1967 Buffalo Bills season

1967 Buffalo Bills season
Owner	Ralph Wilson
Head coach	Joe Collier
Home stadium	War Memorial Stadium
Results
Record	4–10
Division place	3rd AFL Eastern
Playoffs	Did not qualify
←  1966 Bills seasons 1968  →

The 1967 Buffalo Bills season was the team's eighth season in the American Football League. It was the second season with the Bills for head coach Joe Collier. ^[1]

Buffalo was coming off a season in which they were one game away from the first Super Bowl, but could only win four games in 1967. It was Buffalo's first losing season since 1961.

Personnel

Staff/coaches

1967 Buffalo Bills staff
Front office President/majority owner – Ralph Wilson Vice-president/minority owner – Pat McGroder Head coaches Head coach – Joe Collier Offensive coaches Running backs/wide receivers – John Mazur Offensive line – Jerry Smith			Defensive coaches Linebackers/Defensive Backs – Richie McCabe

Final roster

1967 Buffalo Bills roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 16 Tom Flores 15 Jack Kemp Running backs (RB) 36 Charlie Bivins 30 Wray Carlton 34 Gene Donaldson 20 Keith Lincoln Wide receivers (WR) 44 Elbert Dubenion 46 Tony King 43 Monte Ledbetter 48 John Pitts 40 Ed Rutkowski Tight ends (TE) 82 Paul Costa 87 Billy Masters

Offensive linemen (OL) 77 Stew Barber T/G 50 Al Bemiller C/T 76 Gary Bugenhagen T 62 Dick Cunningham T 60 Jim LeMoine G 67 Joe O'Donnell G 57 Bob Schmidt C 66 Billy Shaw G Defensive linemen (DL) 78 Jim Dunaway DT 73 Howard Kindig DE 72 Ron McDole DE 75 Dudley Meredith DT/DE 65 Remi Prudhomme DE 70 Tom Sestak DT 81 Rich Zecher DE

Linebackers (LB) 59 Paul Guidry OLB 55 Paul Maguire P/OLB 56 Marty Schottenheimer MLB 58 Mike Stratton OLB 51 John Tracey OLB Defensive backs (DB) 42 Butch Byrd CB 45 Hagood Clarke SS 24 Booker Edgerson CB 27 Tom Janik SS 47 Charlie King CB/S 26 George Saimes FS Special teams (ST)  7 Mike Mercer K

Practice squad 23Howard Finley S 25Tommy Luke S 89Tom Rhoads DE  3 Benny Russell QB 86Jerry Seither TE 88Bill Wilkerson DE Reserve 21 Bobby Burnett RB 83 Bobby Crockett WR (IR) 71 Wayne DeSutter T (IR) 80 Charley Ferguson (IR) 79 Dick Hudson T 64 Harry Jacobs LB 85 Bob Petrich DE 84 Art Powell WR 32 Jack Spikes RB Rookies in italics

Offseason

1967 NFL/AFL draft

1967 Buffalo Bills draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	22	John Pitts	DB	Arizona State
2	42	Jim LeMoine	TE	Utah State
3	70	Tom Rhoades	DE	Notre Dame
4	102	Gary Bugenhagen	G	Syracuse
6	149	Bill Wilkerson	DE	UTEP
7	181	George Gaiser	T	SMU
8	207	Tommy Luke	DB	Ole Miss
9	233	Gerald Seither	E	Kent State
10	259	Tom Croft	DB	Louisiana Tech
11	284	Paul Tomich	T	Drake
12	292	Ernie Ames	DT	Kent State
12	311	Bob Bonner	DT	Southern
13	318	Howard Finley	DB	Tennessee State
13	319	George Carter	HB	St. Bonaventure
13	337	Randy Wheeler	HB	Georgia
14	362	Vern Moore	HB	Central State (OK)
15	389	Grant Martinsen	DB	Utah State
16	415	Mike Irwin	HB	Penn State
17	441	Grover Smith	HB	Fort Valley State
Made roster    †    Pro Football Hall of Fame     *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Regular season

Season schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap
1	Bye
2	September 10	New York Jets	W 20–17	1–0	War Memorial Stadium	45,748	Recap
3	September 17	Houston Oilers	L 3–20	1–1	War Memorial Stadium	41,384	Recap
4	September 24	Boston Patriots	L 0–23	1–2	War Memorial Stadium	45,748	Recap
5	October 1	San Diego Chargers	L 17–37	1–3	War Memorial Stadium	39,310	Recap
6	October 8	at Denver Broncos	W 17–16	2–3	Bears Stadium	35,188	Recap
7	October 15	Oakland Raiders	L 20–24	2–4	War Memorial Stadium	45,758	Recap
8	Bye
9	October 29	at Houston Oilers	L 3–10	2–5	Rice Stadium	30,060	Recap
10	November 5	Miami Dolphins	W 35–13	3–5	War Memorial Stadium	31,622	Recap
11	November 12	at New York Jets	L 10–20	3–6	Shea Stadium	62,671	Recap
12	November 19	Denver Broncos	L 20–21	3–7	War Memorial Stadium	30,891	Recap
13	November 26	at Miami Dolphins	L 14–17	3–8	Orange Bowl	27,050	Recap
14	December 3	at Kansas City Chiefs	L 13–23	3–9	Municipal Stadium	41,943	Recap
15	December 9	at Boston Patriots	W 44–16	4–9	Fenway Park	20,627	Recap
16	Bye
17	December 24	at Oakland Raiders	L 21–28	4–10	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum	30,738	Recap

Note:

• Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 14

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Bills	10	0	3	8	21
• Raiders	7	7	7	7	28

• Date: December 24
• Location: Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum

Standings

AFL Eastern Division
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	PF	PA	STK
Houston Oilers	9	4	1	.692	5–1–1	258	199	W2
New York Jets	8	5	1	.615	5–1–1	371	329	W1
Buffalo Bills	4	10	0	.286	3–5	237	285	L1
Miami Dolphins	4	10	0	.286	2–6	219	407	L1
Boston Patriots	3	10	1	.231	3–5	280	389	L5

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings in the AFL.

References

1. Collier coached the Bills from 1966–1968

Further reading

• Jeffrey J. Miller, Rockin' the Rockpile: The Buffalo Bills of the American Football League. Toronto, ON: ECW Press, 2007.
• Jeffrey J. Miller and Greg D. Tranter, Relics: The History of The Buffalo Bills in Objects and Memorabilia. Haworth, NJ: St. Johann Press, 2021.
• Sal Maiorana, Buffalo Bills: The Complete Illustrated History. Minneapolis, MN: MVP Books, 2010.