That should be all the argument I need. But I'll explain further, and make it more specific: The 1990-1993 Buffalo Bills are the greatest team ever, and their greatness carries over to make the Bills the best ever.
In 1990, I made my first Superbowl bet ever, against my brother. We bet a team jersey, and I let him pick the team he thought would win. He took the New York Giants. So I got stuck with a team I barely knew, the Buffalo Bills. I watched that Superbowl by myself at my crummy apartment in the ghetto (watching football without other people around is my preferred way) and saw Scott Norwood's kick go just...this...far...wide right. It was a great game and a terrible but exciting ending, when Superbowls had not really been known for that.
The next year, the Bills made it again, so when the Brother and I bet, I took them again. And they lost, but I liked their style.
I followed the Bills the year after that, and they made it again, and I was hooked. They made it again the fourth year and by then there was no turning back. I love the Bills. I always will. I rooted for them through four straight Superbowls, the only team ever to do that (yes, I know they lost but they still went four times!), I rooted for them through the Flutie and Mr. Glass era, I watched Alex Van Pelt gamely try to take on the team, I saw the return of Marv Levy. I have a Bruce Smith jersey and a Drew Bledsoe jersey. I nominated myself for the ultimate Bills fan.
I made my wife go to their stadium, and then ditched her while I toured the locker room. On our honeymoon.
But it's not just about me being insane. Why are they the best team ever? Aside from the Four Superbowls? Aside from the greatest comeback ever, down 38-3 and winning 41-38? Aside from having Jim Kelly running the K-gun offense to perfection, scoring in seconds? Here's some stats:
They won 49 games in that time span, losing only 15. They were 27-5 at home, including losing zero games at home in 1990. Dallas, which beat them in two of those Superbowls, won only 43 games. The Redskins won 37. The Giants won 38. They've already got three people from that era (two players and the coach) in the Hall of Fame.
And they have that intangible something that means more than anything else. They have guts. It would have been easy to go into the tank after losing one Superbowl. Or two. Or three. But they went back for four.
Sure, Dallas beat them twice. But Dallas didn't go to four in a row (and one of those wins was against a backup QB.) The Redskins beat them once, but where have they been since then? And the Giants? Don't make me laugh. They "won" because Scott Norwood didn't hit a long kick perfectly, and have stunk since then.
Only the Bills were there year after year and continuing to be great and exciting. They should've won. They didn't, but that doesn't keep the Bills from being the greatest football team ever put together.
6 comments:
Right on brother! Go Bills.
Exactly.
Are you for real? What have they EVER won? 3 or 4 trips to the big dance and they came away empty handed each time. Maybe this title works better. "Best try at being a professional football franchise and falling miserably short each and every time" OR how about "Best (and most consistant)choke(s) in the history of the Super Bowl" Get a life!
Here at TBOE, we generally try to keep this positive. I appreciate your reading, though, and post all comments, so here you go.
Obviously, I disagree with you and expect that The Bills must have soundly beaten your team at some point -- or at all points.
man are you kidding me you know what... YOUR WRONG. There are three good reasons why the bills are not the greatest team ever first reason is that they have never won anything. Second they have never won the superbowl. lastly they have never won the superbowl!!!! You could have said the raiders or the browns or even the bucs to be the best team ever. the thing about these three teams are there doing bad now but There owners have the big RING!!! the bills could never could come close to that the only time the bills will ever see a superbowl ring is if the nfl commisioner goodell feels sorry for the bills and give them a honorary picture of a superbowl ring. Thats final (Raiders for life)
Oh, man. Lose four Superbowls in a row and people hold that against you forever. What about all those years that the Bills DIDN'T lose a Superbowl?!? How come you don't give them any credit for that? You know, EVERY year a team loses the Superbowl. But the Bills haven't lost a Superbowl in over a decade, which just boosts them even more.
Plus, let me just make my official prediction that the 2008 Buffalo Bills will go 16-0 in the regular season and win each game by an average margin of victory of at least 50 points. They'll be so good that the rest of the teams will forfeit the playoffs rather than play them.
That's a good, solid, analytical prediction.
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