the early seconds of the fourth quarter.
With the game and the playoffs still in reach, all Buffalo had to do was get a field goal and a stop on defense. On the third play of the new drive, a corner blitz dislodged the ball from Bledsoe’s hands straight into the body of an in-motion James Harrison, who returned it for a touchdown, making it 26-17. Buffalo then went three and out, opting to punt on 4th & 6 near midfield.
Pittsburgh took the ball from their own 39 to Buffalo’s 15-yard line, wasting over nine (!!!) minutes of the clock (on ll run plays) and kicking another field goal. Buffalo got a touchdown from Willis McGahee with a 1:22 left, but would fail to recover the onside...
