Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

In the 70s, the Bills literally went 0-for-the decade against the Dolphins.

Buffalo had a lengthy Orange Bowl skid as did the Patriots, but New England was able to win occasionally at Foxboro in the late 70s.

The Bills lost as astonishing 20 straight games vs. Miami.

Granted, Buffalo wasn't good as consistently that decade (save for 1973-1974-1975 and 1979) and Miami only had one real hiccup (1976), but still the numbers were mind-boggling.

You'd think they have squeaked out ONE win in that span (From 1971-1980, the Giants as bad as they were still won twice in a 19-game stretch vs. Dallas).

What would you consider the closest call/best shot the Bills had to get that streak?

Possibly the closest the Bills came to winning one was in 1974 at the Orange Bowl. Backup QB Gary Marangi tossed a game tying TD pass to Bob Chandler with less than a minute remaining to tie it at 28-28. The Dolphins drove down the field in that final minute to score on a Don Nottingham run and win it 35-28. I think I remember seeing video once upon a time of Lou Saban praising Marangi's effort this game and that he thought he had a bright future. Marangi replaced Ferguson at some point mid-game due to injury. Probably minor since Fergie played the next week at Cleveland... however I see he went 1 for 7 vs. the Browns. The only Bill who caught a pass that game was Ahmad Rashad.

The Bills couldn't get any closer than the 1979 season opener. Tom Dempsey missed a 34? Yard FG at the end of the game to let Miami escape with a 9-7 victory.

Ironically, Shula was on the other end from 1987-95, with Buffalo holding a 17-4 edge in the series--1987 was Marv Levy's first full season. At the Ralph, the Bills were 9-2 during this stretch, which included two playoff wins. The only two times Miami were in 1992 and '93.

conace21 wrote:The Bills couldn't get any closer than the 1979 season opener. Tom Dempsey missed a 34? Yard FG at the end of the game to let Miami escape with a 9-7 victory.

A Buffalo win in that game, and everything else staying the same, would have given the 9-7 Patriots the AFC East Division title and Miami would have been out of the postseason. New England came up on the short end of the stick a number of times in the mid-late 70's and in 1980, such as:

1974 - After their early season success (defeating the Dolphins, Rams and Vikings), they went into the last three weeks with games against Oakland, Pittsburgh and Miami. Had they been able to hold it together and win those final three, and they played Pittsburgh and MIami close, they would have won the AFC East. But they were playing over their heads.

1976 - After beating Pittsburgh and Oakland, the Pats finished 11-3, but lost a division tiebreaker to Baltimore and had to travel to Oakland for the Divisional round, where a controversial play cost them in a last second Oakland victory.

1977 - In the Week 14 game against the Colts, a late fumble by Bert Jones was ruled a non-fumble, costing the Pats an opportunity to deny the Colts the AFC East title. The second wild card team per conference format came a year too late for New England, who would have made the playoffs had it been in place.

1978 - With the AFC East title sewed up, it came out before the final regular season game that HC Chuck Fairbanks had already accepted the job at Colorado, and was suspended by the owner. Fairbanks returned for the playoff game against Houston, but the team never recovered from the turmoil, and was upset at home.

1979 - See above

1980 - The Pats at 10-6 were right below the 11-5 Bills and two other 11-5 teams for the Wild Card. They lost a pair of close Monday Night games, one to the Oilers and one to the Dolphins, either of which if they would have won they would have made the playoffs.

1981 - In one of the half dozen most inexplicable collapses in pro football history in my opinion, this team fell off to 2-14, which ushered in the Ron Meyer era.

In this 1974-80 era they were certainly a star-crossed team who always seemed so close to greatness but it always just eluded them. I have always found this team fascinating.

Rupert Patrick wrote:

conace21 wrote:1977 - In the Week 14 game against the Colts, a late fumble by Bert Jones was ruled a non-fumble, costing the Pats an opportunity to deny the Colts the AFC East title. The second wild card team per conference format came a year too late for New England, who would have made the playoffs had it been in place.

The 1977 team also presumably lost a game or two early on because of the Hannah/Gray walkout.

Back to Buffalo-Miami, the second game in 1975 was the tipping point for the Bills. They were making a huge comeback in the Orange Bowl, a fumble call went against them (with Saban predictably going ballistic) and Miami broke off a huge run. After that game, the Bills were 6-24 in their next 30 games--prompting the coaching change to Chuck Knox.

As a big hockey fan, this is actually not the most astonishing thing I've seen. The Pittsburgh Penguins at one point had a 42 game winless streak at The Spectrum

The Boston Bruins, between 1946 and 1987, lost 18 consecutive playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens. And while the Canadiens were the class of the league, the Bruins were not exactly the Washington Generals.

sheajets wrote:As a big hockey fan, this is actually not the most astonishing thing I've seen. The Pittsburgh Penguins at one point had a 42 game winless streak at The Spectrum

The Boston Bruins, between 1946 and 1987, lost 18 consecutive playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens. And while the Canadiens were the class of the league, the Bruins were not exactly the Washington Generals.

In basketball, the perpetual futility of the Lakers against the Celtics saw Boston come out on top seven times in a row in the NBA Finals.

Back to football, the Browns' futility in Pittsburgh lives on nearly 50 years after it began. Their one run of success in winning games from 1986-89 is dwarfed by their record in the Burgh for the other years:

1970-85: 0-16
1990-2016: 2-24

Rupert Patrick wrote:1978 - With the AFC East title sewed up, it came out before the final regular season game that HC Chuck Fairbanks had already accepted the job at Colorado, and was suspended by the owner. Fairbanks returned for the playoff game against Houston, but the team never recovered from the turmoil, and was upset at home.

It seemed like Billy Sullivan/the Patriots' handled that situation the worst possible way. To me, the Patriots had 3 options:

1) Keep calm and say nothing. Let Fairbanks coach through the playoffs.
2) Immediately suspend Fairbanks for the rest of the season.
3) Top Colorado's offer to Fairbanks and sign him to a new contract before the playoffs start (it's your team!).

Not sure what the point was in suspending Fairbanks for the somewhat meaningless final regular season game, only to then reinstate him for the important playoff game.

Bryan wrote:

Rupert Patrick wrote:1978 - With the AFC East title sewed up, it came out before the final regular season game that HC Chuck Fairbanks had already accepted the job at Colorado, and was suspended by the owner. Fairbanks returned for the playoff game against Houston, but the team never recovered from the turmoil, and was upset at home.

It seemed like Billy Sullivan/the Patriots' handled that situation the worst possible way. To me, the Patriots had 3 options:

1) Keep calm and say nothing. Let Fairbanks coach through the playoffs.
2) Immediately suspend Fairbanks for the rest of the season.
3) Top Colorado's offer to Fairbanks and sign him to a new contract before the playoffs start (it's your team!).

Not sure what the point was in suspending Fairbanks for the somewhat meaningless final regular season game, only to then reinstate him for the important playoff game.

The NE players demanded Fairbanks be reinstated for the playoff game.