1984 Buffalo Bills season

The 1984 Buffalo Bills season was the franchise's 15th season in the National Football League, and the 25th overall. The team started the season with eleven consecutive losses before an upset home win over Dallas in Week 12. The 1984 Bills gave up a team-record 454 points on defense, an average of more than 28 per game.^[1]

1984 Buffalo Bills season
Owner	Ralph Wilson
Head coach	Kay Stephenson
Home stadium	Rich Stadium
Results
Record	2–14
Division place	5th AFC East
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	RB Greg Bell
← 1983 Bills seasons 1985 →

The Bills gave up 30+ points eight times and allowed fewer than 20 points in a game only three times all season. The Bills also allowed sixty quarterback sacks, for a total of 554 yards, the most-ever at the time.^[2][3] The Bills’ 4,341 total yards gained was second-worst in the league in 1984 (only the Colts gained fewer total yards).^[4] The 1984 Bills are one of only two NFL teams^[5] to have been outscored by 25 points six different times during the season.^[6] This season is notable for being Pete Carroll’s first NFL coaching experience. The Bills failed to win a single road game.

Offseason

Uniform change

For the third time in team history, the Bills changed their helmets. While keeping the streaking buffalo logo from the second change, the Bills changed their helmet color from white to red. They would keep the red helmet through the 2010 season.^[7] It was the Bills first major change to their helmets since changing from the "standing Bison" to the streaking buffalo before the 1974 season. Since three of the Bills' four AFC Eastern division opponents—Miami, Indianapolis and New England—then had white helmets (the Jets wore green helmets but would wear white ones from 1998 to 2018; the Patriots have used silver helmets since 1993), "it was easier for [Ferguson] to distinguish and that's the reason why we made the switch."^[8][9] Ferguson had thrown a high number of interceptions over the previous two seasons, and coach Kay Stephenson hoped it would help the quarterback reduce them. Ironically, 1984 was Ferguson's last year with the Bills, and only year with the red helmets; Ferguson, after 107 consecutive starts dating to the 1977 season (at the time tied with the league record), was benched in favor of Joe Dufek on September 30. Ferguson's interception total actually increased compared to the previous year, and he would go on to play for at least three more teams (Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Indianapolis Colts and Canadian football's San Antonio Texans) that all had white helmets.

The Bills wore white jerseys for all 1984 home games, the only time they have done so in franchise history. Buffalo wore white at home occasionally every other year from 1980 to 1986, and has done so since 2011.

NFL draft

Main article: 1984 NFL draft

Notre Dame running back Greg Bell made the Pro Bowl in his rookie season; he was later traded to the Los Angeles Rams in the blockbuster three-team Eric Dickerson trade. Defensive end Sean McNanie played for the team for four of his seven NFL seasons. Punter John Kidd played his first six seasons with Buffalo; his career lasted a total of 15 seasons.

1984 Buffalo Bills draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	26	Greg Bell *	Running back	Notre Dame
2	41	Eric Richardson	Wide receiver	San Jose State
3	77	Rodney Bellinger	Defensive back	Miami (FL)
3	79	Sean McNanie	Defensive end	San Diego State
3	82	Speedy Neal	Running back	Miami (FL)
4	95	Mitchell Brookins	Wide receiver	Illinois
5	128	John Kidd	Punter	Northwestern
6	155	Tony Slaton	Center	USC
7	182	Stan David	Linebacker	Texas Tech
8	209	Stacy Rayfield	Defensive back	Texas–Arlington
9	236	Leroy Howell	Defensive end	Appalachian State
10	263	Joe Azelby	Linebacker	Harvard
11	299	Craig White	Wide receiver	Missouri
12	322	Russell Davis	Wide receiver	Maryland
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

^[10]

Personnel

Staff

1984 Buffalo Bills staff

Front office President – Ralph Wilson Senior executive vice-president – Pat McGroder Vice-president of administration/General Manager – Terry Bledsoe Vice-president of football operations – Kay Stephenson Vice-president of player personnel – Norm Pollom Director of pro personnel – Bill Polian Assistant director of player personnel – Bruce Nicholas Head coaches Head coach – Kay Stephenson Offensive coaches Quarterbacks – John Becker Running backs – Andy MacDonald Receivers – Milt Jackson Tight ends – Perry Moss Offensive line – Jim Niblack

Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator/defensive line – Don Lawrence Linebackers – Monte Kiffin Defensive backfield – Pete Carroll Defensive assistant – Miller McCalmon Special teams coaches Special teams – Miller McCalmon Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning Coordinator – Jim Speros

^[11]

Roster

1984 Buffalo Bills roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 19 Joe Dufek 12 Joe Ferguson 10 Matt Kofler Running backs (RB) 28 Greg Bell 34 Booker Moore 41 Speedy Neal FB 40 Robb Riddick 23 Van Williams 27 Craig White Wide receivers (WR) 81 Mitchell Brookins 80 Jerry Butler 89 Julius Dawkins 83 Preston Dennard 85 Byron Franklin 29 John Mistler 88 Mike Mosley Tight ends (TE) 84 Buster Barnett 86 Mark Brammer 87 Tony Hunter 49 Ulysses Norris

Offensive linemen (OL) 73 Jon Borchardt G 70 Joe Devlin T 53 Will Grant C 72 Ken Jones T 61 Tom Lynch G 51 Jim Ritcher G 65 Tim Vogler G/C Defensive linemen (DL) 75 Bill Acker NT 91 Ken Johnson DE 95 Sean McNanie DE 79 Dean Prater DE 76 Fred Smerlas NT 93 Scott Virkus DE 77 Ben Williams DE

Linebackers (LB) 50 Joe Azelby 59 Stan David ILB 55 Jim Haslett ILB 50 Trey Junkin LB 52 Chris Keating OLB 54 Eugene Marve ILB 58 Steve Potter 56 Darryl Talley OLB 60 Al Wenglikowski Defensive backs (DB) 43 Martin Bayless CB 36 Rodney Bellinger CB 30 Brian Carpenter CB 22 Steve Freeman FS 48 Lawrence Johnson CB 42 Rod Kush FS 38 Jeff Nixon SS 26 Charles Romes CB 30 Marco Tounge SS 45 Len Walterscheid FS 21 Don Wilson FS Special teams (ST)  4 John Kidd P 13 Chuck Nelson K

Reserve 63 Justin Cross T (IR) 18 Joe Danelo K (IR) 25 Rod Hill CB (IR) 82 Eric Richardson WR (IR) 57 Lucius Sanford OLB (IR) 24 Gary Thompson CB (IR) Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 2	New England Patriots	L 17–21	0–1	Rich Stadium	48,528
2	September 9	at St. Louis Cardinals	L 7–37	0–2	Busch Memorial Stadium	35,785
3	September 17	Miami Dolphins	L 17–21	0–3	Rich Stadium	65,455
4	September 23	New York Jets	L 26–28	0–4	Rich Stadium	48,330
5	September 30	at Indianapolis Colts	L 17–31	0–5	Hoosier Dome	60,032
6	October 7	Philadelphia Eagles	L 17–27	0–6	Rich Stadium	37,555
7	October 14	at Seattle Seahawks	L 28–31	0–7	Kingdome	59,034
8	October 21	Denver Broncos	L 7–37	0–8	Rich Stadium	31,204
9	October 28	at Miami Dolphins	L 7–38	0–9	Miami Orange Bowl	58,824
10	November 4	Cleveland Browns	L 10–13	0–10	Rich Stadium	33,343
11	November 11	at New England Patriots	L 10–38	0–11	Sullivan Stadium	43,313
12	November 18	Dallas Cowboys	W 14–3	1–11	Rich Stadium	74,391
13	November 25	at Washington Redskins	L 14–41	1–12	RFK Stadium	51,513
14	December 2	Indianapolis Colts	W 21–15	2–12	Rich Stadium	20,693
15	December 8	at New York Jets	L 17–21	2–13	Giants Stadium	45,378
16	December 16	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 21–52	2–14	Riverfront Stadium	55,771

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 3 (Monday, September 17, 1984): vs. Miami Dolphins

^[12]

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Dolphins (3–0)	7	7	7	0	21
Bills (0–3)	0	3	7	7	17

Week 3: Miami Dolphins at Buffalo Bills

at Rich Stadium • Orchard Park, New York

• Date: September 17, 1984
• Game time: 9:01 p.m. EDT
• Game weather: 54 °F (12 °C); wind 8 miles per hour (13 km/h; 7.0 kn)
• Game attendance: 65,455
• Referee: Bob Frederic
• TV announcers (ABC): Frank Gifford (play-by-play) and O. J. Simpson (color commentator)
• ^[13]

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
MIA	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
BUF	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP MIA BUF 1 2:09 8 62 5:13 Dolphins Duper 11-yard touchdown reception from Marino, von Schamann kick good 7 0 2 5:04 9 52 4:20 Dolphins Clayton 12-yard touchdown reception from Marino, von Schamann kick good 14 0 2 0:05 5 18 1:11 Bills 33-yard field goal by Danelo 14 3 3 11:27 9 57 3:21 Dolphins Moore 1-yard touchdown reception from Marino, von Schamann kick good 21 3 3 3:57 15 80 6:30 Bills Williams 1-yard touchdown run, Danelo kick good 21 10 4 9:20 9 79 3:43 Bills Dawkins 13-yard touchdown reception from Ferguson, Danelo kick good 21 17 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 21 17

• Point spread:
• Over/Under:
• Time of Game: 3 hours, 15 minutes

Dolphins	Game Statistics	Bills
	First downs
	Rushes–yards
	Passing yards
	Passes
	Sacked–yards
	Net passing yards
	Total yards
	Return yards
	Punts
	Fumbles–lost
	Penalties–yards
	Time of Possession

• Buffalo had now gone the first three weeks without scoring a TD in the first half.

Week 7

1 2 3 4 Total Bills 0 14 7 7 28 • Seahawks 17 0 7 7 31 Date: October 14 Location: Kingdome Game start: 4:00 PM EST Game attendance: 59,034 Game weather: Dome Referee: Fred Wyant TV announcers (ABC / Local Buffalo Broadcast / WKBW): Rick Azar and Marv Levy

^[14]

Week 9 (Sunday, October 28, 1984): at Miami Dolphins

^[15]

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Bills (0–9)	0	0	0	7	7
Dolphins (9–0)	7	17	0	14	38

Week 9: Buffalo Bills at Miami Dolphins

at Miami Orange Bowl • Miami, Florida

• Date: October 28, 1984
• Game time: 4:01 p.m. EST
• Game attendance: 58,824
• Referee: Gene Barth
• TV announcers (NBC): Charlie Jones (play-by-play) and Bob Griese (color commentator)
• Pro-Football-Reference.com

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
BUF	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
MIA	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP BUF MIA 1 3:18 7 80 3:06 Dolphins Clayton 7-yard touchdown reception from Marino, von Schamann kick good 0 7 2 14:53 3 47 1:20 Dolphins Johnson 10-yard touchdown reception from Marino, von Schamann kick good 0 14 2 7:55 10 77 4:50 Dolphins 22-yard field goal by von Schamann 0 17 2 2:33 4 75 1:05 Dolphins Clayton 65-yard touchdown reception from Marino, von Schamann kick good 0 24 4 14:19 7 64 3:42 Dolphins Bennett 1-yard touchdown run, von Schamann kick good 0 31 4 3:26 12 68 7:44 Dolphins Johnson 1-yard touchdown run, von Schamann kick good 0 38 4 1:22 10 75 2:04 Bills Dennard 5-yard touchdown reception from Kofler, Danelo kick good 7 38 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 7 38

• Point spread:
• Over/Under:
• Time of Game: 2 hours, 54 minutes

Bills	Game Statistics	Dolphins
	First downs
	Rushes–yards
	Passing yards
	Passes
	Sacked–yards
	Net passing yards
	Total yards
	Return yards
	Punts
	Fumbles–lost
	Penalties–yards
	Time of Possession

Week 12

1 2 3 4 Total Cowboys 0 3 0 0 3 • Bills 7 0 0 7 14 Date: November 18 Location: Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, New York Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 74,391 Game weather: 38 °F (3.3 °C); wind 17 miles per hour (27 km/h; 15 kn) Referee: Bob McElwee TV announcers (CBS): Dick Stockton and Hank Stram

Scoring summary Q1 BUF Bell 85 yard run (Nelson kick) BUF 7–0 Q2 DAL Septien 20 yard field goal BUF 7–3 Q4 BUF Bell 3 yard pass from Ferguson (Nelson kick) BUF 14–3

• Greg Bell 27 Rush, 206 Yds

^[16]

Week 13

1 2 3 4 Total Bills 0 7 7 0 14 • Redskins 17 10 7 7 41 Date: November 25 Location: RFK Stadium Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 51,513 Game weather: 43 °F or 6.1 °C, relative humidity 66%, wind 6 miles per hour (9.7 km/h; 5.2 kn) Referee: Ben Dreith TV announcers (NBC): Jay Randolph & Reggie Rucker

Week 14

1 2 3 4 Total Colts 0 9 3 3 15 • Bills 21 0 0 0 21 Date: December 2 Location: Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, New York Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 35 °F (1.7 °C); wind 14 miles per hour (23 km/h; 12 kn) Referee: Pat Haggerty

Scoring summary Q1 BUF Bell 7 yard run (Nelson kick) BUF 7–0 Q1 BUF Hunter 18 yard pass from Duek (Nelson kick) BUF 14–0 Q1 BUF Franklin 64 yard pass from Dufek (Nelson kick) BUF 21–0 Q2 IND Safety, Wilson tackled in end zone BUF 21–2 Q2 IND Middleton 14 yard pass from Schlichter (Allegre kick) BUF 21–9 Q3 IND Allegre 28 yard field goal BUF 21–12 Q4 IND Allegre 21 yard field goal BUF 21–15

^[17]

Week 16

1 2 3 4 Total Bills 7 0 7 7 21 • Bengals 7 21 3 21 52 Date: December 16, 1984 Location: Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 55,771 Game weather: 59 °F or 15.0 °C, wind 15 miles per hour (24 km/h; 13 kn) Referee: Chuck Heberling TV announcers (NBC): Charlie Jones & Bob Griese

Standings

AFC East
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Miami Dolphins(1)	14	2	0	.875	8–0	10–2	513	298	W2
New England Patriots	9	7	0	.563	6–2	9–3	362	352	W1
New York Jets	7	9	0	.438	3–5	7–7	332	364	L1
Indianapolis Colts	4	12	0	.250	2–6	4–8	239	414	L5
Buffalo Bills	2	14	0	.125	1–7	1–11	250	454	L2

Notes