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Thursday, June 16, 2011
Well the Bills are the Bills and they were bad as usual in 2010. Of course, they were one of the most improved teams with emerging WR Stevie Johnson. Ryan Fitzpaterick was also a good QB for the Bills even though the team went 5-11. In the draft, the Bills got DT Marcell Dareus in the first round and then CB Aaron Williams in the second round to improve a struggling defense that finished 24th in the league in 2010. It was surprising not seeing the team go after a QB in the draft, but there is not a high demand from the Buffalo fan base, so Fitzpaterick doesn't have to be like a Pro Bowl QB. Believe it or not, Buffalo had a great history, most notably in the 90's.
Since the Bills never won a Super Bowl, I don't think Marv Levy got the recognition he deserved. Levy is the most successful coach in franchise history with a record of 154-120-0. Levy was hired by the Bills midway through the 1986 season and went 2-5 the rest of the way. In a strike shortened 1987 season, Levy helped the Bills to a 7-8 record and the team was in playoff contention for most of the year. 1988 was when the Bills and Levy's success started when the team went 12-4 and started a streak of six straight AFC East titles. In '88, the Bills lost in the AFC title game but were starting to become more relevant among the NFL's elite. This became no more true then in 1990 when the Bills played in their first Super Bowl against the Giants. Super Bowl XXV would be apart of a string of four straight championship appearances for the Bills, all of them losses. Despite Buffalo never being able to finish, Levy can be credited as one of the best coaches of all time. To put his career into perspective, Levy is the last Bills head coach to lead the team to a victory in the playoffs. Levy has a 19-11 record in the playoffs which sails past every other head coach in franchise history.
Being taken in the same draft as Dan Marino or John Elway could of overshadow your career, but Jim Kelly is one of the greatest QB's of all time. After the USFL folded, Kelly entered the 1986 draft and was taken 14th overall by the Bills. In his ten year career with Buffalo, Kelly went to was a Pro Bowl selection four times, was a first team All-Pro once, and leads the Bills in passing yards with 35,467. On top of leading the Bills to four straight Super Bowls, Kelly also helped the Bills develop the "K-Gun" no huddle offense which kept the defense from making substitutions. Kelly, with the help of Andre Reed, helped make the "K-Gun" one of the most popular in NFL history. Reed and Kelly hooked up for 65 touchdowns, which ranks fifth all time among QB/WR tandems. Kelly helped make the Bills one of the highest powered offenses of the 90's and holds the record for the most yards per completion in a single game with 44. Even though Kelly did not play well during his Super Bowl appearances, he did set a record with 31 completions in Super Bowl XXVIII (later broken by Tom Brady and Drew Brees). Kelly is one of the few QB's in the post Super Bowl era to be elected to the Hall of Fame, but it is no surprise considering he is one of the greatest QB's of all time. Click here to look at Kelly's stats.
In his career Andre Reed played against other WR's like Jerry Rice, Michael Irvin, and Art Monk, he was nearly as good as all of them. Reed was selected in the fourth round of the 1985 draft by the Bills. In his 15 years with Buffalo, Reed was a seven time Pro Bowl selection, a two time second team All-Pro selection, and appeared in four Super Bowls. In those four Super Bowls, Reed recorded 27 receptions (second to Rice's 33). Reed also is third with the most receiving yards in Super Bowl History with 323 (behind Rice's 604 and Lynn Swann's 364). On top of his Super Bowl records, Reed is eighth in career receptions with 951 yards. Reed is also ninth in total career receiving yards with 13,198. On top of being one of the greatest receiving weapons of all time, Reed also ran the ball 75 times for 500 yards. Being the versatile player he was Reed also played in 234 straight games from 1985-2000, which is the 59th most games played by a NFL player in history. As you can tell by Reed's stats, he had one of the greatest careers for a WR in history. Despite this, Reed has yet been inducted into the Hall of Fame after becoming eligible in 2006. Like I mentioned earlier, Reed played with a great generation of WR's and definitely deserves the NFL's highest honor. Click here to look at Reed's stats.
One of the more under rated offensive positions in the league is TE. Sometimes if you feel like you could hit a home run with one of them then pick them in the first round (Vernon Davis and Tony Gonzales, to name a couple). Tony Hunter, who was picked by the Bills 12th overall in the 1983 draft, should of never been a first round pick. Luckily for the Bills in that draft, just two picks late they got their QB of the future Jim Kelly. Hunter was supposed to be one of Kelly's main targets, but instead would go down as the biggest draft mistake the Bills would ever make. To cut Hunter some slack, there were no other good TE's taken in the 1983 draft. Of course, there was still plenty of talent for the Bills to get. Darrell Green, the greatest Redskin of all time, was 28th spot. During Kelly's career with the Bills, he really didn't have that running game to compliment Buffalo's feared passing attack. Roger Craig, picked in the second round by the 49ers, could of changed all of that. However, I think #12 would of been to high for Craig, but you never know he could of been considered a steal and maybe the Bills win one of those four Super Bowls. Click here to look at Hunter's stats.
Super Bowl XXV would be the Bills first ever Super Bowl appearance and would be the first of four straight. Of course, it would be the closest the franchise would ever get to winning a championship. The Bills were coming off a 13-3 regular season record thanks to their explosive no huddle K-Gun offense. Despite the Bills near unstoppable offense, the Bills did not score on a passing touchdown all game and the Super Bowl would come down to a field goal. Scott Norwood, who was attempting the field goal, had a 69% completion rate. The field goal was 47 yards and as you can watch in the highlights, it had the distance but was wide right. It is painful for any Bills fan to endure getting so close to a Super Bowl title. I know what you are asking, why this one? The Bills had three more chances after this one. True, but listen to this stat. The Bills lost the next three Super Bowls by a combined score of 65 points, while they only lost by one in Super Bowl XXV. Sorry again Bills fans.
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