1997 Buffalo Bills season

38th season in franchise history; final one with coach Marv Levy November 2013 March 2026 Buffalo Bills 1997 6–10 4th AFC East Marv Levy John Butler Ralph Wilson Rich Stadium Did not qualify G Ruben BrownDE Bruce SmithDT Ted Washington Bills seasons The 1997 Buffalo Bills season was their 38th in the league. The team failed to improve upon their previous season's output of 10–6, instead falling to 6–10.1997 Buffalo Bills Rosters, Stats, Schedule, Team Draftees https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/buf/1997.htm 2024-12-02 Pro-Football-Reference.com en They missed the playoffs for only the second time in ten seasons. 1997 was Hall of Fame head coach Marv Levy's final year as the team's head coach, and the first season since 1985 when Jim Kelly was not on the opening day roster. Todd Collins started at quarterback for the Bills in their first season in the post-Kelly era. The Bills also signed Oakland's Billy Joe Hobert to challenge Collins for the starting job. Third-string quarterback Alex Van Pelt also saw playing time with three starts in Collins' absence. Hobert's contract was terminated after Week Seven, in which Hobert was backing up an injured Collins, and after the game revealed to the media that he had not studied the playbook. Hobert was released the next day.David Fleming, Breaking down the Bills' QB situation ESPN.com, September 23, 2010, "the infamous Billy Joe Hobert who promptly threw a pick on his first pass leading to a 33–6 blowout loss, after which Billy Joe admitted (awesomely, I might add) that he hadn't actually, you know, opened his playbook that week" | retrieved January 9, 2012 One of the most memorable regular season games in Buffalo Bills history occurred in Week Four against the Indianapolis Colts. The Colts roared to a 26–0 lead in the second quarter, before the Bills went on a 37–3 run, ultimately taking the lead 37–29 with 1:15 remaining in the game. The Colts closed to within two, but missed a two-point conversion, giving Buffalo a two-point victory.https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/199709210buf.htm Pro-Football-Reference.com Indianapolis Colts 35 at Buffalo Bills 37, Sunday, September 21, 1997 The game remains the third-greatest regular season comeback in NFL history,It has been surpassed only by a 33-point comeback by the 2022 Vikings and a 28-point comeback by the 1980 49ers and the second greatest in team history.Surpassed only by "The Comeback" in the 1992 playoffshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eW9_DyyzLkw YouTube Buffalo Bills NFL Primetime 8 Offseason Prior to the 1997 season, long-time quarterback (and future Hall of Famer) Jim Kelly announced his retirement from professional football. This left the Bills forced to find a different opening day starting quarterback for the first time since 1985. Third-year quarterback Todd Collins started the season, and the Bills signed former Raiders quarterback Billy Joe Hobert, whose contract was terminated after a Week Seven loss to New England. NFL draft 1997 NFL draft = Pro Bowler Players are identified as a Pro Bowler if they were selected for the Pro-Bowl at any time in their career. One notable player that was not drafted by the Bills, but debuted for the team in 1997, was future Pro Bowl defensive tackle Pat Williams, who played with the team for eight seasons. 1997 Buffalo Bills Draft Round Selection Player Position College Notes 1 23 Antowain Smith RB Houston 2 52 Marcellus WileyMade Pro Bowl with San Diego in 2001 DE Columbia 4 120 Jamie Nails OL Florida A&M 5 153 Sean Woodson DB Jackson State 6 185 Marcus Spriggs G Houston 7 226 Pat Fitzgerald TE Texas Roster 1997 Buffalo Bills 13 Jim Ballard 15 Todd Collins quarterback 10 Alex Van Pelt 44 Darick Holmes KR 25 Rene Ingoglia 23 Antowain Smith y 34 Thurman Thomas 88 Quinn Early 82 Mitchell Galloway y KR/PR 80 Eric Moulds KR 81 Jerry Reese wide receiver y 89 Steve Tasker PR 86 Tony Cline Jr. 87 Rob Coons 84 Lonnie Johnson American football 85 Jay Riemersma 79 Ruben Brown G 63 Bill Conaty y C 70 John Fina T 68 Corbin Lacina G 72 Corey Louchiey T 74 Jamie Nails y G 60 Jerry Ostroski T 73 Mike Rockwood T 69 Marcus Spriggs y T 61 Dusty Zeigler C 90 Phil Hansen American football DE 94 Mark Pike DE 91 Shawn Price DE 78 Bruce Smith DE 92 Ted Washington NT 75 Marcellus Wiley y DE 93 Pat Williams American football y NT 96 Dan Brandenburg OLB 52 John Holecek ILB 55 Mark Maddox ILB 98 Sean Moran ILB 99 Gabe Northern OLB 95 Bryce Paup OLB 58 Marlo Perry OLB 59 Sam Rogers linebacker OLB 22 Jeff Burris CB/PR 27 Ken Irvin CB 31 Raymond Jackson American football FS 20 Henry Jones American football SS 21 Manny Martin CB 24 Kurt Schulz FS 40 Eric Smedley SS 28 Thomas Smith cornerback CB 37 Sean Woodson American football y SS 76 Ethan Albright LS  2 Steve Christie K  9 Chris Mohr P 57 Damien Covington LB IR 48 Pat Fitzgerald no y TE IR 77 Jim Jeffcoat NT IR 46 Marlon Kerner CB IR 83 Andre Reed WR IR 54 Chris Spielman LB IR 33 Tim Tindale FB IR 53 active, 7 inactive, 1 practice squad 97 Doug Brown gridiron football y NT Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Attendance Record 1 August 31 Minnesota Vikings L 34–13 79,139 0–1 2 September 7 at New York Jets W 28–22 72,988 1–1 3 September 14 at Kansas City Chiefs L 22–16 78,169 1–2 4 September 21 Indianapolis Colts W 37–35 55,340 2–2 5 Bye 6 October 5 Detroit Lions W 22–13 78,025 3–2 7 October 12 at New England Patriots L 33–6 59,802 3–3 8 October 20, 1997 at Indianapolis Colts W 9–6 61,139 4–3 9 October 26 Denver Broncos L 23–20 78,458 4–4 10 November 2 Miami Dolphins W 9–6 78,011 5–4 11 November 9 New England Patriots L 31–10 65,783 5–5 12 November 17, 1997 at Miami Dolphins L 30–13 74,155 5–6 13 November 23 at Tennessee Oilers L 31–14 23,571 5–7 14 November 30 New York Jets W 20–10 47,776 6–7 15 December 7 at Chicago Bears L 20–3 39,784 6–8 16 December 14 Jacksonville Jaguars L 20–14 41,231 6–9 17 December 20, 1997 at Green Bay Packers L 31–21 60,108 6–10 Note: Intra-divisional games are in bold text. Game summaries Week 2 Bills 0 14 7 7 Jets 3 10 6 3 September 7 Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey 1:00 p.m. 72,988 73 F C 1, wind 9 mph km/h knots on Marv Albert, Randy Cross & Len Berman NBC yes 1 NYJ John Hall 27 yard field goal Jets 3–0 2 NYJ Dedric Ward 19 yard pass from Neil O'Donnell (John Hall kick) Jets 10–0 2 BUF Thurman Thomas 2 yard run (Steve Christie kick) Jets 10–7 2 BUF Andre Reed 10 yard pass from Todd Collins (Steve Christie kick) Bills 14–10 2 NYJ John Hall 19 yard field goal Bills 14–13 3 BUF Quinn Early 19 yard pass from Todd Collins (Steve Christie kick) Bills 21–13 3 NYJ Aaron Glenn 96 yard kickoff return (run failed) Bills 21–19 4 NYJ John Hall 52 yard field goal Jets 22–21 4 BUF Jay Riemersma 10 yard pass from Todd Collins (Steve Christie kick) Bills 28–22 yes https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/199709070nyj.htm Pro-Football-Reference.com Buffalo Bills at New York Jets — September 7th, 1997 Week 3 Starting QBs - Buffalo Bills: Todd Collins / Kansas City Chiefs: Elvis Grbac Vegas Line: Kansas City Chiefs -4.5 Over/Under: 40.0 (under) Buffalo Bills (1-1) at Kansas City Chiefs (1-1) Bills 0 3 7 6 Chiefs 6 3 0 13 Sep 14, 1997 Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri 1:00 PM EST 78,169 72 F C 1 • 6 mph km/h knot Tom White (American football official) Mike Breen and James Lofton NFL on NBC https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/199709140kan.htm July 6, 2020 Pro-Football-Reference.com Buffalo Bills at Kansas City Chiefs — September 14th, 1997 BUF KC collapsed 1 8:20 Chiefs 11 54 5:03 FG 46 Pete Stoyanovich 0 3 1 1:08 Chiefs 6 30 2:38 FG 45 Pete Stoyanovich 0 6 2 7:49 Bills 9 32 3:30 FG 46 Steve Christie 3 6 2 1:03 Chiefs 9 47 1:07 FG 42 Pete Stoyanovich 3 9 3 12:15 Bills 2 86 0:48 RecTD Andre Reed Todd Collins 77 good Steve Christie run/pass good/failed/incomplete 10 9 4 14:29 Bills 6 57 1:58 FG 33 Steve Christie 13 9 4 14:13 Chiefs 1 94 0:16 KickTD Tamarick Vanover 94 good Pete Stoyanovich run/pass good/failed/incomplete 13 16 4 11:52 Bills 5 49 2:21 FG 30 Steve Christie 16 16 4 9:50 Chiefs 6 50 1:24 RecTD Tony Richardson Elvis Grbac 1 no good (blocked) Pete Stoyanovich run/pass good/failed/incomplete 16 22 16 22 left nfl Buffalo Bills 1974thru2001 Bills Kansas City Chiefs Chiefs Todd Collins 22/43, 297 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT Antowain Smith 11 carries, 30 yards Andre Reed 4 receptions, 113 yards, 1 TD Elvis Grbac 20/37, 179 yards, 1 TD Greg Hill 17 carries, 59 yards Andre Rison 5 receptions, 75 yards right nfl Buffalo Bills 1974thru2001 Bills Kansas City Chiefs Chiefs 16 66-325 23-50 275 22-43-2 31:32 17 62-267 25-107 160 20-37-0 28:28 Standings Notes "note" References Category:Buffalo Bills seasons Buffalo Bills Buffalo Bills