The Best of One Bills Drive - Sept. 6, 1992

(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 is scheduled for publication by Reedy Press around October 15. 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

Los Angeles (L, 0-1)   0        7        0        0          7

Buffalo (W, 1-0)          14      13      7        6        40

Scoring Summary:

Quarter – Team – Play

1 – Bills – Kelly 10-yard pass to Thomas (Christie kick)

1 – Bills – Thomas 1-yard run (Christie kick)

2 – Bills – Thomas 6-yard run (Christie kick)

2 – Rams – Everett 12-pass to Delpino (Zendejas kick)

2 – Bills – Kelly 2-yard pass to Frerotte (kick failed)

3 – Bills – Thomas 10-yard run (Christie kick)

4 – Bills – Christie 49-yard field goal

4 – Bills – Christie 38-yard field goal

Recap:

There was a certain amount of nostalgia within the confines of Rich Stadium when the Bills opened the 1992 season. Chuck Knox was back in town.

Knox had come to the Bills from Los Angeles in 1978 after the team had hit absolute bottom the year before. He turned in an admirable rebuilding job, leading the team to the playoffs in 1980 and 1981. But Knox departed after the 1982 season to take the head coaching job in Seattle. Knox stayed there through 1991, but oddly all four of the games between the Bills and Seahawks in that era were played in Seattle. Knox had moved on to Los Angeles for a second try at coaching the Rams, and his first assignment was a trip to Buffalo on Opening Day.

Knox was too busy worrying about the game to get caught up in any warm feelings about the return. But as he wrote in his autobiography, he had a soft spot in his heart for Buffalo. “After a couple of months, I realized that Buffalo was like me. It smelled like me. It felt like me,” he wrote.

Knox’s time in Buffalo was well in the rear-view mirror by 1992, since Jim Ritcher was the only current Bill to play for him. Everyone in a Buffalo uniform was only concerned about getting the new season off to a good start. The team certainly accomplished that goal, as the Bills completely dominated the Rams.

Buffalo scored touchdowns on three of its first four possessions. The tone was set when Chris Mohr punted to Los Angeles following the Bills’ first possession of the game. All-Pro special teamer Steve Tasker leveled Rams kick returner Vernon Turner a split second after he caught the ball with a vicious hit.

On the Bills’ next possession, quarterback Jim Kelly engineered a 55-yard touchdown drive as he completed five of six passes with the final pass a 10-yard scoring completion to Thurman Thomas. The All-Pro running back also contributed 30 rushing yards.

Thomas continued his outstanding play on the Bills’ next drive. He rushed for 26 more yards and scored on a one-yard run to double the lead. The star running back was at it again when the Bills offense got the ball back following Henry Jones’ interception that set up Buffalo at the Rams’ 8-yard line. Thomas soon scored on a six-yard run and Buffalo was in command 21-0.

Los Angeles finally got on the scoreboard following a Kelly interception that was returned to the Bills’ 12-yard line where Rams quarterback Jim Everett connected with Robert Delpino for a score. Shortly before the half the Bills scored another touchdown from a most unlikely source. Kelly ran a tackle-eligible play and reserve offensive lineman Mitch Frerotte caught a 2-yard scoring pass. “It’s exciting. How many offensive linemen get an NFL touchdown?” Frerotte said. “I was just waiting for the ball to get to me. It seemed like it was up in the air forever.” His teammates were giving him the business, calling him, “Hands Frerotte,” or “Butch Frerotte” or “Mr. Touchdown.”

“It was a huge athletic feat by a man not known for it,” fellow lineman Will Wolford said. “They’ve been harassing me, but it’s no big deal,” Frerotte said. “They’re jealous.”

If there was any thought of a second half Rams’ comeback, that ended the first time the Bills had the ball after intermission. Thomas scored his fourth touchdown on a 10-yard run on a direct snap from center. “The direct snap is a play we’ve been running ever since I’ve been here,” Thomas said. “You have to have a good center in order to run that play and Kent Hull is one of the best in the league.”

Buffalo added two field goals by Steve Christie to complete the 40-7 victory. The icing on the cake was that late in the game Bills receiver James Lofton broke the NFL record for career receiving yards with 13,091. “Words really don’t describe it,” Lofton said. “I’m really happy. … It was neat to get it, and to get it in front of this crowd in the home opener was fantastic.”

The Bills’ defense, including the play of defensive end Bruce Smith, was somewhat overshadowed with the offensive onslaught. Smith -coming off an injury-riddled 1991 season, was his old self. He had two sacks, seven tackles and two pass break-ups. “I’ve got to tell Bruce those onions he’s eating before the game are killing me,” Everett said. “I smelled them all day.”

Smith was coming off knee surgery and nobody quite knew how it would go. “The doctor who operated on him (Dr. Richard Steadman) must have done a wonderful job,” Bills’ owner Ralph Wilson said. “I’ll send him the tape of today’s game. He might get some more business – not that he needs it.”

“Our defense wants to make statement this year,” nose tackle Jeff Wright said. “We’ve caught a lot of heat, being 27^th in the league last year and all this and that. So, it was important for our defense to get off to a good start, get off on a good note and go through the rest of the season with good stats.”

As for Knox, he’s certainly had happier homecomings. “We couldn’t stop them defensively, we couldn’t get anything going offensively, and the special teams were so-so. That’s the story of the game,” he said.   

Noteworthy: Thomas rushed for 103 yards on 22 carries and he caught three passes for 33 yards to go along with his four touchdowns. Thomas saw little action in the second half. … Kelly had a rather pedestrian day, completing 13 of 19 passes for 106 yards and two touchdowns and one interception, and also sat out a good part of the second half. … Frerotte’s touchdown was the first of his career. … In his record-breaking game Lofton caught six passes for 56 yards. … The Bills defense held the Rams to only 215 yards of total offense and forced four interceptions. … Rookie safety Henry Jones had the first two interceptions of his career. … Ritcher played in his 188^th game as a Bill, the second most all-time. … Michigan State alumnus and Los Angeles Lakers superstar Magic Johnson was in the crowd and moved to the Bills’ side of the field in the second half, when it was clear Buffalo would be victorious. … With the win the Bills were 35-3 at home since 1988.

Legacy: The Bills traveled to San Francsico the following week and defeated the 49ers 34-31 in the first game in NFL history without a punt. Kelly and San Francisco 49ers quarterback Steve Young combined for 852 passing yards in the shootout – Kelly passed for 403 and Young for 449. It would be one of only two losses the 49ers would suffer in 1992 until their loss in the NFL championship game to Dallas.

The Rams never won two games in a row in 1992 and finished 6-10. Knox lasted three years in his second tour of duty with Los Angeles and didn’t come close to a winning record. His coaching career ended after the 1994 season.