I saw the game with my friend who is an avid Buffalo Bills fan. The Bills were trailing Oilers by 32 points. He was completely annoyed with the performance of his team and we switched off the match. Little did we knew, that we were missing a historic game that will go down in the record books as largest comeback in a match in NFL history. This NFL playoff game was played on January 3, 1993 at Rich Stadium, New York which the Buffalo Bills won 41-38. I later saw the highlights of the game and this is what I saw which was literally unbelievable.
The first half was pure one way traffic with Oilers holding the ball for 21:12, keeping the Bills’ offence at bay. A series of fantastic touchdown passes enabled Oilers to go at the break with a 28-3 lead. With 1:41 in the third quarter, Keith McKeller fumbled on a pass from Frank Reich which was grabbed by Bubba McDowell who returned the ball for a 58-yard touchdown pass. At this juncture, Bills were staring at the scoreboard which read 35-3. The comeback was hit with a mighty blow when Thurman Thomas retired from the game due to hip injury.
This was the point where the comeback began. On the kickoff, Buffalo started their campaign and drove 50 yards in 10 plays which included a pass to Pete Metzelaars and the deficit was cut to 35-10 (one extra point was added) by a 1-yard touchdown run by Davis. Reich completed a 24-yard pass on the drive with a few more exchanges that led to a touchdown run with 8:52 remaining in the third quarter. For the first time in the game, Houston was forced to punt which granted the ball to Buffalo at their own 41-yard line. James Lofton received an 18-yard pass from Reich. Meanwhile, Davis gained 20 yards on a screen pass with Reich providing a 26-yard touchdown pass to Reed, cutting down the lead to 35-24 (one extra point was added).
The intent was clear – in last 10 minutes – Oilers 3 plays for 3 yards whereas Bills had 18 plays for 176 yards including 21 points. After some plays, Buffalo were facing fourth down and 5 on the 18-yard line. Instead of settling for a field goal, Reich opted to pass to Reed for a touchdown. The deficit was cut down to just 4 points with the momentum completely with the Bills. With just 3:08 remaining, Reich connected with Rees for a 17-yard touchdown pass that granted Bills their first lead of the game. At the end, thanks to 2 runs from Davis, Christie’s 32-yard field goal gave Buffalo a remarkable 41-38 win.
Steve Christie’s kicking shoes from the game have been enshrined at Pro Football Hall of Fame in commemoration of the game.