The Best of One Bills Drive - Nov. 13, 2023

(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 (https://reedypress.com/shop/one-bills-drive-the-buffalo-bills-greatest-home-games/). 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.)

Attendance: 70,318

Score by Quarters:

                                    1          2          3          4        Final

Denver (W, 4-5)           3          12         0           9           24

Buffalo (L, 5-5)           0           8           7           7           22

Scoring Summary:

Quarter – Team – Play

1 – Broncos – Lutz 40-yard field goal

2 – Broncos – Wilson 7-yard pass to Sutton (kick failed)

2 – Bills – Allen 22-yard pass to Kinkaid (Allen to Davis)

2 – Broncos – Lutz 49-yard field goal

2 – Broncos – Lutz 49-yard field goal

3 – Bills – Murray 3-yard run (Bass kick)

4 – Broncos – Wilson 3-yard pass to Williams (run failed)

4 – Bills – Allen 6-yard run (Bass kick)

4 – Broncos – Lutz 36-yard field goal

Recap: Here’s where the argument continues about the definition of a “great game.” One person’s pleasure is another person’s torture. No doubt the national audience watching this game on Monday night football found it to be thrilling with a memorable finish. However, the ones rooting for Buffalo probably felt like either screaming or moping when this one was over.

The Bills may have been catching the Broncos at the wrong time. Denver started the season terribly, and gave up 70 points in a humbling loss to Miami. But the Broncos came into the game with wins in their last two games, while the Bills appeared to have wasted a 3-1 start by losing three of their next five. They were winning the one-sided games, but losing all the close ones. Usually that’s simply a case of bad luck, but luck can determine the course of a season.

It didn’t take long for the Bills to find out the game would be a struggle. On their first play from scrimmage, Denver’s Ja’Quan McMillan took the ball away from Buffalo running back James Cook in forcing a fumble. It led to a Broncos’ field goal. “That can’t happen,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said about Cook’s fumble. “That’s part of the job description.”

On the Bills’ second drive, Josh Allen’s pass bounced off Gabe Davis and landed in the hands of defender Justin Simmons. (Allen took over the league lead in passes intercepted.) Denver’s Russell Wilson responded with a TD pass on a fabulous catch by Courtland Sutton. Buffalo did score a touchdown on a pass from Allen to Dalton Kinkaid, but the Bills had one last turnover late in the first half to set up a third field goal by Will Lutz. Buffalo tied the game in the third quarter on a three-yard-run by Latavius Murray.

Then the fun began. Wilson threw a 3-yard pass to Javonte Williams for a go-ahead touchdown; a missed two-point conversion left the score at 21-15 with 5:06 left. Allen countered with a touchdown drive that took a little more than three minutes; the quarterback did the honors himself from six yards out right after the two-minute warning.

That was enough time for the Broncos to try one last rally, with Wilson moving the ball 57 yards down the field. “Russ did Russ things,” Sutton said. A key play came when pass interference was called on Taron Johnson of the Bills, putting Denver in business at the Buffalo 17. The game soon came down to one play … and when Lutz’s field-goal attempt from 41 yards went wide right, the Bills started to celebrate.

Then everyone noticed the penalty flag. The Bills had 12 men on the field, one more than the limit. “We practiced that two or three times this week, the substitution from dime to field goal block, and at the end of the day, we didn’t execute it. So it’s inexcusable,” coach Sean McDermott said.

Lutz got a second chance and didn’t miss that time, giving the Broncos a 24-22 win. “Saved by the grace of God,” Lutz said to The Denver Post. And, a brain cramp by the Bills.

Noteworthy: This was the second time in pro football history that a halftime score was 15-8. The other one, naturally, came in a game between the Bills and the Broncos in their days in the AFL in 1961. … Allen threw a touchdown pass for the 18^th straight game, tying Jim Kelly’s team record. … Buffalo ran for 192 yards, so it was the first time in 2023 that the team had gone past 100 yards rushing and still lost. … Former Canisius College basketball player Chris Manhertz took part in his first-ever game in Buffalo. Manhertz, who at 6-foot-6 and 255 pounds always had the physique for football, had faced the Bills twice before in his NFL career, but neither game was in Buffalo.

Legacy: Desperate times call for desperate measures, and the Bills took the unusual step of firing their offensive coordinator, Ken Dorsey, the day after the game. Joe Brady took over the job, as Dorsey took the fall for the team going six weeks without scoring 25 or more points. Still, the team split its next two games to be 6-6 and needed a massive hot streak to return to the playoffs.

That’s exactly what happened. The Bills won their final five games, four of them by seven points or fewer, to finish 11-6. That was good enough to qualify for the postseason.