Each week, Buffalo Rumblings will prepare you for the Buffalo Bills' upcoming opponent by looking back into the history of the series to find a memorable game or moment. This week, we look into the short history between the Bills and Eagles to find this gem.
In Week 13 of the 1990 NFL season, the 7-4 Philadelphia Eagles traveled to Buffalo to square off against a nine-win Bills team coming off of their second loss of the season. Leading the Eagles was Randall Cunningham and his fleet feet.
The Bills opened with a flurry of first-quarter scoring, racking up a 24-point lead by the time the period had ended behind three Jim Kelly touchdown passes. The second quarter saw momentum shift, however, as the Eagles put together three scoring drives to bring the score to 24-16 at halftime.
In the second half, the Eagles scored first to bring the score to 24-23, with only a failed extra point from the second quarter separating the two teams. Buffalo answered with two field goals to close out the scoring at 30-23 and push their record to 10-2.
The game is best-remembered by Bills fans for Bruce Smith's big day. He recorded two sacks, four hurries and eight tackles playing in Philly's backfield for a large portion of the afternoon. His biggest missed play was the highlight of the game when, in the second quarter, Cunningham ducked out of a Smith sack while standing in his own end zone to throw the ball 60 yards to Fred Barnett. Barnett took that pass the rest of the way for a 95-yard touchdown, the second-longest play in Eagles history.
Cunningham threw three touchdowns on the day and rushed seven times for 71 yards after busting a 51-yard run. He was also sacked six times on the day - twice each by Smith and Darryl Talley, and once each by Mike Lodish and Cornelius Bennett.
Kelly had 334 passing yards for the Bills and three touchdowns, but Thurman Thomas was held under 60 yards on the ground. james Lofton had a huge day with 174 receiving yards, including his 71-yard catch to open the scoring.
Both teams wound up in the playoffs. Buffalo won the AFC East with a 13-3 record to secure homefield advantage through the AFC Playoffs and eventually made it to Super Bowl XXV. Philadelphia was one of three NFC East teams in the field that year, but lost to the Redskins in the Wild Card round.
The Bills' 30 points are the most they've ever scored against the Eagles. The Bills look to even the series between thetwo teams at six wins apiece when they face off this weekend in Orchard Park.