The Best of One Bills Drive: Oct. 19, 2014

(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.)

Score by Quarters:

                                    1          2          3          4          Final

Minnesota (L, 2-5)       3          10          0           3           16

Buffalo (W, 4-3)          0          10          0           7          17

Scoring Summary:

Quarter – Team – Play

1 – Vikings – Walsh 40-yard field goal

2 – Bills – Orton 26-yard pass to Watkins (Carpenter kick)

2 – Vikings – Bridgewater 4-yard pass to Patterson (Walsh kick)

2 – Bills – Carpenter 31-yard field goal

2 – Vikings – Walsh 55-yard field goal

4 – Vikings – Walsh 33-yard field goal

4 – Bills – Orton 2-yard pass to Watkins (Carpenter kick)

Recap: The Bills were into year 15 of the playoff drought, and head coach Doug Marrone had inserted Kyle Orton as the starting quarterback to replace E.J. Manuel following two consecutive losses that had dropped the team to 2-2. Orton had previously played with four other NFL teams in his nine years in the league that had included 70 starts. This game was his third start with the Bills.

At 3-3, Buffalo came into the game still having dreams of breaking the drought. This was the team’s third game after the franchise had been acquired by Kim and Terry Pegula following the death of original owner Ralph C. Wilson Jr.

The Bills’ first two drives of the game ended with fumbles. Chris Hogan fumbled at the Minnesota 12-yard line that ended a good possession by Buffalo. On the team’s second drive Robert Woods coughed up the ball at the Bills 27-yard line and that led to a Vikings’ field goal.

The Bills lost running back Fred Jackson to a groin injury late in the first quarter. Then, early in the second quarter following a spectacular 53-yard run, C. J. Spiller was lost to the team with a shoulder injury. The Bills were down to third-stringer Anthony Dixon as the only available running back.

Leodis McKelvin intercepted Vikings quarterback Tommy Kramer on two consecutive passes, and the second one immediately led to the Bills’ first touchdown. Orton threw a 26-yard scoring pass to Sammy Watkins. The Vikings immediately responded with a nice drive to take the lead, and they eventually led 13-10 at halftime.

Early in the fourth quarter Minnesota extended its lead to 16-10. Buffalo had one final chance at victory, taking the ball on its own 20 with 3:07 to go. Could the veteran Orton lead the Bills down the field for a touchdown?

Orton moved the Bills to the Vikings’ 40-yard line but he soon faced a fourth and 20. Somehow tight end Scott Chandler was open down the middle of the field and Orton fired a strike for a 24-yard gain and an improbable first down. Orton then converted a third and 12 with an 18-yard completion to Watkins. Following a penalty against Buffalo, Orton threw a 28-yard pass to Chris Hogan that the 6-foot-1 receiver jumped high in the air to catch; he fell down on the Vikings’ two-yard line with the clock running and the Bills without timeouts.

Orton spiked the ball with five seconds remaining. On the next play Watkins ran a quick square-out and Orton threaded the pass into a tight window that the Bills receiver hauled in for the touchdown with one second remaining.

It was the type of moment the Bills thought they were getting from Watkins when they traded up to draft him that spring. “I’ve got to come out and make plays,” he said. “I’ve got to be dominant early. That’s the results of the day, I think. We played well as a team. We dominated on offense, even though we had turnovers. We moved the ball.”

Carpenter calmly kicked the extra point and the Bills led 17-16. “Kyle did a great job of keeping us under control,” Hogan said. “His poise was pretty unbelievable in a high-pressure situation like that. He helped us when we were in long situations. At the end, we had to get everyone up there and clock it. He did a great job that whole drive.”

The Vikings’ Cordarrelle Patterson caused a few anxious moments for Buffalo fans on the ensuing kickoff as the speedster ran around for what seemed like an eternity until he was

slammed to the ground by Duke Williams at the Minnesota 37-yard line.

“I think you just have to go out and say, ‘Man, we’ve got a great chance to win the game and it doesn’t matter how you win it.’ You don’t ever apologize for winning a game in this league. It’s too hard,” Orton said. 

Noteworthy: The Bills had four turnovers and allowed six sacks. The team was now 2-23 in games allowing those numbers or worse, with the last such win coming in 1997 against Indianapolis. … Leodis McKelvin’s two interceptions in the game was his only career game that he had more than one interception. … It was the first home win of the Pegula ownership era. … Orton passed for 283 yards, completing 31 of 43 passes. Nine different Bills players caught at least one pass. Watkins had 9 receptions for 122 yards and 2 touchdowns. … At halftime long-time Bills radio voice Van Miller was placed on the team’s Wall of Fame. “Seeing my name on the Wall of Fame next to football giants leaves me more than humbled,” he told the crowd.

Legacy: The Bills were in the heart of the playoff race until the team inexplicably lost to a 2-12 Oakland Raiders team, 26-24, late in the season. Buffalo finished with a 9-7 record, its first winning season since 2004. Orton surprised some people by retiring at the end of the season.

With the change of ownership, Marrone activated a clause in his contract that he could opt out of the agreement. He tried to leverage the Pegulas for more power and more money and when they said no, Marrone quit.