5 greatest what-ifs in NFL history

3. Biggest NFL what-ifs: What if Scott Norwood made the kick?

The Buffalo Bills were one of the greatest teams of the late ’80s and ’90s under the leadership of head coach Marv Levy, who led the team to eight playoff appearances during their most successful spell in franchise history. To compare, the Bills have made the playoffs twice since the year 2000.

However, Buffalo isn’t known as one of the football powerhouses of the ’90s, because they never emerged from the decade with a Super Bowl ring, despite having made it to the “Big Game” four times.

From 1990-1993, the Bills made it to four straight Super Bowls, but they lost every single time. In itself, this is a “what-if”, but the biggest “what-if” is a singular moment at the end of the first Super Bowl, which set the tone for the curse to come.

Led by Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, and Andre Reed, the Bills had one of the best offensive triumvirates in NFL history. All three of those players are Hall of Famers, putting up jaw-dropping numbers in Levy’s no-huddle offense.

In 1991, the Bills made it to Super Bowl 25 and were a play away from winning it all. But they needed kicker Scott Norwood to convert from 47 yards out to win the Super Bowl on the game’s final play.

As luck would have it, Norwood barely missed, as the kick sailed wide right. Norwood was one of the league’s worst kickers that season, converting under 70 percent of his attempts. And while a 47-yarder was no chip shot, Norwood’s heartbreaking miss reverberated.

Had Norwood made that kick, the Bills would have won a Super Bowl. And had they won that first Super Bowl, perhaps they would have been a dynasty on the level of the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys.