1994 Buffalo Bills season

1994 Buffalo Bills season
Head coach	Marv Levy
General manager	John Butler
Owner	Ralph Wilson
Home field	Rich Stadium
Results
Record	7–9
Division place	4th AFC East
Playoff finish	did not qualify

The 1994 Buffalo Bills season was the 35th season for the team franchise and the 25th in the National Football League. The Bills entered the season as the four-time defending AFC champions and looked to advance to the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season.

For the first time since 1987, the Bills failed to make the playoffs. Buffalo finished at 7–9 for the year, only good enough for fourth place in the AFC East.^[1]

In week fourteen, the Bills were still in postseason contention, before losing their final three games and finishing the season with a losing record.

NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College
1	27	Jeff Burris	Cornerback	Notre Dame
2	48	Bucky Brooks	Wide receiver	North Carolina
2	61	Lonnie Johnson	Tight end	Florida State
2	64	Sam Rogers	Linebacker	Colorado
3	81	Marlo Perry	Linebacker	Jackson State
3	98	Corey Louchiey	Tackle	South Carolina
4	130	Sean Crocker	Defensive Back	North Carolina
5	158	A. J. Ofodile	Tight end	Missouri
6	188	Anthony Abrams	Defensive tackle	Clark Atlanta
6	192	Kevin Knox	Wide receiver	Florida State
6	221	Filmel Johnson	Defensive back	Illinois

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Game Site	Attendance	Notes
1	September 4, 1994	New York Jets	L 3–23	0–1	Rich Stadium	79,460	Bills fumbled twice
2	September 11, 1994	at New England Patriots	W 38–35	1–1	Foxboro Stadium	60,274	Steve Christie booted winning 32-yard field goal in final seconds
3	September 18, 1994	at Houston Oilers	W 15–7	2–1	Houston Astrodome	55,424	Third straight Buffalo win over Oilers
4	September 26, 1994	Denver Broncos	W 27–20	3–1	Rich Stadium	75,373	Thurman Thomas scored twice
5	October 2, 1994	at Chicago Bears	L 13–20	3–2	Soldier Field	62,406	Jim Kelly and Steve Walsh combined for just 276 passing yards
6	October 9, 1994	Miami Dolphins	W 21–11	4–2	Rich Stadium	79,491	Dolphins committed 12 penalties for 94 yards
7	October 16, 1994	Indianapolis Colts	L 17–27	4–3	Rich Stadium	79,404	Jim Kelly sacked four times
8	Bye
9	October 30, 1994	Kansas City Chiefs	W 44–10	5–3	Rich Stadium	79,501	Chiefs used three quarterbacks
10	November 6, 1994	at New York Jets	L 17–22	5–4	The Meadowlands	66,949	Jets used Boomer Esiason and Jack Trudeau at quarterback
11	November 14, 1994	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 10–23	5–5	Three Rivers Stadium	59,019	Steelers score final points on goal line fumble recovery
12	November 20, 1994	Green Bay Packers	W 29–20	6–5	Rich Stadium	79,029	Bills put up 455 yards of offense
13	November 24, 1994	at Detroit Lions	L 21–35	6–6	Pontiac Silverdome	75,672	Bills lost despite holding Barry Sanders to just 45 yards
14	December 4, 1994	at Miami Dolphins	W 42–31	7–6	Joe Robbie Stadium	69,358	Dan Marino intercepted three times in first game following The Fake Spike Game
15	December 11, 1994	Minnesota Vikings	L 17–21	7–7	Rich Stadium	66,501	Warren Moon defeated Bills two years after 1992 game in Buffalo with Oilers
16	December 18, 1994	New England Patriots	L 17–41	7–8	Rich Stadium	56,784	Bills eliminated from playoff race
17	December 24, 1994	at Indianapolis Colts	L 9–10	7–9	RCA Dome	38,458	Colts finished 8–8

Game summaries

Week 14

1 2 3 4 Total • Bills 7 0 21 14 42 Dolphins 0 17 0 14 31 Date: December 4 Location: Joe Robbie Stadium, Miami, Florida Game start: 8:00 p.m. Game weather: 79°F; wind 15

Scoring summary Q1 BUF Brooks 8 yard pass from Kelly (Christie kick) BUF 7–0 Q2 MIA Fryar 3 yard pass from Marino (Stoyanovich kick) Tie 7–7 Q2 MIA Stoyanovich 23 yard field goal MIA 10–7 Q2 MIA Fryar 45 yard pass from Marino (Stoyanovich kick) MIA 17–7 Q3 BUF Beebe 72 yard pass from Kelly (Christie kick) MIA 17–14 Q3 BUF Reed 21 yard pass from Kelly (Christie kick) BUF 21–17 Q3 BUF Gardner 1 yard run (Christie kick) BUF 28–17 Q4 MIA Jackson 23 yard pass from Marino (pass failed) BUF 28–23 Q4 BUF Gardner 1 yard run (Christie kick) BUF 35–23 Q4 BUF Reed 83 yard pass from Kelly (Christie kick) BUF 42–23 Q4 MIA Miller 1 yard pass from Kosar (Parmalee run) BUF 42–31

^[2]

Standings

AFC East
	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	STK
^(3) Miami Dolphins	10	6	0	.625	389	327	W1
^(5) New England Patriots	10	6	0	.625	351	312	W7
Indianapolis Colts	8	8	0	.500	307	320	W2
Buffalo Bills	7	9	0	.438	340	356	L3
New York Jets	6	10	0	.375	264	320	L5

Roster

Buffalo Bills roster
Quarterbacks  12 Jim Kelly 14 Frank Reich Running Backs 23 Kenneth Davis RB 34 Thurman Thomas RB 28 Yonel Jourdain RB 33 Brian Ammons FB Wide Receivers 80 Bill Brooks WR 85 Russell Copeland 82 Don Beebe 83 Andre Reed 82 Damon Thomas Tight Ends 84 Lonnie Johnson 88 Pete Metzelaars 49 Nate Turner		Offensive Linemen 68 Corbin Lacina G 70 John Fina G 65 John Davis G 67 Kent Hull C 63 Adam Lingner C 60 Jerry Ostroski G 74 Glenn Parker T 66 Jerry Crafts 62 Mike Devlin		Defensive Linemen 78 Bruce Smith DE 90 Phil Hansen DE 73 Mike Lodish NT 94 Mark Pike DE 91 Jeff Wright NT 99 James Patton DE 71 Ed Philion DT		Linebackers 56 Darryl Talley ILB 96 Monty Brown LB 97 Cornelius Bennett ILB 59 Sam Rogers LB 58 Marlo Perry LB 53 Marvcus Patton LB Defensive Backs 25 Mickey Washington CB 28 Thomas Smith CB 20 Henry Jones S 24 Kurt Schulz S 22 Jeff Burris CB 38 Mark Kelso S 43 Matt Darby S 38 Mike Dumas 36 Jerome Henderson 81 Bucky Brooks Special Teams 2 Steve Christie K 9 Chris Mohr P 89 Steve Tasker WR

References

1. 1994 was the only season from 1988–1996 that Buffalo did not qualify for the postseason
2. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Jun-25.

• Bills on Pro Football Reference
• Bills on jt-sw.com
• Bills Stats on jt-sw.com