Denver Broncos vs. Buffalo Bills: Inside the Series
By Chris Krier
The Denver Broncos travel to Ralph Wilson Stadium this weekend to play the Buffalo Bills in their 36th matchup all-time.
The Bills lead the regular season series at 18-15-1, the post season series at 1-0, and they won the most recent matchup in 2008 by a score of 30-23. The Bills won 9 in a row in this series during the 1960’s and Denver won 5 in a row from 1995 to 2007. An interesting fact is that after this weekend’s game the Broncos will have played exactly 2/3rds of these matchups on the road.
From a Denver perspective, the most memorable games played in the series are the victories during the 1997 and 2007 seasons.
The 1997 victory occurred during the Broncos first championship season and was won in overtime by a score of 23-20. This game is famous due to the Blizzard that hit the Denver area the week of the contest which almost kept the Broncos from travelling out of the city. Several players and coaches were assisted by fans to get them through the snow and delivered to the airport. The Broncos eventually made it to Buffalo but were forced to play without much rest due to the weather delay. They jumped out to a big 20-0 lead in the 3rd quarter before holding on for dear life to secure the win in OT.
The 15-14 win in 2007 occurred on the opening weekend of the season. It is memorable due to the fact that Jason Elam kicked a 42-yard field goal for the win as time expired. The final drive was marked by a chaotic rush onto the field by the field goal unit as the clock was ticking down. Denver had no timeouts and got into position with just enough time to spare in order to get the kick away. Most Broncos fans can remember nearly having a heart attack while watching the clock during those crazy final moments.
The Series
Bills Lead Overall Series, 19-15-1:
1960—Broncos, 27-21 (Buffalo)
1960 – Tie, 38-38 (Denver)
1961—Broncos, 22-10 (Buffalo)
1961 – Bills, 23-10 (Denver)
1962—Broncos, 23-20 (Buffalo)
1962 – Bills, 45-38 (Denver)
1963—Bills, 30-28 (Denver)
1963 – Bills, 27-17 (Buffalo)
1964—Bills, 30-13 (Buffalo)
1964 – Bills, 30-19 (Denver)
1965—Bills, 30-15 (Denver)
1965 – Bills, 31-13 (Buffalo)
1966—Bills, 38-21 (Buffalo)
1967—Bills, 17-16 (Denver)
1967 – Broncos, 21-20 (Buffalo)
1968—Broncos, 34-32 (Denver)
1969—Bills, 41-28 (Buffalo)
1970—Broncos, 25-10 (Buffalo)
1975—Bills, 38-14 (Buffalo)
1977—Broncos, 26-6 (Denver)
1979—Broncos, 19-16 (Buffalo)
1981—Bills, 9-7 (Buffalo)
1984—Broncos, 37-7 (Buffalo)
1987—Bills, 21-14 (Buffalo)
1989—Broncos, 28-14 (Buffalo)
1990—Bills, 29-28 (Buffalo)
1991—Bills, 10-7 (Buffalo) AFC Championship
1992—Bills, 27-17 (Buffalo)
1994—Bills, 27-20 (Buffalo)
1995—Broncos, 22-7 (Denver)
1997—Broncos, 23-20 (Buffalo) OT
2002—Broncos, 28-23 (Denver)
2005—Broncos, 28-17 (Buffalo)
2007—Broncos, 15-14 (Buffalo)
2008—Bills, 30-23 (Denver)
If you want to react real-time during the Bronco games & celebrate, complain, vent, cheer, commiserate, and have a few laughs, follow me on Twitter.