History Repeats?

Today the Denver Broncos will play the Buffalo Bills in an AFC wildcard game. Why is it called wildcard when half the teams in this round won their division? Well, that question is beyond the scope of this post. The game kicks off at 11:00 AM MST in Buffalo. Where will I be for the first Broncos playoff game in nine years? At church, of course. The meeting schedule changed with the new year, and so church begins at 11:30. We’ll get home around 3:00, long after the game as concluded. So I’ll miss the live broadcast.

The last time the Broncos and the Bills met in the playoffs was January 1992, and I faced a similar scenario. It was the AFC Championship, I believe set to kick off at 10:30 AM. Our ward’s meeting schedule began at 9:00 for most of my life, but for this year it was changed to 11:00. I was in my teens at the time, and while it was disappointing to miss the live broadcast, I just set the old VCR. And then I would watch it afterwards, not knowing the result before I started. At least that was my plan.

Such a plan only works if you don’t accidentally hear something before you get home to rewind and watch the tape. In this case, someone in our ward went home during our meeting block and checked the score. And then came back in the door and loudly announced, which I overheard. So my plan to get full enjoyment of the game was spoiled!

The Broncos were not favored in this particular game. This was the peak era of Buffalo Bills football. They were the defending AFC champions, with back-to-back 13-3 seasons in the book. Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, Andre Reed, Bruce Smith. The Broncos were coming off the Drive II where they narrowly escaped with a win over the Houston Oilers. They were a solid team, but beating the Bills on the road would not be easy. Yet when I heard that the Bills were holding onto a narrow 7-0 lead, I was encouraged. What to do??

I had a friend named Mike, who had keys to his family’s minivan. We wound up skipping the last hour of church and went out to listen to the fourth quarter on the radio. The Broncos nearly pulled the upset. Even though John Elway was out of the game, Gary Kubiak engineered a late drive to narrow it to 10-7. And then they recovered the onside kick. Could it be another miracle win, taking its place alongside “The Drive” and “The Fumble”? Alas, no. The Broncos fumbled near midfield, and the Bills held on for a close win. I think it was years later before I went back and watched the tape.

I don’t have a way to record the game today. I’m not signing up for YouTube TV at a rate of $90 a month so I can DVR. I do have the internet to keep me posted on the results, and I guess if I want to watch later there’s the NFL plus premium subscription for $15 that could facilitate that. It’s kicking off right now and I’m not sure what I’ll do. 

I don’t expect these Broncos to win this game, but sometimes you’re pleasantly surprised. We’ll see what happens!