ORCHARD PARK – Despite the fact that the Buffalo Bills play their home games in, you know, the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park which sits quite inconveniently in a place where lake effect snow is often problematic, the Bills have played in a surprisingly short list of bad-weather playoff games.
Now, the obvious caveat is that the Bills haven’t exactly had an abundance of opportunities in their 64-year history thanks to several maddening playoff droughts they have endured.
This is just the 23rd season that the Bills have qualified for the postseason, and really, it’s 22 because their very first postseason game in 1963 against the Boston Patriots was officially considered a regular-season game as it was an extra game that was needed to decide the East Division of the old AFL.
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When the Bills and Steelers kickoff Sunday afternoon in what is expected to be awful winter weatherit will be just the 19th home postseason game in team history, and looking back over the first 18, there have only been a handful that anyone in western New York would consider bad weather.
Obviously, there have been many inclement weather regular season games but that’s because the pool to choose from is exponentially larger as the Bills have now played exactly 100 home games in December/January.
Just last year, Buffalo hosted the Dolphins in mid-December on a night when the forecast was calling for a massive snowstorm, but the snow held off until the fourth quarter and hardly affected play.
There was the 2021 game at Highmark Stadium against the Patriots played on a night when the wind gusted between 40-50 MPH throughout and yes, that really affected play, especially the Bills who lost 14-10.
In 2017, there was the incredible snow game against the Colts where by the end of the day, LeSean McCoy was dashing 21 yards for a game-winning touchdown through ankle deep snow. Without question, it was the worst snow game the Bills have ever competed in.
There have been several bitterly cold December/January home games such as 1993 against the Jets (minus 28 wind chill); 1988 against the Raiders (minus 14 wind chill); 2010 against the Colts (minus 2 wind chill); 1985 vs the Steelers (wind chill of 6); and 1975 against the Vikings (snow and a wind chill of 7).
Let’s also point out that Buffalo doesn’t have the patent on bad weather as there have also been some brutal road games.
Just last year in Chicago the wind chill was minus 12; another famous snow game occurred in 2007 at Cleveland when the field was covered and the wind chill was 16; in 1964 the Bills clinched their first appearance in the AFL Championship Game by beating the Patriots in driving snow at Fenway Park; in 1978 the Bills played Marv Levy’s Chiefs in a wind chill of 7; they played at the Jets in 1989 in a wind-chill of minus 11; a game in Denver in 2008 had a wind chill of 7; and another in Cincinnati in 2004 with a wind chill of 4.
I could go on, but you get the point. The Bills have certainly had to play more than their share of games when Mother Nature was in a foul mood.
But in the postseason, crazy as it seems, there haven’t been many. Here are what I would consider the five worst weather home playoff games, presented chronologically.
Dec. 28, 1963: Boston Patriots 26, Buffalo Bills 8
Again, this was technically not a playoff game, but the Bills and Patriots finished 7-6-1 so to decide the division winner who would play West winner San Diego for the AFL championship, the teams met at War Memorial Stadium.
It was cold, the field was a mucky mess that was covered in snow most of the day, and the Bills’ offense was helpless. Their only touchdown came on a 93-yard pass from Daryle Lamonica to Elbert Dubenion. Star running back Cookie Gilchrist managed just seven yards on eight carries on the slick field and the Bills committed six turnovers.
Jan. 12, 1991: Buffalo Bills 44, Miami Dolphins 34
Snow fell throughout this AFC divisional round game, but the temperature wasn’t terrible (32 degrees) and the wind chill was in the low 20s. It wasn’t ideal, especially for both defenses who struggled on the slippery turf as the Bills rolled to a victory which, at the time was the highest-scoring non-overtime playoff game in NFL history.
The Bills jumped out to a 20-3 lead in the second quarter and were in control the entire game. The teams combined for 923 yards and 48 first downs and Jim Kelly outplayed Dan Marino. Kelly threw for 339 yards with three TDs and one interception while Marino threw for 323 yards with three TDs and two picks.
Jan. 15, 1994: Buffalo Bills 29, Los Angeles Raiders 23
This remains the coldest game in Bills history as the temperature was zero and the wind chill was minus 32. Yet surprisingly, the Raiders, who were then based in Los Angeles, gave the Bills a tremendous fight in conditions you would have thought would have paralyzed them.
They led 17-6 late in the first half, but the Bills rallied — despite losing Thurman Thomas to a concussion in the third quarter — as Kelly threw for 287 yards and two TD passes to Billy Brooks, the second with 12:08 left that closed the scoring.
“You’re cold, yes, but you’re also into it,” Levy said. “You get involved in the excitement of the game. That was warming if nothing else was.”
Jan. 15, 2022: Buffalo Bills 47, New England Patriots 17
It was 7 degrees with a wind chill of minus 5, but the Bills laughed it off and played as close to a perfect game as possible. Taking end of half kneel-down possessions out of the mix, Buffalo scored a touchdown on its seven other possessions, embarrassing their long-time nemesis, Bill Belichick and his Patriots.
Josh Allen completed 21 of 25 for 308 yards and five touchdowns, two of those to Dawson Knox, and the Bills also ran for 174 yards. They outgained New England 482-305 and the defense intercepted Mac Jones twice, one of those by Micah Hyde in the end zone on the Patriots’ first drive. From that moment on, the game became a rout.
Jan. 22, 2023: Bengals 27, Bills 10
The 2022 season came to a crashing end on a snowy day when the temperature and wind chill were perfectly manageable, yet the Buffalo offense didn’t manage it.
Allen threw for 264 yards and ran for a touchdown, but the Bills rushed for only 64 yards while the defense could not stop Cincinnati. The Bengals ran for 172 yards including 105 by Joe Mixon, and Joe Burrow threw for 242 yards and two TDs, then led the cigar-smoking celebration in the visitors’ locker room.
Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana. To subscribe to Sal’s newsletter, Bills Blast, which comes out twice a week during the season, please follow this link:https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast
