By TJ Troup 
Tomorrow night the season begins, and no doubt a joyful time for so many across this great red, white, and blue Nation.
My first question to all of you: which game is the most compelling? When you are a fan of a team, you most likely will watch your team play and maybe check out a couple of the other games. Minnesota and Green Bay have forged a nasty rivalry, and since my favorite rivalry is the Niners vs. the Rams will be watching or paying attention to updates on the games.
The well-coached Houston Texans easily won their wild card game, then lost. The Buffalo Bills won their wild card game, then lost a heartbreaker to Denver. Buffalo travels to Texas to take on Houston and for me this game is the most compelling.
 |
| Tom Sestak |
Additionally, the Buffalo Bills have had a couple of dandy games on Sunday, September 13th in their history. After losing to the Boston Patriots in the '63 playoffs, the expectations for the Bills in '64 at the Rockpile were gonna be fun/rewarding! A crowd of 30,157 saw their team score 31 points in the 1st quarter in demolishing the Chiefs. Leading 24-0 with just a couple of minutes left in the half, Tom Sestak "read the set-up and smelled a screen pass, so I drifted over to the right".
Big Ses returned the interception 15 yards for the touchdown. Denver assistant coach Red Miller scouted the game and commented with the title for this week's column. Though the Chiefs answered with 17 points, was not near enough in the Buffalo 34-17 victory. Many of the Bills players had rock-solid games, yet the game belonged to "Big Ses" as he also pillaged the Kansas City pass pocket to record multiple sacks and recovered a fumble.
How many defensive tackles in league history have recorded a sack, a fumble recovery and an interception in a game? For those of you who don't remember '64 (I do), that Bills team was a juggernaut and won their first Championship.
Now, let's turn the page to 1992. By far the #1 question for the Bills was: could they return to the AFC title game for the third consecutive season? Buffalo will be at San Francisco for the September 13th game against a 49er team that has everything you want in a team. Buffalo gains 598 yards in total offense in their "K-gun" offense as Jim Kelly becomes the first Bills QB to throw for over 400 yards in a game. Since Steve Young shreds the Bills secondary for 447 yards, we have, for the just the third time in history, two quarterbacks gaining over 400 yards in passing in the same game.
San Francisco leads at the half 24-17, but the Bills will not be denied as Thurman Thomas dashes 11 yards for the winning score. The 1,086 yards gained by both teams is the fourth most total yards gained in a game through 1992, yet what still stands out to me the most. NEITHER team punted!
Will we see that this weekend?
Enjoy the games, see ya next week.
BW ...
ReplyDeleteThanks for mentioning Sestak, Coach ... with seniors having less a chance to make the HOF now ... we all have to keep their names relevant for new, younger fans and historians to know about for the future.
1964 in brand new Shea Stadium, was also going to see an AFL team help elevate the league from "Mickey Mouse" status to eventual merger-ship.
Some great games this weekend, but the Chiefs might be nuts letting a rookie start at LT against the Broncos ... we will see if Mahomes emerges unscathed?
Great early week matchups but the Texans-Bills game will be intriguing as well. If Stroud can look good in an easy victory, will that compel the Texans to give him that extension he wants, or do the Texans want to see if he has fully recovered from that postseason debacle with more future wins under his belt? Buffalo of course has to want a good showing before playing in their new stadium and the expectations that come with it.
GB is actually an underdog against Minny and Kyler Murray but are the cheeseheads underestimated? Can their receivers stay healthy throughout the year until Parsons' comes back?
Can the Cowboys hold serve without their best offensive lineman against the Giants?