When the Buffalo Bills travel to play the New England Patriots on Monday Night Football one week from tonight, it will mark the 41st time that they have participated in a Monday night contest. They are 17-23 in their previous 40 Monday night appearances, including an 0-2 mark on the road against New England.
In fact, this will be Buffalo's second straight Monday night appearance in which they've been asked to travel to Foxboro. They lost in the season opener of 2009 on that stage, 25-24, in a game that featured Tom Brady returning from a 2008 knee injury and Terrell Owens' debut in a Bills uniform. The two teams also met on Monday night in 1995; New England won that one 27-14 in a game in which Drew Bledsoe played as well as Jim Kelly, with Curtis Martin (36 carries, 127 yards, one touchdown) the difference-maker.
That 2009 loss was the last time the Bills appeared in a Monday night game, bringing an end to a six-year drought on the national stage. Their game next week will also be only their fifth appearance on Monday night since the turn of the century, with all four previous games since 2000 resulting in losses.
When was the last time the Bills won on Monday night, you ask? October 4, 1999, in which the Bills beat the Miami Dolphins on the road by a final score of 23-18. Gabe Northern had a 59-yard fumble return for a touchdown to give the Bills a first-half lead, and Doug Flutie hit Eric Moulds for a fourth-quarter touchdown to provide the decisive points in the game. 1999, coincidentally, was the last season in which the Bills made the playoffs.
Here is the full accounting of the Bills' participation in Monday Night Football.
- Oct. 29, 1973: Chiefs 14 at Bills 23 (W)
- Sep. 16, 1974: Raiders 20 at Bills 21 (W)
- Oct. 20, 1975: Giants 17 at Bills 14 (L)
- Nov. 17, 1975: Bills 24 at Bengals 33 (L)
- Sep. 13, 1976: Dolphins 30 at Bills 21 (L)
- Nov. 15, 1976: Bills 10 at Cowboys 17 (L)
- Nov. 28, 1977: Bills 13 at Raiders 34 (L)
- Oct. 12, 1981: Dolphins 21 at Bills 31 (W)
- Nov. 9, 1981: Bills 14 at Cowboys 27 (L)
- Dec. 27, 1982: Bills 10 at Dolphins 27 (L)
- Oct. 3, 1983: Jets 34 at Bills 10 (L)
- Sep. 17, 1984: Dolphins 21 at Bills 17 (L)
- Oct. 17, 1988: Bills 37 at Jets 14 (W)
- Nov. 14, 1988: Bills 31 at Dolphins 6 (W)
- Sep. 18, 1989: Broncos 28 at Bills 14 (L)
- Oct. 16, 1989: Rams 20 at Bills 23 (W)
- Dec. 4, 1989: Bills 16 at Seahawks 17 (L)
- Sep. 24, 1990: Bills 30 at Jets 7 (W)
- Nov. 26, 1990: Bills 24 at Oilers 27 (L)
- Oct. 7, 1991: Bills 6 at Chiefs 33 (L)
- Oct. 21, 1991: Bengals 16 at Bills 35 (W)
- Nov. 18, 1991: Bills 41 at Dolphins 27 (W)
- Oct. 26, 1992: Bills 24 at Jets 20 (W)
- Nov. 16, 1992: Bills 26 at Dolphins 20 (W)
- Oct. 11, 1993: Oilers 7 at Bills 35 (W)
- Nov. 1, 1993: Redskins 10 at Bills 24 (W)
- Nov. 15, 1993: Bills 0 at Steelers 23 (L)
- Sep. 26, 1994: Broncos 20 at Bills 27 (W)
- Nov. 14, 1994: Bills 10 at Steelers 23 (L)
- Oct. 2, 1995: Bills 22 at Browns 19 (W)
- Oct. 23, 1995: Bills 14 at Patriots 27 (L)
- Sep. 16, 1996: Bills 6 at Steelers 24 (L)
- Dec. 16, 1996: Bills 14 at Dolphins 16 (L)
- Oct. 20, 1997: Bills 9 at Colts 6 (W)
- Nov. 17, 1997: Bills 13 at Dolphins 30 (L)
- Oct. 4, 1999: Bills 23 at Dolphins 18 (W)
- Dec. 11, 2000: Bills 20 at Colts 44 (L)
- Oct. 8, 2007: Cowboys 25 at Bills 24 (L)
- Nov. 17, 2008: Browns 29 at Bills 27 (L)
- Sep. 14, 2009: Bills 24 at Patriots 25 (L)