The 1987 Buffalo Bills season was the franchise's 18th 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 28th overall. On October 31, 1987, the Los Angeles Rams traded

Eric Dickerson Eric Demetric Dickerson (born September 2, 1960) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons. Dickerson played college football for the Mustangs of Southern Me ...

to the Indianapolis Colts in a three team trade involving the Bills. The Rams sent Dickerson to the Colts for six draft choices and two players. Buffalo obtained the rights to

Cornelius Bennett Cornelius O'Landa Bennett (born August 25, 1965) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He played for the Buffalo Bills from 1987 to 1995, Atlanta Falcons from 1996 to 1998 ...

from Indianapolis. Buffalo sent running back Greg Bell and three draft choices to the Rams, while Indianapolis added

Owen Gill Owen Gill (born February 19, 1962) is a former American football running back who played professionally in the National Football League. He was selected by the Seattle Seahawks in the 2nd round (53rd overall pick) of the 1985 NFL Draft out of ...

and three of their own draft picks to complete the deal with the Rams. Adding Bennett to the team helped to form the nucleus for a strong young defensive unit that would become the core of Buffalo's later Super Bowl teams.

Offseason

NFL draft

Buffalo's first two draft picks—linebacker

Shane Conlan Shane Patrick Conlan (born March 4, 1964) is a former professional American football player. He played college football at Penn State University, where he won two national championships in 1982 and 1986, although he was red-shirted prior to t ...

and defensive back

Nate Odomes Nathaniel Bernard Odomes (born August 25, 1965) is a former professional American football cornerback who played for the Buffalo Bills (1987–1993), Seattle Seahawks (1994–1995), and the Atlanta Falcons (1996). Before his NFL career, he p ...

—would later go on to make to have a great deal of impact on Buffalo's defense. Conlan was named 1987

Defensive Rookie of the Year Various entities present a National Football League Rookie of the Year Award each season to the top rookie(s) in the National Football League (NFL). The NFL considers the (rookie) of the year awards by the Associated Press (AP) to be its official ...

and would be selected to three consecutive

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 ...

s in the 1988, 1989 and 1990 seasons. Odomes would be selected to consecutive Pro Bowls in

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

and

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

. Another impactful rookie,

, was drafted by

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

in 1987, before being traded to Buffalo.

Personnel

Staff

NFL replacement players

After the league decided to use replacement players during the

NFLPA The National Football League Players Association, or NFLPA, is a labor union representing National Football League (NFL) players. The NFLPA, which has headquarters in Washington, D.C., is led by president J. C. Tretter and executive director DeMa ...

strike, the following team was assembled:

Roster

Regular season

Cornerback

was the youngest starting defensive player in the NFL. It was also his rookie season.

Schedule

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 2

Week 6

Week 7

Week 8

’s first game as a Buffalo Bill, wearing #55. *

Steve Tasker Steven Jay Tasker (born April 10, 1962) is an American sports reporter, locally in Western New York on the MSG Western New York cable TV station, and on WGR Radio and formerly for CBS Sports. He is a former football player who was a wide receive ...

blocked punt just before halftime resulting in a safety and 18–0 halftime score.

Week 9

Week 11 vs Dolphins

Week 12

Week 15

Standings

Player stats

Passing

''Note: Comp = Completions; ATT = Attempts; TD = Touchdowns; INT = Interceptions'' 1987 Buffalo Bills Statistics & Players – Pro-Football-Reference.com
/ref>

Rushing

Receiving

Defense

''Note: FR = Fumble Recoveries; TCKL = Tackles; INT = Interceptions; TD = Touchdowns''

Special teams

''Note: FGA = Field Goals Attempted; FGM = Field Goals Made; FG% = Field goal percentage; XPA = Extra Points Attempted; XPM = Extra Points Made; XP% = Extra points percentage''

Punting

Awards and honors

NFL Rookie of the Year
/ref> *

Pro Bowl Most Valuable Player * Bruce Smith

References

External links

1987 Buffalo Bills
at

Pro-Football-Reference.com Pro-Football-Reference.com is a website providing a variety of statistics for American football. It is one of the few sites that provides information on both active and retired players. The site provides statistics for teams dating back to 1920. ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:1987 Buffalo Bills season 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. ...

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 ...