Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

I happened to thoroughly enjoy last night's Jets-Bills game. The "must win" talk was a little much primarily because a "must win" game really should denote a game in which the season ends if one team loses. What I will say it was an extremely important September game.

The game had Quincy Enunwa, who is maybe currently my favorite player, break out on national television. It also saw two of my other favorites, Jalin Marshall and Marcus Williams, make key plays. The former had a fumble returned for a touchdown but he rebounded to make two quality catches later.

In general, I enjoy games like the one from last night where one team is sort of dominating the game except on the scoreboard. The Bills made just a few plays- exciting ones- that kept them in the game and the score changed hands multiple times.

Other September games that were enjoyable include the Jets beating the Dolphins 51-45 on 9-21-86 and the Patriots beating the Jets 27-24 on 9-14-97. I did not see it live, but have since seen the Cardinals 27-24 victory over the Browns on 9-8-85.

The 49ers and Bills played a 34-31 punt-free game in 1992. That was a great game.

What are some of your favorite September games?

Sept. 24, 1972:
NYJ 44 Baltimore 34

Namath 15-28 for 496 and six TDs
Unitas 26-45 for 376 and two TDs in his last great performance

Steelers @Raiders, 9-12-1976. Not just an amazing comeback against the Super Bowl champs (and 38 points scored between the teams in the fourth quarter), but the start of the whole "criminal element" controversy.

Miami Washington, 1984

Patriots/Dolphins 1994

Marino and Bledsoe- combined for over 900 passing yards and 9 TD passes

1964: Cardinals at Browns: Browns convert on fourth-and-long late and take the lead with a minute left, but Cards kick a FG at the gun to tie 33-33:

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/b ... 200cle.htm

1970: Browns at 49ers: A high-scoring, back and forth game that was the first sign that the Niners would be a playoff team for the first time in 13 years:

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/b ... 270sfo.htm

1978: Browns at Steelers: Yes, six combined field goals in regulation hardly sounds like a barnburner, but it good enough to be ranked among the Top 5 games in Three Rivers history:

http://www.steelers.com/history/three-r ... -play.html

Cardinals at Colts - Week 3 1984 - second game ever at the Hoosier Dome, a 34-33 victory for the Cards with lots of big plays.

Two 1989 games one week apart involving the same team. All historic-eyes, of course, on the Week #3 latter of the two, the one that made the SI cover the following week - San Fran 38 Philly 28! Nothing really needs to be said about that Joe Cool Magnum Opus that hasn't already been said.

It's the one that took place the week before that seems to get lost in the shuffle - Eagles 42 Redskins 37 at RFK! We in the dorms my freshman year at college all watched it together and rode that emotional roller-coaster of a game. One of my dorm mates across the hall from me said he thought it was the best game he ever saw in his life. Wash opened-up a 20-0 1st Q lead and would make it 27-7 in the 2nd. But the Birds chipped away slowly but surely as the game went on and at the very end, Wash now up only 37-35, Gerald Riggs fumbled deep in Eagles' territory, ball picked up by Al Harris who very seemingly forward-lateraled it to Wes Hopkins who ran it 77 yards to the 4-yard line setting up the Randall-to-Keith Jackson game-winning score. As I mentioned on another thread recently after seeing the game again for the first time since, I'm surprised Gibbs & Co weren't up-in-arms over it. Perhaps no one saw it at the appropriate angle to dispute it. Eagle players ended up carrying Buddy off the field. With #12 himself on the '89 NFL Preview cover of SI, and some outside SI (okay, maybe just Playboy) picking them to win-it-all (I remember King not being too sold on them), all seemed all-too optimistic in the City of Brotherly Love. In the end, as we all know, '89 would not be quite as exciting as the Eagle campaign prior, but all was off to a very exciting start for the Birds that very September.

While we're on that very Week #2, '89, may as well bring up some other worthy mentions. Saints were up on the 10-wins-to-be Pack, 24-7, at the half. 'Majic Man' would rally his troops hitting...Sterling Sharpe with 1:26 left to win it, 35-34. Bears utterly butcher Burnsie's Vikes! No, not a good game by any means but just the irony of it all. Beginning of a pretty strong, SB-looking, 4-0 start only for that very Ditka '89 campaign to actually turn out as it actually did. Neal Anderson scoring 3 TDs, Bears picking off 4 passes - a certain Super Bowl HC from last February making one of those very INTs. As for the team that would end up handing Philly that very Week #3 loss? A very modest, not-so promising outing. Joe Cool running in a 4-yard TD with 40 seconds left to escape from Tampa, 20-16. 3rd down defensive penalty on Tampa the penultimate play prior pretty much gave SF the game (NEVER give Joe a 2nd chance!). 1TD, 2INTs...hardly a 'precursor' for that Philly Masterpiece to come.

Bills vs Raiders 9/16/1974 - One of the ten greatest MNF games ever.

Bears vs. Vikings 9/18/85 - McMahon comes off the bench to throw a bomb for a TD, and on the next drive throws another bomb for a TD. This win really kickstarted the Bears 1985 season.

Bills vs. Oilers 9/24/1989 - Shootout between HOF QB's. Bills win 47-41 in OT.

Cincinnati vs. Green Bay 9/20/1992 - Brett Favre becomes the Packers starting QB and leads them to a classic comeback against the Bengals.

Broncos vs. Rams 9/4/2000 - In a matchup against the two previous SB winners, St. Louis went ahead with under three minutes to play and held on to win 41-36. This MNF game was the start of the best collective season of MNF matchups ever.

1974 Week 2: The first overtime game in regular season history between Pittsburgh and Denver ends in a 35-35 tie.