ORCHARD PARK – It was January 3, 1993 – 30 years ago.

It turned out to be a great day in Buffalo Bills’ history.

But it didn’t start that way. Not at all.

Not.

At.

All.

It was the day of an American Football Conference wild-card game, and the Bills were the hosts.

To the Houston Oilers.

Now you know which game this was, don’t you?

The Bills were down 28-3 at halftime.

It couldn’t get worse than that, could it?

Oh, yes, it could. And it did. The Oilers hardly made it out of the tunnel and onto the field for the second half before it was 35-3.

No National Football League team had won after being down by 32 points.

With the Bills down by five touchdowns, many fans headed for the exits. One could see them in every corner of the stadium. Taking to the stairs and marching out like ants. They’d had enough, and they weren’t going to waste any more of their weekend afternoon enduring this misery in person.

Then there were the fans who never leave early. Not to beat the crowd, because traffic is there almost no matter when you leave. And not because the Bills are losing, because, well, you just never know.

With the Bills down 35-3, those fans didn’t budge. Well, maybe they went to the concession stand or the restroom, but they weren’t about to leave the stadium.

Nevertheless, a stadium that had been full suddenly had thousands upon thousands of empty seats. It still seemed to be more than half full, yet it wasn’t even close to being full.

Not long thereafter, Kenneth Davis ran one yard for a touchdown. With a Steve Christie extra point, it was 35-10.

The fans cheered, yet it was a “that’s nice” kind of cheer. After all, the Bills were still down by four touchdowns in the third quarter.

So what did the Bills do next?

Something no one seemed to be expecting: An onside kick.

Which they recovered.

Who tries to pull off an onside kick in the third quarter? Teams don’t try that, do they? Then again, what did the Bills have to lose? Answer: Nothing.

Less than a minute later, Don Bebee caught a pass from quarterback Frank Reich and danced down the sideline and into the endzone. With the extra point, it was 35-17.

Engulfing the crowd was a sense of “What’s happening here? Could this really be happening? But no, don’t say anything. We don’t want to jinx this.”

Just under four minutes later, Reich found Andre Reed for a touchdown, and the crowd erupted.

Suddenly everyone seemed to know that the Bills – against all odds – were going to win that game. With Christie’s extra point, it was 35-24.

The Reich-Reed-Christie trio made it 35-31 just three minutes later. In less than a quarter, the Bills had scored 28 unanswered points and cut the lead to four.

Then came the fourth quarter. With just north of three minutes to go in the game, the Reich-Reed-Christie trio made it a trifecta, and the Bills were up, 38-35.

By then the stadium was full again. It was never entirely clear how thousands of fans re-entered the stadium, which isn’t permissible, or entered without a ticket, which also isn’t permissible.

But so what? The Bills were up, 38-35.

Until.

Until the Oilers kicked a field goal with 12 seconds remaining, making it 38-38 and sending the game into overtime.

Although Houston won the coin toss, Nate Odomes quickly intercepted an Oilers’ pass. A 15-yard penalty on Houston put the Bills within comfortable field-goal range.

The Bills didn’t wait until fourth down. Head coach Marv Levy sent Christie onto the field. His 32-yard field goal sealed it at 41-38 for the Bills and sent them on to the next round of the playoffs.

To borrow then-Bills announcer Van Miller’s word, it was “fandemonium” at Rich Stadium.

The game remains the greatest comeback in NFL-playoff history.

Until December 2022, it remained the greatest comeback in NFL history, playoff or otherwise.

Speaking of the next round of the playoffs: Next time the Bills advance to an AFC championship game, they can do one of three things.

One is to go 2-0 in the remainder of the season.

Another is to go 0-1 in the remainder of the season.

One of those two options is preferable, and the other is bearable.

What we don’t need is to go 1-1 for the remainder of the season.

Randy Elf and Rory Pollaro were at the “fandemonium” game, and they didn’t leave early.

ç 2022 BY RANDY ELF