1998 Buffalo Bills season

1998 Buffalo Bills season
Head coach	Wade Phillips
General manager	John Butler
Owner	Ralph Wilson
Home field	Ralph Wilson Stadium
Results
Record	10–6
Division place	3rd AFC East
Playoff finish	Lost Wild Card Playoffs (at Dolphins) 17–24

The 1998 Buffalo Bills season was the team's 39th season, and 29th in the National Football League.^[1] The season marked an important development in the Bills’ history as a quarterback controversy would consume the whole season between Rob Johnson and Doug Flutie. It would also mark the beginning of the Wade Phillips era. The Bills improved on the previous season's output of 6–10, and finished second in the AFC East with a 10–6 record,^[2] and would qualify for the playoffs only to lose in the wild card round to the Miami Dolphins.

The Bills lost their first three games of the season, all by six points or less, and looked to be headed for a losing season. After a bye in Week Four, quarterback Rob Johnson finally won his first game with Buffalo, holding on for a 26–20 win over San Francisco in Week Five. Flutie started the next eleven games, winning nine of them. The Bills had a playoff spot locked up by the final game of the season, which Johnson started and won.

The Bills played the Dolphins in the Wild Card round of the 1998 AFC Playoffs, where wide receiver Eric Moulds would set the NFL playoff record for receiving yards, with 240. The Bills would end up losing the game 24 - 17, as Dolphins lineman Trace Armstrong sacked Flutie on Buffalo's last drive, forcing him to fumble, and icing the game for Miami.

Offseason

The Bills, looking to upgrade the quarterback position, signed Rob Johnson, who had played for Jacksonville in 1997, and improved his stock with a win in relief of Jaguars quarterback Mark Brunell. Bills general manager John Butler traded away the Bills' first- and fourth-round picks to Jacksonville for the rights to Johnson.

The Bills also signed long-time CFL quarterback Doug Flutie to back up Johnson; Flutie would end the 1998 season with the NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award.

NFL Draft

= Pro Bowler [3]

Round	Pick	Player	Position	School/Club Team
2	39	Sam Cowart[4]	Middle linebacker	Florida State
3	68	Robert Hicks	Offensive tackle	Mississippi State
5	131	Jonathan Linton	Fullback	North Carolina
6	160	Fred Coleman	Wide receiver	Washington
7	198	Victor Allotey	Offensive guard	Indiana
7	238	Kamil Loud	Wide receiver	Cal-Poly SLO

Personnel

Staff

1998 Buffalo Bills staff
	Front office President – Ralph Wilson Executive Vice President/General Manager – John Butler Vice President of Football Operations – Wade Phillips Director of Pro Personnel – A. J. Smith Director of Player Personnel – Dwight Adams Head coaches Head Coach – Wade Phillips Assistant to the Head Coach – Max Bowman Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator – Joe Pendry Quarterbacks – Turk Schonert Running Backs – Bishop Harris Receivers – Charlie Joiner Tight Ends – Max Bowman Offensive Line – Carl Mauck Offensive Quality Control – Chris Dickson			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator – Ted Cottrell Defensive Line – John Levra Linebackers – Chuck Lester Defensive Backs – Bill Bradley Special teams coaches Special Teams – Bruce DeHaven Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning Coordinator – Rusty Jones

^[5]

Regular season

The opening game for 1998 constituted the first time since 1985 that the Bills played the San Diego Chargers.^[6] The reason for this is that before the admission of the Texans in 2002, NFL scheduling formulas for games outside a team’s division were much more influenced by table position during the previous season.^[7]

Schedule

Week	Date	TV Time	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 6, 1998	CBS 4:00 pm ET	at San Diego Chargers	L 16–14	64,037
2	September 13, 1998	CBS 1:00 pm ET	at Miami Dolphins	L 13–7	73,097
3	September 20, 1998	FOX 1:00 pm ET	St. Louis Rams	L 34–33	65,199
4	Bye
5	October 4, 1998	FOX 1:00 pm ET	San Francisco 49ers	W 26–21	76,615
6	October 11, 1998	CBS 1:00 pm ET	at Indianapolis Colts	W 31–24	52,938
7	October 18, 1998	CBS 1:00 pm ET	Jacksonville Jaguars	W 17–16	77,635
8	October 25, 1998	ESPN 8:15 pm ET	at Carolina Panthers	W 30–14	64,050
9	November 1, 1998	CBS 1:00 pm ET	Miami Dolphins	W 30–24	79,011
10	November 8, 1998	CBS 4:15 pm ET	at New York Jets	L 34–12	75,403
11	November 15, 1998	CBS 1:00 pm ET	New England Patriots	W 13–10	72,020
12	November 22, 1998	CBS 1:00 pm ET	Indianapolis Colts	W 34–11	49,032
13	November 29, 1998	CBS 4:15 pm ET	at New England Patriots	L 25–21*	58,304
14	December 6, 1998	CBS 1:00 pm ET	at Cincinnati Bengals	W 33–20	54,359
15	December 13, 1998	CBS 1:00 pm ET	Oakland Raiders	W 44–21	62,002
16	December 19, 1998	CBS 12:30 pm ET	New York Jets	L 17–10	79,056
17	December 27, 1998	CBS 1:00 pm ET	at New Orleans Saints	W 45–33	39,707

Game summaries

Week 8

1 2 3 4 Total • Bills 10 7 10 3 30 Panthers 0 7 0 7 14 Date: October 25 Location: Ericsson Stadium, Charlotte, North Carolina Game start: 8:20 p.m. Game weather: 55°F, wind 2 mph Television network: ESPN

Scoring summary 1 BUF Eric Moulds 20 yard pass from Doug Flutie (Steve Christie kick) Bills 7–0 1 BUF Steve Christie 42 yard field goal Bills 10–0 2 CAR William Floyd 1 yard run (John Kasay kick) Bills 10–7 2 BUF Eric Moulds 82 yard pass from Doug Flutie (Steve Christie kick) Bills 17–7 3 BUF Steve Christie 47 yard field goal Bills 20–7 3 BUF Thurman Thomas 17 yard run (Steve Christie kick) Bills 27–7 4 BUF Steve Christie 44 yard field goal Bills 30–7 4 CAR Mark Carrier 8 yard pass from Steve Beuerlein (John Kasay kick) Bills 30–14

^[8]

Standings

AFC East
	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	STK
^(2) New York Jets	12	4	0	.750	416	266	W6
^(4) Miami Dolphins	10	6	0	.625	321	265	L1
^(5) Buffalo Bills	10	6	0	.625	400	333	W1
^(6) New England Patriots	9	7	0	.563	337	329	L1
Indianapolis Colts	3	13	0	.188	310	444	L2

Playoffs

AFC: Miami Dolphins 24, Buffalo Bills 17

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bills	0	7	7	3	17
Dolphins	3	3	8	10	24

at Pro Player Stadium, Miami, Florida

• Game time: 12:30 p.m. EST
• Game weather: 80 °F (27 °C), partly cloudy
• Game attendance: 72,698
• Referee: Mike Carey
• TV announcers (ABC): Al Michaels (play-by-play), Dan Dierdorf, Boomer Esiason (color commentators), and Lesley Visser (sideline reporter)

Awards and honors

• Doug Flutie, AFC Pro Bowl Selection
• Doug Flutie, NFL Comeback Player of the Year

References

1. "1998 Buffalo Bills Starters, Roster, & Players - Pro-Football-Reference.com". www.pro-football-reference.com. Retrieved April 16, 2008.
2. "Buffalo Bills". www.buffalobills.com. Archived from the original on September 18, 2004. Retrieved December 8, 2015.
3. Players are identified as a Pro Bowler if they were selected for the Pro-Bowl at any time in their career.
4. elected to Pro Bowl in 2000
5. 1998 Buffalo Bills Media Guide.
6. Buffalo Bills v San Diego Chargers
7. History of the NFL’s Structure and Formats
8. Pro-Football-Reference.com

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