2014 Buffalo Bills season

Last updated

2014 Buffalo Bills season
OwnerMary Wilson (weeks 1-5)
Terrence Pegula (week 6-present)
General manager Doug Whaley
Head coach Doug Marrone
Home field Ralph Wilson Stadium
Ford Field (week 12)
Results
Record9–7
Division place2nd AFC East
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro Bowlers Marcell Dareus, DT
Kyle Williams, DT
Mario Williams, DE
Uniform
Buffalo Bills Uniforms 2012-2014.png

The 2014 Buffalo Bills season was the franchise's 45th season in the National Football League (NFL), 55th season of competition, second and final under head coach Doug Marrone and the first in franchise history without Ralph Wilson as owner. The Bills defense continued its strong play from last season, finishing first in the league with 54 quarterback sacks. Overall, the Bills improved on their 6–10 record from 2013, finishing with a 9–7 record, their first winning season since 2004, yet they still missed the playoffs after a Week 16 loss to the Oakland Raiders.

Contents

Background

Death of Ralph Wilson and sale to Terrence Pegula

Ralph Wilson, the founding owner of the Buffalo Bills, died at the age of 95 on March 25, 2014. In his will, Wilson placed the team into a trust governed by his wife, niece and two team officials, who were separately given instructions to sell the team in short order, not only to the highest bidder, but with a precondition that the team be kept in Buffalo. Three bidders stepped forward with bids: stalking horse bidder Donald Trump, the family of Buffalo Sabres owner and natural gas baron Terrence Pegula and a consortium led by musician Jon Bon Jovi and the principals of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, the last of whom raised serious concerns that the team would relocate to Toronto at the first opportunity. The Pegula family was named as the winning bidder on September 9 and closed on its purchase of the team on October 8.

Cancellation of the Toronto Series

On March 5, 2014, three weeks before Wilson's death, the Bills announced the postponement of the Bills Toronto Series for one year. Bills President and CEO Russ Brandon will evaluate the series in the future, possibly to permanently cancel games in Toronto. On December 3, 2014, after six years and a 1–5 record (their only win coming in a 23–0 shutout victory against the Washington Redskins), the Bills Toronto Series was permanently cancelled.

On-field

The Bills won their first two games, a 23–20 overtime road win at Chicago (their first-ever victory at Soldier Field) and an emotionally raucous 29–10 home win against division rival Miami, a game played just days after the announcement that the Pegulas would purchase the team and keep it in Buffalo. But Buffalo lost their next two, a 22–10 loss at home against San Diego and a 23–17 loss on the road at Houston, after which Marrone benched quarterback EJ Manuel (their first round pick the previous year) in favor of journeyman Kyle Orton. In his first start as a Bill against Detroit at Ford Field, Orton threw for 308 yards as Buffalo came back from a 14-0 halftime deficit to defeat Detroit 17–14 in then-defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz's first return to Detroit since being fired in the offseason, following an eventual game-winning 58-yard field goal by kicker Dan Carpenter.

Buffalo would lose its next game, a 37–22 loss at home against New England before coming back from a 16–10 deficit against Minnesota to win 17-16 after Orton threw for 283 yards, two touchdowns, the second of which to rookie wide receiver Sammy Watkins and connecting with tight end Scott Chandler for 18 yards to convert a 3rd-and-12 and 24 yards to convert a 4th-and-20, respectively (Orton also had an interception and a lost fumble, one of three for the Bills offense). Unfortunately for Buffalo, running backs C. J. Spiller and Fred Jackson were both injured in the first half. With running back Bryce Brown, who the Bills traded their conditional fourth-rounder that can become a third-round selection (that they had acquired in the trade that sent Stevie Johnson to San Francisco) to Philadelphia, inactive for the game and no time to find anyone to help carry the ball, running back Anthony Dixon, who the Bills signed as a free agent from San Francisco was left to carry the ball himself, with fullback Frank Summers assisting.

On November 30, the Bills beat the Cleveland Browns giving them their seventh win, which not only improved on the previous season, in which they finished 6-10 for the third time since 2003 (they finished 6–10 in 2009 and 2011, the latter of which after they started 5–2), but it also gives them their best start entering December since the 2000 Buffalo Bills season, in which they finished 8-8 and missed the playoffs. With a win against the Green Bay Packers on December 14, the Bills broke a league-leading streak of nine consecutive losing seasons dating back to 2005; however, the next week's 26–24 loss to the Oakland Raiders eliminated them from playoff contention for the 15th consecutive year, continuing a league-leading drought. The team finished with a 17–9 win against the New England Patriots, who were resting the starters in preparation for a playoff run; the win was the first time the team had won at Gillette Stadium (they had lost all 12 previous attempts) and established the team's first winning season since 2004 (former head coach Mike Mularkey's first season).

Roster changes

Free agents lost

PositionPlayer2014 TeamNotes
S Jairus Byrd New Orleans Saints Signed 6 years/$56 million
DE Alex Carrington St. Louis Rams Signed 1 year/$1.5 million
S Jim Leonhard Cleveland Browns Signed 1 year/$855,000
LB Arthur Moats Pittsburgh Steelers Signed 1 year/$795,000
OT Thomas Welch unsigned

Signings

PositionPlayer2013 TeamDate signedNotes and references
MLB Brandon Spikes New England Patriots March 18Signed 1 year/$3.25 million
RB Anthony Dixon San Francisco 49ers March 15Signed 3 years/$3.5 million
OG Chris Williams St. Louis Rams March 12Signed 4 years/$13.4 million
CB Corey Graham Baltimore Ravens March 12Signed 4 years/$16.3 million
LB Keith Rivers New York Giants March 12Signed 2 years/$4.05 million
CB Aaron Williams Buffalo Bills March 5Signed 4 years/$26.01 million extension
K Dan Carpenter Buffalo Bills March 11Signed 4 years/$9.95 million extension
TE Scott Chandler Buffalo Bills March 13Signed 2 years/$4.75 million extension
RB Fred Jackson Buffalo Bills July 30Signed 1 year/$2.6 million extension

2014 draft

2014 Buffalo Bills Draft
RoundSelectionPlayerPositionCollege
1 4 Sammy Watkins Wide receiver Clemson
244 Cyrus Kouandjio Offensive tackle Alabama
373 Preston Brown Linebacker Louisville
4109 Ross Cockrell Cornerback Duke
5153 Cyril Richardson Guard Baylor
6None — see draft trades below
7221 Randell Johnson Linebacker Florida Atlantic
237 Seantrel Henderson Offensive tackle Miami
Draft trades

Staff

2014 Buffalo Bills staff

Front office

  • Owner/CEO – Terrence Pegula
  • Owner – Kim Pegula
  • President – Russ Brandon
  • General Manager – Doug Whaley
  • Senior Vice President of Football Administration – Jim Overdorf
  • Director of Football Administration - Don Purdy
  • Special Assistant – Buddy Nix
  • Director of Player Personnel – Jim Monos
  • Director of Pro Personnel – Tom Gibbons
  • Assistant Director of Pro Personnel – Rob Hanrahan
  • Director of College Scouting – Kelvin Fisher
  • Contract Administrator/Football Analyst – Kevin Meganck
  • Director of Analytics – Michael Lyons

Head coaches

  • Head coach – Doug Marrone
  • Assistant to the head coach – Stephen Brown

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

  • Special teams coordinator – Danny Crossman
  • Special teams assistant – John Anselmo

Strength and conditioning

  • Head strength and conditioning – Eric Ciano
  • Assistant strength and conditioning – Hal Luther
  • Strength and conditioning assistant – Dan Liburd


Final roster

2014 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

Practice squad

Reserve

Rookies in italics
53 active, 8 reserve, 10 practice squad

Schedule

Preseason

On February 27, 2014, the NFL announced that, to celebrate the induction of wide receiver Andre Reed, the Bills would play the New York Giants in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio, which took place on August 3, 2014, and aired on NBC. [1] The remainder of the Bills' preseason opponents were announced on April 9, 2014.

WeekDateOpponentResultRecordGame siteNFL.com
recap
HOF August 3vs. New York Giants L 13–170–1 Fawcett Stadium Recap
1August 8at Carolina Panthers W 20–181–1 Bank of America Stadium Recap
2August 16at Pittsburgh Steelers L 16–191–2 Heinz Field Recap
3August 23 Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 14–271–3 Ralph Wilson Stadium Recap
4August 28 Detroit Lions L 0–231–4Ralph Wilson Stadium Recap

Regular season

WeekDateOpponentResultRecordGame siteNFL.com
recap
1September 7at Chicago Bears W 23–20 (OT)1–0 Soldier Field Recap
2September 14 Miami Dolphins W 29–102–0 Ralph Wilson Stadium Recap
3September 21 San Diego Chargers L 10–222–1Ralph Wilson Stadium Recap
4September 28at Houston Texans L 17–232–2 NRG Stadium Recap
5October 5at Detroit Lions W 17–143–2 Ford Field Recap
6October 12 New England Patriots L 22–373–3Ralph Wilson Stadium Recap
7October 19 Minnesota Vikings W 17–164–3Ralph Wilson Stadium Recap
8October 26at New York Jets W 43–235–3 MetLife Stadium Recap
9 Bye
10November 9 Kansas City Chiefs L 13–175–4Ralph Wilson Stadium Recap
11November 13at Miami Dolphins L 9–225–5 Sun Life Stadium Recap
12November 24 [A] New York Jets W 38–36–5Ford Field Recap
13November 30 Cleveland Browns W 26–107–5Ralph Wilson Stadium Recap
14December 7at Denver Broncos L 17–247–6 Sports Authority Field at Mile High Recap
15December 14 Green Bay Packers W 21–138–6Ralph Wilson Stadium Recap
16December 21at Oakland Raiders L 24–268–7 O.co Coliseum Recap
17December 28at New England Patriots W 17–99–7 Gillette Stadium Recap
Notes

Game summaries

Week 1: at Chicago Bears

Week One: Buffalo Bills at Chicago Bears – Game summary
Quarter1234OTTotal
Bills71003323
Bears70103020

at Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois

Game information

Week 2: vs. Miami Dolphins

Week Two: Miami Dolphins at Buffalo Bills – Game summary
Quarter1234Total
Dolphins0010010
Bills6314629

at Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, New York

Game information

Week 3: vs. San Diego Chargers

Week Three: San Diego Chargers at Buffalo Bills – Game summary
Quarter1234Total
Chargers767222
Bills037010

at Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, New York

Game information

Week 4: at Houston Texans

Week Four: Buffalo Bills at Houston Texans – Game summary
Quarter1234Total
Bills0100717
Texans0710623

at NRG Stadium, Houston, Texas

Game information

Week 5: at Detroit Lions

Week Five: Buffalo Bills at Detroit Lions – Game summary
Quarter1234Total
Bills0331117
Lions770014

at Ford Field, Detroit, Michigan

Game information

Week 6: vs. New England Patriots

Week Six: New England Patriots at Buffalo Bills – Game summary
Quarter1234Total
Patriots013101437
Bills077822

at Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, New York

  • Date: October 12
  • Game time: 1:00pm EDT
  • Game weather: 55 °F (13 °C), clear & sunny
  • Game attendance: 70,185
  • Referee: Walt Coleman
  • TV announcers (Fox): Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston and Tony Siragusa
  • Recap, Gamebook
Game information

Week 7: vs. Minnesota Vikings

Week Seven: Minnesota Vikings at Buffalo Bills – Game summary
Quarter1234Total
Vikings3100316
Bills0100717

at Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, New York

Game information

Week 8: at New York Jets

Week Eight: Buffalo Bills at New York Jets – Game summary
Quarter1234Total
Bills141061343
Jets0170623

at MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey

Game information

Week 10: vs. Kansas City Chiefs

Week Ten: Kansas City Chiefs at Buffalo Bills – Game summary
Quarter1234Total
Chiefs3001417
Bills733013

at Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, New York

  • Date: November 9
  • Game time: 1:00pm EST
  • Game weather: 42 °F (6 °C), cloudy
  • Game attendance: 68,119
  • Referee: Brad Allen
  • TV announcers (CBS): Spero Dedes and Solomon Wilcots
  • Recap, Gamebook
Game information

Week 11: at Miami Dolphins

Week Eleven: Buffalo Bills at Miami Dolphins – Game summary
Quarter1234Total
Bills33309
Dolphins3091022

at Sun Life Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida

Game information

Week 12: vs. New York Jets

Week Twelve: New York Jets at Buffalo Bills – Game summary
Quarter1234Total
Jets30003
Bills7717738

at Ford Field, Detroit, Michigan [A]

  • Date: November 24 [A]
  • Game time: 7:00pm EST [A]
  • Game weather: Played indoors (dome stadium)
  • Game attendance: 56,044
  • Referee: Pete Morelli
  • TV announcers (CBS [A] ): Spero Dedes and Solomon Wilcots
  • Recap, Gamebook
Game information

Week 13: vs. Cleveland Browns

Week Thirteen: Cleveland Browns at Buffalo Bills – Game summary
Quarter1234Total
Browns300710
Bills0017926

at Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, New York

Game information

This was the 1st time the Bills have had a winning record this late in the season since 2008

Week 14: at Denver Broncos

Week Fourteen: Buffalo Bills at Denver Broncos – Game summary
Quarter1234Total
Bills0301417
Broncos7710024

at Sports Authority Field at Mile High, Denver, Colorado

  • Date: December 7
  • Game time: 4:05pm EST/2:05pm MST
  • Game weather: 63 °F (17 °C), mostly sunny
  • Game attendance: 76,913
  • Referee: Ron Torbert
  • TV announcers (CBS): Kevin Harlan and Rich Gannon
  • Recap, Gamebook
Game information

Week 15: vs. Green Bay Packers

Week Fifteen: Green Bay Packers at Buffalo Bills – Game summary
Quarter1234Total
Packers370313
Bills736521

at Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, New York

Game information

The Bills were the only AFC East team to defeat all of their NFC North opponents. The Bills also improved their record to 6–0 against the Packers at home.

Week 16: at Oakland Raiders

Week Sixteen: Buffalo Bills at Oakland Raiders – Game summary
Quarter1234Total
Bills7301424
Raiders0136726

at O.co Coliseum, Oakland, California

Game information

This loss eliminated Buffalo from playoff contention. [4]

Week 17: at New England Patriots

Week Seventeen: Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots – Game summary
Quarter1234Total
Bills7100017
Patriots33309

at Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts

  • Date: December 28
  • Game time: 1:00pm EST
  • Game weather: 49 °F (9 °C), mostly cloudy
  • Game attendance: 68,756
  • Referee: Terry McAulay
  • TV announcers (CBS): Spero Dedes and Solomon Wilcots
  • Recap, Gamebook
Game information

This was the first time Buffalo won in New England since November 5, 2000.

Standings

Division

AFC East
WLTPCTDIVCONFPFPASTK
(1) New England Patriots 1240.7504–29–3468313L1
Buffalo Bills 970.5634–25–7343289W1
Miami Dolphins 880.5003–36–6388373L1
New York Jets 4120.2501–54–8283401W1

Conference

AFC [5] [6]
#TeamDivisionWLTPCTDIVCONFSOSSOVSTK
Division leaders
1 [a] New England Patriots East1240.7504–29–3.514.487L1
2 [a] Denver Broncos West1240.7506–010–2.521.484W1
3 [b] Pittsburgh Steelers North1150.6884–29–3.451.486W4
4 [b] Indianapolis Colts South1150.6886–09–3.479.372W1
Wild Cards
5 Cincinnati Bengals North1051.6563–37–5.498.425L1
6 Baltimore Ravens North1060.6253–36–6.475.378W1
Did not qualify for the postseason
7 [c] Houston Texans South970.5634–28–4.447.299W2
8 [c] Kansas City Chiefs West970.5633–37–5.512.500W1
9 [c] San Diego Chargers West970.5632–46–6.512.403L1
10 [c] Buffalo Bills East970.5634–25–7.516.486W1
11 Miami Dolphins East880.5003–36–6.512.406L1
12 Cleveland Browns North790.4382–44–8.479.371L5
13 New York Jets East4120.2501–54–8.543.375W1
14 [d] Jacksonville Jaguars South3130.1881–52–10.514.313L1
15 [d] Oakland Raiders West3130.1881–52–10.570.542L1
16 Tennessee Titans South2140.1251–52–10.506.375L10
Tiebreakers [e]
  1. 1 2 New England defeated Denver head-to-head (Week 9, 43–21).
  2. 1 2 Pittsburgh defeated Indianapolis head-to-head (Week 8, 51–34).
  3. 1 2 3 4 Kansas City finished ahead of San Diego in the AFC West based on head-to-head sweep (Week 7, 23–20; Week 17, 19–7).
    Houston finished ahead of Kansas City and Buffalo based on conference record.
    Kansas City finished ahead of Buffalo based on head-to-head victory (Week 10, 17–13).
    San Diego finished ahead of Buffalo based on head-to-head victory (Week 3, 22–10).
  4. 1 2 Jacksonville finished ahead of Oakland based on record vs. common opponents (1–4 to 0–5).
  5. ↑ When breaking ties for three or more teams under the NFL's rules, they are first broken within divisions, then comparing only the highest ranked remaining team from each division.

Fist bump controversy

After a touchdown by Denver Broncos' running back C. J. Anderson during the December 7 game, two officials acknowledged the call through the use of a fist bump. [7] [8] The move was seen by many Bills fans and players, including defensive back Aaron Williams, [7] as an insensitive gesture, with some likening the gesture to a conspiracy. [9] [10] However, the NFL responded saying the gesture was "an acknowledgment of good mechanics between the two officials involved in making the call." [7]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 The Week 12 game vs. the New York Jets, originally scheduled at 1:00 p.m. EST on November 23 at Ralph Wilson Stadium, was re-scheduled to November 24 at 7:00 p.m. EST and relocated to Ford Field in Detroit due to a lake-effect snowstorm that struck the Buffalo area. [2]

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References

  1. ↑ Patra, Kevin (February 27, 2014). "Buffalo Bills, N.Y. Giants to play in Hall of Fame Game". NFL.com . Retrieved February 27, 2014.
  2. ↑ Rosenthal, Gregg (November 20, 2014). "Jets-Bills game moved to Detroit on Monday night". NFL.com. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
  3. ↑ "No Toronto in 2014." WGR. Retrieved March 5, 2014. "WGR has learned that the Buffalo Bills will not play in Toronto this season. The future of the Toronto Series is unclear. Keep it locked to WGR for details"
  4. ↑ Sessler, Marc (December 21, 2014). "Bills eliminated from playoffs with loss to Raiders". NFL.com. Retrieved December 2, 2024.
  5. ↑ "2014 Conference Standings". NFL.com. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  6. ↑ "2014 NFL playoff picture". CBS Sports. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  7. 1 2 3 Mandell, Nina (December 8, 2014). "NFL says refs in Broncos game were celebrating correct call, not touchdown with fist bump". USA Today. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
  8. ↑ Breech, John (December 8, 2014). "LOOK: Two refs fist bump after Broncos TD; Bills players not happy". CBSSports.com. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Bills fans angry at referee "fist bump" caught on camera". WIVB. December 7, 2014. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
  10. ↑ Parziale, James (December 7, 2014). "Refs fist-bump after C. J. Anderson scores for Broncos, but they're not rooting for Denver". Fox Sports. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
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