1995
Buffalo Bills fans just want the team to return to prominence. But before thinking about Super Bowls, the team needs to focus on winning the division. That hasn’t been done since the 1995 season.
Jim Kelly was still the starting quarterback and the Bills entered the season after missing the postseason in 1994. That came after four straight Super Bowl losses.
1995 served as another chance to make a championship run. The Bills won the AFC East with a record of 10-6 and advanced to the divisional round of the playoffs after a victory over the Miami Dolphins.
Then came a loss to the Steelers who ended up making it all the way to the Super Bowl, only to lose to the Dallas Cowboys.
Bills fans probably didn’t expect the AFC East title in 1995 to be the team’s last one for decades, but here we are now, still waiting. That win over the Dolphins is also the team’s last postseason victory.
A highlight from the season was Bryce Paup winning Defensive Player of the Year honors in his first of three years with the team.
This marked the beginning of the end of the greatest run in franchise history, although the Bills would still return to the playoffs the following season.
It is odd to look so far into the past and try to capture those feelings of a playoff victory that have eluded Bills fans for so long. The win over the Dolphins certainly wasn’t the most special playoff victory of Jim Kelly’s era, but fans would sure like to feel that same feeling again soon.