The Comeback ( American football ) The Comeback was a NFL playoff game between the Buffalo Bills and the Houston Oilers played January 3 , 1993 . It featured the Bills recovering from a 32 - point deficit to win in overtime , and it remains the largest comeback in NFL history . ( The largest comeback in a regular season game is the San Francisco 49ers comeback from a 35 - 7 deficit in the second quarter against the New Orleans Saints on December 7 , 1980 . ) It was played in Rich Stadium , and was televised by NBC , with Charlie Jones and Todd Christensen calling the action . The game was not seen on television in Western New York because of league blackout rules ( an unusual situation for playoff games ) ; the stadium was not sold out of tickets . Background . Both teams qualified for the playoffs as wild card teams . The Buffalo Bills , the American Football Conference ( AFC ) champions for the previous two seasons , recorded an 11 – 5 record during the 1992 regular season and finished in second place in the AFC Eastern Division . Buffalo ' s no - huddle offense led the league in rushing yards ( 2 , 436 ) and ranked second in the league in total offensive yards ( 6 , 114 yards ) . Meanwhile , the Houston Oilers finished in second place in the AFC Central Division with a 10 - 6 record . Houston ' s Run & Shoot offense led the league in passing ( 4 , 231 yards ) and its defense ranked third in the league , allowing only 4 , 532 total yards . Overall , the team boasted nine pro bowl selections , including their quarterback Warren Moon ( despite missing six games with injuries ) and three wide receivers , Curtis Duncan , Haywood Jeffires , and Ernest Givins . The Oilers also had a powerful running attack with Lorenzo White , who rushed for 1 , 226 yards and caught 57 passes . The Bills and Oilers had faced each other for the final game of the regular season , with Houston defeating Buffalo , 27 – 3 in Houston . During that game , Bills starting quarterback Jim Kelly suffered strained ligaments in his knee , leaving backup quarterback Frank Reich to finish the game in his place . With Kelly out , Reich took the reins starting in place of Kelly the following week in the wild card game . Buffalo hosted . Reich also started the following divisional playoff game in Pittsburgh in which Buffalo also won 24 – 3 , then advancing to the AFC Championship game the following week versus the Miami Dolphins . Reich and the biggest comeback in college football history . As the backup quarterback for the Maryland Terrapins , Reich replaced injured starter Stan Gelbaugh and led the Terrapins back from a first - half deficit of 31 – 0 to a 42 – 40 victory over the previously unbeaten Miami Hurricanes under Bernie Kosar . However , this was eventually overshadowed by the 2006 Michigan State - Northwestern game . Game summary . First half . Houston dominated the game early , as quarterback Warren Moon completed 19 of 22 passes for 220 yards and 4 touchdowns in the first half , while the Oilers held the ball for 21 : 12 , keeping the Bills ' high - powered offense off the field for most of the first two quarters . On the opening drive of the first quarter , Moon completed 6 of 7 passes on an 80 - yard scoring drive that took over 9 minutes off the clock and ended it with his first touchdown throw to wide receiver Haywood Jeffries for 3 yards to give the Oilers a 7 – 0 lead . Buffalo responded on their ensuing drive , as Kenneth Davis returned the kickoff 33 yards to the 44 - yard line . Reich subsequently led the Bills to the Oilers 18 - yard line where Steve Christie made a 36 - yard field goal , to cut the score to 7 - 3 . But Moon struck right back , leading the Oilers on a second quarter scoring drive that was nearly identical to their first one , completing 6 of 7 passes on another 80 - yard drive and finishing it with a 7 - yard touchdown pass to Webster Slaughter . Then after forcing the Bills to a three - and - out , Moon threw a 26 - yard touchdown pass to Curtis Duncan . Later on , with 1 : 15 left in the half , the Oilers drove for another touchdown , aided by an encroachment call against the Bills on fourth down and 1 . Moon completed the drive with his second touchdown pass to Jeffires , this one a 27 - yarder , and the Oilers went into their locker room with a 28 – 3 halftime lead . Second half . In the Bills ' locker room , Defensive Coordinator Walt Corey angrily chided the defense . " I was hollering the same things the fans were hollering at me when we left the field , " Corey says . " I can ' t repeat the words , but the more I talked , the louder I got . The thing that bothered me was their approach . To me , they looked timid . They looked like they were going to get in the right spots , but they weren ' t going to make anything happen afterward . This is an attitude game . Sometimes you start playing and you ' re afraid to make things happen or afraid to make a mistake . " Nose Tackle Jeff Wright recalled " With every word that came out of Walt ' s mouth , he reached a new temperature level , until he finally just exploded . He had every right to say the things that he said . We were embarrassing him , we were embarrassing ourselves , we were embarrassing Buffalo Bills fans . " Meanwhile , head coach Marv Levy told his team , " You ' ve got thirty more minutes . Maybe it ' s the last thirty minutes of your season . When your season ' s over , you ' re going to have to live with yourselves and look yourselves in the eyes . You ' d damn well better have reason to feel good about yourselves , regardless of how this game turns out . " Apparently , the words of Corey and Levy didn ' t have any immediate effect . 1 : 41 into the third quarter , Reich threw a pass that bounced off the hands of tight end Keith McKeller and went into the arms of defensive back Bubba McDowell , who returned the interception 58 yards for a touchdown . Houston now had a commanding 32 - point lead , 35 - 3 ; it was only the second time all season the Oilers had broken 30 points scored in a game . The Bills ' misfortunes were compounded with the loss of Thurman Thomas , who had to leave the game due to a hip injury on the drive , forcing Buffalo to attempt a comeback with a second - string backfield of Reich and Davis . A Houston radio announcer was immortalized on NFL Films with the statement " The lights are on here at Rich Stadium , they ' ve been on since this morning , you could pretty much turn them out on the Bills right now . " The Bills got a huge assist to start their comeback on the ensuing kickoff . The wind shifted the ball just before it was kicked by Al Del Greco . As a result , it became an unintentional squib kick that the Bills recovered with great field position at midfield . Buffalo then drove 50 yards in 10 plays , including a pass to Pete Metzelaars that went right through the hands of linebacker Eddie Robinson , and scored with a 1 - yard touchdown run by Davis , cutting the deficit to 35 – 10 when the extra point was added . On the drive , Reich completed a 24 - yard pass to tight end Metzelaars and a 16 - yard strike to Andre Reed , while Davis kept the drive going with a 5 - yard run on fourth down and 2 before finishing it off with a touchdown run with 8 : 52 left in the 3rd quarter . Christie then recovered his own onside kick and the Bills scored on the fourth play of their ensuing drive with Reich ' s 38 - yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Don Beebe ( on a play in which one of Beebe ' s feet went partially out of bounds during the run before he made the catch — an illegal touching of the football ; this was pointed out on ESPN ' s " NFL Primetime " postgame recap as well as by Todd Christensen on the NBC broadcast ) . Then , the extra point made the score 35 - 17 with 7 : 46 left in the third quarter . Houston was then forced to punt for the first time in the game on their next drive , and Greg Montgomery ' s 25 - yard kick gave Buffalo the ball at their own 41 - yard line . Reich started out the ensuing drive with an 18 - yard completion to James Lofton . Davis gained 20 yards on a screen pass and then Reich threw a 26 - yard touchdown pass to Reed , trimming the lead ( after making the extra point ) to 35 – 24 . In a span of 10 minutes in the third quarter , the Bills had run 18 plays , gained 176 yards , and scored 21 points , while holding the Oilers ' offense to 3 plays for 3 yards . The situation did not get any better for Houston . On the first play of the Oilers ' ensuing possession , Moon ' s pass was tipped off the hands of Slaughter ; Bills ' safety Henry Jones intercepted the pass from Moon and returned it 15 yards to the Houston 23 - yard line . Three plays later , Buffalo faced fourth down and five on the 18 - yard line . Rather than attempt a field goal , Reich connected with Reed for the touchdown . With the score ( including the extra point ) , the Bills had cut their deficit from 32 points to four in a span of just 6 : 52 . On the Oilers ' next drive , linebacker Darryl Talley forced a fumble from Moon while sacking him . Houston recovered the fumble , but they were forced to punt , and Montgomery ' s 24 - yard kick gave Buffalo the ball at its 48 - yard line . In the third quarter , Buffalo had outscored Houston 28 – 7 while holding Moon to 2 of 7 completions for 19 yards . This time , the Bills could not take advantage of their excellent starting field position and had to punt . Moon ' s run and shoot offense began to move the ball effectively again , aided by a roughing the passer penalty on Bruce Smith that negated linebacker Carlton Bailey ' s interception . Despite two sacks by Wright on the drive , Houston reached the Buffalo 14 - yard line . Al Del Greco attempted a field goal to increase the Oilers ' lead , but Montgomery fumbled the snap . Talley recovered the ball and returned it 70 yards , but officials ruled him down by contact when he made the initial recovery , giving Buffalo the ball on their own 26 - yard line . After two plays , the Bills faced third down and four . With Houston ' s defense dropping back and expecting a pass , Reich handed the ball off to Davis , who stormed through the line and took off for a 35 - yard gain . Only a diving tackle from defensive back Steve Jackson prevented Davis from taking it all the way for a touchdown . Then Reich went back to passing the ball , completing a short pass to Reed at the Oilers ' 17 - yard line on third down and two for the first down . With just 3 : 08 left in the fourth quarter , Reich threw a 17 - yard touchdown pass to Reed , giving Buffalo its first lead of the game 38 – 35 ( after the extra point ) ; for the first time all season , the Houston defense ( ninth in fewest points allowed that season ) had allowed over 29 points . But Moon led Houston downfield on a 63 - yard drive to score the tying 26 - yard field goal from Del Greco to send the game into overtime . A key play on the drive was an 18 - yard completion to Slaughter on fourth down and four from the Bills ' 34 - yard line . Houston won the coin toss and got the ball at its 20 - yard line . Moon started out the drive with two completions for 7 yards , but his 50th pass attempt of the day turned out to be his last . On third down and three , Moon threw a pass intended for Ernest Givens five yards downfield , but due to a struggle with Talley , Givens could not get his arms up to make the catch . The ball went over his head and right into the arms of defensive back Nate Odomes for an interception . After a 2 - yard return , Jeffires committed a 15 - yard facemask penalty while making the tackle , giving the Bills a first down on Houston ' s 20 - yard line . After two runs by Davis , Christie kicked a 32 - yard field goal to give Buffalo the win , 41 – 38 . Buffalo won the following two AFC playoff games to advance to the 3rd of their four consecutive Super Bowl appearances . Reich finished the game with 21 of 34 pass completions for 289 yards and 4 touchdowns , with 1 interception . Reed had 8 catches for 136 yards and 3 touchdowns . Davis rushed for 68 yards and a touchdown , while also catching 2 passes for 25 yards and returning a kickoff for 33 . Moon recorded 36 of 50 completions for 371 yards and 4 touchdowns , with 2 interceptions . His 36 completions set a playoff record that would stand until broken by Drew Brees ' 39 completions in 2010 ( Brees ' New Orleans Saints also lost that game ) . Givens caught 9 passes for 117 yards . Jeffires recorded 8 catches for 98 yards and 2 touchdowns . The next day , the Oilers fired defensive coordinator Jim Eddy and defensive backs coach Pat Thomas . Eddy was replaced by Buddy Ryan . The Bills advanced to the Super Bowl ( their third of four consecutive appearances ) , where they lost to the Cowboys 52 - 17 . Reich relieved an injured Jim Kelly in the second quarter , but could not lead a rally this time . NFL Films ' documentary on this game claims that the Super Bowl was Reich ' s last playoff game . This is in fact not true . Reich appeared in another playoff game with the Lions in 1997 against the Buccaneers in relief of an injured Scott Mitchell . In commemoration of the game , Steve Christie ' s kicking shoe from the game has been enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton , Ohio . Over a year later , the phrase ' Choke City ' on the front page of the Houston Chronicle during the 1994 NBA Playoffs was attributed to this NFL playoff game where the Houston Rockets lost its first 2 semifinal games to the Phoenix Suns until they won 2 road games .