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.
September 13
1976 — Dolphins 30, Bills 21 — Opening the season in front of a Rich Stadium crowd of 77,683, John Leypoldt missed all three of his field goal attempts from inside 40 yards in what some regard as the worst Monday Night Football performance by a kicker in history. Coach Lou Saban blamed the loss on Leypoldt in his postgame comments and cut the kicker soon afterward. O.J. Simpson had 71 yards on six touches after practicing once with the Bills following a preseason holdout. Jim Braxton, whom Simpson called “the best blocking fullback I’ve ever known, injured his knee on the fourth play and was lost for the season.
1987 — Jets 31, Bills 28 — In the second straight home opener against the Jets, Ken O’Brien once again got the best of his famed ’83 quarterback classmate Jim Kelly. This was the Jets’ seventh win in a row against the Bills, their longest streak in a series that dates to both teams joining the AFL in 1960. Kelly did pass for 305 yards and three touchdowns, while Bruce Smith had a hand in two of Buffalo’s four sacks. The glory days were coming fast.
2015 — Bills 27, Colts 14 — The Bills celebrated the 50th anniversary of their 1964-65 AFL championship run, put coach Lou Saban on the Wall of Fame and kicked off their first season under Rex Ryan with a solid victory in the home opener at Ralph Wilson Stadium. Tyrod Tayloyr tossed a 51-yard touchdown to Percy Harvin on the final play of the first quarter, and Buffalo’s defense kept Andrew Luck off the board until late in the third quarter with a 24-0 lead already established.
2020 — Bills 27, Jets 17 — The home opener you almost certainly did not attend. Opening the pandemic season in an empty venue that was known as Bills Stadium for that season, Josh Allen beat draft classmate Sam Darnold to begin Buffalo’s ascent to AFC East champion status for the first time in a quarter century. This was Allen’s first game with at least 300 passing yards, a milestone he’s now reached 29 times in his career, the most coming during the 2020 season (eight). Fans were not permitted at this game due to coronavirus containment protocols.
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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.
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