1986 Buffalo Bills season

1986 Buffalo Bills season
Head coach	Hank Bullough Marv Levy
General manager	Bill Polian
Owner	Ralph Wilson
Home field	Rich Stadium
Results
Record	4–12
Division place	4th AFC East
Playoff finish	did not qualify

The 1986 Buffalo Bills season was the 27th season for the club and its 17th in the National Football League (NFL).

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, the Bills fired coach Hank Bullough, and hired former Kansas City coach Marv Levy from outside the organization, an unusual mid-season tactic. (Levy had been out of coaching since being the head man with the USFL's Chicago Blitz in 1984.) Levy would win his first game with the Bills against Pittsburgh 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.^[1]

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 to less than 30,000 fans per game. 1985 first overall draft pick Bruce Smith, 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, 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 of the United States Football League; the Generals' soon-to-be-displaced quarterback, Doug Flutie, who would become a Bill much later in his career, also rejected the team's overtures and stayed in the USFL.^[2] These rejections forced the Bills to sign Art Schlichter, a notorious compulsive gambler who had flamed out with the Indianapolis Colts, as their backup plan; Schlichter was to compete with Frank Reich, 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) doubled the team's home attendance.^[3]

NFL draft

University of Iowa running back Ronnie Harmon played for the Bills for four seasons.^[4] Vanderbilt's Will Wolford played offensive tackle for the Bills for seven years, and was voted to the Pro Bowl in 1990 and 1992.^[5] Linebacker Mark Pike played his entire 13-year career with the Bills, mostly as a special teams star; he is the NFL's all-time leader in tackles on special teams, with 283. Tight end Butch Rolle played for the Bills for 6 years, and at one point had a streak of ten consecutive receptions for touchdowns.

1986 Buffalo Bills draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	16	Ronnie Harmon *	RB	Iowa
1	20	Will Wolford *	OT	Vanderbilt
3	77	Leonard Burton	C	South Carolina
5	111	Carl Byrum	RB	Mississippi Valley State
7	168	Bob Williams	TE	Penn State
7	178	Mark Pike	LB	Georgia Tech
7	180	Butch Rolle	TE	Michigan State
8	202	Tony Furjanic	LB	Notre Dame
9	222	Reggie Bynum	WR	Oregon State
10	251	Guy Tefatiller	DT	Illinois
11	278	Tony Garbarczyk	DT	Wake Forest
11	282	Billy Witt	DE	North Alabama
12	313	Brian McClure	QB	Bowling Green
12	331	Derek Christian	LB	West Virginia
Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Personnel

Staff

1986 Buffalo Bills staff
	Front office President – Ralph Wilson Vice President of Administration/General Manager – Bill Polian Vice President of Football Operations – Hank Bullough Director of Player Personnel – Norm Pollom Assistant Director of Player Personnel – Bob Ferguson Administrative Assistant to the Head Coach – Jim Valek Head coaches Head Coach – Hank Bullough Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Line – Jim Ringo Quarterbacks/Passing Game Coordinator – Bob Leahy Running Backs – Elijah Pitts Receivers – Joe Daniels Tight Ends – Joe Faragalli			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator/Inside Linebackers – Herb Paterra Defensive Line – Ted Cottrell Outside Linebackers – Ardell Wiegandt Defensive Backfield – Dick Moseley Special teams coaches Special Teams – Elijah Pitts Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning Coordinator – Rusty Jones

^[6]

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 7, 1986	New York Jets	L 28–24	79,951
2	September 14, 1986	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 36–33	52,714
3	September 21, 1986	St. Louis Cardinals	W 17–10	65,762
4	September 28, 1986	Kansas City Chiefs	L 20–17	67,555
5	October 5, 1986	at New York Jets	L 14–13	69,504
6	October 12, 1986	at Miami Dolphins	L 27–14	49,467
7	October 19, 1986	Indianapolis Colts	W 24–13	50,050
8	October 26, 1986	New England Patriots	L 23–3	77,808
9	November 2, 1986	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	L 34–28	32,806
10	November 9, 1986	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 16–12	72,000
11	November 16, 1986	Miami Dolphins	L 34–24	76,474
12	November 23, 1986	at New England Patriots	L 22–19	60,455
13	November 30, 1986	at Kansas City Chiefs	W 17–14	31,492
14	December 7, 1986	Cleveland Browns	L 21–17	42,213
15	December 14, 1986	at Indianapolis Colts	L 24–14	52,783
16	December 21, 1986	at Houston Oilers	L 16–7	31,409

Game summaries

Week 1

1 2 3 4 Total • Jets 7 7 0 14 28 Bills 7 3 0 14 24 Date: September 7 Location: Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, New York Game start: 4:00 p.m. Game weather: 56°F; wind 12

Scoring summary Q1 BUF Bell 2 yard pass from Kelly (Norwood kick) BUF 7–0 Q1 NYJ Paige 2 yard run (Leahy kick) Tie 7–7 Q2 NYJ Toon 46 yard pass from O'Brien (Leahy kick) NYJ 14–7 Q2 BUF Norwood 19 yard field goal NYJ 14–10 Q4 BUF Reed 55 yard pass from Kelly (Norwood kick) BUF 17–14 Q4 NYJ Hector 1 yard run (Leahy kick) NYJ 21–17 Q4 NYJ Walker 71 yard pass from O'Brien (Leahy kick) NYJ 28–17 Q4 BUF Metzelaars 4 yard pass from Kelly (Norwood kick) NYJ 28–24

Jim Kelly 20/33, 292 Yds, 3 TD ^[7]

Week 3

1 2 3 4 Total Cardinals 0 0 3 7 10 • Bills 0 10 0 7 17 Date: September 21 Location: Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, New York Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 57°F; wind 7

Scoring summary Q2 BUF Norwood 35 yard field goal BUF 3–0 Q2 BUF Moore 2 yard run (Norwood kick) BUF 10–0 Q3 STL Lee 27 yard field goal BUF 10–3 Q4 BUF Bell 6 yard run (Norwood kick) BUF 17–3 Q4 STL Sikahema 19 yard pass from Lomax (Lee kick) BUF 17–10

^[8]

Week 7

1 2 3 4 Total Colts 3 3 7 0 13 • Bills 7 10 7 0 24 Date: October 19 Location: Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, New York Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 42°F; wind 9

Scoring summary Q1 BUF Bellinger 15 yard fumble return (Norwood kick) BUF 7–0 Q1 IND Biasucci 46 yard field goal BUF 7–3 Q2 BUF Norwood 37 yard field goal BUF 10–3 Q2 IND Biasucci 44 yard field goal BUF 10–6 Q2 BUF Reed 6 yard pass from Kelly (Norwood kick) BUF 17–6 Q3 IND Brooks 18 yard pass from Trudeau (Biasucci kick) BUF 17–13 Q3 BUF Reed 13 yard pass from Kelly (Norwood kick) BUF 24–13

^[9]

Week 10

1 2 3 4 Total Steelers 0 0 12 0 12 • Bills 6 7 0 3 16 Date: November 9 Location: Rich Stadium Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game weather: 55°F; wind 27

Scoring summary Q1 BUF Reed 3 yard pass from Kelly (kick failed) BUF 6–0 Q2 BUF Riddick 5 yard run (Norwood kick) BUF 13–0 Q3 PIT Jackson 5 yard run BUF 13–6 Q3 PIT Thompson 11 yard pass from Malone BUF 13–12 Q4 BUF Norwood 29 yard field goal BUF 16–12

^[10]

Standings

AFC East
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
New England Patriots^(3)	11	5	0	.688	7–1	8–4	412	307	W1
New York Jets^(4)	10	6	0	.625	6–2	8–4	364	386	L5
Miami Dolphins^(5)	8	8	0	.500	5–3	6–6	430	405	L1
Buffalo Bills	4	12	0	.250	1–7	3–11	287	348	L3
Indianapolis Colts	3	13	0	.188	1–7	2–10	229	400	W3

References

1. Levy would go on to coach the Bills for the subsequent eleven full seasons, before retiring after the 1997 season.
2. https://chaseblogg.wordpress.com/2008/09/13/brucesmith/
3. [Neft, David S.; Cohen, Richard M.; and Korch, Rich The Sports Encyclopedia: Pro Football, 12th Edition, p. 526, Martin's Press, August 1994, ISBN 0-312-11073-1
4. Harmon made the Pro Bowl with the San Diego Chargers in 1992.
5. Wolford made a third Pro Bowl with Indianapolis.
6. 1986 Buffalo Bills Media Guide. pp. 5–25.
7. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Jun-16.
8. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Jun-06.
9. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Nov-20.
10. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2015-May-17.

External links

• 1986 Buffalo Bills at Pro-Football-Reference.com