The Best of One Bills Drive - Oct. 22, 2017

(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: 68,561

Score by Quarters:

                                       1         2         3          4       Final

Tampa Bay (L, 2-4)         6          0          7          14        27

Buffalo (W, 4-2)             3          7          7          13        30

Scoring Summary:

Quarter – Team – Play

1 – Buccaneers – Murray 50-yard field goal

1 – Bills – Hauschka 25-yard field goal

1 – Buccaneers – Murray 25-yard field goal

2 – Bills – McCoy 1-yard run (Hauschka kick)

3 – Bills – Taylor 22-yard pass to Thomas (Hauschka kick)

3 – Buccaneers – Winston 7-yard pass to Howard (Murray kick)

4 – Bills – Hauschka 52-yard field goal

4 – Buccaneers – Winston 33-yard pass to Howard (Murray kick)

4 – Buccaneers – Winston 12-yard pass to Evans (Murray kick)

4 – Bills – McCoy 7-yard run (Hauschka kick)

4 – Bills – Hauschka 30-yard field goal

Recap: By 2017, you had to be about the age of a college graduate in order to remember the Bills appearing in the playoffs. The team’s last visit took place at the end of the 1999 season.

Therefore, the team and its backers were looking for signs – something, anything - that better days were ahead. Some came in the early going of the season, when the Bills won three of their first four games. But the Bills had let a second-half lead get away in a loss to the Bengals, and they had a bye week to think about the situation before playing Tampa Bay at home.

The first half of the game with the Bucs wasn’t particularly exciting. It went field goal/field goal/field goal, with the Buccaneers kicking two of them. The only score of the second period went to LeSean McCoy; even the thrilling Bills’ running back had trouble making his short run a thrilling play. But it was his first touchdown of the season, and it did give Buffalo a 10-6 lead at half. The Bills added to that margin in the third period, as Tyrod Taylor found Logan Thomas for a score.

It was no time to take anything for granted, and sure enough Tampa Bay came roaring back. Jameis Winston threw three touchdown passes in less than 13 minutes, and Buffalo’s only response was a long field goal by Stephen Hauschka. Part of the problem was that McCoy, usually a very sure-handed runner, fumbled in the fourth quarter with the score tied. It was the first lost fumble of the season by the Bills. “I mean, that can’t happen,” McCoy said about his miscue after the game. With only 3:14 to play, the Bills’ fate seemed sealed as they were trailing 27-20.

“They score that (last) touchdown, and usually the air would’ve left the entire stadium,” Bills guard Richie Incognito said. “Everybody’s leaving. We would’ve gone out there and went three or four plays and out. Game’s over.”

But not this time. Buffalo went three plays, all right, but the short drive tied the score. Taylor threw to newcomer Deonte Thompson for a 44-yard pass which was supplemented by a 15-yard penalty for unnecessary roughness. It was one of four catches for 107 yards on the day for Thompson, who had been signed as a free agent earlier in the season.

“There’s a whole bunch of guys in here that other teams didn’t want,” Thompson said. “We all feel like that, but this is a great team. This team is going to do some special things this year. We believe in one another.”

McCoy cleaned up with a 7-yard TD run with 2:28 left. Overtime seemed probable … until it didn’t. On the first play after the kickoff, Tre’Davious White forced a fumble from Tampa Bay receiver Adam Humphries and then recovered it on the Tampa Bay 33.

“I just did something we do every day in practice,” White said. “I punched at it and it came out.”

The Bills picked up a first down to milk the clock. From there, Hauschka kicked a relatively short field goal with 14 seconds left, and the Bills had an improbable victory.

“Yeah, I’ve seen that game go the wrong way a few too many times around here,” center Eric Wood of the Bills said. “It was good to win that one.”

The win improved Buffalo’s home record for the season to 4-2. “I love playing here,” coach Sean McDermott said. “I do. These fans, what more could you ask for? These guys love it. The fans love it. We love it. To me, this is the place to play. It’s like heaven for a home team.”

Noteworthy: Thompson’s 100-yard game in receiving yards was the first by a Bills’ player in the season. … Winston went an impressive 32 of 44 for 384 yards, while Taylor was 20 of 33 for 268 yards. … Matt Milano had his first career interception for the Bills. … Tampa Bay had time for only one play at the end of the game, and the team threw 10 laterals in an unsuccessful attempt to move the ball down the field.  

Legacy: The Bills romped over the Raiders a week later, as they seemed to have every possible bounce of the ball go their way. But that was followed by three straight losses, and Buffalo was in the fight of its life for a playoff spot. A happy ending was assured late on the final day of the season in Baltimore, where Cincinnati knocked off the Ravens to put the Bills in the playoffs.