Prime video games in stadium historical past: Kelly’s comeback powers Payments previous Dolphins in ’91 opener – Democrat and Chronicle

Sept. 1, 1991 – Payments 35, Dolphins 31
Halfway by way of the third quarter of the Buffalo Bills’ season opener in opposition to the Miami Dolphins, an announcement was made within the press field that Jim Kelly had suffered an ankle damage and wouldn’t be returning to the sport.
Apparently, Kelly didn’t log off on that prognosis as a result of the person who earned his status because the hardest QB within the NFL missed only some snaps, then returned to complete a 381-yard passing efficiency which ended up being the third-highest of his regular-season profession and the Payments outlasted Miami in one more traditional shootout.
“It’s going to take much more than a bum ankle to maintain me out of a sport,’’ Kelly stated.
Simply 9 months earlier the Payments had overwhelmed Dan Marino and the Dolphins 44-34 in a divisional playoff sport, however regardless of scoring 9 fewer factors, they had been much more explosive on this sport as they rang up a team-record 582 yards of complete offense.
In rallying Buffalo from an early 14-0 deficit, Kelly accomplished 29 of 39 passes and threw landing passes of 54 yards to Andre Reed and 50 yards to Thurman Thomas. He directed an offense that transformed 9 of 11 third downs and likewise set a workforce report for many first downs with 33.
And he did it on an ankle that will have relegated most gamers to the bench, their foot in an ice bucket.
“If there’s a harder quarterback within the league, I positive don’t know who it’s,’’ coach Marv Levy stated. “One, he’s a tricky son of a gun. Two, he heals quick, though I’ve by no means seen him heal that quick. Three, he wished very a lot to return within the sport, and the physician, after him, didn’t really feel he did any further harm to the leg. It was simply getting jammed and it stings when it’s already damage.’’
Kelly pulled up lame on Buffalo’s first possession however was in a position to keep within the sport. Then, with 8:14 left within the third quarter, T.J. Turner knocked Kelly down and the quarterback wasn’t in a position to stand up. After a couple of minutes the Payments’ trainers lifted him off the synthetic turf and escorted him to the bench, the place, it was assumed, he would watch the remainder of the sport.
Uh-huh. Not Kelly.
He started strolling gingerly on the sidelines, then he began strolling usually and, ultimately, briskly. Subsequent got here backpedaling and eventually he began throwing a ball to ensure he might comply with by way of on the ankle correctly. When the Payments’ offense took the sector for its subsequent possession, No. 12 led them on.
“If I can take the sector … that is my membership, I’m going to do it,’’ he stated. “I’m not going to put down. I’m not going to face up right here and say I’m a hero, however I do know what sort of soccer participant I’m and I do know what my offensive line and the opposite gamers on the workforce anticipate of me.’’
His 50-yard TD move to Thomas gave Buffalo its first lead at 21-17, and after Marino answered with a TD move to Mark Clayton early within the fourth quarter, Kelly engineered two drives that ended on TD runs by Thomas and Carwell Gardner for a 35-24 lead, simply sufficient to offset a late Marino TD move to Mark Duper.
Thomas was unbelievable as he completed the day with 165 yards speeding on 25 makes an attempt and 103 yards on eight move receptions, the primary time in Payments historical past {that a} operating again gained over 100 yards in every class in a single sport. “He was Mr. Every little thing at the moment,’’ Kelly stated.
“I assumed each groups confirmed lots of fiber on the market,’’ Levy stated. “We needed to rally, they needed to rally, each groups had been taking part in with some holes. It was only a heckuva soccer sport.’’
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Sal Maiorana has coated the Buffalo Payments for 4 a long time together with 35 years because the full-time beat author for the D&C, he has written quite a few books concerning the historical past of the workforce, and he’s additionally co-host of the BLEAV in Payments podcast/YouTube present. He might be reached at maiorana@gannett.com, and you’ll comply with him on X @salmaiorana and on Bluesky @salmaiorana.bsky.social.

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