Of all the people glued to their TVs rooting for the Buffalo Bills to finally – and mercifully – end their 17-season playoff drought last weekend Chris Lindstrom Jersey , one curiously stood out: former Tennessee Titans tight end Frank Wycheck.
Tennessee a 22-16 playoff win over the Bills in a play dubbed the “Music City Miracle,” one of the wildest finishes ever to an NFL postseason game. The much-debated play in the January 2000 wild-card playoff propelled the Titans to the Super Bowl.

It’s a memory that still stings in Buffalo 18 years later, enveloped in the lingering pain from what grew into the longest playoff drought in North America’s four major professional sports.

”People were kind of bringing it up that that’s the reason why they haven’t made the playoffs because of that play,” Wycheck told The Associated Press by phone from Nashville, Tennessee.

”I don’t want to put the responsibility on me,” said Wycheck, who now serves as a radio host and is taking a one-season break as a Titans broadcast analyst. ”But it was so long ago, too. I’m just glad they made it and I was happy for them.”

He doesn’t feel directly responsible for the Bills’ woes in the bungling years that followed. Still, Wycheck said if there was some kind of curse on the Bills sparked by the ”Music City Miracle,” it’s time it was lifted.

Add another member to the Bills bandwagon as Buffalo travels to play AFC South champion Jacksonville in a wild-card playoff on Sunday.

The sentiments surprised key players from Buffalo’s storied past, and even some fans didn’t quite know how to react when Wycheck tweeted his congrats to the Bills for making the playoffs.

”Are you kidding?” said Rob Johnson, the Bills quarterback at the time who started the game over Doug Flutie. ”Does he feel bad?”

”Wow. Really?” said Hall of Fame running back Thurman Thomas. ”Oh, that’s freaking awesome, man. That you could still in a way http://www.falconsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-kaleb-mcgary-jersey , even though it hurt us, that you could root for us, that’s great.”

Wycheck’s name has been dragged through the mud – and worse – across western New York long enough for a play most refer to as ”The Home Run Throwback .” Everywhere that is, except Buffalo – where it’s always been called ”The Home Run Throw Forward,” and ”The Immaculate Deception.”

Johnson, minus a shoe no less, completed a 9-yard pass to Peerless Price to set up Steve Christie hitting a 41-yard field goal to put Buffalo ahead 16-15 with 16 seconds remaining.

What followed was pure and utter disappointment for the Bills.

Tennessee’s Lorenzo Neal caught the ensuing kickoff and handed the ball to Wycheck, who ran to his right. He then spun around at his own 25 and threw the ball across the field to Kevin Dyson, who sprinted up the left sideline to score with 3 seconds left.

The 75-yard touchdown stood up after a lengthy video review, and the stunning loss spawned what became a playoff drought that tied for fifth-longest in NFL history.

Just like its start, the Bills’ drought ended in dramatic fashion last weekend.

Buffalo did its part with a 22-16 win at Miami . The Bills then clinched the AFC’s sixth and final playoff berth when Cincinnati’s Andy Dalton converted a fourth-and-12 in the final minute to hit Tyler Boyd for a touchdown, beating Baltimore 31-27.

Thomas noted that Buffalo’s win over the Dolphins matched the same score as the 2000 loss to Tennessee – the running back’s last game in a Bills uniform.

”It’s been a long, long time,” said Thomas Kendall Sheffield Jersey , who wept in joy after the Bills clinched their playoff berth.

After spending many of these last 17 years answering questions about the drought, and wondering if the Bills might in fact be cursed, Thomas is relieved everyone can finally put it behind them.

”The fans are living it now. Enjoy,” said Thomas, who was on the Bills teams that reached and lost four consecutive Super Bowl appearances in the early 1990s. ”It’s time to create some other memories.”

Even former Bills players who never earned a chance to enjoy a playoff appearance in Buffalo celebrated.

”I’m trying to live vicariously through them because I didn’t get to live it,” said punter Brian Moorman, who played for the Bills from 2001-13. ”I always said that place would go nuts if we got in the playoffs. I would’ve loved to have experienced that.”

Johnson, who eventually won a Super Bowl as a backup in Tampa Bay in 2003, was excited for the Bills and yet still carries some lingering resentment for what happened against Tennessee.

”They do all that scientific stuff now, I wonder if they ever proved that was a lateral,” he wondered. (Don’t try to convince some Bills fans, but it was studied thoroughly, including with rendered animations that showed the pass was almost perfectly horizontal but going ever so slightly backward.)

When reminded that it was ultimately the officials who made the call on Wycheck’s throw being legal, Johnson snorted.

”It wasn’t his fault http://www.falconsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-john-cominsky-jersey , heh, it wasn’t his fault,” he said.

Wycheck insists his toss didn’t go forward and said the most disappointing development was learning of the Bills decision to fire special teams coach Bruce DeHaven following the season. He called it unfair to lay the blame on one person.

T The Nationals broke out of their offensive funk in a big way.

Juan Soto hit two of Washington’s seven home runs, finishing with four hits and five RBIs, and the Nationals routed the Philadelphia Phillies 17-7 on Friday night.

Anthony Rendon, Trea Turner, Bryce Harper, Brian Goodwin and Mark Reynolds also homered for the Nationals, who set a season high for homers. Washington hadn’t homered while losing its last three, getting outscored 16-3 in those defeats.

”We’re back,” Soto said.

Rendon added two doubles and three RBIs, and Harper also contributed three hits and three RBIs. With his drive, Harper became the first NL batter to reach 20 homers.

”We needed that,” manager Dave Martinez said. ”Bats came alive and they came alive big.”

Rhys Hoskins Qadree Ollison Jersey , Scott Kingery and Carlos Santana homered for Philadelphia. Kingery was a triple shy of the cycle.

The teams combined for 28 hits, including 16 for extra bases, on a steamy night in Philadelphia with the game-time temperature 90 degrees.

Erick Fedde (1-3) earned his first major league win in his eighth career start, allowing five runs on eight hits in five innings with three strikeouts and three walks.

Nick Pivetta (4-7) continued to struggle against the organization that drafted him. The right-hander was shelled for seven runs on seven hits, including three homers, in 1 2/3 innings to fall to 0-3 with an 11.94 ERA in five career starts against Washington. Pivetta, a fourth-round pick in 2013, finished June 0-4 with a 7.71 ERA in six starts.

Already leading 12-7, Washington sandwiched solo homers from Goodwin and Reynolds around Soto’s second of the night, a three-run shot off Hector Neris in the ninth.

Washington jumped on Pivetta for four runs in the first. Adam Eaton led off with a single and Turner quickly made it 2-0 by sending a 94-mph fastball into the seats in left.

”That sparked everyone,” Martinez said.

It was 4-0 three batters later when Soto also cleared the wall in left with a two-run shot.

Soto said he didn’t put a home run swing on either of his drives.

”I just try to make a good swing,” he said.

Rendon blew the game open in the second with an opposite-field, three-run drive to right that made it 7-0.

Two innings later, Harper’s three-run homer to left off Yacksel Rios put the Nationals ahead 10-0. And it was 11-0 later in the frame after Wilmer Difo’s two-out RBI double to left.

”Everybody had fun Marquise Brown Jersey ,” Soto said. ”I hope we can do the same thing tomorrow. Same plans.”

RHYS’ RESILIENCE

The biggest Phillies highlight came in the fifth when Hoskins culminated a 14-pitch at-bat with a line-drive homer to left-center. The Philadelphia slugger fouled off eight pitches, including seven in a row with a 3-2 count. It gave him eight homers and 22 RBIs since returning from the DL (broken jaw) on June 9. Hoskins has gone deep in three straight games.

”It was one of the better at-bats I’ve seen,” Phillies manager Gabe Kapler said. ”Really special.”

WALK THIS WAY

Santana had a walk to give him a free pass in six straight games and up his total this month to 27, which is the most for the Phillies in June since Greg Luzinski walked 28 times in 1980.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Nationals: 3B Ryan Zimmerman (oblique) took batting practice on Friday and could begin a rehab assignment as early as Monday. Zimmerman has been out since May 12.

Phillies: Right-handed reliever Pat Neshek, out all season with a right shoulder strain, allowed a run on two hits while striking out the side in one inning during a rehab outing at Double-A Reading on Friday night.

UP NEXT

RHP Vince Velasquez (5-8, 4.69) takes the mound for the Phillies in the third game of the four-game set on Saturday afternoon. Washington RHP Jeremy Hellickson (2-0, 2.28) is expected to return from the DL. Hellickson has been sidelined since June 4 with a right hamstring strain.