Houston Chronicle

Texans-Bills reminds of Oilers collapse

Playoff game vs. Bills forces painful look at ’93 collapse

- john.mcclain@chron.com twitter.com/mcclain_on_nfl

You don’t have to be a student of NFL history to know Jan. 3, 1993, is a day that lives in Houston football infamy.

Where were you on the dreadful day?

What were you doing when the Oilers collapsed in Orchard Park, N.Y. and cemented their legacy with the biggest choke job in the NFL’s 100-year history?

Buffalo? It’s a dirty word to Houston fans who suffered through the most infuriatin­g and excruciati­ng defeat in our city’s history.

If you’re haunted by the memories of the Oilers’ 35-3, third-quarter lead and 41-38 overtime loss and don’t want to relive the

details, then stop reading. It may be too painful.

With the Texans hosting the Bills in a wild-card game on Saturday — the first time Houston and Buffalo have met in the playoffs since that monumental loss — a history lesson seems relevant.

Coach Bill O’Brien always says the past has no bearing on the present and, of course, he’s correct about that game between the Oilers and Bills having nothing to do with this game between the Texans and Bills.

But the past does have meaning to a lot of Houston fans who watched it or learned about it, many of whom will be at NRG Stadium for Saturday’s game.

O’Brien, who was finishing his playing career at Brown University in 1992 and was about to begin his first year coaching tight ends at his alma mater, was asked Monday about the historical significan­ce of Houston vs. Buffalo in the playoffs, specifical­ly the biggest choke job in league history.

“That’s one heck of a way to start off this deal,” he said when asked about The Choke, as it’s known in Houston, or The Comeback, as it’s known in Buffalo. “Oh, man, that was almost 30 years ago. Holy smokes.”

O’Brien grew up in Andover, Mass., AFC East territory. He loves football history, but for him, Monday wasn’t a day about looking back at a franchise he wasn’t associated with — the franchise that just beat the Texans 35-14 to secure the last AFC wild-card berth.

“I think this is about this week, and this is about the Houston Texans versus a very good Buffalo Bills team,” he said. “I'm not going down that road.

“The game will be played in 2020. We’ve got a lot of work to do. We’ve got a tough opponent coming in here. We’ve got a big week.”

So did the Oilers 27 years ago. In 1992, the Oilers finished 10-6 and the Bills 11-5. The Oilers had beaten the Bills 27-3 in the last game of regular season in the Astrodome.

Buffalo fans weren’t all that excited about a possible repeat a week later, so the game wasn’t sold out in time to beat the blackout rule and wasn’t televised locally.

Bills coach Marv Levy and eight players from both rosters would be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, including Oilers quarterbac­k Warren Moon and guards Bruce Matthews and Mike Munchak.

The Bills were missing quarterbac­k Jim Kelly, sidelined because of a knee injury. They were forced to start his backup, Frank Reich. During the game, they lost another Hall of Fame player, running back Thurman Thomas, with an injury.

On a cold, clear afternoon in western New York, the Bills were no match for the Oilers without Kelly for the entire game and Thomas for part of it. Moon completed 19-of-22 for 218 yards and four touchdowns in the first half, and the Oilers led 28-3 at halftime.

Just like the last game of regular season, the Oilers were blowing out the Bills. Fans stumbled over each other trying to reach the exits. When the third quarter began, there was bumper-to-bumper traffic in the parking lots as fans headed home.

When strong safety Bubba McDowell intercepte­d Reich in the third quarter and returned it 58 yards for a touchdown to give the Oilers a 35-3 lead, Rich Stadium wasn’t half-full.

The Buffalo fans who stuck around prayed for a miracle. Only an act from God could save their beloved team from a humiliatin­g defeat on national television.

OK, let’s stop here. If you’ve read this far, you know what happened. There’s no use dredging up the ugly details, but to sum it up, Reich became a legend in Buffalo by engineerin­g the biggest comeback in NFL history, just as he had engineered the biggest comeback in college history when he led Maryland past Miami in 1984.

Reich helped the Bills score 35 unanswered points to take a 38-35 lead with 3:08 remaining. By that time, fans had returned to fill the stadium and parking lots. It was a mob scene because they knew they were witnessing some form of history, a football miracle.

Al Del Greco had to kick a field goal to tie the score 38-38 to force overtime. The Oilers lost when Steve Christie completed the comeback with a 32-yard field goal in overtime. Christie’s shoes can be found in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The Bills used the comeback as a springboar­d to Super Bowl XXVII, where they lost to Dallas. The Oilers, who sent nine players to the Pro Bowl, had one more playoff year in 1993 before they moved to Tennessee after the 1996 season.

On Monday, I joined longtime play-by-play broadcaste­r John Murphy and co-host Steve Tasker, who played in The Comeback and contribute­d to the victory, on the Bills Radio Network.

As we analyzed Saturday’s game, I told them I was certain of only one thing: If the Texans lead the Bills by 32 points in the third quarter, more history will not be made.

 ??  ??
 ?? Staff file photos ?? Bills kicker Steve Christie, right, completes a 38-35 victory over the Oilers with an overtime field goal, making quarterbac­k Frank Reich the unlikely engineer of the largest comeback in NFL history.
Staff file photos Bills kicker Steve Christie, right, completes a 38-35 victory over the Oilers with an overtime field goal, making quarterbac­k Frank Reich the unlikely engineer of the largest comeback in NFL history.
 ??  ?? Quarterbac­k Warren Moon was part of a star-studded Oilers team that led the Bills 35-3 in the third quarter.
Quarterbac­k Warren Moon was part of a star-studded Oilers team that led the Bills 35-3 in the third quarter.
 ??  ?? JOHN M cCLAIN On the NFL
JOHN M cCLAIN On the NFL
 ?? Staff file ?? Wide receiver Ernest Givins leaves the field after the Oilers’ loss to the Bills in 1993 that still pains many Houston fans.
Staff file Wide receiver Ernest Givins leaves the field after the Oilers’ loss to the Bills in 1993 that still pains many Houston fans.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States