The Buffalo Bills were 3-2 and without their starting
quarterback as they took on the undefeated Los Angeles Rams on October 16, 1989.
QB Jim Kelly suffered a shoulder separation in a 37-14 loss to the Colts the
previous week and the little-known backup quarterback, Frank Reich, was forced
to step in. Under Head Coach Marv Levy, the Bills had won the AFC East in 1988
and featured a productive offense that included RB Thurman Thomas and WR Andre
Reed while the defense was anchored by DE Bruce Smith and included a good linebacking
corps.
The Rams, in their eighth season under Head Coach John
Robinson, were 5-0 and a more pass-oriented team than they had been throughout
most of Robinson’s tenure with the club. QB Jim Everett was the reason, and he had
a reliable target for his passes in WR Henry Ellard while second-year WR Willie
“Flipper” Anderson
was emerging as a potent deep threat.
It was a rainy Monday night at Rich Stadium for the nationally-telecast
contest. Things started well for the Rams when CB Jerry Gray intercepted Frank
Reich’s second pass of the night, giving LA good field position at the Buffalo 46. The Bills
defense held, but Dale Hatcher’s punt was muffed by CB Mickey Sutton and
recovered by LA’s WR Ron Brown at the Buffalo
16. Five plays later Everett
threw to RB Buford McGee in the end zone for a three-yard touchdown.
There was no further scoring in the first quarter as neither
offense was able to get much going. Buffalo
got a break with 5:23 to go in the half when Los Angeles RB Greg Bell (an
ex-Bill) fumbled at his own 20 and NT Jeff Wright recovered. Scott Norwood
kicked a 28-yard field goal four plays after that to cut LA’s lead to 7-3.
The Bills got the ball back at the Rams’ 49 following a punt
with 2:16 left on the clock and advanced to the 29 in seven plays, from where Norwood was again
successful on a 47-yard field goal try to make it 7-6 at the half.
The defenses continued to dominate in the third quarter. On
their third series of the second half, the Rams drove into Bills territory as Everett completed passes
to Henry Ellard for 24 and 19 yards. The drive stalled at the Buffalo 17 and Mike Lansford booted a 34-yard
field goal to stretch the LA lead to 10-6.
The Bills responded with a late-period scoring drive that
stretched into the fourth quarter. Reich completed a pass to Thurman Thomas for
13 yards in a third-and-10 situation and Buffalo
advanced to the Los Angeles
23. The 12-play, 52-yard possession ended with another Norwood field goal, this time from 40 yards.
It was once again a one-point game, but the Rams came back
with a long series that covered 60 yards in 12 plays. Everett completed four passes and Lansford
capped the drive with a 36-yard field goal.
On Buffalo ’s
next play from scrimmage, Reich threw to Andre Reed for a 47-yard gain to the
LA 39. A costly defensive holding penalty nullified a sack of Reich on third
down and a 15-yard completion to Reed put the ball at the six. Reich’s one-yard
TD pass to Thomas and Norwood ’s
extra point put the Bills in front for the first time at 16-13 with a little
over two minutes remaining.
The Rams failed to convert a fourth-and-four play just after
the two minute warning, but three plays later Thomas fumbled and safety Michael
Stewart recovered. LA made the Bills pay in short order as Everett passed to the fleet Willie Anderson
for a 78-yard touchdown. It was 20-16 and, with the Bills getting the ball back
with 1:17 left on the clock, it seemed as though the Rams would remain
undefeated.
Reich passed to Reed on first down, who fumbled but C Kent
Hull saved the day for Buffalo
by recovering. A short completion to Thomas was followed by a false start
penalty that made it third-and-six. Reich threw to Thomas for 17 yards and a
first down at the LA 43. Two more passes to Thomas gained another 21 yards and
a toss to RB Ronnie Harmon picked up 14 yards. With 20 seconds left in the
game, Reich threw to Reed for an eight-yard touchdown to finish off the
seven-play, 64-yard drive. It finished off the Rams, too, as there was time
left for only one Everett
pass and Buffalo won by a score of 23-20.
Frank Reich, overcoming a slow start, completed 21 of 37
passes for 214 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. Thurman Thomas (pictured below) rushed for 105 yards on 24 carries and caught 9 passes for 67 yards and a TD.
Andre Reed gained 106 yards on 8 pass receptions that included the winning
touchdown.
For the Rams, Jim Everett was successful on just 15 of 36
throws for 219 yards and two TDs with one picked off. With the long scoring reception
Flipper Anderson had 87 yards on only two catches while Henry Ellard hauled in
4 passes for 70 yards. Greg Bell, the NFL’s second-ranking rusher coming into
the game, ran for 44 yards on 21 attempts.
Reich continued to perform well for the Bills, leading them
to two more wins before Kelly returned to the lineup. It was a
controversy-filled year in Buffalo
as Kelly feuded with teammates, two assistant coaches engaged in a fist fight
in the film room, and fingers were pointed at players who had fueled the ’88
surge but seemed less consistent in 1989. For all that, Buffalo topped the AFC East for the second
straight year, but with a lesser 9-7 record. The Bills lost at Cleveland in the Divisional playoff round.
As for the Rams, the loss at Buffalo
was the first of four in a row, but they recovered to finish with six wins in
their last seven games to finish at 11-5 and second to San Francisco in the NFC West. They qualified
for the postseason as a Wild Card and advanced to the conference title game where
they lost to the arch-rival 49ers.
In his relief role, Frank Reich completed 53 of 87 passes
(60.9 %) for 701 yards with seven touchdowns and two interceptions. He went on
to play five more years in Buffalo
before moving on to the expansion Carolina Panthers, capably backing up Jim
Kelly and engineering a memorable comeback in the 1992 postseason.
