The Best of One Bills Drive - Dec. 12, 1992

(Greg D. Tranter and Budd Bailey have written a book about the history of the football stadium in Orchard Park called "One Bills Drive." It is scheduled for publication by Reedy Press around October 15. The books covers the top 50 games played in the stadium's history from 1973 until January 2025. However, there are several other games that qualified as thrilling - but they couldn't crack the top 50. Those contests deserve to be remembered too, so we'll offer them in this space a couple of times per week during the season.)

Score by Quarters:

                                             1       2       3       4          Final

Denver (L, 7-7)                     0        0       7       10         17

Buffalo (W, 10-4)                 0       21      3        3           27

Scoring Summary:

Quarter – Team – Play

2 – Bills – Kelly 64-yard pass to Beebe (Christie kick)

2 – Bills – Kelly 2-yard run (Christie kick)

2 – Bills – Thomas 11-yard run (Christie kick)

3 – Bills – Christie 29-yard field goal

3 – Broncos – Maddox 1-yard pass to Sharpe (Treadwell kick)

4 – Broncos – Treadwell 26-yard field goal

4 – Broncos – Lewis 1-yard run (Treadwell kick)

4 – Bills – Christie 25-yard field goal

Recap:

Long before the Bills’ fan base became known as “Bills Mafia” it was considered among the best, most dedicated, and most loyal across the National Football League. Buffalo is in one of the smallest markets in the NFL, and the team has gone through some down periods that would test the patience of the most rabid of fans. Yet, they keep coming.

In the early years of Rich Stadium, the team set league attendance records. The new home with the Astroturf field enabled the Bills to draw 531,270 in its inaugural 1973 season and set an NFL in-stadium attendance record. In 1974 the Bills did even better, drawing 547,237 to break their own one-year-old mark. Then in 1975, though the team did not set another record, it led the league in attendance for a third consecutive year.

The Bills were a difficult team to love during parts of the 1970s and 1980s. But when they put a young Super Bowl contender team on the field beginning in 1988, Buffalo led the league in attendance for four consecutive years. After setting another in-stadium attendance record of 635,889 in 1991, the team decided to honor the fans.

Team owner Ralph Wilson announced at the team’s Super Bowl XXVI Welcome Home rally on January 27, 1992, that the fans would be saluted for their loyalty throughout the years.

“Next fall, we’re going to put up a new name on the Wall of Fame, and it’s going to say ‘The 12th Man,’” Wilson said.

A December game in Denver was picked for the ceremony, and it turned out to be a meaningful one. Buffalo came into the game with a one-game lead on the Miami Dolphins for first place in the AFC East. The Bills needed to win the division outright because a tie would go to the Dolphins. Denver was battling for a Wild Card spot and this game was a must-win for them if it wanted to make the playoffs. However, their star quarterback, John Elway, was sidelined with an injury and was replaced by a planned rotation of Shawn Moore and Tommy Maddox.

The Bills offense had been struggling of late, having lost back-to-back games to Indianapolis and the New York Jets to hurt their chances in the division race. Head coach Marv Levy was looking for inspiration anywhere he could find it, and this time he turned to the stands. “This coming week, they’re honoring the 12th Man, and our fans can give us a lift,” he said before the game. “It may be more meaningful than at any other time, hand in hand with the induction onto the wall. Our guys are down and some criticism will be directed. … We’re looking for a lift from our fans.”

It took more than a quarter for the team to find its footing. On the Bills’ first four possessions, they committed three turnovers (two fumbles and one interception) and had a three-and-out. At least Bills’ safety Mark Kelso had helped keep Denver off the scoreboard with two interceptions of Moore.

At that point, quarterback Jim Kelly dipped deep into the playbook and ran a flea-flicker to Don Beebe, a play that had just been put in during the week, for the game’s first touchdown. “We practiced in the bubble Friday and we really couldn’t practice the play,” Beebe said. “We just went through the motions and got the rhythm down as far as the reverse and the flea flicker back to Jim. … We never threw it. Jim went back and faked the throw. … Their safeties really fly to the ball. They like to come up and stop the run, and we saw that in last year’s AFC championship game.”

Buffalo’s offense came to life following its first score. Thomas contributed 39 yards of the 65-yard touchdown march that Kelly finished off with a short run only two minutes before halftime. Less than a minute later, the Bills took advantage of great field position at the Broncos’ 43-yard line. Four plays later, Thomas was in the end zone and the Bills were up 21-0.

Steve Christie added a field goal midway through the third quarter to stretch the Buffalo lead.

With the score at 24-0 in the third quarter, Denver came to life after an interception by Steve Atwater of a Kelly pass. The Broncos drove 70 yards and Shannon Sharpe caught a short pass from Maddox for the score. Then Denver kicker and former Bills’ kickoff specialist Brad Daluiso executed a successful onside kick, which the Broncos turned into a David Treadwell field goal. “That was probably the most exasperating play of the game for me, because before we sent them out I gave them a 20-minute lecture not to move early,” Levy said about the onside kick. “Then Bruce DeHaven gets them together and says the same thing. Then some of the guys up front left early. … Now it’s 24-14 and it’s a game.”

The Bills couldn’t move the ball at all from there, and Denver responded with a nice drive for a touchdown to cut the lead to seven points. If the Bills were unintentionally trying to test the loyalty of 71,740 freshly honored fans – oddly, their smallest home crowd since 1989 - they were succeeding.

Kelly steadied the ship, running about four minutes off the clock. Steve Christie’s field goal essentially wrapped up the win, and Kelso ended Denver’s final chance with an interception, his third of the game. “I’m just trying to be where I am supposed to be,” the free safety said. “I got a couple gifts and that happens when you’re playing the right defense.”  

“The players wanted to win badly,” Levy said. “It meant a lot to them, and to a degree, they may have even played a little uptight at times.”

“If we wouldn’t have won today, I don’t know if we’d have won the rest of the year,” Kelso said. “I just think it would have really crushed morale. But thank God we got a victory today.”

Noteworthy: Levy became the Bills’ all-time leader in wins as a head coach with 71. … Thomas rushed for 120 yards on 26 carries and became the 35th player in NFL history to go past 6,000 career rushing yards. … Kelly completed 13 of 23 passes for 213 yards and one touchdown with two interceptions. … Kelso’s three interceptions tied a team record for interceptions in a single game. … Bruce Smith had two sacks to increase his season total to 14, third most of his career, and he had numerous quarterback pressures. … The Bills defense forced five turnovers and held the Broncos to 220 total yards. Sterling Sharpe was the only offensive threat for Denver as he caught seven passes for 109 yards and a touchdown.

Legacy: 33 season-ticket holders, representing each year of the franchise’s existence, were honored before the game as the Bills put the “12th Man” on their Wall of Fame. Each fan at the game received a commemorative 12th-man coin.

The Bills defeated New Orleans the following week, but lost to Houston on the last day of the season that cost them the East Division crown, won by Miami. Buffalo qualified for a Wild Card playoff berth and would host a rematch with Houston at Rich Stadium on January 3, 1993. Denver split their final two games and missed the playoffs. It was Broncos head coach Dan Reeves’ final season with the club.