The Buffalo Bills' 31-point halftime lead against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Monday night was their biggest after two quarters since 1992. When Steve Tasker heard that, he couldn't remember what game that would have been.
"But I knew I must have been around," he says.
Oh, he certainly was. Tasker made a spectacular tackle on the game's first play, setting the tone in a win against the Atlanta Falcons in Orchard Park on Nov. 22, 1992.
Former Bills special teams standout Steve Tasker, shown playing in a game in 1996, made an ankle tackle on the Falcons' Deion Sanders to set the tone for a 41-14 Buffalo victory in 1992.
Deion Sanders fielded the opening kickoff that day as Tasker sped toward him. They met at the 10-yard line, where Sanders tried to hurdle a sliding Tasker, who had been blocked to his knees by a large lineman. Tasker somehow reached up and got Sanders by the ankle as he slid by, and the Falcons ended up with the ball on their nine. They never really recovered.
Once reminded, Tasker has instant recall. He remembers being blocked to the ground just as he got to Sanders, who had leaped high.
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"He got about five feet in the air before I could blink," Tasker told reporters that day. "I think it was just lucky that I happened to grab his foot and got enough to pull him down. Anytime Deion gets his hands on the ball, you breathe a little faster."
Tasker jumped to his feet and pumped his right arm as he was mobbed by teammates. The Bills then forced a three-and-out and would score touchdowns on their first five possessions to take a 35-0 lead in what would wind up as a 41-14 victory, reminiscent of Monday's 47-10 win against Jacksonville. The roll call of those TDs is a callback to the Bills' Super Bowl era: Carwell Gardner on a 2-yard run. Pete Metzelaars on a 3-yard pass from Jim Kelly. Andre Reed on a 15-yard pass from Kelly. Ken Davis on a 1-yard run and a 64-yard run, untouched.
Steve Christie kicked a 47-yard field goal with 27 seconds left in the half for a 38-0 lead. Special teams coach Bruce DeHaven then asked Christie to loft-squib the kickoff to keep the ball away from Sanders.
Offensive lineman Roman Fortin – the same man who had blocked Tasker to the ground on the opening kickoff – fielded the squib at the 25 and lateraled to Tony Smith, who lateraled to Sanders, going against the grain. Sanders then raced down the left sideline for a 73-yard touchdown, styling with his right hand behind his helmet as he high-stepped the last 20 yards. Halftime: Bills 38, Falcons 7.
"Getting beat by 38 and high-stepping it in for the score," Tasker says. "What a dude he was."
When the CBS telecast went to the studio at the half, Greg Gumbel and Terry Bradshaw showed just one play from Bills-Falcons: Deion's dash. He was a show-stealer even on the way to a blowout loss.
DeHaven had said before the game that he wished it were still baseball season. That was a reference to Sanders having played a month earlier in the World Series, in which his Atlanta Braves lost to the Toronto Blue Jays in six games. But Sanders batted .533 with five stolen bases and four runs scored in 17 plate appearances. He remains the only player ever to bat at least .500 with at least five stolen bases in a World Series.
If not for that double-lateral TD in the closing seconds, the Bills’ 38-0 lead at halftime would have matched their largest halftime lead ever. That was set in 1966, when the two-time defending AFL champion Bills led the expansion Miami Dolphins 48-10 at halftime of a game they would win 58-24. The Bills also had a 38-point halftime against the Los Angeles Raiders in the AFC championship game following the 1990 season, which the Bills famously won 51-3.
That Raiders game came to Tasker's mind during Monday night's victory, as did the Bills' playoff win against the New England Patriots following the 2021 season, when the Bills scored almost at will on their way to a 47-17 win.
Against the Falcons in 1992, the Bills led 28-0 after one quarter, and Thurman Thomas and Davis each went over 100 yards rushing by halftime. As Jim Kelly put it that day, "The offensive line was opening holes that even Jim Kelly could have run through."
Falcons coach Jerry Glanville (who wore a cowboy hat and leather coat during warmups) told reporters after the game: "I don't think I have ever seen the Buffalo Bills look any better. They might be the class of the league right now."
The current Bills just might be, too.
"This team has a chance to be special," says Tasker, who knows a thing or two about special teams.
At first, he didn't remember that Atlanta game. Ah, but Tasker will never forget snagging Sanders on that opening kickoff.
"I caught his ankle in the crook of my elbow," he says. "An unassisted tackle inside the 10 on Deion Sanders. Now that's a feather in my cap."
