Bills-Dolphins: Most bitter rivalry in pro football

It may not be for the conference championship or eve have any real playoff implications, but nothing can take away from the importance of Sunday's game between these two blood arch-rivals.

One of the fiercest rivalries of all of professional sports is the one between the Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins. Ever since the Dolphins first got an expansion team in the old AFL, the two teams have had a hatred towards each other that is unmatched in the pros except for the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry.

The fans in Buffalo will always say that there is no other team in sports that they despise more. The reason for the abhorrence is from way back in 1970 when Don Shula took over as head coach for the Dolphins. His team ran an unheard of winning streak against the Bills throughout the entire decade.

The very roots of the bitter rivalry between the Bills and Dolphins is the spell put on the Bills by Grand Wizard Shula in the 70s. Even the great O.J. Simpson could not help the Bills put a dent in the Dolphins unblemished record over Buffalo in the 70s.

The Dolphins entered the American Football League as an expansion team in 1966 and faced a Bills team that had won the AFL Championship the last two years on September 18, 1966. It was a warm, sunny day in Buffalo and the Bills man-handled the fledgling Dolphins, 58-24. The next game between the two, the Bills shutout the Dolphins 29-0 in Miami. The next year, the Bills beat the Dolphins 35-13 at home. It would be one of the last times the Bills would have their way with the Fins for over a decade. The Dolphins turned the tables on the Bills in the next meeting down in Miami, 17-14. From that point on the Dolphins owned the Bills until the 1980s.

During the perfect Dolphin season of 1972, one that has never been equaled in NFL history, one team came the closest to defeating the Dolphins and that team were the Buffalo Bills. The game was one for the ages and it was a battle down to the wire. In the end, the Dolphins came out the winners, 24-23, but they had been in a real dog fight. After that, they would breeze over every team onto their way to a Super Bowl victory.

The Bills fans hatred of the Dolphins grew with every bitter defeat at the hands of the Fins. The 1980 season opened with the Dolphins invading Rich Stadium in Orchard Park. There had been much anticipation for that game by Bills fans during the summer and hopes that somehow the Shula hex would be broken.

I was among the over 80,000 who packed the sold out stadium that warm and sunny day in early September hoping that the Bills would finally break through to the other side and rid themselves of the Miami demons. It was a day to go down in Bills history as they got the monkey off their backs and beat the Dolphins 17-7.

When the seconds ticked down on the clock and the Bills finally had broken the Dolphins spell, the stadium erupted in celebration. It was pure pandemonium. Fans rushed onto the field and climbed on the goal posts, tearing them down as if the Bills had just won the conference championship. Crazed and jubilant fans, trying to get their hands on any souvenir as a memento for this historic event, even started ripping up pieces of the astroturf.

It was only the opening game of the season, but the stadium repair crews had to make costly repairs like they could expect if the Bills had won an AFC Championship at the very end of the season.

This game at the start of the 1980 season marked a turning point in the Bills fortunes. It was a preview of things to come at the very end of the 80s decade.

The Bills and Dolphins would play some exciting games in the 1980 decade with neither dominating the other like the Dolphins had previously. There was an event that would turn the tide in the other direction, however. A new coach would come to Buffalo who would cast as mighty a spell on the Dolphins as Shula had on the Bills. Like the old saying, "what goes around comes around," and the hiring of Marv Levy as Bills head coach would stick a fork in the Dolphins fortunes for almost an entire decade.

It took some time for Levy to mold a cast of coaches and players around him, but by the start of the 1990 season, his Bills would not only dominate the Dolphins for half of the 90s, but the entire AFC conference as well.

With Jim Kelly joining the Bills at quarterback, it marked the beginning of a new dynasty in the NFL. The former Miami University and World Football League star quarterback came on the Bills scene and rewrote the Bills record book and was the dominant force in a new offensive weapon that terrorized the league: the no-huddle offense.

The gambling Kelly was perfect for running what was called the "K-Gun" offense as he would improvise on the line and had defensive coordinators around the league tearing out their hair in attempts to counter it. Not too many succeeded in shutting down the Bills high-octane offense in the early 90s.

It took awhile to get everything in place, including the offensive line and weapons that Kelly could deploy. The Bills did go out and surround him with talent to make it all work. With such giants on the offensive line as Kent Hull and Will Wolford, and great receivers in James Lofton and Andre Reed, Kelly suddenly had the tools to use his talents to the fullest. With great blocking from his offensive line, Kelly was given the time to pick his receivers and get creative behind the line of scrimmage. He was also given the option to make up plays on the run. The no-huddle offense allowed Kelly to call the shots on the fly.

"I'm the only quarterback who calls his own plays," Kelly described. "But that's the way I like it. I enjoy it - that's part of football. I'm the one on the field and I know what plays I like. Any person, be it a football or basketball player, likes to be in control, to be the pivot guy. And in our offense, I feel I'm the pivot guy or point guard. I can do anything I want."

The legacy of the Bills-Dolphins rivalry doesn't stop with the players. The fans and the media have always taunted and even fought each other. Bills fans who have made the trek down to Miami to see their beloved Bills play, have been victims of hostile actions by Dolphin fans. In Buffalo, the scene grows ugly before, during and after almost every game. When Dolphins fans brave the elements and the razzing they subject themselves by coming into the hostile environment of Ralph Wilson Stadium, they are taking their lives in their hands. There are always skirmishes in the stands when the fans start the fisticuffs and many have been arrested and tossed out of the stadium.

Bills fans have greeted the Dolphins team bus on the way and leaving the stadium. One time a swarm of fans formed a human blockade and prevented the bus from moving. Then they started throwing snowballs and rocked the bus. Some Dolphin players were actually fearful of their lives.

The players have gotten into the act over the years also. No one in Buffalo will ever forget the time when Miami linebacker Brian Cox greeting the chorus of boos when he came onto the field by giving them a double-barrel middle figure salute. He even spat at the fans and it got so ugly that Cox actually tried to sue the fans afterwards.

Speaking about spit, last season Eric Moulds, the Bills star receiver, supposedly spit in Dolphins' defensive back Patrick Surtain's face during the heat of the battle. Moulds claimed that he didn't while Surtain insisted he did. There was much debate about the incident leading up to this year's first contest with the Dolphins.

Miami free safety Brock Marion came to the defense of Surtain, saying that he lost all respect for the Bills receiver. Dolphins defensive tackle Larry Chester also attacked Moulds.

"I hope he spits on me. Please," threatened. "To disrespect a man like that, that's not cool at all. I couldn't let a man spit on me and be satisfied with it. I know Pat is not satisfied. We would still be fighting to this day."

Moulds said the whole thing was blown up just to add hype to the game between the two teams. He claimed that the two actually were good friends and sat down for a beer during the Pro Bowl week in Hawaii last year and they also socialized in Mississippi during the offseason.

"I don't have a problem with Pat," insisted Moulds. "But I have a problem with other guys talking about stuff that doesn't concern them. Marion doesn't have to cover me. He's a safety. A safety can say whatever he wants to. You don't hear the corners saying too much of anything because they know they have to play against me every down."

The Dolphins got the last word when they completely dominated the Bills in the their first meeting this year. The feuds between the players and the fans will continue for many years to come as the Bills-Dolphins rivalry will continue to be one of the greatest of all sports.

The following is a summary of some of the Bills many successes against the Dolphins after finally breaking that Shula curse in 1980:

Road to the Super Bowls started with Dolphins

The early 1990 Buffalo Bills were the strongest team in the AFC. But their record 4 straight trips to the Super Bowl all started with the Miami Dolphins. Their first playoff game in that great run was a wild playoff shootout against the Dolphins. The Bills outlasted the Dolphins in a game played in driving snow 44-34. The combined 78 points were the most ever for an NFL playoff game.

The Bills came out gunning as Jim Kelly ran the no-huddle to perfection in the snow. He hit Andre Reed for a 40-yard touchdown, and then the Bills got two field goals by Scott Norwood. The Fish answered with a 49-yard kick by Pete Stoyanovich.

The second quarter was a page out of the old AFL days with 4 touchdowns split between the teams. The Bills scored on a 5-yard run by running back Thurman Thomas, only to be answered by a 64-yard strike by Dan Marino to Mark Duper. It was Kelly's turn in the showdown, as he hit wideout James Lofton for 13 yards. The Bills were driving again, but fumbled and the Dolphins recovered. They drove down to the Bills two and Marino scored on a bootleg from the two.

The teams exchanged field goals in the third quarter, but then got rolling again with both teams scoring 2 touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Dolphins guard Roy Foster checked in as a receiver and Marion hit him with a 2-yard toss to get the Dolphins back in the game. However, the Bills scored two times in a row to widen their lead when Thomas scored another 5-yard scamper and Reed also got his second of the day on a 26-yard pass from Kelly.

The Dolphins got to within 10 when Marino hit Tony Martin on an 8-yard pass, but that was it for the Fish and the Bills then proceeded to storm the Los Angeles Raiders 51-3 in the AFC Championship game the next week to earn their first trip of 4 to the Super Bowl.

1992 AFC CHAMPIONSHIP

The Buffalo Bills did it as a wild card team. They did it with the greatest comeback in NFL history when they spotted the Houston Oilers 34 points and then rallied and won it in overtime. And on this bright sunny day in Miami, they won their third straight American Football Conference championship by beating the Dolphins 29-10.

After the Bills miraculous comeback win in the Wild Card game against Houston, they had to defeat the Steelers in Pittsburgh and now had to defeat the Eastern Division champion Miami Dolphins in the Florida heat.

The victory over the hated Dolphins in Miami put the Bills in the Super Bowl for the third year in a row. Kelly threw 2 interceptions in the first half, but overcame those as he passed 24 times, completed 17 for 177 yards and one touchdown. After those early picks, the game plan shifted to throwing screen passes, which caught the Dolphins off guard. Kelly decided to go to the safer routes and throw the screen when the Dolphins blitzed him. Ten of his completions were to his running backs and he went to the running game more.

"This is without a doubt the sweetest victory I've ever been involved with," Kelly said after the game. "I want to thank my teammates for hanging in there with me all week. Every time I needed an encouraging word, they were there for me."

1995 WILDCARD

The Bills missed the playoffs in 1994 after so many great runs to the Super Bowl, but Bills once again turned it around in 1995 and found themselves face to face with their hated rivals again in a wild card game. As usual, the Bills had home field advantage and the late December games in Buffalo had been as much of a curse to the Dolphins as Shula was to the Bills in the 70s.

With the crowd getting into the thick of things and making more noise than a jet aircraft, the Bills took a commanding 27-0 lead by the start of fourth quarter.

It was only fitting that the last game Don Shula coached for the Miami Dolphins or in the NFL for that matter came against the Buffalo Bills in Buffalo. As ususal, the game was in ice-cold Buffalo and the Bills handed the Fish their heads by thrashing them 37-22. It was a game reminiscent to the first playoff game between the two arch rivals to open the decade when the Bills stomped the Dolphins 44-34 in wild shootout.

This game the Bills would display an all-out explosive attack that would net 536 yards total offense, 341 of it on the ground. Both teams set an NFL playoff record of 1,038 yards combined.

Thurman Thomas ran for 158 yards on 25 carries and was once again a thorn in the Dolphins side.

"The offensive line did a great job blocking and it enabled me to pick whatever hole I wanted to go through," lauded Thomas.

Kelly had all day to thread the needle and also had high marks for his O-line.

"The offensive line played the game of their lives," praised Kelly. "I wasn't sacked and all those running backs put up those kind of numbers."

Levy, who would retire a few years after his rival coach Shula, knew the secret to beating the Dolphins.

"We did run well, but that's an understatement," Levy said. "We had to do it in order to win the game. To beat a team like Miami, you must execute the way we did."

Meanwhile, Shula will always remember his last game he ever coached for the Dolphins. Instead of the winning sensation he had experienced throughout the 70s, he was once again humiliated by the Bills bullies.

1998 WILDCARD

BILLS 1998 SEASON COMES TO END
WITH BITTER LOSS TO DOLPHINS

For the third time this year, the refs played a major role in an important AFC East game. First there was the Patriots game in which the refs blew 2 calls that cost the Bills the game. Then the week after, the refs gave the Jets a game on a controversial Vinny TD. And now in this game, the refs do it again in the Bills AFC Wild Card game against the Dolphins. Andre Reed scored a touchdown that the refs took away. All replays showed that Reed was in. Andre was very upset and when he got up, he accidently bumped the ref. Result: Reed thrown out of the game, the Bills lose a down and 10 yards. This was not the only controversial call that the refs made. There were plenty to go around, mostly against the Bills.

The Bills made it interesting at the end. They did convert that drive into a field goal. Then they recovered an onside kick and drove down the field. The Bills go down to the Dolphins red zone, but Flutie gets blind sided on a third down play and fumbles the ball. Dolphins recover their fifth turnover and win the game, end of story!

1999 SEASON

BILLS GET REVENGE ON THE DOLPHINS

On a warm and muggy Miami night, the Buffalo Bills beat the Miami Dolphins 23-18 in a game that could have huge consequences in the AFC East. The Bills defense came up big when they had to and was the key element in the victory. John Holecek and Kurt Schulz were the standouts, but there was a solid effort all around as the Bills D stuffed the Fish and Dan Marino.

This could really be a big one for us," said a jubilant Wade Phillips after the game. "Our defense was outstanding. Everybody talks about their defense, but ours is playing tremendous. We had some heroic performances tonight"

The game was sweet revenge for Phillips and his troops. There is still a bitter taste in their mouths from the Wild Card game last January when the Dolphins ended the Bills season by beating them 24-17. After that one, Jimmy Johnson, the outspoken Dolphin coach, went berserk in the Dolphin locker room by stomping on a box of Flutie Flakes in celebrating the victory.

In an obvious dig at Johnson, Phillips said that he was exuberant about beating the Dolphins "but I didn't bring any hair spray to stomp on."

The Bills played their most impressive game of the season Sunday as they not only "Squished the Fish", but pulverized them! The Bills came out of the chute with fire in their eyes and got right back into the AFC Eastern Division race as they handed the Dolphins their fins in a 23-3 shellacking.

As Jimmy Johnson said, "They beat the Hell out of us."

Jimmy's Dolphins are now 7-2, with Buffalo being the only team in the league to beat them, and the Bills have now done it twice. Johnson, who made a spectacle of himself last year after his Dolphins beat the Bills in the AFC Wildcard game by stomping on a box of Flutie Flakes, has nothing to celebrate this year after losing to the Bills two times.

The man who uses so much hair spray that the wind has little effect was completely disgusted with his team's performance.

"We obviously weren't ready to play," Johnson fumed. "Buffalo blocked us; we didn't block them. We couldn't tackle them. We had a lot of things going on, talking about how good we were, and quarterback controversies and everything in the world except talking about our opponent, which had beat us pretty good before."

2000 SEASON

The Miami Dolphins received a huge present Sunday in the form of a victory from the Buffalo Bills in Miami's Pro Player Stadium. The Bills lost 22-13 in a one-sided mistake-filled contest and any hopes of making the playoffs are now in serious jeopardy as is Wade Phillips' job.

The most serious error the Bills made came late in the fourth quarter when the game was still on contest. With the score 15-13 Dolphins, Rob Johnson, who was under pressure as he was all day, rolled to his left and found running back Sammy Morris with a short screen. Morris, trying to make extra yardage, had the ball pop out from his grasp and right into the hands of Sam Madison, who went all the way for the clinching touchdown.

"We gave this game away," muttered Bills head coach Wade Phillips. "We were in a position to win against a team that hasn't given up many points."

SQUISHED!

The Buffalo Bills playoff hopes were squished by the Miami Dolphins when the Fish demolished the Bills 33-6. It was a pathetic effort by both the Bills offensive and defensive units as the Dolphins ran over the Bills right from the get-go.

The Dolphins came out of the gate ready to exploit the Bills injury-plagued defense and they succeeded beyond their wildest expectations. The Bills were using the injury excuse even before they took the field. In fact, they had been prepping their fans and media all week with their "poor us" attitude.

"Our game plan was to come out and run the ball effectively and really test the young linebackers that were in there," Fiedler said. "We put ourselves in a great position right now."

2001 SEASON

The stage was set. The Buffalo Bills seemed destined to pull off a big upset over the Miami Dolphins. The weather was almost perfect and the Bills had a 27-17 lead in the fourth quarter. In fact, after Travis Henry scored the Bills final touchdown 6:44 into the quarter, a lot of fans left the stadium thinking that the Bills were going to pull out their first home victory in 8 games. But then fate went against the Bills, or it was just the Bills found another way to lose.

Jay Fiedler proved his merit in guiding the Dolphins to a big comeback victory to keep pace with the New York Jets for first place in the AFC East. Coming back from that 10-point deficit, along with getting some good breaks along the way, could go a long ways in helping to determine the winner in the East.

Fielder was as cool as a cucumber, going 18-for-31 for 262 yards 3 TDs and no picks. His engineering the last 24 points in the fourth quarter stunned the sellout crowd that had its share of Dolphins fans.

"Jay Fiedler came up here with the mindset that he was going to do anything that he possibly could to help this team win," Dolphins coach Dave Wannstedt said. "There is a fine line of having enough confidence to make a throw but not forcing anything. I think Jay went through that today and hopefully gained some confidence."

Bitter end to a bitter season

Mercifully, the 2001 Buffalo Bills season is over. It has to go down as one of the most disastrous seasons, if not the worst, in Bills history. The Bills ended 3-13, only one game better than the much talked about years of gloom in the 1980s when they fell to 2-14. The Bills were blown away 34-7 by the Miami Dolphins to finally put to rest a horrendous season.

The Bills game against the Dolphins went exactly the way the season did. Van Pelt was injured early in the game when he went down hard on his shoulder. That left third-string quarterback Travis Brown as the Bills signal caller. For not having any playing at all this season and having attempted one pass in his entire NFL career, Brown did a commendable job.... until the final play of the game. With the clock ticking down, Brown's pass at the goal line was picked off by Brock Marion and he returned it 100 yards to rub salt in the Bills wounds.

2002 RESULTS

Bills D devours Dolphins

Nate Clements knew that the Bills secondary had to step it up big time. With Antoine Winfield not playing and the opposing quarterbacks making mince meat of the secondary for the first 6 games, Clements knew this would not be an easy game. Clements not only was up to the challenge, but he had a career day, picking off three passes and taking back one for a touchdown as the Bills upset the first place Miami Dolphins 23-20.

The Bills had to make some adjustments in their secondary to compensate for Winfield, who had gone done in practice in a collision with Bills receiver Eric Moulds. With the Bills not having one interception in six games, they were hoping to finally get one against the Dolphins. Clements did the honors to finally getting a pick and he had two more, one which went for a 29-yard touchdown.

"I forgot what it felt like, almost,'' admitted Clements. "We said that when they come, they're going to come in bunches, and they did today.''

Dolphins get buried in Bills avalanche

Suddenly the sky opened up and unleashed a tidal wave of snow. The 73,287 lifted their hands to the heavens and rejoiced. It was party time and the Miami Dolphins felt like unwelcome guests. With the winds swirling the blinding snow in circles around Ralph Wilson Stadium, the Buffalo Bills were circling the wagons.

With the help of Old Man Winter, timely Dolphin penalties and an aerial circus by Drew Bledsoe, the Buffalo Bills came from behind and upstaged the Dolphins 38-21 before frozen and delirious Bills fans. The thousands of Dolphins fans in the stands left with a further reminder of how cruel playing December games in Buffalo can be for opponents.

This was a wild and wacky game reminiscent of old AFL shootouts. There were enough game-breaking plays for an entire season. The Dolphins opened up the game as if they were going to blow the game wide open. Ricky Williams had a career and a Dolphin record-breaking game by galloping 228 yards before he had to leave with a leg injury.

BILLS AND FINS 2003

It took a Miami Dolphins manhandling to bring the Bills and their fans back down to earth. The Bills defense was wore down by the constant running of Dolphins super running back Ricky Williams. The Dolphins beat the Bills 17-7 to tie Buffalo and New England for first place in the AFC East. To make it even worse, the Bills put on their worst performance during a nationally televised prime time game on ESPN.

Williams constant slamming into the Bills line finally wore out the defense that was on the field most of the night. Williams carried the ball 42 times (a Dolphin record) for 153 yards. The Bills were able to contain him for most of the first half, but on the last Dolphin drive that ensured the Miami victory, Williams was able to pick up more real estate and scored the clinching touchdown.

Copyright © 2003 Bills Thunder & Rick Anderson, all rights reserved.