Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, January 4, 1993 TAG: 9301040047
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. LENGTH: Long
BILLS BELIEVE IN MIRACLES
The greatest comeback in NFL history was no big deal for Frank Reich. He's done this kind of thing before.With no Jim Kelly and no Thurman Thomas, and in a 32-point hole, the Buffalo Bills turned to their miracle man. Reich, who engineered the biggest rally in college history in 1984 while at Maryland, hit Andre Reed with three touchdown passes and Don Beebe with one. Then Steve Christie kicked a 32-yard field goal 3:06 into overtime to win it 41-38 Sunday.
Did he think back to that college game in the Orange Bowl?
"Many times," said Reich, who was 21-for-34 for 289 yards against Houston. "As a football player, you gear your mind to not thinking in terms of how far behind you are. We're so geared to the game not being over until the final whistle blows."
But coming back from a 35-3 deficit? Not even the man who signs the paychecks would predict that.
"You never expect a team to come back and win from that score," Bills owner Ralph Wilson said. "If you say you do, that's ridiculous."
The ridiculous happened when Christie connected three plays after Nate Odomes' overtime interception and a 15-yard facemask penalty on Haywood Jeffires. And it capped a remarkable day of football.
"Being down 35-3 and Frank bringing us back," Christie said, "to even have the opportunity to go out and kick it is unbelievable."
Al Del Greco had kicked a 26-yard field goal with 12 seconds remaining to force overtime.
Reich, a backup for his eight NFL seasons, connected with Reed for 17 yards and the go-ahead score with 3:08 to go. That set off wild celebrations on the Bills' sideline. But Warren Moon, rediscovering the precision that brought four first-half scoring passes, led the Oilers 63 yards to Del Greco's tying kick.
`I've never seen momentum change like that in my life," said Moon, who was 36-of-50 for 371 yards and four touchdowns. "We had control of this ballgame like no other team has had control of the ballgame."
The two-time defending AFC champion Bills, down 28-3 at halftime, fell behind even further when Bubba McDowell intercepted a tipped pass and went 58 yards for a touchdown 1:41 into the third quarter. It appeared over.
It just about was - for Houston, which was in the playoffs for the sixth successive year, the longest current NFL streak. The Oilers could do little after going ahead up 35-3. Moon, unstoppable in the first half, was stymied by the Bills, who went to their regular defense rather than using the six defensive back set that was overwhelmed in the first half.
"Sometimes, you've got to take a chance," defensive coordinator Walt Corey said. "You have to try something, even when they say you can't do this or can't do that.
"Sometimes you say, `Hey, I have to try it' and it surprises you and works."
Buffalo was undaunted despite being undermanned. Kelly was out with a knee injury; Thomas left in the third period with a hip problem; star linebacker Cornelius Bennett and starting cornerback Kirby Jackson were out with hamstring woes. Still, the Bills stormed back.
"We were thinking, `Let's make it respectable, start to generate something and then see what happens," Reich said.
What happened was a playoff-record 28 points in the third quarter, helped by a key interception by All-Pro safety Henry Jones.
Special teams also had a critical contribution when Christie recovered an onside kick after Buffalo's first touchdown on Ken Davis' 2-yard run.
But it was the offense that provided the most thrills.
Reich found Beebe for a 38-yard score just 56 seconds after Davis' touchdown. Beebe stepped out of bounds early in his pattern, but the violation was not caught by the officials.
A 24-yard kick by Houston's Greg Montgomery, the NFL's leading punter, helped set up Reich's 25-yard TD pass to Reed, who had eight receptions for 136 yards. Jones' interception led to an 18-yarder to Reed, making it, shockingly, 35-31.
And, for Reich, it stirred those memories of his leading Maryland to a 42-40 victory over Miami in 1984 after the Terrapins trailed 31-0.
"Gale Gilbert reminded me of it," said Reich of the backup to the backup QB. "He said, `Hey, you did it in college. There's no reason we can't do it again now.'
"There's no doubt that gives you a little bit of hope, to know that something like that can be done."
By doing it, the Bills, now 6-0 in playoff games at Rich Stadium, earned a trip to Pittsburgh next Saturday and kept their hopes alive for a third straight Super Bowl berth.
Moon, returning from a broken arm that sidelined him for five games, hit on two scoring passes to Jeffires, one to Webster Slaughter and another to Curtis Duncan in the first half.
The undermanned Bills couldn't cope with the perfection of Houston's run-and-shoot attack, which also hurt them in a 27-3 loss at Houston last week that set up this game.
Moon was 19-of-22 for 215 yards in the first half. Houston twice went 80 yards and twice drove 67 yards for its first-half scores behind Moon, the AFC's highest-rated passer. Houston 721730-38 Buffalo 302873-41 First quarter
Hou-Jeffires 3 pass from Moon (Del Greco kick), 9:09.
Buf-FG Christie 36, 13:36. Second quarter
Hou-Slaughter 7 pass from Moon (Del Greco kick), 6:01.
Hou-Duncan 26 pass from Moon (Del Greco kick), 10:51.
Hou-Jeffires 27 pass from Moon (Del Greco kick), 14:46. Third quarter
Hou-McDowell 58 interception return (Del Greco kick), 1:41.
Buf-Davis 1 run (Christie kick), 6:08.
Buf-Beebe 38 pass from Reich (Christie kick), 7:04.
Buf-Reed 26 pass from Reich (Christie kick), 10:39.
Buf-Reed 18 pass from Reich (Christie kick), 13:00. Fourth quarter
Buf-Reed 17 pass from Reich (Christie kick), 11:52.
Hou-FG Del Greco 26, 14:48. Overtime
Buf-FG Christie 32, 3:06.
A-75,141. HouBuf First downs 27 19 Rushes-yards 22-82 26-98 Passing 347 268 Return yards 65 17 C-A-I 36-50-221-34-1 Sacked-yards lost 4-24 3-21 Punts 2-25 2-35 Fumbles-lost 2-0 0-0 Penalties-yards 4-30 4-30 Time of possession 37:39 25:27 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING-Houston, White 19-75, Moon 2-7, Montgomery 1-0. Buffalo, Davis 13-68, Thomas 11-26, Gardner 1-5, Reich 1-(-1).
PASSING-Houston, Moon 36-50-2-371. Buffalo, Reich 21-34-1-289.
RECEIVING-Houston, Givins 9-117, Jeffires 8-98, Slaughter 8-73, Duncan 8-57, Harris 2-15, White 1-11. Buffalo, Reed 8-136, Beebe 4-64, Metzelaars 3-43, Davis 2-25, Lofton 2-24, Thomas 2-(-3).
MISSED FIELD GOALS-None.