Buffalo Bills Drought Series: Top Curses
The Curse of Doug Flutie
This is the most probable reason for the drought. The sequence of events that transpired around the 1999 Wild Card game against the Titans is just so mind boggling, I might even argue the Bills deserve to be where they are .
The Bills were 11-5 in 1999 and had the best defense in football.
The man that led the way was football journeyman Doug Flutie.
The Quarterback, and Heisman trophy winner, landed his way on the Bills roster in 1998.
His stint in Buffalo was short, but memorable. He even had his own cereal.
But the 1999 campaign was arguably Flutie’s best in the NFL.
He started most of the games and led the Bills to the AFC Wildcard, and a date with the Tennessee Titans in Nashville.
But for some crazy, illogical reason then Owner the late Ralph Wilson, told then Head Coach Wade
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Phillips to start Rob Johnson.
Rob Johnson was seen as a “pretty boy” if you would, and signed a massive contract with the Bills.
He was not good at football though.
The bigger issue was that he was not the team’s starter for a majority of the season.
Phillips, much to his chagrin, abided to Mr. Wilson’s orders.
Rob Johnson ended up not playing terribly bad. He led the team to a late lead after a Steve Christie field goal.
The only thing the Bills had to do to beat the Titans and escape the Music City was kick the ball off and let the clock run down.
As we all know, that wound up not happening.
The Titans fielded the kick and ended up throwing a “backwards pass” and returning it to the house as time expired.
That was the icing on the cake of a not so sweet situation for Buffalo.
The Titans won the game, dubbed the “Music City Miracle” and rode the momentum all the way to the Super Bowl.
The Titans got some bad karma of their own in the Super Bowl as they came up “one yard short” of tying the game, but no karma is worse than what the Bills got for benching Flutie.
It still makes no sense.
The Bills have not been back to the playoffs since that “legal backwards pass”. They have had more starting Quarterbacks than I can count on my fingers, and have had zero Quarterbacks start a playoff games since Rob Johnson.
There is not way of knowing how long karma and Flutie will haunt the BIlls.
Maybe we have to wait for Doug Flutie to pass away (which I am in zero ways wishing for).
When Ralph Wilson passed away, I thought maybe he took the curse with him, but the new owners have not made the playoffs either.
I now know it is the Curse of Doug Flutie.