It may seem difficult to imagine after witnessing Buffalo's abject loss in Kansas City on Sunday night, but the Bills have played as feebly and with as little life several times in their 44-season history.
There was the time in 1968 that the Oakland Raiders obliterated Buffalo 48-6 -- on the Bills home field, no less.
There was the time the Seattle Seahawks, in just their second season of existence, routed Buffalo 56-17 in O.J. Simpson's last game with the Bills.
There was the Sunday afternoon in Foxboro, Mass., in 1997 when Billy Joe Hobert forgot his playbook, helping New England to a 33-6 pulverizing of the Bills.
There was the 44-20 loss on a Monday night in Indianapolis in the waning weeks of the 2000 season that wasn't nearly that close.
And let's travel all the way back to Oct. 10, when the Bills staged an equally pathetic performance while watching the previously winless New York Jets prance to a 30-3 victory.
There's a theme to the first four hideous defeats mentioned above -- none of the head coaches responsible -- Joe Collier, Jim Ringo, Marv Levy or Wade Phillips -- kept their jobs the next season.
In 1968, owner Ralph Wilson axed Collier the day after the Raiders left town.
Two weeks ago, the Bills' patriarch spoke disparagingly of his team's effort and enthusiasm after the disaster at the Meadowlands, but left Gregg Williams in place to produce Sunday's even less appealing sequel.
Kansas City's 38-5 dismantling of Williams' Bills makes his return for a fourth season unimaginable, unless Buffalo regroups dramatically during the bye week, virtually runs the table in November and December and stays alive deep into January.
Neither the players, nor their coaches, offered any hint that they're capable of such a turnaround against the Chiefs.
"At least I'm going to get a good night's sleep," said Mike, who hosted a small gathering for Sunday night's debacle.
Buffalo certainly presented no incentive to stay up late.
Getting flagged for the stupidest, most inexcusable infraction in football -- having too many men on the field -- on the game's third snap gave a pretty strong indication that the Bills were no better prepared or motivated than they had been two weeks earlier in New Jersey.
It's not like Buffalo didn't have its chances. Pierson Prioleau's blocked punt for a safety staked the Bills to a 2-0 lead and gave them a chance to take the deafening crowd out of the game early.
The Bills' first five drives wound up in Kansas City territory, with one starting on the Chiefs' half of the field, but Drew Bledsoe couldn't turn that field position into a single point. By that point, Kansas City had proven it could do just about whatever it wanted against Buffalo's acclaimed defense.
Even Rian Lindell's second-quarter field goal -- the only points Buffalo's offense created all night -- came as a crashing disappointment.
Down 14-2, Bledsoe connected on five straight passes to give Buffalo a first-and-goal from the Chiefs' 9-yard line.
On first down, Travis Henry rumbled for 7 yards.
Then Kevin Gilbride took over.
Buffalo's offensive coordinator decided that the best way to cover 6 feet was not by the overland route preferred by every successful team in National Football League history, but by throwing the ball.
Pure genius.
The play call itself worked -- tight end Dave Moore was ridiculously open in the back of the end zone. Problem was, Bledsoe fired the ball about 10 feet over his head.
That was bad enough. But Gilbride then sought to counter his quarterback's case of the yips not by going back to the run -- Henry was averaging roughly twice the needed yardage at that point -- but with another pass.
That didn't work either.
It's easy to blame the coaches when things don't go well, and Buffalo's players certainly didn't distinguish themselves with their execution or effort.
But there isn't a grade low enough to properly describe the complete ineptitude of Williams and his widely acclaimed -- at least at One Bills Drive -- staff on Sunday.
Defensive coordinator Jerry Gray had no answer for anything the Chiefs did on offense, allowing Trent Green to throw for 209 yards and two touchdowns by halftime without feeling a hint of a pass rush.
Note to Gilbride -- Green compiled those fancy numbers AND handed the ball off to Priest Holmes often enough for the Chiefs' franchise runner to cover 54 yards and land twice more in the end zone.
As they did in New Jersey, each unit fed the failure of the other. Every time Bledsoe's offense failed to capitalize on excellent field position, Buffalo's defense visibly sagged. And the more points surrendered by the array of all-star free agents assembled during the offseason, the harder Bledsoe pressed.
At least one Buffalo coach had a decent day -- special teams chief Danny Smith designed the Bills' first successful attempt to block a punt since 1997, and Buffalo kept the ball away from Chiefs return master Dante Hall.
Unfortunately, Gray didn't do such a good job of accounting for Kansas City's game breaker. On the fifth play of Kansas City's second drive, cornerback Antoine Winfield didn't bother chucking or otherwise impeding Hall's pass route. By the time safety Lawyer Milloy got near the most talked-about player in the league, he had taken in Green's quick pass and was on his way to the first offensive touchdown of his career.
You'd think, given that the football world is floating Hall's name as a dark-horse candidate for Most Valuable Player, that Buffalo would have treated him as something more than your typical No. 3 or 4 wideout.
But, as usual, Williams and his staff knew better. Expect to hear, as we did after similarly botched efforts in Miami and New Jersey, that Williams' coaches devised a perfect game plan, only to have it ruined by those stupid players.
All the spin in the world doesn't change this very simple set of numbers. In their last three road games, Buffalo's coaches have prepared and inspired their players so expertly that the Bills have been outscored 85-12 -- 68-8 in the last two. With one of the most accomplished quarterbacks in the game calling the signals, the Bills have failed to score an offensive touchdown in any of the three losses.
Give the Chiefs credit -- they're not 8-0 because they're lucky, or because the Bills stink. They're winning because Dick Vermeil and his assistants have found ways to utilize their available talent in the most effective possible ways.
It's called coaching, something the Bills have experienced precious little of this season.
Midway through the 2003 season, despite massive defensive spending, Williams' team boasts the exact same winning percentage as the 2002 edition -- .500.
That's not going to be good enough to get the Bills anywhere near the playoffs everyone expected of them, or to keep Williams, Gilbride and Gray employed.
Coming off last week's 24-7 win over the battered Washington Redskins, the Bills were poised to make a statement about themselves and their coaches.
They did.
BILLS MVP: Prioleau's blocked punt less than five minutes into the game showed that the Bills had a chance to win. Unfortunately, the rest of the team played the remaining 55 as if they already had.
THE OTHER GUYS' MVP: Tough choice -- the Bills never recovered after Hall's 63-yard touchdown grab, and Holmes kept churning out first downs and three touchdowns. But Green approached perfection, and would have come even closer if not for a couple of early drive-killing drops. He even steamrollered Buffalo cornerback Nate Clements to clear the way for Holmes' last score.
HIGH-TECH ADVANCE OF THE WEEK: Mike's immense, flat-screen television offered a perspective far more impressive than the game deserved. One camera angle of Prioleau's block was so vivid as to leave the viewer with the feeling of being punched in the nose.
STAT OF THE NIGHT: The Bills actually outrushed the Chiefs, 133-100, with Henry picking up a game-high 124. Problem was, only 37 of them came during the first half, while the game's outcome remained in doubt. Gilbride called 16 of Buffalo's 26 running plays after halftime, when the Bills trailed by a minimum of 23 points. Who says he's not committed to the running game.
GOOD WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT: Viewers who stayed around into the fourth quarter got a glimpse of Todd Collins, who replaced Green on the Chiefs' last two drives. The Bills released their one-time Quarterback of the Future after acquiring Rob Johnson and Doug Flutie in 1998.
The two passes he attempted Sunday were the 11th and 12th of his six seasons in Kansas City. With Johnson looking for another fresh start after his release by Washington last week and Flutie languishing on San Diego's bench, there's a pretty good possibility that Collins will outlast them both.
WING REPORT: An overwhelmed La Nova employee substituted hot barbecues for traditional mediums, but things happen for a reason.
Spicy and tasty, the wrong order tasted right enough to fill us up before trying Heather's gumbo, which sources tell us was stellar.
Forget the Anchor Bar hype -- La Nova's wings are the best within Buffalo's city limits, even when they don't send the right ones. Grade: B+.
BS FAN OF THE WEEK: Anyone who watched this atrocity to the bitter end. After all, how many chances do you get to see Alex Van Pelt run the no-huddle?
Niagara Falls Reporter | www.niagarafallsreporter.com | October 28 2003 |