1999 Buffalo Bills season

40th season in franchise history November 2013 March 2026 Buffalo Bills 1999 11–5 2nd AFC East Wade Phillips John Butler Ralph Wilson Ralph Wilson Stadium Lost Wild Card Playoffs(at Titans) 16–22This game is also known as the Music City Miracle FB Sam GashG Ruben Brown Bills seasons The 1999 Buffalo Bills season was the 30th season for the team in the National Football League (NFL) and 40th overall. It would be the final season that Bruce Smith, Andre Reed, and Thurman Thomas — the last three players remaining from all four of the Bills' Super Bowl teams — were on the same team together. All three were released at the end of the season due to salary cap issues. The Bills surrendered only 229 points (14.3 points per game), the lowest total in franchise history in a 16-game season, and second-fewest in the league.Jacksonville allowed 217 points Buffalo's 2,675 passing yards and 4,045 total yards allowed were both the fewest totals in the NFL in 1999. The Bills finished in second place in the AFC East and finished the National Football League's 1999 season with a record of 11 wins and 5 losses. The Bills qualified for the postseason for the eighth time in the decade. They would lose to the Titans 22–16, in the game called "Music City Miracle". The team would not make the playoffs again until 2017, where they were defeated by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the Wild Card round. They also would not have another 10 win season until 2019. Offseason Additions SubtractionsTE Eric Stocz (Lions) WR Quinn Early (Jets) QB Jim Ballard (CFL) 1999 expansion draft 1999 NFL expansion draft + Bills selected during the expansion draft Pick Name Position Expansion team22 Raymond Jackson Cornerback Cleveland Browns32Clarence WilliamsFullback NFL draft 1999 NFL draft 1999 Buffalo Bills 1 23 Antoine Winfield CB Ohio St yes yes 2 53 Peerless Price WR Tennessee yes yes 3 86 Shawn Bryson RB Tennessee yes 4 119 Keith Newman OLB North Carolina yes 4 122 Bobby Collins TE North Alabama yes 5 156 Jay Foreman ILB Nebraska yes 6 194 Armon Hatcher S Oregon St 7 230 Lamount Jackson QB Kansas 7 248 Bryce Fisher DE Air Force yes Undrafted free agents + 1999 undrafted free agents of notePlayerPositionCollegeTony AkinsWide ReceiverNortheast LouisianaReginald AllenWide ReceiverCentral MichiganKeion CarpenterSafetyVirginia TechZach CarterDefensive tackleSouth Dakota StateKendall ClevelandRunning backLSUBrian EdwardsFullbackEast Tennessee StateLennox GordonRunning backNew MexicoAnthony GrayRunning backWestern New MexicoMercedes HamiltonGuardTennesseeRaion HillSafetyLSUBill KushnerPunterBoston CollegeJeremy McDanielWide receiverArizonaAndy MeyersGuardUCLADusty RenfroLinebackerTexasRobert ScottWide receiverUtah StatePene TalamaivaoDefensive tackleUtah Personnel Staff 1999 Buffalo Bills President – Ralph Wilson Executive vice-president/general manager – John Butler Vice-president of football operations – Wade Phillips Director of pro personnel – A. J. Smith Director of player personnel – Dwight Adams Head coach – Wade Phillips Assistant to the head coach – Max Bowman Offensive coordinator – Joe Pendry Quarterbacks – Turk Schonert Running backs – Bishop Harris Receivers – Charlie Joiner Tight ends – Max Bowman Offensive line – Carl Mauck Offensive quality control – Chris Dickson Defensive coordinator – Ted Cottrell Defensive line – John Levra Linebackers – Chuck Lester Defensive backs – Bill Bradley Special teams – Bruce DeHaven Strength and conditioning coordinator – Rusty Jones Roster 1999 Buffalo Bills  7 Doug Flutie 11 Rob Johnson American football 10 Alex Van Pelt 33 Sam Gash FB 31 Lennox Gordon y 35 Jonathan Linton 23 Antowain Smith 34 Thurman Thomas 89 Kamil Loud 86 Jeremy McDaniel y 80 Eric Moulds 81 Peerless Price y 83 Andre Reed 82 Kevin Williams wide receiver, born 1971 KR/PR 84 Bobby Collins y tight end 88 Sheldon Jackson American football y 85 Jay Riemersma 66 Victor Allotey G 79 Ruben Brown G 63 Bill Conaty C 70 John Fina T 77 Robert Hicks American football T 74 Jamie Nails G 60 Jerry Ostroski C 72 Joe Panos G 69 Marcus Spriggs T 61 Dusty Zeigler G 90 Phil Hansen American football DE 91 Shawn Price DE 78 Bruce Smith DE 92 Ted Washington NT 75 Marcellus Wiley DE 93 Pat Williams American football NT 96 Dan Brandenburg OLB 56 Sam Cowart ILB 51 Joe Cummings American football ILB 55 Jay Foreman American football OLB y 52 John Holecek ILB 98 Sean Moran ILB 53 Keith Newman OLB y 99 Gabe Northern OLB 58 Marlo Perry ILB 59 Sam Rogers linebacker OLB 29 Keion Carpenter y FS 25 Donovan Greer CB 20 Henry Jones American football SS 22 Daryl Porter safety CB/S 24 Kurt Schulz FS 28 Thomas Smith cornerback CB 26 Antoine Winfield Sr. y CB 76 Ethan Albright LS  2 Steve Christie K  9 Chris Mohr P 38 Shawn Bryson y RB IR 95 Bryce Fisher y DE Military 27 Ken Irvin CB IR 21 Manny Martin CB/S IR 53 active, 4 inactive, 1 practice squad 39 Raion Hill y S Regular season Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Attendance 1 September 12 at Indianapolis Colts L 14–31 0–1 56,238 2 September 19 New York Jets W 17–3 1–1 68,839 3 September 26 Philadelphia Eagles W 26–0 2–1 70,872 4 October 4, 1999 at Miami Dolphins W 23–18 3–1 74,073 5 October 10 Pittsburgh Steelers W 24–21 4–1 71,038 6 October 17 Oakland Raiders L 14–20 4–271,113 7 October 24 at Seattle Seahawks L 16–26 4–3 66,301 8 October 31 at Baltimore Ravens W 13–10 5–3 68,673 9 November 7 at Washington Redskins W 34–17 6–3 78,721 10 November 14 Miami Dolphins W 23–3 7–3 72,810 11 November 21 at New York Jets L 7–17 7–4 79,285 12 November 28 New England Patriots W 17–7 8–4 72,111 13 Bye 14 December 12 New York Giants L 17–19 8–5 72,527 15 December 19 at Arizona Cardinals W 31–21 9–5 64,337 16 December 26 at New England Patriots W 13–10 (OT) 10–5 55,014 17 January 2 Indianapolis Colts W 31–6 11–5 61,959 Note: Intra-divisional games are in bold text. Game summaries Week 1 Bills 0 6 8 0 Colts 7 7 7 10 September 12 RCA Dome, Indianapolis, Indiana 1:00 p.m. indoors (dome) Ian Eagle, and Mark May CBS https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/199909120clt.htm Pro Football Reference Buffalo Bills at Indianapolis Colts — September 12th, 1999 Week 2 Jets 0 0 3 0 Bills 0 7 7 3 September 19 Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, New York 8:20 p.m. 62 F C 1, wind 5 mph on Mike Patrick, Joe Theismann and Paul Maguire ESPN https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/199909190buf.htm Pro Football Reference New York Jets at Buffalo Bills — September 19th, 1999 Week 3 Eagles 0 0 0 0 Bills 9 10 7 0 September 26 Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, New York 1:00 p.m. 60 F C 1, wind 7 mph km/h knots on Curt Menefee and Brian Baldinger Fox https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/199909260buf.htm Pro Football Reference Philadelphia Eagles at Buffalo Bills — September 26th, 1999 Week 4 Bills 3 10 0 10 Dolphins 6 3 0 9 October 4 Pro Player Stadium, Miami, Florida 9:00 p.m. 82 F, wind 13 mph km/h knots on ABC https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/199910040mia.htm Pro Football Reference Buffalo Bills at Miami Dolphins — October 4th, 1999 Week 5 Steelers 7 7 0 7 Bills 7 10 7 0 October 10 Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, New York 1:00 p.m. 60 F, wind 8 mph km/h knots on Ed Hochuli Verne Lundquist, Dan Dierdorf, and Bonnie Bernstein CBS https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/199910100buf.htm Pro Football Reference Pittsburgh Steelers at Buffalo Bills — October 10th, 1999 Week 6 Raiders 10 3 7 0 Bills 7 0 0 7 October 17 Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, New York 1:00 p.m. EST 58 F, wind 12 mph km/h knots on Johnny Grier Kevin Harlan, Sam Wyche CBS https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/199910170buf.htm Pro Football Reference Oakland Raiders at Buffalo Bills — October 17th, 1999 Week 7 Bills 0 3 6 7 Seahawks 13 10 0 3 October 24 Kingdome, Seattle, Washington 1:15 p.m. indoors (dome) Tom White Greg Gumbel, Phil Simms, and Armen Keteyian CBS https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/199910240sea.htm Pro Football Reference Buffalo Bills at Seattle Seahawks — October 24th, 1999 Week 8 Bills 0 3 0 10 Ravens 10 0 0 0 October 31 PSINet Stadium, Baltimore, Maryland 1:00 p.m. 59 F, wind 4 mph km/h knots on https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/199910310rav.htm Pro Football Reference Buffalo Bills at Baltimore Ravens — October 31st, 1999 Week 9 Bills 3 14 14 3 Redskins 7 3 0 7 November 7 Jack Kent Cooke Stadium, Washington, D.C. 1:00 p.m. 55 F, wind 14 mph on https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/199911070was.htm Pro Football Reference Buffalo Bills at Washington Redskins — November 7th, 1999 Week 10 Dolphins 0 3 0 0 Bills 9 7 7 0 November 14 Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, New York 1:00 p.m. 50 F C, wind 19 mph km/h knots on https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/199911140buf.htm Pro Football Reference Miami Dolphins at Buffalo Bills — November 14th, 1999 Week 11 Bills 0 0 7 0 Jets 0 14 3 0 November 21 Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey 1:00 p.m. 58 F C 1, wind 8 mph km/h knots on https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/199911210nyj.htm Pro Football Reference Buffalo Bills at New York Jets — November 21st, 1999 Week 12 Patriots 0 0 0 7 Bills 3 7 7 0 November 28 Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, New York 1:00 p.m. 39 F C 1, wind 16 mph km/h knots on https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/199911280buf.htm Pro Football Reference New England Patriots at Buffalo Bills — November 28th, 1999 Week 14 Giants 3 10 3 3 Bills 3 7 0 7 December 12 Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, New York 1:00 p.m. 30 F C 1, wind 6 mph km/h knots on https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/199912120buf.htm Pro Football Reference New York Giants at Buffalo Bills — December 12th, 1999 Week 15 Bills 14 0 3 14 Cardinals 0 14 0 7 December 19 Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, Arizona 6:20 p.m. 57 F C 1, wind 4 mph km/h knots on Johnny Grier Mike Patrick, Joe Theismann, Paul Maguire, and Solomon Wilcots ESPN https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/199912190crd.htm Pro Football Reference Buffalo Bills at Arizona Cardinals — December 19th, 1999 Week 16 Bills 3 0 0 7 3 Patriots 0 3 0 7 0 December 26 Foxboro Stadium, Foxboro, Massachusetts 1:00 p.m. 29 F C 1, wind 18 mph km/h knots on https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/199912260nwe.htm Pro Football Reference Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots — December 26th, 1999 Week 17 Colts 3 3 0 0 Bills 7 14 0 10 January 2 Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, New York 1:00 p.m. EST 44 F C 1, wind 14 mph km/h knots on Bob McElwee Verne Lundquist, Dan Dierdorf, and Bonnie Bernstein CBS https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/200001020buf.htm Pro Football Reference Indianapolis Colts at Buffalo Bills — January 2nd, 2000 Standings Playoffs AFC Wild Card Bills 0 0 7 9 Titans 0 12 0 10 January 8 Adelphia Coliseum, Nashville, Tennessee 12:30 p.m. EST 66,672 Cloudy, 58 °F °C 1 or Phil Luckett Mike Patrick, Joe Theismann, Paul Maguire, and Solomon Wilcots ABC Music City Miracle The Music City Miracle is a famous play in the NFL Wild Card Playoffs involving the Tennessee Titans and Buffalo Bills that took place on January 8, 2000 (following the 1999 regular season) at Adelphia Coliseum in Nashville, Tennessee. Going into the game, Bills coach Wade Phillips created a stir by starting quarterback Rob Johnson, rather than Doug Flutie, who had started 15 games and led the team to the playoffs. Late in the fourth quarter, the stage was set for an exciting finish. Tennessee received the ball with 6:15 remaining. Titans receiver Isaac Byrd's 16-yard punt return and five carries from Eddie George for 17 yards set up a wobbly 36-yard field goal by Del Greco. The Titans took a 15–13 lead with 1:48 to go. On the ensuing drive, with no timeouts remaining, Bills quarterback Johnson led the Bills on a five-play, 37-yard drive to the Titans' 24-yard line. On the last two plays from scrimmage, Johnson played with only one shoe on, as he had lost one and had no time to put it back on, with the clock running out. With only 16 seconds remaining in the game, Steve Christie, the Bills' kicker, made a 41-yard field goal to put Buffalo in the lead, 16–15. Moments later, Christie kicked off, and Titans player Lorenzo Neal received. Neal handed the ball off to Titans tight end Frank Wycheck, who then passed the ball laterally, as ruled by the on field officials, across the field to another Titans player, Kevin Dyson, who then ran down the sidelines for a 75-yard touchdown. The play was named Home Run Throwback by the Titans and was developed by Special Teams Coordinator Alan Lowry. Official review Per the instant replay rules, the play was reviewed by referee Phil Luckett since it was uncertain if the ball had been a forward pass, which is illegal on a kickoff return. However, the call on the field was upheld as a touchdown, and the Titans won the game 22–16. Aftermath The victory, in front of a franchise-record crowd at Adelphia Coliseum, allowed the Tennessee franchise to advance to the divisional round of the AFC playoffs for the first time since 1993. Subsequent victories over the Indianapolis Colts and Jacksonville Jaguars sent the Titans to Super Bowl XXXIV to face the St. Louis Rams, where they lost by one yard. It could be said that the game served as revenge for the Titans/Oilers franchise for The Comeback, where the Bills came back from a 32-point deficit to defeat the Houston Oilers, 41–38, in overtime. For the Bills, it led to the firing after 13 seasons of special teams coach Bruce DeHaven. One year later, Phillips was fired (partly due to his failure to lead the Bills past the first round of the playoffs during his tenure) and replaced by Titans defensive coordinator Gregg Williams. It was added to the list of infamous moments in Buffalo sports history, joining Wide Right and No Goal. Buffalo would go on to miss the playoffs for seventeen seasons following the Music City Miracle, finally snapping its drought in 2017. Then the Bill lost in the Wild Card round to the Jacksonville Jaguars, and again to the Houston Texans in 2019, before finally ending the streak of playoff losses to AFC South opponents against yet another AFC South opponent, the Indianapolis Colts, in 2020. Notes note References 30em External links 1999 Buffalo Bills at Pro-Football-Reference.com Buffalo Bills Category:Buffalo Bills seasons Buff