The 1986 Buffalo Bills season was the franchise's 17th season 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 ...
, 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 Week Nine loss to
Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater ...
, the Bills fired coach
Hank Bullough
Henry Charles Bullough (January 24, 1934 – November 24, 2019) was an American football player and coach. He played college football at Michigan State and graduated in 1954. Bullough was a starting guard for the Spartans team that won the 19 ...
, 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
The Montreal Alouettes (French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the East Division of the Canad ...
because of that team's terminal financial situation.) Levy would win his first game with the Bills against
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...
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.
Years later, Bills offensive tackle
Will Wolford
William Charles Wolford (born May 18, 1964) is a former American football offensive lineman in the National Football League (NFL) for the Buffalo Bills, the Indianapolis Colts, and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Playing career
Wolford attended St. Xav ...
alleged that the team purposely lost the week 9 game to Tampa Bay in order to get Bullough fired.
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 the road game leading up to the losing streak in
1983
The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call.
Events January
* January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...
.
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
Highmark Stadium is a stadium in Orchard Park, New York, in the Southtowns of the Buffalo metropolitan area. The stadium opened in 1973 as Rich Stadium and is the home venue of the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). It was ...
to less than 30,000 fans per game. 1985 first overall draft pick
Bruce Smith
Bruce Bernard Smith (born June 18, 1963) is an American former football defensive end who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 19 seasons, primarily with the Buffalo Bills. He played college football at Virginia Tech, where he was ...
, 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
James Edward Kelly (born February 14, 1960) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons with the Buffalo Bills. He also spent two seasons with the Houston Gamblers of the United Stat ...
, 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
The New Jersey Generals were a franchise of the United States Football League (USFL) established in 1982 to begin play in the spring and summer of 1983. The team played three seasons from 1983 to 1985, winning 31 regular season games and losing ...
of the
United States Football League
The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...
; the Generals' soon-to-be-displaced quarterback,
Doug Flutie
Douglas Richard Flutie (born October 23, 1962) is an American former football quarterback whose professional career spanned 21 seasons. He played 12 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), eight seasons in the Canadian Football League (CF ...
, who would become a Bill much later in his career, also rejected the team's overtures and stayed in the USFL. These rejections forced the Bills to sign
Art Schlichter
Arthur Ernest Schlichter (, born April 25, 1960) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for four seasons with the Colts franchise. He also played one Canadian Football League (CFL) season wit ...
, a notorious compulsive gambler who had flamed out with the
Indianapolis Colts, as their backup plan; Schlichter was to compete with
Frank Reich
Frank Michael Reich Jr. (; ; born December 4, 1961) is an American football coach and former quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons, primarily with the Buffalo Bills. He played college football at Maryland a ...
, 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
James Kent Hull (January 13, 1961 – October 18, 2011) was an American football offensive lineman in the National Football League and United States Football League, more precisely a center for the New Jersey Generals of the USFL and Buffalo Bi ...
) doubled the team's home attendance.
NFL draft
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 col ...
running back
Ronnie Harmon played for the Bills for four seasons.
Vanderbilt's
Will Wolford
William Charles Wolford (born May 18, 1964) is a former American football offensive lineman in the National Football League (NFL) for the Buffalo Bills, the Indianapolis Colts, and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Playing career
Wolford attended St. Xav ...
played
offensive tackle for the Bills for seven years, and was voted to the
Pro Bowl
The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players.
The format has changed thro ...
in
1990
File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...
and
1992. Linebacker Mark Pike played his entire 13-year career with the Bills, mostly as a
special teams
In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...
star; he is the NFL's all-time leader in tackles on special teams, with 283.
Tight end
The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Lik ...
Butch Rolle played for the Bills for 6 years, and at one point had a streak of ten consecutive receptions for touchdowns.
Personnel
Staff
Roster
Regular season
Transactions
*
Steve Tasker was claimed off waivers by the Buffalo Bills on November 8, 1986.
Schedule
Game summaries
Week 1 vs. Jets
Three years after being
drafted by the Bills,
Jim Kelly
James Edward Kelly (born February 14, 1960) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons with the Buffalo Bills. He also spent two seasons with the Houston Gamblers of the United Stat ...
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.
Week 2 at Bengals
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
*
Marv Levy first game as
Buffalo Bills head coach.
* First Buffalo head coach to win coaching debut
Week 11
Week 12
Week 13
Week 14
Week 15
Week 16
The Football Database
Retrieved 2018-Jan-07.
Standings
Notes
References
External links
at Pro-Football-Reference.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:1986 Buffalo Bills season
Buffalo Bills seasons
Buffalo Bills
Buff
Buff or BUFF may refer to:
People
* Buff (surname), a list of people
* Buff (nickname), a list of people
* Johnny Buff, ring name of American world champion boxer John Lisky (1888–1955)
* Buff Bagwell, a ring name of American professional ...