Buffalo Bills Super Bowl betting odds

According to online sportsbooks in New York, odds to win Super Bowl LVII favor the Buffalo Bills. Similarly, the Bills betting odds to win the AFC Championship and the AFC East division titles indicate a successful NFL season.

History of Buffalo Bills in the Super Bowl

No franchise in the history of the NFL has made as many consecutive appearances in the Super Bowl as the Buffalo Bills. For four straight years, starting with the 1990 season, the Bills advanced to the big stage. Four straight years, Buffalo had a shot at capturing the elusive Lombardi Trophy. And for four straight years, the Bills came up short.

Super Bowl XXV: New York Giants 20, Buffalo Bills 19
Jan. 27, 1991

The only championship in which Buffalo Bills Super Bowl betting odds favored the upstate New York team, the Bills went into Tampa Stadium as the frontrunner to lift the Lombardi Trophy.

What’s more, this became the first Super Bowl in which two teams from the same state played each other. (Although, technically, the Giants played in New Jersey.) As a side note, since this game, only one other time has this occurred: San Francisco vs. San Diego four years later.

Buffalo sat as a 7-point favorite going into the big game after leading the NFL in points scored. But the Giants had a strategy to prevent the high-scoring, no-huddle Bills offense from striking too often.

Ball control was the name of the game for New York. Of the possible 60 minutes played, the Giants maintained possession for over 40 minutes. Despite the Bills going up 12-3 after NFL Defensive Player of the Year Bruce Smith recorded a sack safety, New York never faltered.

The Giants found the end zone with 25 seconds left in the first half to cut the deficit to 12-10 at the break, and eventual Super Bowl MVP Ottis Anderson gave New York the lead early in the third quarter with a 1-yard touchdown. That capped a drive that spanned a Super Bowl-record 9 minutes, 29 seconds. (That mark has since been beaten, by the Giants 27 years later.)

Thurman Thomas gave the bills life in the fourth quarter with a 31-yard TD run that pushed Buffalo back in front 19-17. But the Giants ate up another 7:32 on their next drive, which resulted in a short field goal to grab a 20-19 lead.

After Buffalo and New York traded punts, the Bills took over with 2:16 to go in the game. Kelly and Thomas helped Buffalo get field-goal range, setting up a 47-yard attempt by Scott Norwood. But from the right hash, Norwood pushed his kick wide right to seal New York’s championship win.

Super Bowl XXVI: Washington Redskins 37, Buffalo Bills 24
Jan. 26, 1992

The following year, Buffalo again used its no-huddle offense to score the second-most points during the regular season. The only team that scored more: the Redskins, who went into Super Bowl XXVI as 7-point favorites.

In the first Super Bowl held in Minneapolis, Washington took control in the second quarter. A 34-yard field goal by Chip Lohmiller was followed up by a 51-yard scoring drive that ended in a 10-yard TD reception by Earnest Byner. On Buffalo’s next drive, Darrell Green intercepted Jim Kelly. A few plays later, Gerald Riggs was in the end zone celebrating as the Redskins went up 17-0.

The Washington lead ballooned to 24-0 a mere 16 seconds into the second half as Kurt Gouveia picked off Kelly and returned it to the Buffalo 2-yard line. Riggs punched in the score on the next play.

The Bills trimmed the gap to 24-10 after a Thomas TD run. But a touchdown pass from eventual Super Bowl MVP Mark Rypien put Washington in front 31-10 late in the third quarter. Two field goals early in the fourth pushed the advantage to 37-10, all but sealing the Super Bowl win for the Redskins, who forced Buffalo into five turnovers, including four interceptions by Kelly.

Super Bowl XXVII: Dallas Cowboys 52, Buffalo Bills 17
Jan. 31, 1993

Even more turnovers plagued the Bills in Super Bowl XXVII at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.

Buffalo entered the championship at 6.5-point underdogs against the Cowboys. And Dallas blitzed the Bills, forcing a Super Bowl-record nine turnovers, including five fumbles.

Interestingly, Buffalo actually took the first lead of the game after a blocked punt set up a TD run by Thomas to give the Bills a 7-0 advantage. Then, turnovers began.

An interception by Kelly resulted in a Dallas touchdown. A strip-sack on the next possession led to Jimmie Jones scooping the fumble and diving into the end zone to put the Cowboys up 14-7. In the second quarter, Kelly threw an interception in the end zone. On the next Buffalo possession, a hit by Ken Norton Jr. re-injured Kelly’s sprained knee, leading to Frank Reich entering the game for the Bills.

Things went even more down downhill from there for the Bills. A Thomas fumble set up another Dallas TD to go up 28-10.
Buffalo cut the lead to 31-17 heading into the fourth quarter, but a long touchdown pass from eventual MVP Troy Aikman made way for another Bills interception that led to another Cowboys TD. Then, yet another turnover by Buffalo, a fumble, was taken by Norton and taken into the end zone to push the Dallas lead to 52-17.

Fans may remember one of the more iconic plays in Super Bowl history coming in this game, as Dallas defensive lineman Leon Lett picked up a fumble and sprinted 64 yards the other way. Just before crossing the goal line, though, Bills wide receiver Don Beebe punched the ball away and out of bounds for a Buffalo touchback.

Super Bowl XXVIII: Dallas Cowboys 30, Buffalo Bills 13
Jan. 30, 1994

The following year, the Bills came back with revenge on their minds in the only rematch between two teams in consecutive Super Bowls.

Dallas stood as a 10.5-point favorite at the Georgia Dome. Once again, though, Buffalo did not appear flustered.

After going down 6-3 in the first quarter, the Bills traversed 80 yards to the end zone to grab a 10-6 advantage. Buffalo then increased its lead to 13-6 after a Nate Odomes interception led to a Steve Christie field goal as time expired in the first half.

Dallas, however, dominated in the second half. Lett forced a Thomas fumble in the third quarter, allowing James Washington to scoop up the loose ball and return it 46 yards for the score. After forcing a Buffalo punt, the Cowboys went 64 yards in eight plays, 61 of which were courtesy of eventual MVP Emmitt Smith, including the final 15 yards on a TD run to give Dallas a 20-13 lead.

It continued in the fourth quarter, as Washington intercepted a Kelly pass on the first play of the quarter that eventually led to another Smith touchdown to push the advantage to 27-13.

Smith, who recorded 132 rushing yards, became the first player to lead the NFL in rushing yards and win the NFL MVP and Super Bowl MVP awards in the same season.