On January 15 1994, en route to their fourth straight Super Bowl appearance, the Buffalo Bills hosted the Los Angeles Raiders in the AFC Divisional Round in what still stands as the coldest game in team history — and one of the coldest the league has ever seen. Temperatures were near zero degrees with wind chills of -32 degrees. The stadium had been sold out of it’s 80,000 capacity but it hosted “just” 62,000 fans brave enough to bare the harsh conditions.
The Raiders were quarterbacked by former
New York Giant Jeff Hostetler, the signal caller behind Buffalo’s first Super Bowl loss. The first half felt like a familiar story with Hostetler, as the Raiders possessed the ball for over two thirds of the first half, playing keep away from Buffalo’s lethal K-Gun offense.
The Bills got a nice punt return from Steve Tasker who tight-roped the sideline inside the 10 to score the first touchdown of the game, but a Steve Christie missed extra point made it a 6-3 game. The Raiders would control the rest of the half, scoring two touchdowns (one on 4th & Goal) to go up 17-6, but in the dying seconds of the half Buffalo received a favorable pass-interference call that set them up at the goal-line and allowed them to cut the Raiders’ lead to four, and a score of 17-13.
The second half saw Buffalo drive down the field quickly but Steve Christie would miss his second field goal of the game. After a three-and-out from the Raiders, the Bills took the lead back on a long ball to wide receiver Bill Brooks — and after another failed extra-point conversion it was 19-17.
The next possession, Buffalo immediately forced a fumble and added a field goal to take a five-point lead. The Raiders then wasted no time when Hostetler found wider receiver Tim Brown wide open deep down field for an 86-yard touchdown (one of the longest in postseason history).
The Bills responded with a quick strike to wide receiver Andre Reed for 20 yards, were bailed out by a Raiders offside penalty, and capped the drive with a second Brooks touchdown to lead 29-23 in the fourth quarter. Defensive end Bruce Smith claimed a huge third-down sack of Hostetler during the next possession, and Buffalo slowed down their Hurry Up Offense to eat the clock the rest of the way.
In freezing temperatures after three years of falling short, the team and fans showed resilience in this game, weathering the extreme conditions and overcoming the quarterback who broke the team’s heart three years prior. Bruce Smith became the all-time playoff sack leader in this game and Buffalo improved to 7-0 in postseason home games in team history.
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