Yesterday wasn’t just the opening round of the 2020 NFL playoffs, it also happened to be the birthday of the greatest head coach the NFL has ever seen. That’s right, Don Shula turned 90 years old on Saturday — and the NFL provided him with the gift of some great football games as the Bills/Texans and Patriots/Titans duked it out for a place in the AFC’s Divisional Round.
But it wasn’t just great football that Shula was able to enjoy on his birthday — Shula was directly connected to the outcome of one of the games played on Saturday evening. When the Buffalo Bills fell at the hands of the Houston Texans, it extended the team’s losing streak in the playoffs to six consecutive games and 24 consecutive seasons without a playoff win. Pretty daunting stuff, right?
The last win the Bills enjoyed in the postseason? It came at the expense of the Miami Dolphins back in 1995. That was Don Shula’s last game as the coach of the Dolphins.
Folks, we officially have a Don Shula curse on our hands.
The Bills sent Shula into retirement on a loss in the Wild Card round of the 1995 playoffs and in the 24 years that have passed, the Bills are 0-6 in the playoffs. And Buffalo’s most recent loss to Houston comes on Shula’s 90th birthday. For all the frustration the Bills of the early 1990s caused Don Shula, you can be sure it gave Coach a little extra “happy” in his happy birthday this year to see the Bills fall once more, extending the “Shula Curse” to live on for yet another year.
Happy birthday, Coach!
[vertical-gallery id=419827]