Buffalo Bills Top 10 Errr 5, Games of the Decade

-Coast

As I sit here and think about the ten best wins of the decade, only two or three games come to my mind while about 25 brutal losses pop right into my head. The Bills won a combined 65 games through the decade up until this point. They have lost 93. Therefore, due to lack of material and lack of wins, I am going to trim this list down to the top 5 before reaching on say this season's overtime win over the Jets which ranks 8th.

Worst Games of the Decade

Worst Moves of the Decade

Best and Worst Draft Picks of the Decade

Top 5 Best Bills wins of the Decade

5. The Bills best playoff run came in 2004 so one game from that 6 game winning streak has to make this list. The Bills started out 0-4 and then ran off 9 wins in 11 games. The 6 games leading up to the Steelers game resulted in wins by 20, 31, 10, 30, 16 and 34. It was the 16 point win in week 15 that stands out the most, maybe for selfish reasons. Since 2004, I have been to 5 road games, they have won 1 game and this was it. Rookie free agent tight end Jason Peters blocked a punt and scored a touchdown (He also caught JP Losman's first touchdown pass...what a tight end he was). The highlight of this game though was Takeo Spikes. He was making his first trip back to his original team and didn't disappoint. He picked off a Jon Kitna pass and took it 62 yards to the house. This was for me, the most memorable road game of the decade so it had to make the list. The Bills won the game 33-17 and would go on to beat the 49ers 41-7 before the far more familiar fate, a heartbreaking week 17 loss to the Steelers.

4. I'll be honest...I started this list at 1 and worked by way back and I am reaching right now. I am forced to go to the Dick Jauron era for the 4th best game of the decade. It was Jauron's first year and it was the game where many people thought "Ok, maybe JP Losman is this teams quarterback of the future." It was November 19, 2006. The Bills were 3-6 and their season was pretty much over already as they traveled to play the Houston Texans. The Bills first two possessions in the game resulted in 83 yard touchdown receptions by Lee Evans. Evans on the day had 11 receptions for 265 yards and 2 touchdowns. JP had his most prolific game as a Bill with 340 and 3 touchdowns. However, the Bills were still losing late in this game and thanks to terrible play calling by Houston, had a chance to win it at the end. Losman marched the Bills down the field and hit Peerless Price with about 10 seconds left down 4 to win the game. Losman actually looked like he had a clue how to play football on this drive as he used Anthony Thomas underneath and hit two big passes, one to Evans and one to Price to win the game 24-21. The Bills used this win to propel them to 4 wins in 5 games before they choked away their playoff hopes. (I realized that Peerless Price has been an integral part of three of the top four games of the decade as you will soon see.)

3. The 2002 season brought some of the best memories of the decade, mostly because we had an offense with a pulse. Before the Bills thought sending games to Toronto was a good idea and the NFL thought that a December divisional game should be played in Toronto, the Bills had some memorable December games vs. the Miami Dolphins and this game was a perfect example. It was December 1, 2002 and the Bills were trying to snap a 3 game losing streak and save their season. Ricky Williams torched the Bills defense for 228 yards and two touchdowns, including a 45 yard run for a TD on the games first play. Ricky though couldn't carry his team to a win. Instead it was the Bledsoe/Peerless Price/Eric Moulds show. Bledsoe threw for 306 and 3 YDs. Moulds had 130 and 1 TD and Price had 93 and 2 TDs. The most famous part of this 38-21 win was the 2nd half blizzard. The Bills outscored Miami 21-7 in the snow in the 2nd half. Moulds caught a bomb from Bledsoe off a deflection and Price took a quick slant to the house and ran straight into Jim Kelly's arms while the fans sang "Let it Snow."

2. Fresh off a 3-13 season in 2001, the Bills went out and traded a first round pick for quarterback Drew Bledsoe in an attempt to turn their fortunes around. At this point, the Bills were still a franchise with a history of winning over the past 15 or so years and missed the playoffs twice in a row for the first time since the 80's. Bledsoe didn't disappoint in the home opener as the Bills put up 31 points against the Jets, only to fall victim to Chad Morton's two kickoff return touchdowns including one in overtime.

In week two on September 15, 2002, the Bills traveled to Minnesota for what was the most exciting game of the decade. Drew Bledsoe, Peerless Price, Daunte Culpepper and Randy Moss put on a show in the Metrodome. Moss had 11 catches for 111 yards and a TD as Culpepper threw for three total. Bledsoe and Price showed them up. Drew threw for a 463 yards, 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. This type of game can't even be imagined by Bills fans lately. Peerless Price caught 13 balls for 185 and 2 touchdowns. With the Bills trailing 39-36, Mike Hollis nailed a 54 yard field goal, off the cross bar and through. Then in overtime, Bledsoe connected with Price on a 48 yard touchdown pass for the win, 45-39.

1. This is a no brainer. The same team who handed us three or four of our worst, most heartbreaking losses also provided us with the best three hours of the past 10 years. The date was September 7, 2003. The Bills were coming off a promising 8-8 season after finishing 3-13 in 2001. Drew Bledsoe was coming off a pro bowl season. The Bills had new defensive stars all over the field...Sam Adams, perhaps their best acquisition of the decade in Takeo Spikes and to add further spice to this game, Tom Donahoe went out and brought in strong safety Lawyer Milloy who was recently cut by the Patriots earlier that week.

New England was the defending world champions and were the favorites again in 2003. The Bills defense completely owned Brady. Up 14-0, the Bills produced their most famous play of the decade, a 37 yard interception return for a touchdown by defensive tackle Sam Adams. This play earned him a spot on the cover of Sport Illustrated with the caption "Off and Running." Tom Brady threw 4 interceptions, including two to Takeo Spikes. In the end, the final score was 31-0. The Bills followed this up with a 38-17 win over Jacksonville, a game in which Drew Bledsoe produced a perfect 158.3 quarterback rating. The Bills were destined for great things in 2003...they catapulted to the top 2 in the power rankings on ESPN. The only problem is that they would go on to finish the season 4-12 and fall apart from the seams.

Honorable Mention: There are none. Seriously, I was reaching after three and can't really think of one other good win this team has had this decade. I guess you can say the October 19, 2008 23-14 win over San Diego which put the Bills to 5-1 and made all of us (including me) think Trent Edwards was the real deal. We all know it was a tease though and there is no way in hell Trent Edwards belongs on this list.