The Best of One Bills Drive - Oct. 6, 1996

(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       OT      Final

Indianapolis (L, 4-1)             0        0        3       10         0          13

Buffalo (W, 4-1)                    0       7        3        3          3          16

Scoring Summary:

Quarter – Team – Play

2 – Bills – Collins 30-yard pass to Reed (Christie kick)

3 – Bills – Christie 42-yard field goal

3 – Colts – Blanchard 44-yard field goal

4 – Colts – Faulk 1-yard run (Blanchard kick)

4 – Colts – Blanchard 41-yard field goal

4 – Bills – Christie 37-yard field goal

OT – Bills – Christie 39-yard field goal

Recap:

It was never easy for Todd Collins in Buffalo.

He had the thankless job of serving as a backup quarterback in Buffalo, taking over the spot from the beloved Frank Reich at the start of the 1995 season. Such rookie reserves rarely get to play, and when do, they aren’t expected to play as well as the starter – particularly when the starter is named Jim Kelly.

Collins had played in a meaningless game at the end of the 1995 season, and was still holding the clipboard for Kelly at the start of the 1996 campaign. But on September 19, Kelly suffered a hamstring pull in practice and was ruled out of the next game in Dallas. That meant Collins had to start on short notice. He wasn’t great – only 87 yards passing with a 40 percent completion rate – but the Bills did win 10-7.

“Once I got my uniform on and went out for the pregame, the confidence wasn’t too much of a problem,” Collins said. “I think I was more nervous earlier in the week.”

After a bye week, Kelly was still nursing his injury and was unable to play in the Bills’ next test, a home game against undefeated Indianapolis. The Colts were led by quarterback and future NFL head coach Jim Harbough, running back Marshall Faulk, and young wide receiver Marvin Harrison. Harbaugh was the leading passer in the NFL coming into the game.

The game began slowly, with both defenses dominating, as neither team scored in the first quarter in what would turn out to be a punt fest. Each team booted the ball away on their first three offensive possessions. Finally, early in the second quarter Buffalo methodically moved the ball from its own 20-yard line to the Colts’ 30. Collins then hit Andre Reed streaking across the field near the goal line for the first score of the game. It was Collins’ first touchdown pass of his career.

The Colts had an opportunity to get on the scoreboard near the end of the first half, but Cary Blanchard missed a 46-yard field goal attempt and the Bills clung to a 7-0 lead at the break.

The Bills and Colts traded field goals in the third quarter as well as multiple punts until Indianapolis put together its best drive of the game that spilled over into the fourth quarter. Faulk ran over left tackle for a touchdown and the extra point tied the game at 10-10.  The Colts had driven 81 yards in 11 plays with a mix of Harbaugh passes and Faulk runs to get into the end zone.

The teams continued to struggle on offense, with seven of the next eight drives ending on the foot of either Bills’ punter Chris Mohr or Colts’ punter Chris Gardocki. Only a field goal by Blanchard broke up the monotony. The Bills’ defense continued to harass Harbaugh as they had throughout the game, as he completed only 17 of 42 passes. “I’m sure he’s probably going to be sore in the morning,” Bills linebacker Bryce Paup said. “It was just amazing. It seemed like Bruce (Smith) was around him all the time. … It was one of those games where we were on top of our game.” 

Despite the play of the defense, the Bills trailed 13-10, but had one final chance with the ball at their own 21-yard line. Collins completed six of 10 passes on a drive including a 21-yarder to Quinn Early and a 24-yarder to rookie Eric Moulds that put the ball at the Colts 19-yard line. Christie kicked the game-tying field goal with 15 seconds left to send the game to overtime.

It took three more punts before the Bills finally ended the stalemate. The Buffalo defense forced the Colts to punt from their own end zone, giving the Bills offense good field position at the Indianapolis’ 48-yard line. Two runs by Darick Holmes netted 15 yards and Collins’ pass to Reed for 11 set Christie up for the game-winning field goal with 5:38 left in overtime.

“I was working Quinn and Thurman over the weakside,” Collins said. “But when I got in the huddle and I said, ‘Hey, Andre, how’s the slant look strong side?’ He said, ‘Good, but just throw it quick.’ I just saw the linebacker was up, and I kind of threw it in there low and Andre made a hell of a catch.”  

Mohr punted 11 times in the game, four of which were downed inside the Colts’ 20-yard line, including his last one. “I think I’ll have to go ice my leg,” Mohr jokingly said after the game.

While Collins took a few deserved bows for doing enough to help the Bills win, it was the team’s defense that deserved the postgame curtain calls. “It was unbelievable,” Bruce Smith said. “One time I hit him (Harbaugh) and I thought he wasn’t going to get up. He was moaning and groaning on the ground. And he got up. I think he’s one of the greatest competitors who ever played this game. They put up a hell of a fight.”

“That’s probably the best defense in the NFL right now, with the things that they do,” Faulk said.

“This was exceptionally a team victory,” Bills coach Marv Levy said. “You can point out a lot of heroes.”

Noteworthy: Mohr’s 11 punts tied a Bills team record and Gardocki broke the Colts’ team record with 12 punts. Both of those records still stand. … The 23 combined punts broke a record for a single Bills game. … Collins threw for 309 yards on 23 of 44 passes; it was the only 300-yard passing game of his career. … Thomas rushed for 69 yards on 18 carries and caught eight passes for 111 yards. … Thomas became the 11^th player in NFL history to reach 10,000 yards rushing in a career. … The Bills defense held the Colts to 249 yards on 78 plays, 3.2 yards per play. … Harbaugh was sacked six times and thrown to the ground at least another dozen times. … The two teams combined were 10 of 39 on third-down conversions, which led to the 23 punts. Bills safety Henry Jones broke his leg on a third quarter tackle and was lost for the season. … Buffalo improved its home record since 1988 to 63-13.

Legacy: The Bills’ defense was one of the best in the league throughout the season, finishing sixth in yards allowed, second in touchdowns allowed and fifth in points. But the offense was mired in the middle of the pack. Buffalo finished one game behind the New England Patriots in the AFC East with a 10-6 record and qualified as the highest seeded Wild Card team. It was scheduled to host the upstart Jacksonville Jaguars on December 28. The Colts also qualified as a Wild Card with a 9-7 record.

Collins moved up to the starting quarterback job in 1997 after Kelly retired, but could only hold it for a season. The Bills let him go at that point. Collins resurfaced, much to the surprise of many, as a backup quarterback with Kansas City in 2001. He stayed in that role for the next decade, also playing with Washington and Chicago.