1986 Buffalo Bills season

27th season in franchise history; first with Jim Kelly and Marv Levy November 2013 March 2026 Buffalo Bills 1986 4–12 4th AFC East Hank Bullough (2–7)Marv Levy (2–5) Bill Polian Ralph Wilson Rich Stadium Did not qualify None Bills seasons The 1986 Buffalo Bills season was the franchise's 17th season in the National Football League, and the 27th overall. Although the Bills were only 2–6 at the midway point of the season, their games were much more competitive than in years past. (Only two of their losses in the first eight games were by more than a touchdown.) Still, after a 6-point loss in week 9 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Bills fired coach Hank Bullough, and hired former Kansas City coach Marv Levy to replace him. (Though Levy was not on the Bills' coaching staff, he had served as a television analyst for the team during the 1986 preseason and was hired away from his executive role from the Montreal Alouettes because of that team's terminal financial situation.) Levy would win his first game with the Bills against Pittsburgh in Week Ten, and one more game against Kansas City in Week Thirteen, finishing with a 2–5 record in his first half-season as head coach.Levy would go on to coach the Bills for the subsequent eleven full seasons, before retiring after the 1997 season. Years later, Bills offensive tackle Will Wolford alleged that the team purposely lost the week 9 game to Tampa Bay in order to get Bullough fired.https://www.syracuse.com/buffalo-bills/2019/03/losing-for-levy-how-throwing-game-led-to-buffalo-bills-hiring-hof-coach.html Losing for Levy: How throwing game led to Buffalo Bills hiring HOF coach Talbot Ryan 2019-03-29 syracuse.com en-US 2019-04-01 The Bills ended their 22-game losing streak on the road by beating the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium, 17–14. Coincidentally the Bills beat the Chiefs 14–9, in a road game leading up to the losing streak in 1983. Offseason At the end of the 1985 season, the Bills' future was in serious jeopardy; two consecutive seasons in which the team had finished 2–14 had driven attendance at Rich Stadium to less than 30,000 fans per game. 1985 first overall draft pick Bruce Smith, while he had a respectable rookie season, underperformed compared to expectations and was admittedly not putting his whole heart into the game of football. Quarterback Jim Kelly, whom the team had drafted in the first round of the 1983 draft as their franchise quarterback of the future, still refused to play in Buffalo and was prepared to play the 1986 season as a member of the New Jersey Generals of the United States Football League; the Generals' soon-to-be-displaced quarterback, Doug Flutie, who would become a Bill much later in his career, also rejected the team's overtures and stayed in the USFL.https://chaseblogg.wordpress.com/2008/09/13/brucesmith/ 2008 Buffalo Bills Wall of Fame: Bruce Smith September 14, 2008 These rejections forced the Bills to sign Art Schlichter, a notorious compulsive gambler who had flamed out with the Indianapolis Colts, as their backup plan; Schlichter was to compete with Frank Reich, whom the Bills drafted the previous year, for the starting position. Buffalo's fortunes underwent a drastic improvement before the season. On July 29, 1986, the USFL received only a nominal judgment in its antitrust lawsuit against the NFL, leaving the league without much-needed capital and forcing the end of its operations. With no other options, Kelly then signed with the Bills amid much fanfare, and Schlichter was released. The signing (along with those of fellow USFL refugees Ray Bentley and Kent Hull) doubled the team's home attendance.[Neft, David S.; Cohen, Richard M.; and Korch, Rich The Sports Encyclopedia: Pro Football, 12th Edition, p. 526, Martin's Press, August 1994, 0-312-11073-1 NFL draft 1986 NFL draft University of Iowa running back Ronnie Harmon played for the Bills for four seasons.Harmon made the Pro Bowl with the San Diego Chargers in 1992. Vanderbilt's Will Wolford played offensive tackle for the Bills for seven years, and was voted to the Pro Bowl in 1990 and 1992.Wolford made a third Pro Bowl with Indianapolis. Linebacker Mark Pike played his entire 13-year career with the Bills, mostly as a special teams star; he is the NFL's all-time leader in tackles on special teams, with 283. Tight end Butch Rolle played for the Bills for 6 years, and at one point had a streak of ten consecutive receptions for touchdowns. 1986 Buffalo Bills 1 16 Ronnie Harmon RB Iowa yes yes 1 20 Will Wolford OT Vanderbilt yes yes 3 77 Leonard Burton C South Carolina yes 5 111 Carl Byrum RB Mississippi Valley State yes 7 168 Bob Williams TE Penn State 7 178 Mark Pike LB Georgia Tech yes 7 180 Butch Rolle TE Michigan State yes 8 202 Tony Furjanic LB Notre Dame yes 9 222 Reggie Bynum WR Oregon State 10 251 Guy Tefatiller DT Illinois 11 278 Tony Garbarczyk DT Wake Forest 11 282 Billy Witt DE North Alabama 12 313 Brian McClure QB Bowling Green 12 331 Derek Christian LB West Virginia Personnel Staff 1986 Buffalo Bills President – Ralph Wilson Vice President of Administration/General Manager – Bill Polian Vice President of Football Operations – Hank Bullough Director of player personnel – Norm Pollom Assistant director of Player Personnel – Bob Ferguson Administrative Assistant to the Head Coach – Jim Valek Head coach – Hank Bullough Offensive coordinator/Offensive Line – Jim Ringo Quarterbacks/Passing Game Coordinator – Bob Leahy Running Backs – Elijah Pitts Receivers – Joe Daniels Tight Ends – Joe Faragalli Defensive coordinator/Inside Linebackers – Herb Paterra Defensive Line – Ted Cottrell Outside Linebackers – Ardell Wiegandt Defensive Backfield – Dick Moseley Special Teams – Elijah Pitts Strength and Conditioning Coordinator – Rusty Jones 1986 Buffalo Bills Media Guide 5–25 Roster 1986 Buffalo Bills  8 Stan Gelbaugh y 12 Jim Kelly 14 Frank Reich 33 Ronnie Harmon y 49 Bruce King American football 40 Robb Riddick 34 Gary Wilkins 85 Chris Burkett 83 Andre Reed 82 Eric Richardson American football 89 Steve Tasker 86 Jimmy Teal 84 Don Kern American football 88 Pete Metzelaars 87 Butch Rolle y 70 Joe Devlin American football T 71 Dale Hellestrae T 67 Kent Hull C 72 Ken Jones American football T 51 Jim Ritcher G 62 Mark Traynowicz G 65 Tim Vogler T/C 73 Will Wolford y T 75 Mike Hamby DE 95 Sean McNanie DE 68 Kurt Ploeger DE 79 Dean Prater DE 76 Fred Smerlas NT 78 Bruce Smith defensive end DE 74 Don Smith defensive lineman NT 50 Ray Bentley ILB 53 Tony Furjanic y ILB 99 Hal Garner OLB 54 Eugene Marve ILB 57 Lucius Sanford OLB 56 Darryl Talley OLB 43 Martin Bayless SS 36 Rodney Bellinger CB 45 Dwight Drane SS 22 Steve Freeman football FS 27 Ron Pitts CB 26 Charles Romes CB 23 Kevin Williams cornerback CB  4 John Kidd American football P 11 Scott Norwood K 28 Greg Bell running back, born 1962 RB IR 81 Mitchell Brookins WR IR 89 Walter Broughton WR IR 29 Derrick Burroughs CB IR 61 Leonard Burton y C IR 80 Jerry Butler American football WR IR 35 Carl Byrum y FB IR 69 Greg Christy T IR 41 Steve Clark y S IR 63 Justin Cross T IR 55 Jim Haslett LB IR 48 Lawrence Johnson American football CB IR 38 Mark Kelso y S IR 13 Brian McClure y QB IR 60 Jim Melka LB IR 64 Mark Pike y LB IR 52 James Seawright linebacker LB IR -- Bob Williams American football y TE IR -- Billy Witt y DE IR Regular season Transactions Steve Tasker was claimed off waivers by the Buffalo Bills on November 8, 1986.http://www.buffalobills.com/team/history/important-dates-november.html The Month of November in Bills History Buffalo Bills August 9, 2009 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20090413135411/http://www.buffalobills.com/team/history/important-dates-november.html April 13, 2009 Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 September 7 New York Jets L 24–28 0–1 Rich Stadium 79,951 2 September 14 at Cincinnati Bengals L 33–36 0–2 Riverfront Stadium 52,714 3 September 21 St. Louis Cardinals W 17–10 1–2 Rich Stadium 65,762 4 September 28 Kansas City Chiefs L 17–20 1–3 Rich Stadium 67,555 5 October 5 at New York Jets L 13–14 1–4 Giants Stadium 69,504 6 October 12 at Miami Dolphins L 14–27 1–5 Miami Orange Bowl 49,467 7 October 19 Indianapolis Colts W 24–13 2–5 Rich Stadium 50,050 8 October 26 New England Patriots L 3–23 2–6 Rich Stadium 77,808 9 November 2 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 28–34 2–7 Tampa Stadium 32,806 10 November 9 Pittsburgh Steelers W 16–12 3–7 Rich Stadium 72,000 11 November 16 Miami Dolphins L 24–34 3–8 Rich Stadium 76,474 12 November 23 at New England Patriots L 19–22 3–9 Sullivan Stadium 60,455 13 November 30 at Kansas City Chiefs W 17–14 4–9 Arrowhead Stadium 31,492 14 December 7 Cleveland Browns L 17–21 4–10 Rich Stadium 42,213 15 December 14 at Indianapolis Colts L 14–24 4–11 Hoosier Dome 52,783 16 December 21 at Houston Oilers L 7–16 4–12 Astrodome 31,409 Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. Game summaries Week 1 vs. Jets 1986 New York Jets season Buffalo Bills 1986 2; text-align:center autocollapse New York Jets (0–0) at Buffalo Bills (0–0) September 7 4:00 p.m. EDT Jets 7 7 0 14 Bills 7 3 0 14 Rich Stadium • Orchard Park, New York 79,951 56 °F °C 1 or • Wind 12 mph km/h knot Jerry Markbreit NBC Marv Albert and Bob Griese Pro-Football-Reference.com Jets Ken O'Brien 18/25, 318 Yds, 2 TD Freeman McNeil 21 Rush, 72 Yds Al Toon 6 Rec, 119 Yds, TD Bills Jim Kelly 20/33, 292 Yds, 3 TD Greg Bell 17 Rush, 44 Yds Andre Reed 5 Rec, 95 Yds, TD Three years after being drafted by the Bills, Jim Kelly debuted in front of the home crowd with 292 yards passing and three touchdowns but it was not enough to overcome the divisional rival Jets. NYJ BUF collapsed 1 8:55 Bills RecTD Bell Kelly 2 good Norwood run/pass good/failed/incomplete 0 7 1 6:14 Jets RushTD Paige 2 good Leahy run/pass good/failed/incomplete 7 7 2 3:51 Jets RecTD Toon O'Brien 46 good Leahy run/pass good/failed/incomplete 14 7 2 3:05 Bills FG 19 Norwood 14 10 4 14:00 Bills RecTD Reed Kelly 55 good Norwood run/pass good/failed/incomplete 14 17 4 9:58 Jets RushTD Hector 1 good Leahy run/pass good/failed/incomplete 21 17 4 5:24 Jets RecTD Walker O'Brien 71 good Leahy run/pass good/failed/incomplete 28 17 4 3:55 Bills RecTD Metzelaars Kelly 4 good Norwood run/pass good/failed/incomplete 28 24 28 24 Week 2 at Bengals 1986 Cincinnati Bengals season Bills 3 6 17 7 0 Bengals 7 14 0 12 3 September 14 Riverfront Stadium 52,714 Red Cashion Len Berman and John Hannah NBC The Football Database. Retrieved 2018-Jan-07. Week 3 Cardinals 0 0 3 7 Bills 0 10 0 7 September 21 Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, New York 1:00 p.m. 57 °F °C 1 or; wind 7 mph km/h knots Jim Tunney Jack Buck and Joe Theismann CBS yes Q2 BUF Norwood 35 yard field goal BUF 3–0 Q2 BUF Moore 2 yard run (Norwood kick) BUF 10–0 Q3 STL Lee 27 yard field goal BUF 10–3 Q4 BUF Bell 6 yard run (Norwood kick) BUF 17–3 Q4 STL Sikahema 19 yard pass from Lomax (Lee kick) BUF 17–10 yes Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Jun-06. Week 4 Chiefs 3 7 0 10 Bills 7 0 7 3 September 28 Rich Stadium Jerry Seeman The Football Database. Retrieved 2018-Jan-07. Week 5 Buffalo Bills (1-3) at New York Jets (3-1) Bills 0 7 3 3 Jets 0 7 0 7 October 5 Giants Stadium 4:00 PM EST 69,504 68 °F °C or; wind 18 mph km/h knots Ben Dreith Marv Albert and Bob Griese NBC yes Q2 NYJ Al Toon 4 yard pass from Ken O'Brien (Pat Leahy kick) NYJ 7–0 Q2 BUF Greg Bell 40 yard pass from Jim Kelly (Norwood kick) TIE 7–7 Q3 BUF Norwood 23 yard field goal BUF 10–7 Q4 BUF Norwood 32 yard field goal BUF 13–7 Q4 NYJ Mickey Shuler 36 yard pass from Ken O'Brien (Pat Leahy kick) NYJ 14–13 yes The Football Database. Retrieved 2018-Jan-07. Week 6 Bills 7 0 0 7 Dolphins 3 7 10 7 October 12 Miami Orange Bowl - Miami, Florida 1:00 PM EST 49,467 83 °F °C 1 or; wind 10 mph km/h knots Fred Wyant Don Criqui and Bob Trumpy NBC The Football Database. Retrieved 2018-Jan-07. Week 7 Colts 3 3 7 0 Bills 7 10 7 0 October 19 Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, New York 1:00 p.m. 42 °F °C 1 or; wind 9 mph km/h knots Fred Silva yes Q1 BUF Bellinger 15 yard fumble return (Norwood kick) BUF 7–0 Q1 IND Biasucci 46 yard field goal BUF 7–3 Q2 BUF Norwood 37 yard field goal BUF 10–3 Q2 IND Biasucci 44 yard field goal BUF 10–6 Q2 BUF Reed 6 yard pass from Kelly (Norwood kick) BUF 17–6 Q3 IND Brooks 18 yard pass from Trudeau (Biasucci kick) BUF 17–13 Q3 BUF Reed 13 yard pass from Kelly (Norwood kick) BUF 24–13 yes Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Nov-20. Week 8 Patriots 7 10 3 3 Bills 0 0 3 0 October 26 Rich Stadium Bob McElwee The Football Database. Retrieved 2018-Jan-07. Week 9 Bills 0 0 14 14 Buccaneers 10 10 0 14 November 2 Tampa Stadium Jim Tunney The Football Database. Retrieved 2018-Jan-07. Week 10 Steelers 0 0 12 0 Bills 6 7 0 3 November 9 Rich Stadium Orchard Park, NY 1:00 p.m. EST 72,000 55 °F °C 1 or; wind 27 mph km/h knots; gust 37 mph km/h knots Gordon McCarter Jay Randolph and Reggie Rucker NBC yes Q1 6:15 BUF Reed 3 yard pass from Kelly (kick failed) BUF 6–0 Q2 3:06 BUF Riddick 5 yard run (Norwood kick) BUF 13–0 Q3 14:44 PIT Jackson 5 yard run (kick failed) BUF 13–6 Q3 10:11 PIT Thompson 11 yard pass from Malone (kick failed) BUF 13–12 Q4 10:18 BUF Norwood 29 yard field goal BUF 16–12 yes Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2015-May-17. Marv Levy first game as Buffalo Bills head coach. First Buffalo head coach to win coaching debut right 1986 Pittsburgh Steelers at Buffalo Bills - Full game broadcast Week 11 Miami Dolphins (4-6) at Buffalo Bills (3-7) Dolphins 0 10 10 14 Bills 7 14 3 0 November 16 Rich Stadium Orchard Park, NY 1:00 PM EST 76,474 36 °F °C 1 or; wind 10 mph km/h knots, cloudy, light rain Bob Frederic Gary Gerould and John Hannah NBC The Football Database. Retrieved 2018-Jan-07. Week 12 Bills 0 3 3 13 Patriots 9 6 0 7 November 23 Sullivan Stadium Dick Hantak The Football Database. Retrieved 2018-Jan-07. Week 13 Bills 0 10 7 0 Chiefs 7 0 0 7 November 30 Arrowhead Stadium Tom Dooley The Football Database. Retrieved 2018-Jan-07. Week 14 Browns 7 7 7 0 Bills 0 3 7 7 December 7, 1986 Rich Stadium Orchard Park, NY 1:00 PM EST 2h 39m 42,213 33 °F °C 1 or; wind 16 mph km/h knots; wind chill 2 °F °C 1 or Fred Silva Len Berman and John Hannah NBC The Football Database. Retrieved 2018-Jan-07. Week 15 Bills 7 7 0 0 Colts 0 0 14 10 December 14 Hoosier Dome Indoors (dome) Gordon McCarter The Football Database. Retrieved 2018-Jan-07. Week 16 Bills 0 7 0 0 Oilers 7 3 3 3 December 21 Astrodome Indoors (dome) Ben Dreith The Football Database. Retrieved 2018-Jan-07. Standings Notes References External links 1986 Buffalo Bills at Pro-Football-Reference.com Category:Buffalo Bills seasons Buffalo Bills Buff