On a cold winter day in January 1993 history was made when the Buffalo Bills came back from the largest deficit in playoff history to win in overtime against the Houston Oilers. If you were a Bills fan, the game was your “Kennedy Moment” – you always knew where you were and what you were doing when it happened. A veteran quarterback, making only his 7th NFL start, threw for 289 yards and 4 touchdowns. Fast forward 22 years and the Bills rode a veteran quarterback making only his 5th NFL start to a comeback victory over the same team, albeit one relocated to Tennessee. The differences between the two wins could not be more different.

Sunday was ugly – you saw it, you know. I’ve seen quite a bit of ugly over the years with the Bills, but hardly ever does it dominate when the Bills manage a win. I just really don’t quite know what to say, other than it was ugly. Instead of screaming in absolute joy when the game ended and being so happy you literally didn’t know what to do, I sat there in stunned silence wondering how a win could feel that bad.

Sunday was a must win game for the Bills. Not to sound all Chicken Little, but a loss against Tennessee would have put the Bills in a situation of needing to win 8 of their remaining 11 games to lock up a playoff spot. Against a team that finished 2-14 last year and featuring a rookie quarterback I doubt many Bills fans hadn’t circled the game as a win when the schedule came out, even if it was a road game for Buffalo. Coming off a bad loss to the Giants, the Bills needed to prove their relevance as a playoff contender by getting a solid win, even if many of their playmakers were sidelined with injuries.

The game began with The Bills giving up runs of 12 and 15 yards to running backs Bishop Sankey and Antonio Andrews – you know, those guys on nobody’s fantasy roster. On offense Tyrod Taylor threw a short worm-killer to an open Charles Clay on the first play and things didn’t get much better from there.

The Bills offense sleepwalked through the entire first half of the game and it wasn’t pretty – by halftime they had amassed a whopping 51 yards on 22 plays and racked up 4 first downs. The Bills had five drives and the first three were 3-and-out, a stat in which Buffalo leads the NFL. They punted on their first six possessions – it was terrible.

By halftime I’m not sure what I was happiest about – the Bills being named the official spokesteam for Ambien, that Bud Adams had not shot obscene finger gestures at the Bills and their fans (he died in 2013), or the fact that the game was not out of reach with the Bills down only 3-0. By now, others watching the game with me took leave of the situation by not only leaving the room, but leaving the house – yeah, it was one of those halftimes.

Making impactful halftime adjustments, the Bills roared out of the gate to start the second half – going 5 yards in 5 plays. Defensively they held the Titans to a 3-and-out, but on the ensuing punt new returner Denarius Moore fumbled his first return and Tennessee drove down for the first touchdown of the game – welcome to Buffalo, Denarius!

As much as I had wanted to walk away in disgust as I had done on that January day in 1993 before my girlfriend quickly turned the game back on and forced me to watch it (hey, I’m no dummy – I married that girl), I just couldn’t do it – 10 points is not insurmountable.

And then, the damndest thing happened – arguably the only healthy playmaker on the Bills stepped up and made plays. Taylor who had struggled throwing the ball, started making plays with his feet. First a beautiful run for 26 yards, then a pretty 22 yard scamper to the endzone (with an absolutely fantastic block by Robert Woods – seriously, go back and watch it – it was beautiful). I’ve long been of the mind that you have to use Taylor’s wheels if you are going to get his full benefit to the team, and that’s what he did – suddenly the game was back down to a 3-point margin.

Make that a 6-point margin after the defense gave up a 13-play, 72-yard drive. Still a one score game, and the Bills had a chance. On a third and 23, Taylor again used his feet to run for 24 yards. Two plays later, Taylor hit Chris Hogan on a fantastic 46-yard strike that setup the go-ahead touchdown. Tennessee had a chance to make a last drive with 1:41 left on the clock, but Stephon Gilmore intercepted Marcus Mariota’s first pass, ending the game.

The game sounds a lot better and more interesting than it really was – for most of it I would have rather been flossing my teeth (I hate flossing). It was painful to see how poorly the Bills played, how they got manhandled by a team with far less talent, and by how close the season came to slipping away.

Prior to the Giants game I was pleased with the Bills’ depth at many positions, but I see now how much they missed having so many offensive playmakers off the field – there was no spark for most of the game. The offensive line still needs quite a bit of work after opening almost no running lanes and allowing 4 sacks. Overall, some poor execution and some uninspiring play calls made the game a snoozer I hope not to see repeated.

After 5 weeks I still don’t know where the Bills are. They had great wins against Indy and Miami, got crushed by New England, lost a winnable game to the Giants and barely squeaked by Tennessee. I’d like to think that the Bills are still a playoff team, but what I’ve seen over the past few weeks has me nervous – very nervous. The Bills are still 7 wins away from making the postseason, and if they can’t show they are clearly better than teams like the Titans I’m not sure they have any reason being in the mix. Next week the Bills will face a quality opponent, the 5-0 Cincinnati Bengals. Right now with the opening betting line being a pick ‘em I love the Bengals against a team that has gotten way too hyped for supposedly seminal games at home. If the Bills can show they belong in the same conversation as the Bengals after next week’s game I’ll feel infinitely better about their ability to reach the playoffs.

And so I’ll sit and wonder just what the Bills are – an over-hyped team that got lucky, a hurt team trying to limp along, a strong playoff contender or just the same old soul-crushing Buffalo Bills. I guess I’ll have to be happy that the Bills won on Sunday because a win is a win. Even though the Bills came from behind to win, I have a hard time calling the game a comeback – it’s such a far cry from “The Comeback” that it’s sacrilege to compare what we saw on Sunday to that game played on a cold winter day so many years go – one of the finest games ever played.