The Electric Company brought the juice for Buffalo’s first game under the lights
During the introductory year of then Rich Stadium, the Buffalo Bills made their NFL primetime debut when they hosted the Kansas City Chiefs for a Monday Night Football in Week 7 of 1973. That year was a historic season for football, with O.J. Simpson’s incredible 2,000 yard campaign (accomplished in 14 games). It all started with this clash versus the Chiefs.
Kansas City’s first two possessions went completely awry, with a fumble by quarterback Len Dawson and then later an interception that each set up the Bills with short fields. Each of those quick drives ended with Simpson punching in two quick touchdowns to make it 14-0 less than five minutes into regulation. Buffalo’s defense sent the legendary Dawson to the bench for Pete Bethard, but the Chiefs would make it a 14-7 game before halftime after Bills quarterback Joe Ferguson turned the ball over himself.
O.J. Simpson was the attraction that Monday night and Buffalo’s offense ran through Kansas City like a Super Bowl was on the line. Jim Brown was the only running back at that point to eclipse 1,000 rushing yards through seven games and going into the contest, Simpson had 867 on the year.
Buffalo showed no mercy and gave the Juice an NFL record 39(!) carries for 157 rushing yards, which gave him 1,025 for the season — the most a player had achieved through the first seven weeks of a season. “1,000” flashed in the classic 70’s orange on the scoreboard and the crowd serenaded their running back for being a part of league lore.
While the 39 attempts record has been matched or beaten 31 different times since that moment, Simpson’s yard mark through seven games is still an NFL record. Only two players have reached 1,000 yards through seven contests since this night in 1973, Terell Davis in 1998 and Simpson himself again in 1975.
This game set up Buffalo as a gridiron staple and showed the city has what it takes to host a nationally relevant event. Outside of the hype for “The Juice” was (for 1973) a state-of-the-art stadium with a sold-out 80,000-seat crowd for the country to bear witness.
Simpson of course would reach the 2,000 yard mark by the end of the season with 416 yards in the team’s final two games. While the Bills missed the postseason, the impact of O.J.’s record-setting feat lives on despite his life after football.