Buffalo Bills (1-3) vs Cleveland Browns (0-4)
Sunday, October 11, 2009 at 1:00 PM ET
Ralph Wilson Stadium - Orchard Park, NY
Random, unexpected pre-post note: Cleveland on Wednesday morning traded WR Braylon Edwards to the Jets in exchange for WR Chansi Stuckey, LB Jason Trusnick, and two undisclosed draft picks. Essentially, Buffalo will be playing against Edwards soon - it's just been delayed a week. Report comes via ESPN's Adam Schefter.
Well, it took last week's "game" to finally bring out the pessimist in me. This Buffalo Bills team is really killing my enthusiasm for football. But the cupcake Cleveland Browns are coming in this week, so they should be pushovers, right? I'm fairly certain that is the sentiment that most of us had the last two seasons when the Bills played the Browns, and look how that turned out. If you forget how that turned out just, skip the rest of my rambling and hit the jump.
The Browns and Bills have met fifteen times during their histories, despite being less then 190 miles from each other, that includes one playoff game. The Browns hold an all-time edge in the series 10-5, including wins in their last two meetings. Hit the jump for the last five meeting in greater detail.
Sunday, November 4, 1990: Bills 42, Browns 0
Ah, the good old days when the Bills could take a weaker team behind the wood shed and beat them senseless. The Bills ran for only 102 yards on the day, but four runs ended in touchdowns. Thurman Thomas had three touchdowns on the day (two rushing and one receiving), while Jamie Mueller and Kenneth Davis punched in the other two offensive scores. Darryl Talley picked off two Mike Pagel passes, taking one of them 60 yards to the house to cap the scoring for the Bills. The Browns had 43 rushing yards on the day and committed 13 penalties for 87 yards to aid the Bills. Marvcus Patton and Hal Garner recorded a half-sack each.
Monday, October 2, 1995: Bills 22, Browns 19
Steve Christie (three field goals) and Matt Stover (four) had very active days for their respective teams. The Bills got two Jim Kelly touchdown passes - one to Justin Armour and the other to Andre Reed - while the Browns got a 69-yard punt return for a score by Derrick Alexander to round out the scoring. Vinny Testaverde hit his favorite target, Andre Rison, to the tune of 6 catches for 126 yards, but it wasn't enough for the Browns. Phil Hansen (1.0), Bruce Smith (1.0), and Bryce Paup (1.0) all recorded sacks for the Bills.
Sunday, December 12, 2004: Bills 37, Browns 7
Ah, the good old days when the Bills could take a weaker team behind the wood shed and beat them senseless... again... but this time with defense. Luke McCown and the uber-popular Jeff Garcia combined to go 9 of 21 passing for 62 yards while getting sacked 8 times for a loss of 108 yards. Add to that the pitiful 29 yards rushing for the Browns, and Buffalo's defense held Cleveland to 17 total yards of offense on the day. Ouch. And you thought the Bills' offense was bad? Willis McGahee ran for 105 yards and two scores to pace the offense. Sam Adams (2.0), Chris Kelsay (1.0), Jeff Posey (1.0), Aaron Schobel (2.0), Lawyer Milloy (1.0), and Troy Vincent (1.0) all recorded sacks, and Vincent and Nate Clements added interceptions.
Sunday, December 16, 2007: Browns 8, Bills 0
This was the "Blizzard Game" from 2007. You remember - the one that started a three-game slide to end the season and eliminated the Bills from playoff contention. Jamal Lewis put the Browns on his back to the tune of 163 yards rushing. The Bills' offense, on the other hand, did almost nothing, with the exception of a single long run by Marshawn Lynch that didn't result in any points. And, of course, on the final play of the game, with the Bills attempting to tie it up... well, you know.
Monday, November 17, 2008: Browns 29, Bills 27
Trent Edwards came out of the gates firing in this one! Three interceptions to the Browns in the first quarter really set the tone for this game. Cleveland capitalized by going up 13-0 on two Phil Dawson field goals and a Josh Cribbs two-yard touchdown run. Two Rian Lindell field goals and a Marshawn Lynch 18-yard touchdown catch sandwiched another Dawson field goal to bring the Bills to within three points at 16-13. Jerome Harrison then broke Buffalo's back by rumbling 72 yards for a touchdown. Yes - that remains the lone career touchdown of his four-year career. Leodis McKelvin then resuscitated Bills fans by taking the ensuing kickoff 98 yards for a score to stay three points down. After another Dawson field goal, Edwards plunged into the end zone to give the Bills a 27-26 lead. But that jerk Dawson hit his fifth field goal of the day - and then Lindell missed one wide right as time expired - to give the Browns victory.