The 1977 Buffalo Bills season was the franchise's 18th season, and their eighth in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

. The team posted a losing record for the second-consecutive season, and missed the postseason for the third season. Buffalo started the season with four consecutive losses, and failed to win consecutive games. The team was shut out two times at home. The Bills beat only one team with a winning record — the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

in an early November game in Foxboro that ultimately proved fatal to the Patriots' playoff hopes. After drawing 76,000 to

Rich Stadium Highmark Stadium is a stadium in Orchard Park (town), New York, Orchard Park, New York State, New York, in the Southtowns of the Buffalo, New York, Buffalo metropolitan area. The stadium opened in 1973 Buffalo Bills season, 1973 as Rich Stadium a ...

on opening day against the

Dolphins A dolphin is an aquatic mammal within the infraorder Cetacea. Dolphin species belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontoporiidae (t ...

, Buffalo drew an average of only 35,000 for the remaining six home games. The Bills had one of the most pass-heavy offenses in the NFL in 1977.

Quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

Joe Ferguson Joseph Carlton Ferguson Jr. (born April 23, 1950) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons, primarily with the Buffalo Bills. He played college football at Arkansas. Early years ...

led the league in pass attempts (457, 32.6 per game) and passing yards (2,803, 200.2 per game). He also threw 24

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team b ...

s, the most in the NFL. Although the Bills passed the ball more often than any other team, they were not efficient through the air: they ranked 19th out of 28 teams in passing touchdowns, 21st in yards per attempt, and 20th in

quarterback rating Passer rating (also known as passing efficiency in college football) is a measure of the performance of passers, primarily quarterbacks, in gridiron football. There are two formulas currently in use: one used by both the National Football Leagu ...

(a dismal 54.7). Buffalo's 160 points scored was the third-worst in the NFL. Buffalo’s defense also gave up 313 points, the fourth-worst total in the league. Buffalo's anemic scoring and porous defense gave the team a point-differential of −153, dead-last in the league. This was the last season for O.J. Simpson as a member of the Bills, as he was traded to the 49ers the following season. Simpson would ultimately finish his last season with the Bills with 557 rushing yards on 126 attempts.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Seventh round pick Mike Nelms was cut by the Bills in the 1977 training camp, and went to play in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

for the next three seasons. He returned to the NFL in 1980, joining the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

, and was voted to three consecutive NFC Pro Bowl squads from 1980–1982. Cornerback Charles Romes played in every game for the Bills from 1977 until his final season with Buffalo in

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

. He finished his career in Buffalo with 28 interceptions, fourth in Bills’ history.

Personnel

Staff/Coaches

Roster

Schedule

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Season summary

Week 5

Week 11

Week 12

Washington Redskins at Buffalo Bills - December 4

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Week 13

* Source:''
Pro-Football-Reference.com

Standings

Awards and honors

All-Pros

Joe DeLamielleure Joseph Michael DeLamielleure ( ; born March 16, 1951) is an American former professional football player who was a guard in the National Football League (NFL). He was an All-American playing college football for the Michigan State Spartans. ...

, Guard

Notes

References

External links

Pro-Football-Reference.com: 1977 Buffalo Bills

Video Archives

1977 NFL Week 12: Redskins at Bills
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1977 NFL Week 13: Bills at Jets
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Buffalo Bills seasons

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

Buffalo {{Americanfootball-season-stub