The Best of One Bills Drive - Dec. 17, 1995

(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 has been published by Reedy Press. 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

Miami (L, 8-7)                        0       3       10     7          20

Buffalo (W, 10-5)                    3       10     7       3          23

Scoring Summary:

Quarter – Team – Play

1 – Bills – Christie 20-yard field goal

2 – Bills – Christie 24-yard field goal

2 – Dolphins – Stoyanovich 50-yard field goal

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

3 – Dolphins – Stoyanovich 30-yard field goal

3 – Dolphins – Marino 25-yard pass to Green (Stoyanovich kick)

3 – Bills – Kelly 11-yard pass to Thomas (Christie kick)

4 – Dolphins – Parmalee 5-yard run (Stoyanovich kick)

4 - Bills – Christie 25-yard field goal

Recap: The days when the Dolphins could count on two victories over the Bills as soon as the schedule was announced – in other words, all of the 1970s – were firmly over by this point. When the teams met for this mid-December game, Buffalo had plenty of reason to be confident of victory. After all, the Bills had beaten the Dolphins in 14 of the previous 17 meetings.

That level of confidence would prove to be helpful in this matchup – even if the Dolphins still had future Hall of Famers Dan Marino at quarterback and coach Don Shula on the sidelines. After all, the game was a showdown for first place in the AFC East. The Bills needed a win to clinch first place in the AFC East. Besides, Buffalo had its own quarterback/coach combination that would end up in Canton in Jim Kelly and Marv Levy.  

“Really, if you want to sit down and talk about it, what better way to do it?” Bills offensive lineman Jerry Ostroski said. “I remember Jim Kelly said after the first game (a Miami win on Oct. 29) to mark your calendars for this date. And it’s coming true. If you love football, if you love athletics, and if you love competition, this is the way you want it to be.”

The game started slowly with both teams struggling to move the football. Buffalo scored a field goal late in the first quarter and converted another early in the second that Miami matched. With time winding down in the first half and Buffalo holding a 6-3 lead, the Bills moved 69 yards in 10 plays with Thomas gaining the final two yards for the first touchdown.

Buffalo had dominated the half with 14 first downs to only four for Miami as the Bills defense completely shut down the Dolphins run game (14 yards) – turning the offense one-dimensional.

The Dolphins came alive to start the second half. Miami converted a field goal on its first drive and then following a Jim Kelly interception and 25-yard return by Calvin Jackson, the Dolphins scored their first touchdown on a beautiful pass by Marino. All of the sudden it was a 13-13 game.

Late in the third quarter Buffalo took advantage of excellent field position at the Miami 46. Six plays later Kelly had the Bills in the end zone with an 11-yard strike to Thomas. Miami answered with a 49-yard drive that concluded with a touchdown run by Bernie Parmalee.

On Miami’s next possession from its own 9-yard line, Marino threw a pass that was intended for Irving Fryer, but Bills linebacker David White intercepted the underthrown pass at the 20-yard line and returned it to the Dolphins 11. The Bills settled for Steve Christie’s 25-yard field goal, but there was still 6:11 remaining. “I made a big mistake at the end there, throwing an interception which is something I rarely do, but it happened. And it put us in a tough situation,” Marino said. “I tried to throw it over his (White’s) head to Irving. I probably should have thrown it to the back (Keith Byers his outlet receiver).”

The Bills held Miami on its next possession and took the ball over, following a Dolphins’ punt, at its own 21. Buffalo needed three first downs to run out the clock. The Bills picked up two of them easily enough, but then faced a third and two at the two-minute warning. Larry Felser, Buffalo News columnist described the play: “Thomas was sent off the left side. Bryan Cox, who typifies the Dolphins of this decade more than any other Dolphins player, closed on the play. He hit Thomas but couldn’t bring him down. With a mighty second effort, Thurman dragged him the last yard for the game-clinching first down.” Cox got up swinging and was ejected from the game. As he headed to the locker room he spat at Bills fans while the stadium rocked with enthusiasm.

“I was pretty banged up,” Thomas said. “Going into that last drive, I wanted to come out so bad but (running backs coach) Elijah Pitts wouldn’t let me come out. He said, ‘You’ve got to stay in there for one last first down.’ When the coach tells you to stay in, you stay in. We knew at the end of the game when time was running out and they started using up their timeouts, that a first down could really secure the game for us. The offensive line did a great job of blocking all day. That last first down was really a credit to the offensive line.”  

The Bills had clinched their sixth East Division title in eight years. “This is as big a victory as any the team has ever had, and they’ve had a lot of big victories in the last eight years,” Bills owner Ralph Wilson said.    

“This team has done a great job of being resilient,” linebacker Bryce Paup said. “They haven’t won a Super Bowl, but they’ve gotten there four times and that says tons about the character of the people we have here. They know how to win.”

Winning a division is always sweet. Winning a division against the Dolphins was always sweeter. It was the 11^th consecutive time the Bills had defeated the Dolphins in the second half of the season. “There must be a reason for it,” Marino said. “But I don’t think I’m smart enough to be able to figure that one out.”

Noteworthy: Buffalo outgained the Dolphins 342 to 269, had 13 more first downs and controlled the clock, holding the ball for 34:32. … Thomas rushed for 148 yards on 35 carries. The Bills extended their record to 45-3 when Thomas rushed for 100 yards. He scored both a rushing and receiving touchdown. The 35 carries were the second most in his career. … Paup and Phil Hansen each had 1.5 sacks of Marino. … David White’s interception was the only one of his NFL career. … The Bills set a season record for most punt return yards with 468.

Legacy: Buffalo defeated the Dolphins in the Wild Card playoff round with a resounding 37-22 win, as the team broke the team record with 341 rushing yards. Buffalo lost in the divisional playoff round to Pittsburgh 40-21 with Bruce Smith missing the game with the flu. It would be the Bills’ last East Division title until 2020. Bryce Paup would go on to lead the NFL in sacks with 17.5 and he was named the Associated Press Defensive Player of the Year.