1984 Buffalo Bills season

Last updated

1984 Buffalo Bills season
Owner Ralph Wilson
Head coach Kay Stephenson
Home field Rich Stadium
Results
Record2–14
Division place5th AFC East
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro Bowlers RB Greg Bell

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]

Contents

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

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
RoundPickPlayerPositionCollegeNotes
126 Greg Bell  *  Running back Notre Dame
241 Eric Richardson   Wide receiver San Jose State
377 Rodney Bellinger   Defensive back Miami (FL)
379 Sean McNanie   Defensive end San Diego State
382 Speedy Neal  Running backMiami (FL)
495 Mitchell Brookins  Wide receiver Illinois
5128 John Kidd   Punter Northwestern
6155 Tony Slaton   Center USC
7182 Stan David   Linebacker Texas Tech
8209Stacy Rayfield Defensive back Texas–Arlington
9236Leroy Howell Defensive end Appalachian State
10263 Joe Azelby  Linebacker Harvard
11299 Craig White  Wide receiver Missouri
12322Russell 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

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

  • Special teams – Miller McCalmon

Strength and conditioning

  • Strength and Conditioning Coordinator – Jim Speros


[11]

Roster

1984 Buffalo Bills roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

 Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

 Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams

Reserve


Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenueAttendance
1September 2 New England Patriots L 17–210–1 Rich Stadium 48,528
2September 9at St. Louis Cardinals L 7–370–2 Busch Memorial Stadium 35,785
3September 17 Miami Dolphins L 17–210–3Rich Stadium65,455
4September 23 New York Jets L 26–280–4Rich Stadium48,330
5September 30at Indianapolis Colts L 17–310–5 Hoosier Dome 60,032
6October 7 Philadelphia Eagles L 17–270–6Rich Stadium37,555
7October 14at Seattle Seahawks L 28–310–7 Kingdome 59,034
8October 21 Denver Broncos L 7–370–8Rich Stadium31,204
9October 28at Miami Dolphins L 7–380–9 Miami Orange Bowl 58,824
10November 4 Cleveland Browns L 10–130–10Rich Stadium33,343
11November 11at New England Patriots L 10–380–11 Sullivan Stadium 43,313
12November 18 Dallas Cowboys W 14–31–11Rich Stadium74,391
13November 25at Washington Redskins L 14–411–12 RFK Stadium 51,513
14December 2 Indianapolis Colts W 21–152–12Rich Stadium20,693
15December 8at New York Jets L 17–212–13 Giants Stadium 45,378
16December 16at Cincinnati Bengals L 21–522–14 Riverfront Stadium 55,771

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

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

[12]

Week 3: Miami Dolphins at Buffalo Bills
Quarter1234Total
Dolphins (3–0)777021
Bills (0–3)037717

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]
TeamCategoryPlayerStatistics
MIAPassing
Rushing
Receiving
BUFPassing
Rushing
Receiving
DolphinsGame StatisticsBills
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

1234Total
Bills0147728
• Seahawks1707731

[14]

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

[15]

Week 9: Buffalo Bills at Miami Dolphins
Quarter1234Total
Bills (0–9)00077
Dolphins (9–0)71701438

at Miami Orange Bowl • Miami, Florida

TeamCategoryPlayerStatistics
BUFPassing
Rushing
Receiving
MIAPassing
Rushing
Receiving
BillsGame StatisticsDolphins
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

1234Total
Cowboys03003
• Bills700714
Scoring summary
Q1BUF Bell 85 yard run (Nelson kick)BUF 7–0
Q2DAL Septien 20 yard field goalBUF 7–3
Q4BUFBell 3 yard pass from Ferguson (Nelson kick)BUF 14–3

[16]

Week 13

1234Total
Bills077014
• Redskins17107741

Week 14

1234Total
Colts093315
• Bills2100021
Scoring summary
Q1BUF Bell 7 yard run (Nelson kick)BUF 7–0
Q1BUF Hunter 18 yard pass from Duek (Nelson kick)BUF 14–0
Q1BUF Franklin 64 yard pass from Dufek (Nelson kick)BUF 21–0
Q2INDSafety, Wilson tackled in end zoneBUF 21–2
Q2IND Middleton 14 yard pass from Schlichter (Allegre kick)BUF 21–9
Q3INDAllegre 28 yard field goalBUF 21–12
Q4INDAllegre 21 yard field goalBUF 21–15

[17]

Week 16

1234Total
Bills707721
• Bengals72132152

Standings

AFC East
WLTPCTDIVCONFPFPASTK
Miami Dolphins (1)1420.8758–010–2513298W2
New England Patriots 970.5636–29–3362352W1
New York Jets 790.4383–57–7332364L1
Indianapolis Colts 4120.2502–64–8239414L5
Buffalo Bills 2140.1251–71–11250454L2

Notes

    References

    1. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com: Team Game Finder Query Results
    2. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference: In a single season, from 1978 to 2011, in the regular season, sorted by descending Sacked
    3. ↑ The record was later shattered by the Eagles in 1986.
    4. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com: 1984 NFL Standings, Team & Offensive Statistics
    5. ↑ The 1975 Bears are the other
    6. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com: In a single season, from 1940 to 2011, in the NFL, in the regular season, requiring Points Differential <= -25, sorted by most games in season matching criteria.
    7. ↑ SportsLogos.net: Buffalo Bills Logos
    8. ↑ ProFootballTalk.com: The story behind the Bills’ red helmets, 23 June 2011|Retrieved January 4, 2012]
    9. ↑ BuffaloBills.com: Untold uniform stories: Fergie behind helmet color change, 23 June 2011 Archived February 15, 2018, at the Wayback Machine |Retrieved January 4, 2012
    10. ↑ "1984 Buffalo Bills draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
    11. ↑ 1984 Buffalo Bills Media Guide. pp. 3–19.
    12. ↑ The Football Database. Retrieved 2022-Jul-10.
    13. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2021-Jun-06.
    14. ↑ . Retrieved 2023-Sep-07.
    15. ↑ The Football Database. Retrieved 2022-Jul-10.
    16. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Nov-15.
    17. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Nov-16.
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