In the sunset season for the concrete cathedral so often overflowed with as many as 80,000 passionate patrons, WIVB News 4 Buffalo is taking a daily look back over 400 games played in the Orchard Park stadium’s 52 years.
Oct. 18
1987 — Bills 6, Giants 3 (OT) — Orchard Park’s own Todd Schlopy kicked the winning field goal from 27 yards out with 19 seconds remaining in overtime to win what Marv Levy described as the worst football game ever played. A crowd of 15,000 came to Rich Stadium for the final Bills game with replacement players in that week that the ’87 players strike was settled. Some NFL veterans had already crossed the picket line, including Giants superstar Lawrence Taylor, yet the talent assembled in this game combined for nine fumbles, five interceptions, 26 penalties, five missed field goals, and zero touchdowns. Schlopy’s chance to be a local hero came after he’d already missed a 28-yarder in OT. Carl Byrum, a fifth-round pick who played in 41 games for the Bills, rushed for 139 yards, more than a quarter of his career total. Buffalo went 1-2 with scab players in a season it finished with a 7-8 record.
1998 — Bills 17, Jaguars 16 — Doug Flutie circled the wagons in his first home game as Buffalo’s starting quarterback, bootlegging for the winning touchdown on fourth-and-goal in the final seconds. Ralph Wilson called it one of the most exciting wins he’d ever witnessed. Eric Moulds caught a touchdown pass in the second quarter and had a 38-yard reception that got the Bills to the 1-yard line for Flutie’s TD run. The winning drive covered 70 yards in 1:37, salvaging a game in which Flutie completed fewer than half of his passes in totaling 249 yards. But with Buffalo’s defense playing stout against a Jaguars team that came in with a 5-0 record, that was just enough to feed the Flutie phenomenon as the Bills pulled out their third of five consecutive victories following an 0-3 start. Attendance at Rich Stadium was 77,635, with more than 12,000 tickets sold in the same frenzied week Flutie Flakes hit the shelves.
2015 — Bengals 34, Bills 21 — Andy Dalton threw for 243 yards and three touchdowns to keep Cincinnati unbeaten at 6-0. The Bills got a decent game from E.J. Manuel, who was 28 of 42 passing for 263 yards with a touchdown to Sammy Watkins and a rushing TD, but Rex Ryan’s defense couldn’t stop the Bengals. LeSean McCoy returned from missing two games to rush for 90 yards and a touchdown, but Watkins and defensive stalwart Kyle Williams left this game with injuries. Buffalo’s third straight home loss brought its record to 3-3 before traveling to London the following week. Attendance at Ralph Wilson Stadium was 69,593.
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Jonah Bronstein joined the WIVB squad in 2022 as a digital sports reporter. The Buffalonian has covered the Bills, Sabres, Bandits, Bisons, colleges, high schools and other notable sporting events in Western New York since 2005, for publications including The Associated Press, The Buffalo News, and Niagara Gazette. Read more of his work here.