For Bills, it’s time to bring the Voodoo.

By E rock  |   Thursday, September 24, 2009  |  Comments( 24 )

Buffalo Bills
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Can you remember the last time the Bills knocked off a big time, marquee opponent? Let us travel down Buffalo Bills memory lane until we can find a win against true top tier NFL team.
2008 – Exactly zero wins against teams with a winning record. The Bills scored a win against San Diego in the power outage bowl. While San Diego ended up in the playoffs at 8-8 and also knocked off the Colts, the Bills caught them early in the season when they were still in a funk.
2007 – Bills scored one win against a team that had a winning record. This was a field goal fest win against a Redskins team that was reeling from the death of Sean Taylor just days before. The Redskins rode the Todd Collins train to a 9-7 record and a 1st round playoff ass whopping.
2006 – Again only one win against a winning team in the first of the Bills’ 7-9 campaigns. This time it was a throttling of the 10-6 Jets who also went onto stardom as 1st round playoff whipping boys. This was the game when we learned that our main man McGahee only plays against his buddy Jonathan Vilma and that pre-game meals are apparently optional.
2005 – Reaching back into the pre-Jauron era, this 2005 squad was fresh off its first winning seasons in many years. Bledsoe had been jettisoned in favor JP Losman leading to perhaps the worst QB controversy of all time between Losman and Kelly Holcomb. This un-inspired group finished a disappointing 5-11 but managed a few respectable wins. They knocked off a Gus Ferotte led Dolphins squad in week 5 that finished 9-7 and missed the playoffs. They later lost to the same squad in a brutal 4th quarter/Eric Moulds meltdown. They also knocked off a KC team in week 10 that finished 10-6 and also missed the playoffs. By week 16 the Bills were a dismal 4-10 and had nothing to play for. Their opponent was the upstart Cincinnati Bengals who had finally come around as an exciting offensive team. The Bills then pulled a we-have-no-business-winning victory in a meaningless game. It did however drop the Bengals to 11-5 and out of a 1st round bye. Carson’s Palmer’s knee was shredded in the first play of the 1st round playoff game and the franchise has still not recovered since.
2004 – This was the final Drew Bledsoe led squad that stormed their way to 9-6 before losing to Pittsburgh’s 3rd stringers in the final week to miss the playoffs. This last winning season in memory must have some big wins right? Not so much. The Bills limped out of the gate at 0-4 and 1-5. Then they got healthy in a hurry by beating down the woeful NFC West. Two NFC west squads actually made the playoffs that year, Seattle at 9-7 and St. Louis at 8-8, showing the malaise of the NFC in general at the time. Along the way the Bills also managed to defeat a Jets team in week 9 that ended up 10-6 and in the playoffs and managed to knock off a favored San Diego squad on a missed OT field goal. Seattle and St. Louis ended up facing each other in the playoffs in the some-one-has-to-win-bowl. St. Louis won and promptly got blown out in the next round.
2003 – Ding Ding Ding! While our good buddy Greg Williams didn’t give us much to smile about in his final season in which the Bills went 6-10 but he did give us something good to remember. This one good memory was an opening day pistol whipping of the hated New England Patriots, 31-0. The Pats went on to finish 14-2 and win the Superbowl against the Carolina Panthers. The Bills started out at 2-0 and then went on to have a total offensive meltdown including a 3 game stretch without an offensive touchdown. They lost the final game of the season to the Pats 31-0.

So there you have it folks. In 5 years (2008-2004) the Bills have knocked off 7 playoff teams. Two of those teams were 8-8. Surprisingly, those two 8-8 playoff teams accounted for 2 of the 3 playoff wins from Bills vanquished foes (San Diego in 2008 and St. Louis in 2004). That leaves just the Jets in 2004 as the only team beaten by the Bills that had a winning record and won a playoff game. It can be argued this Jets win and perhaps the win that ruined the franchise of our small market brethren in Cincinnati are the two biggest marquee wins since opening day in 2003.
So why do we need this history lesson? Because this Sunday Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints come marching into Orchard Park. In only 2 short weeks of work, Brees and the gang have forced the entire league to bow down to their offensive supremacy. While the Saints come to town bringing a well-hyped offensive juggernaut, they also bring with them a chance for the Bills to score a sorely needed marquee win for the franchise.
How would such a win be possible? Most would point to the Bills own underrated offensive talent, newfound coaching vigor or the Saint’s own suspect defense. I will point you however to the real reason – karma. It’s pretty clear that the football gods will not tolerate the Bills winning against the league’s established and storied franchises. This was evidenced by their refusal to let the Bills taste victory against the vaunted New England Patriots last Monday. This week however it’s the Saints, the team that took two decades to post its first winning season. The team that scored its first playoff win in 2000 after 33 years of existence. The team that had its stadium destroyed by a hurricane. The team that had its Superbowl aspirations crushed by Rex Grossman. I think it’s safe to say that the football gods hate the Saints as much as they hate the Bills. Plus they really owe us for this one: http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/09000d5d8003b705/Saints-19-Bills-7 (skip to 0:30)
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CommentsComments: 24  |  Sign Up  View all comments
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No.1
Goose		10:18 AM
09/25/2009
It's time to bring the leather!!! I was there last year for the Chargers game, we were actually tailgating near where the...
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No.2
E rock		10:43 AM
09/25/2009
OK, I don't think I've ever had an article that wasn't posted along with two other articles. It's a conspiracy to keep my comment...
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No.3
E rock		10:45 AM
09/25/2009
Also one other thing that occurred to me later. That 2004 Jets team that was the only Bills victory to have a winning record and...
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