The 1995 Buffalo Bills season was the franchise's 26th 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 36th overall. This was the last time the Bills won the division and won a playoff game until

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

. After suffering a losing season the previous season, the 1995 Bills won the AFC East, and made the playoffs for the seventh time in eight seasons. They defeated the Miami Dolphins in the Wild Card Game in Don Shula's final game as an NFL head coach. The following week they lost to the eventual AFC Champions, the Pittsburgh Steelers. Until

, this season was the last time the Bills won the AFC East, and the playoff win over Miami represents the last time that the Bills have won a playoff game until 2020. In his first season with the team,

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is ...

Bryce Paup Bryce Eric Paup (born February 29, 1968) is an American former professional football player who was an outside linebacker for eleven seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the Green Bay Packers, Buffalo Bills, Jacksonville Jaguars an ...

was named

NFL Defensive Player of the Year Several organizations give out NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards that are listed in the ''NFL Record and Fact Book'' and ''Total Football II: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League''. The Associated Press (AP) has been givi ...

. Paup led the NFL with 17.5 sacks, the fourth-highest single-season total of the 1990s. During the season, head coach Marv Levy underwent successful treatment for prostate cancer; assistant

Elijah Pitts Elijah Eugene Pitts (February 3, 1938 – July 10, 1998) was an American football player, a halfback in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons, ten with the Green Bay Packers. Late in his career, he briefly played for the Los Angeles ...

filled in as interim coach until Levy returned after a three-game absence.

Off-season

1995 Expansion Draft

NFL Draft

Personnel

Staff

Roster

Regular season

Schedule

Season summary

Week 1 at Broncos

The Bills first game in Denver since

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...

Week 5

Week 6

Starting QBs -> New York Jets:

Boomer Esiason Norman Julius "Boomer" Esiason (; born April 17, 1961) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons, primarily with the Cincinnati Bengals. He was selected in the ...

/ Buffalo 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 ...

Vegas Line: Buffalo Bills -9.5 /// Over/Under: 38.0 (over)

Thurman Thomas Thurman Lee Thomas (born May 16, 1966) is an American former football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for thirteen seasons, primarily with the Buffalo Bills. He was selected by the Bills in the second round of th ...

becomes the 11th player all-time to go over the 9,000 career rushing yard mark in this game.

was knocked out in the second quarter by

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 ...

, thus putting

Bubby Brister Walter Andrew "Bubby" Brister III (born August 15, 1962) is a former American football quarterback who played professionally in the National Football League (NFL) for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Philadelphia Eagles, New York Jets, Denver Bronco ...

into the game. On his first snap in the game, he fumbled the ball and turned it over to Buffalo.

Week 10

was the Buffalo Bills head coach for this game as Marv Levy was recovering from illness. Starting QBs: Buffalo Bills:

vs Indianapolis Colts: Jim Harbaugh. In this game, Jim Harbaugh started, but midway through the first quarter

Paul Justin Paul Donald Justin (born May 19, 1968) is a former quarterback in the National Football League for the Indianapolis Colts, Cincinnati Bengals and the St. Louis Rams. Prior to his time in the NFL, he was the starting quarterback for the Arizona R ...

was put in by coach Ted Marchibroda as Harbaugh was injured. This wasn't the end for the Colts QB situation, as Justin was hit by

knocking him out of the game. Harbaugh came in briefly after Justin was knocked out, however,

Craig Erickson Craig Neil Erickson (born May 17, 1969) is a former professional quarterback who was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in the fifth round of the 1991 NFL Draft and also by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the fourth round of the 1992 NFL Draft. H ...

came into the game to finish it out. Vegas Line: Indianapolis Colts -4.0

Week 11

Week 12

Starting QBs -> New York Jets:

/ Buffalo Bills:

Vegas Line: Buffalo Bills -6.5 /// Over/Under: 37.0 (over)

throws a last second hail mary TD pass to

Adrian Murrell Adrian Byran Murrell (born October 16, 1970) is a former professional American football running back. He was drafted by the New York Jets in the fifth round of the 1993 NFL Draft after playing collegiately for the West Virginia Mountaineers. ...

, however, failed on the 2-pt conversion to send the game into OT.

Week 15

Standings

Playoffs

AFC Wild Card Game

In Buffalo's first playoff game since losing Super Bowl XXVIII two seasons earlier, the Bills handled Miami easily by a score of 37–22 at Rich Stadium. Although Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino completed 33 out of 64 passes for 422 yards and two touchdowns, the Bills jumped to a 27–0 lead going into the fourth quarter, and rushed for an NFL playoff-record 341 yards, led by Thurman Thomas's 25 carries for 158 yards. The Bills forced four turnovers, including intercepting Marino three times, in the victory. It was the final game of Don Shula's coaching career with the Dolphins.

AFC Divisional Playoff

Running back

Bam Morris Byron "Bam" Morris (born January 13, 1972) is a former American football running back who played for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Chicago Bears, Baltimore Ravens, and the Kansas City Chiefs. Early life Morris attended Texas Tech University where he ...

scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter as the Steelers stopped the Bills from pulling off a comeback. Pittsburgh jumped to a 20–0 lead by the second quarter with running back John L. Williams's 1-yard touchdown, quarterback

Neil O'Donnell Neil Kennedy O'Donnell (born July 3, 1966) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League for 14 seasons. He played college football at Maryland and was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the third ro ...

's 10-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver

Ernie Mills Ernest Lee Mills, III (born October 28, 1968) is an American former American football wide receiver in the National Football League for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Carolina Panthers and Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at the Universit ...

, and two field goals by Norm Johnson. However, Buffalo running back

scored a 1-yard touchdown run with 45 seconds left in the first half. But Johnson made a 34-yard field goal with eight seconds left to give the Steelers a 23–7 halftime lead. In the third quarter, Johnson added a 39-yard field goal before Bills tight end Tony Cline caught a 2-yard touchdown reception. With 11:23 left in the game, Thomas scored on a 9-yard touchdown reception to cut the lead to 26–21. In response, Pittsburgh drove 76 yards to score on Morris' 13-yard touchdown run. Linebacker

Levon Kirkland Lorenzo Levon Kirkland (born February 17, 1969) is an American former football inside linebacker and coach. A second-round draft choice of the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1992 NFL Draft, he played 11 years as a linebacker in the National Footba ...

then intercepted a pass to set up Morris' 2-yard score with 1:58 remaining to clinch the victory. Bruce Smith was inactive for the game because he had a 106-degree fever; Smith wanted to play but the Bills' medical staff said "no".

Awards and honors

, NFL Defensive Player of the Year * Bryce Paup, AFC Pro Bowl selection

References

External links

Bills on Pro Football Reference

Bills on jt-sw.com

Bills Stats on jt-sw.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:1995 Buffalo Bills Season Buffalo Bills seasons Buffalo Bills AFC East championship seasons

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 ...