Top games in Highmark Stadium history include 20 points in 77 seconds for 1990 Bills

Sept. 30, 1990 - Bills 29, Broncos 28

If I had to pick my two favorite seasons of 

In 1980, after so much struggle since the late 1960s, the Bills were a franchise on the rise and they delivered so many memorable games and moments that year on the way to their first AFC East division title at a time when I was still a young fan sitting out in the bowl most weeks.

And then in 1990, my first season as the full-time beat reporter covering the team, the Bills emerged as the best team in the AFC and made it to their first Super Bowl, taking me and everyone else on quite a thrill ride.

This was the day you started to get the feeling that 1990 was going to be special when the Bills erupted for 20 points in a span of 77 seconds in the fourth quarter to overcome the defending AFC champion 

“In all my years, I’ve never seen a game change like that,” owner Ralph Wilson said. “That rapidly from almost a certain defeat to victory. I was standing there thinking this kick was going to put us away and then we blocked it.”

The Broncos were lining up for a David Treadwell field goal that would have made it 24-9, but Nate Odomes blocked the kick and Cornelius Bennett scooped it up and ran 80 yards for a touchdown with 10:27 left to play and the Bills were within 21-16.

“Nate has been coming close to blocking one all season and I told him sooner or later he was going to get one, so I’ve been positioning myself to catch the ball and try to return it for a touchdown,” Bennett said.

Mission accomplished, and Bennett, who had been getting some heat from media and fans for perceived lackluster play, took the opportunity to fire back. “It was my best game in a long time,” he said. “This is to show all those who doubted Cornelius Bennett. You can knock me down, kick me, but don’t ever count me out. I had a long struggle due to injuries. I think I’ve had a great season. This is for everybody who wanted to ship my butt out of here.”

Of course, the game wasn’t over, but soon it would be. Two plays after the kickoff, Leon Seals tipped a John Elway pass and Leonard Smith intercepted and returned it 39 yards for a TD. Finally, an illegal block penalty on the ensuing kickoff pushed the Broncos back to the 5-yard-line and on the first play, Elway fumbled the snap, Bennett recovered, and Kenneth Davis scored on the next snap to make it 29-21.

Scott Norwood, who earlier missed an extra point, missed a field goal with 3:37 left and for a brief time it looked like the rally was going to be forgotten as the Broncos drove 70 yards in 10 plays to Elway’s TD pass to Ricky Nattiel, but the Bills recovered the onside kick with 1:23 left and ran out the clock.

“I told our players if you don’t quit, sometimes you get lucky,” coach Marv Levy said. “That prevailed. We look for them to make plays in a situation where you tend to want to sag.”

“It was just one of those crazy games,” Broncos coach Dan Reeves said. “If you’re around long enough, you’ll see everything. We just couldn’t deliver the knockout punch. But if anybody tells me they were more physical than we were, they weren’t watching the same game.”