1996 Buffalo Bills season

Last updated

1996 Buffalo Bills season
Owner Ralph Wilson
General manager John Butler
Head coach Marv Levy
Home stadium Rich Stadium
Results
Record10–6
Division place2nd AFC East
PlayoffsLost Wild Card Playoffs
(vs. Jaguars) 27–30
All-Pros Bruce Smith (1st team)
Pro Bowlers

The 1996 season was the Buffalo Bills' 27th in the National Football League (NFL), their 37th overall (all of those under the ownership of Ralph Wilson) and their 10th full season under head coach Marv Levy. It was also the final season for long-time Bills quarterback Jim Kelly.

Contents

The team matched their previous season's record of 10–6 [1] and qualified for the playoffs, for the second consecutive season and eighth time in nine seasons. The Bills were upset at home in the wild card playoffs by the 9–7 Jacksonville Jaguars, 30–27. The game winner was a 45-yard field goal from future Bills kicker Mike Hollis, sealing the agonizing defeat. [2]

Offseason

AdditionsSubtractions
LB Chris Spielman (Lions)LB Cornelius Bennett (Falcons)
WR Quinn Early (Saints)WR Bill Brooks (Redskins)
DT Shawn Price (Panthers)FB Carwell Gardner (Ravens)
FS Matt Darby (Cardinals)

NFL draft

1996 Buffalo Bills draft
RoundPickPlayerPositionCollegeNotes
124 Eric Moulds *  WR Mississippi State
253 Gabe Northern   DE LSU Pick from CHI
380 Matt Stevens   SS Appalachian State
4120 Sean Moran   DE Colorado State
5156 Ray Jackson   DB Colorado State
6196 Leon Neal   RB TCU
7237Dan Bradenburg  DE Indiana State
6202 Dusty Zeigler   C Notre Dame
7244 Jay Riemersma   TE Michigan
7249 Eric Smedley  DB Indiana
      Made roster        Pro Football Hall of Fame     *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Mississippi State wide receiver Eric Moulds went on to be the second-leading receiver in Bills history (behind only Andre Reed), with 675 catches for 9,096 yards. He was elected to three Pro Bowls, in 1998, 2000 and 2002.

Undrafted free agents

1996 undrafted free agents of note
PlayerPositionCollege
Dennis AllenDefensive back Texas A&M
Armando AvinKicker Nevada
Jason BrattonRunning back Grambling State
Tim ColstonDefensive Tackle Kansas State
Robert DeshotelLinebacker LSU
Matt MeserveyGuard BYU
Mike MaxwellQuarterbackNevada
Mike RockwoodTackleNevada
Harry Van HofwegenDefensive end Carleton

Personnel

Staff/coaches

1996 Buffalo Bills staff
Front office
  • Owner/President – Ralph Wilson
  • Executive vice president of administration/general manager – John Butler
  • Assistant general manager/director of pro personnel – Bob Ferguson
  • Director of player personnel – Dwight Adams
  • Assistant director/collegiate scouting – A. J. Smith
  • Alumni Relations / Director of Player Development - Jerry Butler

Coaching staff

  • Vice president for football operations/head coach – Marv Levy
  • Assistant Head Coach - Elijah Pitts
  • Administrative assistant to the head coach – Chuck Lester

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

  • Defensive Coordinator– Wade Phillips
  • Defensive line – Don Sekanovich
  • Linebackers - Ted Cottrell
  • Assistant linebackers coach – Chuck Lester
  • Defensive backs – Dick Roach

Special teams

Strength & conditioning

Roster

1996 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 (ST)

Practice squad

53 active, 4 inactive, 3 practice squadReserve


Rookies in italics

Preseason

Schedule

WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenueRecap
1August 2 Washington Redskins L 7–170–1 Rich Stadium Recap
2August 8at Minnesota Vikings W 35–121–1 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Recap
3August 17at Carolina Panthers W 24–02–1 Ericsson Stadium Recap
4August 23 Baltimore Ravens L 14–372–2Rich Stadium Recap

Regular season

Schedule

WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenueRecap
1September 1at New York Giants W 23–20 (OT)1–0 Giants Stadium Recap
2September 8 New England Patriots W 17–102–0 Rich Stadium Recap
3September 16at Pittsburgh Steelers L 6–242–1 Three Rivers Stadium Recap
4September 22 Dallas Cowboys W 10–73–1Rich Stadium Recap
5 Bye
6October 6 Indianapolis Colts W 16–13 (OT)4–1Rich Stadium Recap
7October 13 Miami Dolphins L 7–214–2Rich Stadium Recap
8October 20at New York Jets W 25–225–2Giants Stadium Recap
9October 27at New England PatriotsL 25–285–3 Foxboro Stadium Recap
10November 3 Washington Redskins W 38–136–3Rich Stadium Recap
11November 10at Philadelphia Eagles W 24–177–3 Veterans Stadium Recap
12November 17 Cincinnati Bengals W 31–178–3Rich Stadium Recap
13November 24New York JetsW 35–109–3Rich Stadium Recap
14December 1at Indianapolis ColtsL 10–13 (OT)9–4 RCA Dome Recap
15December 8at Seattle Seahawks L 18–269–5 Kingdome Recap
16December 16at Miami DolphinsL 14–169–6 Pro Player Stadium Recap
17December 22 Kansas City Chiefs W 20–910–6Rich Stadium Recap

Game summaries

Week 1

Team1234OTTotal
Bills07103323
Giants31430020

[3]

Week 2

The Bills upended the Patriots 17–10. Quinn Early caught a 63-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter for Buffalo, then the Bills stopped the Patriots inside their five-yard line in the final seconds.

Week 3

The Bills' first Monday Night appearance ended in ugly fashion as the Steelers erupted to more rushing yards (222 with two touchdowns from ex-Ram Jerome Bettis) than the Bills had total yards of offense (185). Carnell Lake picked off Jim Kelly and ran back a 47-yard score, part of a 24–6 Steelers win.

Team1234Total
Bills30306
Steelers7170024

[4]

Week 4

The Bills hosted the defending Super Bowl champs who were 1–2 and fell to 1–3 as Buffalo rushed for 135 yards and a Thurman Thomas score while intercepting Troy Aikman three times; the last came in the final minute, and Aikman was tackled awkwardly by Bruce Smith, necessitating a Monday examination of his ankle. Jim Kelly was injured, as Todd Collins was the starting quarterback for Buffalo.

Team1234Total
Cowboys00077
Bills703010

[5]

Week 5

Bye week

Week 6

The Bills hosted the Colts, the league's last undefeated team. They clawed to a 10-3 lead in the second as Todd Collins (quarterback) threw his first NFL touchdown pass of his career. Marshall Faulk's touchdown in the fourth tied the game; an exchange of field goals put the game into overtime tied 13-13 where Steve Christie won it from 39 yards out.

Vegas Line: Buffalo Bills -3.5

Starting QBs: Indianapolis Colts: Jim Harbaugh / Buffalo Bills: Todd Collins (quarterback)

Indianapolis Colts (4-0) at Buffalo Bills (3-1)
Team1234OTTotal
Colts00310013
Bills0733316

[6]

[7]

TeamCategoryPlayerStatistics
ColtsPassing Jim Harbaugh 17/42, 203 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT
Rushing Marshall Faulk 20 carries, 55 yards, 1 TD
Receiving Marvin Harrison 5 receptions, 88 yards
BillsPassing Todd Collins (quarterback) 23/44, 309 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT
Rushing Thurman Thomas 18 carries, 69 yards
Receiving Thurman Thomas 8 receptions, 111 yards
StatisticsColtsBills
First downs1620
Plays–yards72-24978-412
Rushes–yards30-8634-113
Passing yards163299
Passing: compattint17-42-023-44-0
Time of possession34:3234:50

[8]

Week 7

Craig Erickson started for Dan Marino and the Dolphins led 14–7 late in the fourth on scores by Irving Spikes and Karim Abdul-Jabbar. Kelly completed a deep pass to Andre Reed and Reed was stopped at the 1-yard line by Terrell Buckley; the Dolphins held the Bills on the first three downs and Kelly was flagged for intentional grounding, forcing 4th and goal from the 11; Kelly's pass was picked off by Buckley at the 9 and Buckley ran back a 91-yard score. Reacting to fan booing after the 21–7 loss, a disconsolate Kelly said, "We deserved to be booed."

Week 8

The Bills traveled to face the 0–7 New York Jets and kicker Steve Christie had a major workload as he booted five field goals to support a Darick Holmes score and to offset three touchdowns by ex-Bill Frank Reich (two to Keyshawn Johnson, one to Wayne Chrebet) and a two-point conversion to Kyle Brady. Christie's sixth field goal finished off a 25–22 Bills win.

Buffalo Bills (4-2) at New York Jets (0-7)
Team1234Total
Bills3331625
Jets708722

[9]

Week 9

On Sunday Night the Bills traveled to Foxboro Stadium and the ensuing game left them tied with the Patriots and Colts for the AFC East lead at 5–3. After trailing 13–0 the Bills clawed back despite a safety given up on an endzone penalty against Jim Kelly; the Bills led 18–15 in the fourth. With 1:25 to go Curtis Martin scored but Adam Vinatieri missed the PAT. Kelly was then intercepted by Willie McGinest and McGinest ran back a 46-yard score, but the Bills on a 48-yard score to Andre Reed pulled to within 28–25 with 30 seconds left; the ensuing onside kick was recovered by ex-Dolphin recently signed by the Patriots Keith Byars.

Team1234Total
Bills00101525
Patriots7621328

Week 10

The Bills hosted the Washington Redskins and Darick Holmes had the game of his career as the Bills rushed for 266 yards (outgaining the entirety of the Skins offense by 28 yards) and five scores, four of them by Holmes. The Bills reached 6–3 with the 38–13 win while the Skins' seven-game winning streak crashed to a halt.

Week 11

The Bills finished the NFC East portion of their schedule by upending the Eagles 24–17, thus sweeping the NFC East 4-0. Despite being outgained in total yards (385 to 252) the Bills forced two Eagles fumbles and also scored on a blocked punt.

Starting QBs: BUF=Jim Kelly vs PHI=Ty Detmer

Head Coach: BUF=Marv Levy vs PHI=Ray Rhodes

Vegas Line= Philadelphia Eagles -3.5

Buffalo Bills (6-3) at Philadelphia Eagles (7-2)
Team1234Total
Bills7107024
Eagles1000717

Week 12

The 4-6 Bengals came to Rich Stadium on a three-game winning streak after the firing of David Shula and promotion of Bruce Coslet to head coach. The Bills didn't care as they rushed for 134 yards and touchdowns from Jim Kelly and Thurman Thomas; the Bills led 31-7 in the fourth as the Bengals scored ten points, but could get no further as Buffalo won 31-17.

Week 13

The Bills hosted the 1–11 Jets and erupted to a 28–3 lead by the fourth quarter; after a Frank Reich touchdown to Jeff Graham the Bills scored again on Eric Moulds' 97-yard kickoff return. The 35–10 win left the Bills at 9–3 entering a three-game road trip.

Week 14

Starting a three-game road trip, the Bills traveled to Indianapolis where despite 307 yards of offense fell to the Colts 13-10 in overtime. Todd Collins started and was intercepted twice as the Colts forced overtime and won on Cary Blanchard's 49-yard field goal. The Colts started backup QB Paul Justin for this game as well.

Team1234OTTotal
Bills01000010
Colts7003313

Week 15

The Bills traveled to the Kingdome where Seahawks kicker Todd Peterson booted four field goals while Kelly and Todd Collins combined for two touchdowns and three interceptions. Buffalo's five turnovers were key as Rick Mirer won 26-18 despite only nine completions of 23 attempts.

Week 16

On Monday Night Football Buffalo's three-game road trip came up empty as the Bills fell to the Dolphins at Joe Robbie Stadium. Joe Nedney booted three field goals and Dan Marino had one touchdown. Jim Kelly had two scores but was picked off once. I was the first time the Bills had been swept by the Dolphins since 1986.

Week 17

The Bills hosted the Chiefs with both teams needing the win to make the playoffs. Steve Bono was harassed all game long and held to just 138 yards with two picks. Jim Kelly rallied the Bills from down 9-6 with two touchdowns. The 20-9 win put the Bills into the playoffs as the AFC Wildcard home team while the Chiefs failed to reach the playoffs for the first time in the decade; it was Kansas City's fourth loss in the last five meetings with Buffalo.

Playoffs (blacked out locally)

Playoff roundDateOpponent (seed)ResultRecordVenueNFL.com
recap
Wild CardDecember 28, 1996 Jacksonville Jaguars (5)L 30–270–1Rich Stadium Recap

The first-ever playoff game for the second-year Jaguars saw the game lead tie or change nine times. Natrone Means rushed for 175 yards and a touchdown while Mark Brunell threw for 239 yards, a score, and two interceptions; in the fourth Jeff Burris ran back a 38-yard score off a Brunell pick. The Jaguars rallied with two fourth-quarter scoring drives ending in a 45-yard field goal from future Bills kicker Mike Hollis. The game turned out to be the last home playoff game for the Bills until the 2020 season and the last home playoff game loss for the Bills until the 2022 season.

Standings

AFC East
WLTPCTPFPASTK
(2) New England Patriots 1150.688418313W1
(4) Buffalo Bills 1060.625319266W1
(6) Indianapolis Colts 970.563317334L1
Miami Dolphins 880.500339325W2
New York Jets 1150.063279454L7

References

  1. "1996 Buffalo Bills Rosters, Stats, Schedule, Team Draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 2, 2024.
  2. "Kelly Retires From the Bills After 11 Years". The Associated Press. The New York Times. February 1, 1997.
  3. Pro-Football-Reference.com,
  4. Pro-Football-Reference.com,
  5. "Dallas Cowboys at Buffalo Bills - September 22nd, 1996". Pro-Football-Reference.com .
  6. "Indianapolis Colts at Buffalo Bills - October 6th, 1996". Pro-Football-Reference.com .
  7. "Indianapolis Colts at Buffalo Bills - October 6th, 1996". Pro-Football-Reference.com .
  8. "Indianapolis Colts at Buffalo Bills - October 6th, 1996". Pro-Football-Reference.com .
  9. "Buffalo Bills at New York Jets - October 20th, 1996". Pro-Football-Reference.com .