NFL Old School Game of the Week: Bills Blitz Broncos With 20 Points in 77 Seconds

Buffalo linebacker Cornelius Bennett scored a touchdown and recovered a fumble in the Bills' comeback win against the Broncos.

The Buffalo Bills of the early 1990s were defined by their no-huddle offense which would helped propel the Bills to four straight Super Bowl appearances.

But in week 4 of the 1990 NFL season, it would be the Bills' defense and special teams that would spark a 4th quarter comeback win for the ages as the Bills hosted the Denver Broncos.

Buffalo came into the game with a 2-1 record under head coach Marv Levy, who was in his fourth full season as the Bills' head coach as he helped turn around Buffalo from a bottom dweller to a Super Bowl contender as the Bills won the AFC East division title in 1988 and 1989.

The Bills had adapted a no-huddle offense with quarterback Jim Kelly running the show with a roster which featured running back Thurman Thomas and wide receivers Andre Reed and James Lofton as Buffalo averaged 21 points through their first three games of the season.

On defense, the Bills were led by defensive end Bruce Smith who had recorded four straight seasons of double-digit sacks  and featured Cornelius Bennett and Darryl Talley in the linebacking corps as Buffalo prepared to host the defending AFC Champions.

The Denver Broncos also came into the game with a 2-1 record under head coach Dan Reeves who along with quarterback John Elway had led the Broncos to three Super Bowl appearances in the previous four seasons.

Elway was aided in the backfield with running back Bobby Humphrey, who had ran for 1,151 yards and scored seven touchdowns in his rookie season in 1989 to help Denver make the Super Bowl that year.

Many experts believed that if Humphrey had another strong year, the Broncos could make the Super Bowl for the fourth time in five seasons.

 The Broncos got the ball to start the game as they relied on Humphrey to drive down the field as he carried the ball seven times for 50 yards on a 12-play, 80-yard drive that culminated with Humphrey punching it in from one yard out to give Denver a 7-0 lead with a little over eight minutes left in the first quarter.

After the Bills punted on their opening possession of the game, the Broncos got the ball back at their 36-yard-line as Denver would move into Buffalo territory until Humphrey fumbled the football when he was hit by Bills strong safety Leonard Smith, which was recovered by cornerback Nate Odomes.

The Bills would drive from their 29-yard-line to the Denver 38-yard-line until fullback Jamie Mueller lost the football when he was hit by Broncos nose tackle Greg Kragen who also recovered the fumble to give the Broncos the ball back at their 35-yard-line.

The Broncos would hold the ball for the rest of the first quarter and into the second quarter as they drove to the Bills' 32-yard-line until they were forced to attempt a 49-yard field goal by David Treadwell, which was blocked by Talley, who then scooped up the loose football and ran it back 16 yards until he was tackled at the Buffalo 45-yard-line.

After Thomas was dropped for an one-yard-loss on 1st down and an incomplete pass on 2nd down, Kelly connected with Lofton for 19 yards on 3rd & 11, which he followed it up with an 18-yard pass to Reed to put the Bills at the Broncos 19-yard-line.

However the drive would stall as Thomas would be stopped for no gain on 1st down which was followed by two straight incomplete passes, forcing Scott Norwood to attempt a 37-yard field goal, which unfortunately for the Bills, bounced off the right upright and no good to keep the score 7-0 with 9:59 left in the second quarter.

Following a Denver punt, the Bills would have the ball at their 21-yard-line when Kelly was picked off by Broncos free safety Steve Atwater to give Denver the ball at the Buffalo 30-yard-line.

That is when Elway hit Vance Johnson for 25 yards to give the Broncos a 1st & goal at the Bills' five-yard-line as Humphrey would run for three yards on 1st down as the two-minute warning hit.

After the timeout, Elway would find running back Steve Sewell for a two-yard touchdown to increase the Broncos' lead to 14-0  with 1:57 left in the first half.

Broncos running back Bobby Humphrey ran for 177 yards on 34 carries and scored one touchdown.

Buffalo would start its ensuing possession at its 28-yard-line as a quarterback sack and an incomplete pass would bring up 3rd & 17 when Kelly completed a 21-yard pass to Lofton to give the Bills a 1st down at their 42-yard-line.

From there, running back Don Smith would get his hand on the ball on three of the next five plays as he caught two passes for 24 yards and ran it once for 10 yards to put the Bills at the Denver 24-yard-line.

A five-yard pass to Al Edwards and two incomplete passes later, the Bills would attempt another field goal, this one from 37 yards out, which this time Norwood would make which cut the Broncos' lead to 14-3 as the first half came to a close.

After the Bills went three-and-out to start the second half, the Broncos would have the ball at their 23-yard-line when Elway was picked off by Bills cornerback Kirby Jackson to give Buffalo the ball at its 49-yard-line.

However, the Bills would not be able to convert the turnover into points as Kelly was sacked by Broncos defensive lineman Andre Townsend on 3rd & 5 at the Denver 34-yard-line, which led to Buffalo punting the ball back to Denver, who would take over at its 20-yard-line.

Two plays later, Bruce Smith would make his presence felt as he sacked Elway, causing a fumble that was recovered by Talley at the Denver 10-yard-line as an incomplete pass and a quarterback sack would force 3rd & goal when Don Smith ran it in for a 12-yard touchdown to cut the Broncos' lead to 14-9 as Frank Reich mishandled the snap on the extra point.

The Broncos would be forced to punt on their ensuing possession to give the ball back to the Bills who took over at their 20-yard-line when Thomas mishandled a Kelly handoff and fumbled the football, which was recovered by Kragen to give Denver the ball at the Buffalo 19-yard-line.

Running back Sammy Winder would get his hands on the next two plays as he caught a 13-yard pass from Elway on 1st down, which got three yards added to it after Bills linebacker Shane Conlan was called for a late hit, which Winder followed up with a three-yard touchdown to give the Broncos their largest lead of the game at 21-9 with 4:43 left in the third quarter.

The Bills would drive into Denver territory on their ensuing possession until Kelly was dropped for a 13-yard loss on a quarterback sack by linebacker Karl Mecklenburg, forcing another Buffalo punt as the Broncos would take over att their 28-yard-line with 61 seconds left in the third quarter.

From there, the Broncos would hold the ball for the next four and a half minutes as they drove to the Bills' six-yard-line when David Treadwell came on to attempt a 24-yard field goal that would increase the Denver lead to 15 points.

However, the Bills would turn the game around when Odomes came in to block the kick which led to Bennett picking up the football at his 20-yard-line and running down the left sideline for a 80-yard touchdown that cut the Broncos' lead to 21-16 with 10:27 to go in the fourth quarter.

Denver would starts its next possession at its 29-yard-line as Humphrey ran for one yard to start the drive which was followed by Elway's 2nd down pass being deflected by Bills defensive end Leon Seals as the ball would fall into the hands of Leonard Smith, who then ran it in for a 39-yard pick-six to give Buffalo its first lead of the game at 22-21.

Norwood would miss the extra point as his kick hit the left upright to keep the score 22-21 with 9:27 left in the fourth quarter.

Things would get worse for the Broncos on the ensuing kickoff when Vance Johnson was tackled at his 10-yard-line only to lose five more yards because of an illegal block penalty which meant the Broncos would start its next possession at their five-yard-line.

But the drive would only last one play as Elway fumbled the snap from center leading to a recovery by Bennett at the Broncos' two-yard-line as it took only Buffalo one play to get into the end zone as Kenneth Davis punched it in for a two-yard touchdown, the Bills' third touchdown in 77 seconds as Norwood would make the extra point to make it 29-21 in favor of the Bills with 9:10 left in the fourth quarter.

Bruce Smith had two sacks and forced a fumble in the Bills' win over the Broncos.

Following a Denver three-and-out, the Bills got the ball back at their 45-yard-line as they took four minutes off the clock as they drove to the Broncos' 30-yard-line when Norwood come on to attempt a 48-yard field goal, which sailed wide right to keep the score at 29-21.

Even though they were down eight points, the Broncos needed two scores as the two-point conversion did not exist in the NFL in 1990 as they got the ball back at their 30-yard-line with 3:37 left on the clock.

Three incomplete passes later, Elway would hit Ricky Nattiel for 20 yards on 4th down, which was followed by another Elway-to-Nattiel completion for 11 yards, and then a 14-yard pass to Mark Jackson for a 1st down at the Buffalo 25-yard-line.

After a false start penalty pushed them back five yards, the Broncos would turn to Winder, who got his hands on the ball on the next three plays, gaining 20 yards to set up Elway's 10-yard touchdown pass to Nattiel that with the extra point brought the Broncos to within one point at 29-28 with 1:35 left in the game.

Now, the Broncos would attempt an onside kick in hopes of getting the ball back with a chance to drive for a potential game-winning score.

However, Bills tight end Pete Metzelaars would recover the onside kick to allow Kelly to take two knees to run out the clock as Buffalo would come away with the 29-28 win despite being outgained 410-197.

The loss to the Bills would begin the Broncos' downfall as they would finish with a 5-11 record, the firs time Denver had finished with a losing record since 1982.

As for the Bills, the win over the Broncos would be the second win in an eight-game winning streak as Buffalo would finish with a 13-3 record to earn the #1 seed in the AFC playoffs where the Bills would defeat the Miami Dolphins 44-34 in the Divisional Round, then destroyed the Los Angeles Raiders 51-3 in the AFC Championship Game to earn a trip to Super Bowl XXV, where they would fall to the New York Giants 20-19 as Norwood missed a potential game-winning 47-yard field goal in the final seconds.