When you think of the Buffalo Bills, a common theme that comes to mind is the heartbreaks that fans have witnessed over the history of the franchise. Now don’t get me wrong, the Bills have had some phenomenal wins (both in regular season and playoffs) but have never been the standing champions by the time season comes to an end.
The biggest loss that the Bills have ever suffered was back in Super Bowl XXV in 1991 where they could have started a dynasty. Going up against the New York Giants, it was a back-and-forth game and it came down to a 47-yard field goal try by Bills’ kicker Scott Norwood to help Buffalo seal their first Super Bowl win. Instead, the infamous “wide right” kick was born and the Bills lost 20-19. This loss was the first of four consecutive Super Bowl losses.
While that was the worst one and it wasn’t even close, the Bills have lost two big-time games this century, which is what Cody Benjamin from CBS Sports reminds Bills fans of in his latest piece on a “Top 25 moments of first 25 years of the 2000s”.
Bills' two major losses this century are hard to revisit
- Bills vs. Chiefs 2022 playoff game - 13 seconds
Coming in at No. 23 on Benjamin’s list was the “13 seconds” game between the Bills and Chiefs’ playoff game in 2022. It was an electric second-half game where Buffalo and Kansas City were exchanging punches as neither defense could come up with a stop.
In the last two minutes of regulation, Buffalo scored on a fourth down to give themselves a 29-26 lead with 1:54 left. The Chiefs then responded with a Tyreek Hill 64-yard touchdown pass from Patrick Mahomes to give the Chiefs a 33-29 lead with 1:02 left. The Bills would respond by silencing the Arrowhead crowd with a Josh Allen-to-Gabe Davis 19-yard touchdown pass with just 13 seconds left, giving the Bills a 36-33 lead.
However, like I stated before, neither defense could make a stop and Buffalo’s defense gave up enough yardage in a short amount of time to allow the Chiefs to kick a game-tying field goal to force overtime. Then Kansas City won the coin toss, walked down the field and the combo of Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce kicked the Bills out of the playoffs off of a touchdown grab in overtime to give the Chiefs the win.
- Bills vs. Titans 2000 playoff game - Music City Miracle
Much higher up on Benjamin’s list at No. 8 was the Music City Miracle game between the Tennessee Titans and Buffalo Bills which would end up being Buffalo’s only playoff game in the century until the 2017-2018 season.
The Bills held a 16-15 lead with just 16 seconds left in the 4th quarter. All that they needed to do was make a stop and not allow the Titans to get into field goal range to kick a game-winning field goal. Instead, on the kickoff return, Titans’ tight end Frank Wycheck passed it to wide receiver Kevin Dyson on a “lateral pass” (yes, there is an argument to be made it was an illegal forward pass) and Dyson got past the Bills defenders for 75-yard touchdown with just three seconds left on the clock. Tennessee ended up winning 22-16.
In addition to these heartbreaking losses, an honorable mention of Benjamin’s list was Justin Jefferson’s one-handed catch in 2022 against the Bills that ultimately led to a Vikings comeback win against the Bills in overtime. Buffalo has had a lot of great moments over the years, but they’ve had some low lows as well.