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| Bills quarterback Jim Kelly would throw for 403 yards and three touchdowns on 22-of-33 passing in the famous "No Punt Game". |
For seven straight years in the 1990s, ESPN's Chris Berman would predict that the Super Bowl would feature the Buffalo Bills out of the AFC going up against the San Francisco 49ers of the NFC.
While the Bills would make four Super Bowls in a row and the 49ers would play in the NFC title game six out of seven years between 1988 and 1994, neither team would meet each other in the Super Bowl.
The closest thing we got to a Bills-49ers Super Bowl was a Week 2 matchup that would see NFL history be made.
Both teams entered the game coming off Opening Day wins as the 49ers took care of the New York Giants 31-14 while the Bills would destroy the Los Angeles Rams 40-7.
The Bills were coming off back-to-back Super Bowl losses and hoping to make a run at a third straight appearance under head coach Marv Levy.
The Bills were one of the most complete teams in the NFL at that time as their famous no-huddle offense was led by quarterback Jim Kelly, running back Thurman Thomas, and wide receivers Andre Reed and James Lofton.
Plus, they had quarterback sack master Bruce Smith at defensive end and all-pro linebacker Cornelius Bennett on the defensive side.
While the Bills had been in the Super Bowl the previous two years, the 49ers had not having lost in the 1990 NFC Championship Game, then missing out on the playoffs in 1991.
By this time, Steve Young was fully entrenched as the 49ers' starting quarterback as he taken over the starting quarterback job from Joe Montana who had suffered an elbow injury in the 1991 preseason that kept him on the sidelines for two years.
Much like Kelly, Young had a strong cast of supporting characters on offense which featured running back Ricky Watters, who was in his first year in the 49ers' backfield, and the wide receiver tandem of John Taylor and the greatest wide receiver of all time, Jerry Rice.
With all this talent on offense on both teams, many fans were hoping for a shootout much like the one Kelly and Young had in the United States Football League(USFL) where Kelly lead the Houston Gamblers back from a 20-point 4th quarter deficit to defeat Young and the Los Angeles Express 34-33 as Kelly threw for 574 yards and five touchdowns on 35-of-54 passing while Young threw for 255 on just 13 completions.
The fans at Candlestick Park and watching on NBC would get that shootout and one of the best quarterback duels in NFL history.
The 49ers got the ball to start the game as they came out throwing as Young completed five of his first six passes for 53 yards in leading the San Francisco offense from their 22-yard-line to the Bills' 15-yard-line.
But that is where the drive started to unravel as Watters lost nine yards on a 1st down carry, which was followed by an incomplete pass, then a 10-yard pass to Rice, who was hit by Bills strong safety Henry Jones, leaving the All-Pro receiver with a concussion.
49ers kicker Mike Cofer would come on to attempt a 33-yard field goal but his kick sailed wide right and no good as San Francisco came with no points on their opening drive and had lost Rice for the rest of the game.
The Bills would take over at their 20-yard-line and would drive to their 47-yard-line until Kelly was sacked by 49ers defensive end Pierce Holt, knocking the ball loose which was recovered by linebacker Tim Harris at the Buffalo 40-yard-line.
Four plays later, the 49ers were in the end zone as Young completed a pass to Odessa Turner, who made the catch at the 10-yard-line, then ran in untouched for the 23-yard touchdown to put San Francisco ahead 7-0 with 3:26 left in the first quarter.
The Bills would get the ball back at their 20-yard-line and would quickly drive to the 49ers' 27-yard-line as Kelly connected with tight end Pete Metzelarrs for 20 yards and then Reed for 23 until the San Francisco defense rose up and forced Buffalo to settle for a 41-yard field goal by Steve Christie to cut the 49ers lead to 7-3 with 18 seconds remaining in the opening quarter.
San Francisco would begin its next possession at its 20-yard-line where after four plays picked up 18 yards they were faced with a 3rd & 6 when Young threw a short pass to Turner for the 1st down, who then cut upfield for a 57-yard gain to give the 49ers 1st & goal from the five-yard-line.
Rathman would get the ball on the next two plays with the last one being for a two-yard touchdown which increased the 49ers' lead to 14-3 with 11:53 to go in the second quarter.
Down by 11, the Bills needed a response as they took over at their 27-yard-line only to have Kelly throw two straight incomplete passes to start the drive.
But on 3rd down, Kelly threw a screen pass to Thomas, who turned into a 24-yard gain and a 1st down at the San Francisco 49-yard-line.
After Thomas was dropped for an one-yard-loss on 1st down, Kelly would hit Reed for 30 yards and another 1st down at the 49ers' 20-yard-line, which was followed by another incomplete pass, then a 20-yard touchdown strike to Thomas to bring the Bills to within four point at 14-10 with 9:35 left in the second quarter.
It would take the 49ers two plays to get inside the Bills' red zone as Young would connect with Mike Sherrard for a 39-yard catch-and-run which was followed by a 20-yard run by Watters to put San Francisco at the Buffalo 12-yard-line.
However, the Bills' defense would allow five more yards on the next three plays, forcing the 49ers to settle for a 24-yard field goal by Cofer to extend San Francisco's lead to 17-10 with 6:53 left in the first half.
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| Filling in for the injured Jerry Rice, 49ers wide receiver Mike Sherrard caught six passes for 159 yards. |
Back came the Bills with a 10-play, 80-yard drive which included another big play on a screen pass as Kelly threw a short pass to Thomas who turned into a 43-yard reception, leading to Christie's 28-yard field goal to make it a 17-13 game with 2:31 before halftime.
That was plenty of time for the 49ers to drive down and put up some points on the board as San Francisco took over at its 20-yard-line.
Following an incomplete pass to start the drive, Young found Sherrard again at the 49ers' 33-yard-line, who then proceeded to run down the left sideline before he was knocked out of bounds at the Buffalo 24-yard-line.
Five plays later, Young found Taylor for a seven-yard touchdown to extend the San Francisco lead to 24-13 with 11 seconds left in the first half.
Kelly would take a knee to run out the clock in the first half came to a close with the 49ers on top 24-13 which saw Young throw for 257 yards while Kelly threw for 193.
But the fireworks were far from over.
The Bills would begin the second half with the ball at their 20-yard-line where it took them just five plays to get back into the end zone as Kelly found Metzelaars for a 47-yard touchdown to make it a four-point game at 24-20 just 2:27 into the third quarter.
Young and the 49ers would get the ball back at their 22-yard-line and drove into Buffalo territory where they faced a 3rd & 1 at the Bills' 44-yard-line when running back Keith Henderson lost the football after a hit by Smith, leading to a recovery by Bennett at the Bills' 40-yard-line.
After a two-yard run by Thomas to start the drive, Kelly would complete four straight passes as he hit Beebe for 13 yards, then Reed on back-to-back completions that totaled 21 yards, and then finishing it off with a 24-yard touchdown to Metzelaars to give the Bills their first lead of the game at 27-24 with 6:51 remaining in the third quarter.
Now trailing for the first time in the game, the 49ers got the ball at their 20-yard-line where after an one-yard pass to Rathman, Young threw a short pass to Taylor, who made the catch at the 29-yard-line, then spun around a defender as he made his way to the Buffalo 47-yard-line to complete a 32-yard reception.
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| 49ers quarterback Steve Young would account for nearly 500 yards of total offense as threw for 449 and three touchdowns on 26-of-37 passing and ran for 50 yards on seven carries. |
Watters would run the ball two straight times for 11 yards to pick up another 1st down when after a delay of game penalty pushed the 49ers back five yards, Young found tight end Jamie Williams, who was filling for an injured Brent Jones, at the Buffalo 28-yard-line, only for Williams to fumble the ball after the catch.
The ball was recovered by cornerback Nate Odomes whose 12-yard return gave the ball back to the Bills at their 39-yard-line.
Kelly and the Bills would drive to the 49ers' 40-yard-line until running back Kenneth Davis was stripped of the football by San Francisco linebacker Mike Walter, who was also recovered the fumble at the 40-yard-line.
Watters would run for 16 yards to start the drive but a sack of Young for 10 yards and an incomplete pass lead to a 3rd & 20 from the 49ers' 46-yard-line.
That is when Young threw a pass over the middle to Taylor, who made the catch at the Buffalo 32-yard-line and then ran into the endzone for a 54-yard touchdown to give the lead back to the 49ers at 31-27 with six seconds left in the third quarter.
Following the ensuing kickoff, the Bills would get the ball at their 29-yard-line to start the 4th quarter as Kelly would lead the Bills to the 49ers' 17-yard-line until he was picked off by 49ers strong safety Merton Hanks on a pass intended for Reed, giving the ball back to San Francisco at its 11-yard-line.
The 49ers would move the ball to the Bills' 48-yard-line when disaster nearly struck as Young fumbled a 3rd down snap, only to pick up and run for a nine-yard gain and a 1st down at the Buffalo 39-yard-line.
But on the very next play, Young would be intercepted by Odomes to give the Bills the ball back at their 28-yard-line with 6:48 left in regulation for Kelly to lead Buffalo to the go-ahead touchdown.
The drive would begin with a six-yard pass to Reed, then two straight runs by Thomas that gained eight yards, which was followed by a 16-yard completion to Metzelaars to give Buffalo a 1st down at the San Francisco 42-yard-line.
After a six-yard run by Thomas on 1st down and an incomplete pass on 2nd down, Kelly would find Lofton for 10 yards and a 1st down at the 49ers' 26-yard-line.
Thomas would pick up four more yards on 1st down which was followed by a quarterback sack by 49ers linebacker John Johnson that dropped Kelly for a 10-yard-loss and pushed the Bills back to the 32-yard-line where they faced 3rd & 16.
Kelly would connect with Reed for 12 yards, leading to a 4th & 4 situation at the 20-yard-line with 3:37 left in the game.
Knowing a field goal would would no them no good and the fact that the Buffalo defense had not stopped the 49ers all game, the Bills went for the 1st down which they got as Kelly found Lofton for nine yards.
On the very next play, Kelly handed the ball off to Thomas who ran up the middle for the 11-yard touchdown to give Buffalo a 34-31 lead with 3:04 left in the game.
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| Bills running back Thurman Thomas carried the ball 19 times for 85 yards, caught four passes for 91 yards, and scored two touchdowns. |
That was plenty of time for Young to drive the 49ers down the field for the game-tying field goal or go-ahead touchdown as the 49ers had all three timeouts and the two-minute warning still to come as they would begin their ensuing drive at their 20-yard-line.
The drive started with a bang as Young found Sherrard for 21 yards and a 1st down at the San Francisco 41-yard-line, which was followed by an eight-yard run by Watters to set up 2nd & 2.
But an incomplete pass and an one-yard run by Young would set up a do-or-die 4th & 1 at the 50-yard-line with 1:47 to go.
That is when Young took the snap and ran around the left side for three yards and the 1st down at the Bills' 47-yard-line.
The 49ers would get five free yards as Smith was called for offsides to make it 1st & 5 when Young found Sherrard again this time for 12 yards and a 1st down at the Bills' 30-yard-line.
But then is when 49ers left tackle Steve Wallace got called for holding during a six-yard pass to Rathman, pushing the 49ers back 10 yards to the Bills' 40-yard-line to make it 1st & 20.
Young would hit Rathman for 11 yards, then fire two straight incomplete passes, forcing a 4th & 9 from the 29-yard-line when head coach George Seifert sent in Cofer to try and tie the game with a 47-yard field goal.
But just like in the first quarter, Cofer's kick sailed wide right and no good, giving the ball to the Bills with 54 seconds left as Kelly would take three knees to run out the clock as the Bills would come away with the 34-31 win.
In all, the two teams combined for 67 points and 1, 084 yards of total offense as both quarterbacks would throw for over 400 yards in the first game in NFL history where neither team punted the football.
A rematch seemed plausible as the 49ers would finish the regular season with the best record in the league at 14-2 to earn home field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs while the Bills would lose three of their final five games to finish with a 11-5 record earning them a Wild Card spot.
It was in the Wild Card round where the Bills famously pulled off the greatest comeback in NFL history as Frank Reich, filling for an injured Kelly, lead the Bills back from a 35-3 deficit to a 41-38 overtime win over the Houston Oilers, then lead Buffalo to a 24-3 upset win over the AFC's #1 seed, the Pittsburgh Steelers while the 49ers defeated the Washington Redskins 20-13 in the Divisional Round as both teams earned trips to their respective conference championship games.
Kelly would return for the Bills as they knocked off the Miami Dolphins 29-10 to win thier third straight AFC title but the 49ers fell to the Dallas Cowboys 30-20 in the NFC Championship Game as the Cowboys advanced to Super Bowl XXVII where they would destroy the Bills 52-17.
The Bills and 49ers would again make it all the way to the championship round the following season with the Bills knocking off the Kansas City Chiefs, who had traded for Montana in the offseason, 30-13 in the AFC Title Game while the 49ers lost to the Cowboys 38-21 in the NFC Title Game.
The 49ers would finally get past the Cowboys in the 1994 NFC Championship Game to advance to the Super Bowl but the Bills were not there as they missed the playoffs for the first time since 1987.
So while Berman's dream of a Bills-49ers Super Bowl never came, he still has this classic to watch over and over again.
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