10 Worst Buffalo Bills games of the decade

-Coast

Since we started this decade long reflection with the worst front office moves, it seems natural to transition right into my personal favorite, the ten worst losses of the 00's. Oh man this is going to be fun/painful/gut wrenching/humorous/sickening to think about. How can I choose just ten out of the plethora of mind numbing defeats this team has experienced over the past ten years? Here's the list...

10. Browns 6 Bills 3 October 11, 2009

The Bills capped off 3 straight losses to the pathetic Browns by losing the worst game ever played in NFL history. This game summed up the decade and the Jauron era...embarrassing. The Browns quarterback Derek Anderson went 2-17 for 23 yards and an INT, but won. From Sunday November 2nd, 2008 through Sunday December 6th, 2009, the Browns won 2 football games and lost 19. Both wins came IN Orchard Park. How about that stat?

9. Patriots 21 Bills 16 October 30, 2005

The Patriots will find themselves all over this top 10 list with all they have done to this franchise since 2000. Heart breaking choke jobs, embarrassing blow outs...they have found different ways to tear out our insides. This game was on Sunday Night Football. It was Bruschi's famous first game back after a stroke and the Bills did all they can to steal the spotlight away from Ted. Willis McGahee had 31 carries for 136 yards. Kelly Holcombe out played Tom Brady. The Bills won every category on the stat sheet. New England only converted 1 3rd down in the game and the Bills had 121 more total yards. But, as usual, the Bills choked. Up 9 in the 4th quarter, they allowed New England to score and then proceeded to fumble it back to them right away. Then on 4th and 7 down 5, the Bills threw a 2 yard out to Moulds who had a guy all over him. Why is your number one receiver running a 2 yard pattern on 4th and 7 with the game on the line? So, despite being outplayed, Bruschi's emotional lift propelled New England to a win.

8. Patriots 56 Bills 10 November 18, 2007

Yeah, this wasn't a heart breaking loss...it was just the most embarrassing, one sided loss I have ever seen. The game wasn't even really this close. Tom Brady had four touchdown passes at half time to Randy Moss. The worst part about this is the Bills were riding a 4 game winning streak coming into this game, and on top of that, the NFL actually flexed this game to Prime Time. The NFL had to have regretted that decision. No one was watching this game outside of Massachusetts after the 2nd quarter.

7. Titans 30 Bills 29 December 24, 2006

Christmas Eve in Buffalo and the Bills were alive in the playoff race, presumably needing to win their last 2 games to get in. The Bills had a 9 point 4th quarter lead but in typical Dick Jauron fashion, they let it slip away. The end of each half was a complete catastrophe for the Bills. Yeah, they got a lucky field goal at the end of the first half, but it was what happened seconds before that that really hurt. The Titans faced 4th down with under 20 seconds left in the half and the Bills let Vince Young run it in from 36 yards out straight through our defense. At the end of the game, the Bills led by their coach Dick Jauron, were completely lost as to whether or not to kick a field goal into the wind. The Bills didn't know what yard line they needed to get to in order to attempt it and after much confusion they had to rush to the line and Losman ended up throwing up a prayer. They were playing for their season and couldn't know something as simple as where do I need to get to in order to attempt a field goal.

6. Broncos 15 Bills 14 September 9, 2007

The Bills never trailed in this game until the clock said 0:00. They had a 14-3 lead in the second half. One of their teammates, Kevin Everett, livelihood was in serious question. And then, with a 14-12 lead, Denver went on a march that none of us will ever forget. Jay Cutle led the successful march despite an errant pass that went backwards some 15 yards. On that drive, the Bills forced Denver into a 3rd and 23...only allowing a 19 yard reception from Brandon Marshall to set up a very manageable 4th down, which they converted. Later on the drive, out of timeouts, Cutler threw a pass in the middle of the field, complete. The clock ran, the offense sprinted off the field, the kicking team sprinted on. They somehow lined up and snapped it with 1 second left...Good.

5. Jaguars 13 Bills 10 September 12, 2004

Losing on the last play of the game isn't a strange occurrence for the Bills, but something made this one feel even more painful. The Bills seemed to control the entire game. The Jag offense was miserable. Leftwich threw for 147 yards and 2 interceptions in the game...most of those yards came on the last drive and specifically, one famous 4th down and 14. Leftwich threw the ball up for Jimmy Smith. Nate Clements tried to pick it off rather than knock it down...Smith made the catch then London Fletcher kicked the ball for a delay of game penalty and before the sellout crowd in Orchard Park could figure out what happened, Earnest Wilford was catching a game winning pass in the end zone on 4th and goal on the last play of the game. I have never in my life heard that stadium quieter or in more shock than I did that day.

4. Cowboys 25-Bills 24 October 8, 2007

The week before the "Duel in Dallas" between the undefeated Patriots and the undefeated Cowboys, Dallas had to travel through Orchard Park on Monday Night Football. The Bills were 1-3 coming into this game and were coming off back to back losses by 23 and 31 points. The Bills had no chance to win this game, right? Instead, it was the Bills defense who stole the show.

Tony Romo had 5 interceptions, two of which were returned for touchdowns. The Bills added a kick return touchdown also. 21 points with their offense on the sidelines. All the Bills offense needed to do was manage to score 5 points and the Bills win the football game. Actually, all they needed to do was run the ball on third and goal inside the 10 in the fourth quarter with an 8 point lead. Run the ball, win the game. Instead, they pass it, Edwards throws a pick to Newman who returns it 70 yards. The Bills D tried bailing the offense out again with another Romo pick, but it didn't matter. The Bills punted and we all know what happened from there on. Dallas TD, missed 2 pointer, recovered onside kick, then there were 7 seconds left and Dallas was out of timeouts and out of field goal range. The Bills gave the sideline to the outside receivers and Folk nailed the kick, twice. Again, the Bills did not trail until the final gun. The only saving grace was that all the bandwagon fans who root for Dallas had to be a little upset that their beloved Yankees got eliminated by the Tribe that night.

3. Patriots 25 Bills 24 September 14, 2009

Monday Night Football. Bills v Patriots. Brady's first game back. This was supposed to be Tom Brady's coming out party. Him and his high powered offense were supposed to steam roll the Bills. They were double digit favorites at home playing in front of a national television audience. Instead, the game belonged to Fred Jackson and the Bills. They didn't trail for 59:10. They had a double digit lead until the 57:54 mark. This was supposed to be our time. Finally, the Bills would beat New England and what better time to do it? Instead, it became the single most heart breaking loss in a non playoff type game that I have ever experienced. I literally was feeling the effects of this loss for a month. The only saving grace is it helped in the process of getting the coach fired.

2. Steelers 29 Bills 24 January 2, 2005

The season finale in 2004 was the most important Bills home game of the decade. It was the only meaningful Bills home game in January since '96. A win, coupled with a Jets or Broncos loss, and the Bills were playoff bound. They had run off 6 wins in a row and were straight up steam rolling everyone in their path. The Steelers were 14-1, playing for absolutely nothing. Big Ben was given the day off. Tommy Maddox was under center. Little known Willie Parker was carrying the load at running back. No name James Harrison started at linebacker. Brian Saint Pierre played a majority of the 2nd half. This should have been a slam dunk win for a team playing for it's season verse a team who was playing for nothing. Instead, James Harrison scored a touchdown, and Willie Parker ran for over 100 yards. The back breaker occurred in the 3rd quarter. The Bills led 17-16 marched down the field only to have their drive stall. Lindell shanked the 20 something yard field goal and on the very next play, Parker ripped off a 58 yard run. The worst moment was sitting in my car in the rain after the game hearing the announcement that the Jets lost.

1. Titans 22 Bills 16 January 8, 2000

Home run illegal forward pass.Who knew at the time how successful this game was at setting the tone for the entire decade? What explanation does this game really need? This game single handily started the demise of the franchise.

Honorable Mentions:

Browns 8 Bills 0, 2007 Season...Bills run screen pass on 4th and goal with season on line in a Blizzard.

Browns 29 Bills 27, 2008 Season...Monday Night Football...the Bills complete their tail spin after a 5-1 start with this gem in Orchard Park. Edwards plays worst game in NFL history, Jauron settles for 47 yarded into the wind at end of game, Lindell misses.

Jets 31 Bills 27, 2008 Season...Bills try and play spoiler, but Jauron calls inexplicable pass play at end of game, Losman fumbles, Jets score, game over.

Jets 37 Bills 31 Opening Day 2002 Season...Chad Morton returns opening kickoff of overtime back for a TD.

Dolphins 24 Bills 23 2005 Season...Bills blow 23-3 2nd half lead to Sage Rosenfels...I lose my triple parlay and subsequently bet 212 dollars on the Denver Nuggets -1 at Orlando to win back the 200 I was down...Nugs lose by 30, I lose 412. Ouch.

I am sure I missed some games...if I did, leave a comment. It was an ugly decade. We will try and list the top 10 best games since 2000 but we may have to trim in down to a top 3 list or something. Here's to the 2010's.