ORCHARD PARK (AP) - Only the weather was mild (70 degrees) today at Rich Stadium. Two teams with great defense set their sites on doing battle on the Poly Turf field in Orchard Park. This game had some unusual surprises from the opening coin flip to the closing moments.1st Quarter: The Steelers won the flip and elected to receive the ball. Nothing would happen for them on their first 2 series. Buffalo's first series ended in a punt as well. Pinned deep in their own territory the Steelers were forced to punt. Mark Royals hit one off the side of his foot for only 29 yards and the Bills had the ball with great field position on the Steeler 43. 3 plays later Machine Gun (Jim) Kelly hit James lofton for a 30 yard TD strike. What made this play so impressive was the fact that it was done off play action vs a defense that was looking pass. Kelly and Lofton's individual talents made this one happen. On their next possession the Steelers pulled their 3rd straight 3 and out. The Bills took over on their own 34 and in 6 plays drove down to the Steeler 24, where their drive stalled. Scott Norwood came on to hit a 41 yard field goal to put Buffalo up 10-0. With good field position, the Steelers uncharacteristically decided to air it out and get back 7 points real quick. That strategy backfired as Neil O'Donoughue's pass to Eric Green was picked off by Leonard Smith on the Bill 41. Smith got some good blocking and returned the pick 24 yards to the Steeler 35. Steeler fans who traveled to the game began to get nervous. No one wants to go down 17-0 in the first quarter. Thankfully the Steel Curtain defense held Buffalo to -2 yards, which forced them to attempt a 50 yard field goal, which definitely was out of Norwood's range.
2nd Quarter: The Steelers took over on their own 33 and 10 plays later methodically marched down to the Bill 14 yard line where Gary Anderson hit a 31 yard chip shot to make the score 10-3. Buffalo started on their own 15 and went 3 and out, which gave the Steelers an excellent starting point for their next possession. The Steelers anemic offense barely moved the ball and again they had to settle for a Gary Anderson FG attempt. Anderson, who might be the most accurate kicker in NFL history was tasked with attempting a 51 yarder. The kick was dead on straight, but it bounced short of the goal post. While everyone was walking off the field thinking the play had ended Al Edwards of the Bills picked up the ball and began running down the sideline. By the time he reached mid field the Steeler kicking team began too pursue. Unfortunately it was too late and Buffalo now had a commanding 17-3 lead. The half ended with both teams not doing much on offense and Neil O'Donoghue taking a knee.
3rd Quarter: There was no scoring, just good old fashioned hard nosed defense in the 3rd quarter. Pittsburgh vainly attempted to muster some offense, while Buffalo was content to hand it off and throw some very conservative dump passes and milk the clock.
4th Quarter: Down by 2 TD's (17-3) the Steelers took over on their own 19 with about a 
minute to play in the 3rd. Not wanting to risk the big play the Bills sat back in deep pass coverage, while the Steeler offense was content to run the ball down their throats. Nine and a half minutes and 19 plays later Pittsburgh scored it's first TD of the day to cut the deficit to 7 as Yancy Thigpen caught a 1 yard toss from O'Donoghue. With just under 7 minutes left to go the Bills gained possession on the own 20. Expecting the run the Steelers keyed Thurman Thomas, but Kelley outsmarted them with a quick pass to Andre Reed. 2 plays later Thomas got the ball and somehow found a crack in the run key defense that Pittsburgh was running and rambled 68 yards for a huge TD. With only 6:04 left on the clock the Steelers were again down by two scores, but this time it was a 13 point deficit, not a 14 point one. Scott Norwood hooked the XP attempt, which at the time seemed meaningless. Norwood must have been thinking about his missed XP, because his Kick off attempt was even more damaging to his team's cause. His low line drive knuckleball was picked up by Thigpen on his own 10. The Bill coverage team was slow in reacting and 30 yards later the Steelers were starting up on their own 40. Six plays later Thigpen came up big again catching a 34 yard pass and taking it down to Buffalo's 1 yard line where John L Williams scored on the next play on a quick toss. The score was now 23-17. Buffalo, who seemed in total control, was now barely holding on to a 6 point lead. Starting on their own 24 Kelly and company were tasked with eating up the clock for the next 3:45 and protecting the 6 point lead. Kelly wasn't going to be complacent and he decided to mix it up and go to the air as well as the ground, which surprised the Steelers who were expecting the run. 7 plays later the Bills were sitting 1st and goal with 1:51 left to play. A field goal would just about end it. Running 3 plays would also burn the clock. Even 3 knees and FG attempt would salt it away. Instead the Bills decided to go back to Thurman Thomas to plug it into the end zone. Curiously Kenneth Davis, their short yardage specialist was not on the field in a situation where he excels at. Thomas, who by this point had hit his fatigue level, seemed shocked that he was still on the field as well after touching the ball 5 times on this 7 play drive. The Steeler defense knew that they had to dig in and make something happen or the game would be out of reach. Pittsburgh sold out for the run and aggressively keyed Thomas who put the ball on the Rich Stadium turf. Passing rushing LB Kevin Greene picked up the ball and rambled 99 yard to score the go ahead TD. Just like that the Bills went from being in total control to now being behind by 1. The stunned look on the fans faces was priceless. The hearty contingent of Steeler fans who made the journey were now ecstatic and could smell victory. With 1:15 left Kelly and company took the field. Folks, this is no ordinary offense. The Bills didn't lead the NFL in total offense in 1990 just by accident. Kelly didn't wind up in the HOF because someone lost a bet. Starting on his own 33 Kelly hit Andre Reed for a 39 yard strike right into the teeth of the Steeler Pass Defense that had Reed double teamed. Both Reed and Kelly are special players and sometimes even a double team that features Rod Woodson won't be able to stop them. With 1:18 left Kelly went to the air again from the Steeler 22 and barely missed James Lofton on a crossing pattern. On the sideline Norwood was warming up for a possible 39 yard FG attempt. Buffalo's coaching staff might have lost faith in Norwood, even though he did make a 41 yarder earlier, and decided to keep moving the ball on offense to trim some more time and gain some valuable yardage. On the next play the virtually exhausted "Thurmal one" took the ball and gained 5 yards, but while he was struggling to get an additional foot or two Chad Brown stripped him off 
the ball and the Steelers recovered. For the second drive in a row the Bills succeeded in snatching defeat from the jaws of victory by insisting on giving a beat up back the ball, when he was obviously fatigued beyond belief. The Steelers ran 3 conservative plays and then punted with :05 left on the clock to end the game.
minute to play in the 3rd. Not wanting to risk the big play the Bills sat back in deep pass coverage, while the Steeler offense was content to run the ball down their throats. Nine and a half minutes and 19 plays later Pittsburgh scored it's first TD of the day to cut the deficit to 7 as Yancy Thigpen caught a 1 yard toss from O'Donoghue. With just under 7 minutes left to go the Bills gained possession on the own 20. Expecting the run the Steelers keyed Thurman Thomas, but Kelley outsmarted them with a quick pass to Andre Reed. 2 plays later Thomas got the ball and somehow found a crack in the run key defense that Pittsburgh was running and rambled 68 yards for a huge TD. With only 6:04 left on the clock the Steelers were again down by two scores, but this time it was a 13 point deficit, not a 14 point one. Scott Norwood hooked the XP attempt, which at the time seemed meaningless. Norwood must have been thinking about his missed XP, because his Kick off attempt was even more damaging to his team's cause. His low line drive knuckleball was picked up by Thigpen on his own 10. The Bill coverage team was slow in reacting and 30 yards later the Steelers were starting up on their own 40. Six plays later Thigpen came up big again catching a 34 yard pass and taking it down to Buffalo's 1 yard line where John L Williams scored on the next play on a quick toss. The score was now 23-17. Buffalo, who seemed in total control, was now barely holding on to a 6 point lead. Starting on their own 24 Kelly and company were tasked with eating up the clock for the next 3:45 and protecting the 6 point lead. Kelly wasn't going to be complacent and he decided to mix it up and go to the air as well as the ground, which surprised the Steelers who were expecting the run. 7 plays later the Bills were sitting 1st and goal with 1:51 left to play. A field goal would just about end it. Running 3 plays would also burn the clock. Even 3 knees and FG attempt would salt it away. Instead the Bills decided to go back to Thurman Thomas to plug it into the end zone. Curiously Kenneth Davis, their short yardage specialist was not on the field in a situation where he excels at. Thomas, who by this point had hit his fatigue level, seemed shocked that he was still on the field as well after touching the ball 5 times on this 7 play drive. The Steeler defense knew that they had to dig in and make something happen or the game would be out of reach. Pittsburgh sold out for the run and aggressively keyed Thomas who put the ball on the Rich Stadium turf. Passing rushing LB Kevin Greene picked up the ball and rambled 99 yard to score the go ahead TD. Just like that the Bills went from being in total control to now being behind by 1. The stunned look on the fans faces was priceless. The hearty contingent of Steeler fans who made the journey were now ecstatic and could smell victory. With 1:15 left Kelly and company took the field. Folks, this is no ordinary offense. The Bills didn't lead the NFL in total offense in 1990 just by accident. Kelly didn't wind up in the HOF because someone lost a bet. Starting on his own 33 Kelly hit Andre Reed for a 39 yard strike right into the teeth of the Steeler Pass Defense that had Reed double teamed. Both Reed and Kelly are special players and sometimes even a double team that features Rod Woodson won't be able to stop them. With 1:18 left Kelly went to the air again from the Steeler 22 and barely missed James Lofton on a crossing pattern. On the sideline Norwood was warming up for a possible 39 yard FG attempt. Buffalo's coaching staff might have lost faith in Norwood, even though he did make a 41 yarder earlier, and decided to keep moving the ball on offense to trim some more time and gain some valuable yardage. On the next play the virtually exhausted "Thurmal one" took the ball and gained 5 yards, but while he was struggling to get an additional foot or two Chad Brown stripped him off 
the ball and the Steelers recovered. For the second drive in a row the Bills succeeded in snatching defeat from the jaws of victory by insisting on giving a beat up back the ball, when he was obviously fatigued beyond belief. The Steelers ran 3 conservative plays and then punted with :05 left on the clock to end the game.Steeler players and fans alike had larceny in their hearts this afternoon. Buffalo's coaching staff left the game wondering why they chose the curious strategies that did them in late in the game. Kevin Greene was given the game MVP for his outstanding defensive prowess.
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