2015 Buffalo Bills season

Last updated

2015 Buffalo Bills season
Owner Terry and Kim Pegula
General manager Doug Whaley
Head coach Rex Ryan
Home stadium Ralph Wilson Stadium
Results
Record8–8
Division place3rd AFC East
PlayoffsDid not qualify
Pro Bowlers RB LeSean McCoy
QB Tyrod Taylor
C Eric Wood
OG Richie Incognito
Uniform
Buffalo Bills Uniforms 2015-2020.png

The 2015 season was the Buffalo Bills' 46th in the National Football League (NFL), their 56th overall, their third under the leadership of general manager Doug Whaley and their first under head coach Rex Ryan. It was also their first full season under the ownership of Terry and Kim Pegula (who also own the Buffalo Sabres), having purchased the Bills partway through 2014 after the death of longtime owner Ralph Wilson that March at the age of 95.

Contents

The Bills began their season with an open competition for the starting quarterback position after Kyle Orton, the starter for most of the 2014 campaign, retired during the offseason, so the team acquired free agent Tyrod Taylor, a former backup quarterback of the Baltimore Ravens, who won the competition over incumbent second-string quarterback EJ Manuel and trade acquisition Matt Cassel, the latter of whom the team later traded along with a seventh-round pick in 2017 to the Dallas Cowboys, in exchange for a fifth-round draft pick in 2017.

Despite Ryan's bold prediction of the Bills making the playoffs at his introductory press conference, the Bills were unable to do so in their first season with Ryan as head coach, finishing with a record of 8-8 (the team’s first since 2002), making it the 16th straight season without a playoff appearance, which became the longest active in major professional sports after Major League Baseball’s Toronto Blue Jays broke their 22-year playoff drought on September 25, 2015. [1]

Offseason

The Bills made headlines when they hired a new head coach in Rex Ryan, who signed a five-year, $27.5 million contract on January 12, 2015 after having previously spent the past six seasons coaching the division-rival New York Jets. Ryan had led the Jets to two straight AFC Championship games in 2009 and 2010 before his firing in 2014. He became the 18th head coach in Bills history and the fifth in the past seven years in the process. Ryan replaced Doug Marrone, who opted out of his contract on December 31, 2014 in order to take advantage of a contract loophole. [2]

Roster changes

Signings

PositionPlayer2014 TeamDate signedNotes and references
OG Richie Incognito No TeamFebruary 8, 20151-year/$2.25 million
DE Jerry Hughes Buffalo Bills March 9, 20155-years/$45 million
FB Jerome Felton Minnesota Vikings March 11, 20154-years/$9.2 million
WR Marcus Easley Buffalo Bills March 12, 20154-years/$7 million
DE Jarius Wynn Buffalo Bills March 12, 20152-years/$2.2 million
QB Tyrod Taylor Baltimore Ravens March 12, 20152-years/$7 million
WR Percy Harvin New York Jets March 13, 20153-years/$24 million
TE Charles Clay Miami Dolphins March 19, 20155-years/$38 million
DE Alex Carrington St. Louis Rams May 4, 20151-year
FB John Conner New York Jets May 13, 20151-year/$745,000
QB Matt Simms New York Jets May 29, 20151-year/$585,000

Free agents lost

PositionPlayer2015 TeamDate signedNotes and references
CB Da’Norris Searcy Tennessee Titans March 10, 20154-years/$24 million
TE Lee Smith Oakland Raiders March 10, 20153-years/$9.1 million
RB C. J. Spiller New Orleans Saints March 13, 20154-years/$18 million
TE Scott Chandler New England Patriots March 13, 20152-years/$5.3 million
OT Erik Pears San Francisco 49ers March 14, 20152-years/$4.7 million
LB Larry Dean Tampa Bay Buccaneers April 9, 20151-year/$745,000
OT Chris Hairston San Diego Chargers April 15, 20151-year
LB Brandon Spikes New England Patriots May 18, 20151-year (Released June 8, 2015)

Trades

Player/picks acquiredFromDate tradedPlayer/picks traded
LeSean McCoy Philadelphia Eagles March 10, 2015 Kiko Alonso
Matt Cassel
Minnesota’s 2015 6th Round Pick
Minnesota Vikings March 10, 2015Tampa Bay's 2015 5th Round Pick
Buffalo’s 2016 7th Round Pick
Dallas’ 2017 5th Round Pick Dallas Cowboys September 25, 2015Matt Cassel
Buffalo’s 2017 7th Round Pick

Draft

2015 Buffalo Bills draft
RoundPickPlayerPositionCollegeNotes
250 Ronald Darby   CB Florida St
381 John Miller   OG Louisville
5155 Karlos Williams   RB Florida St
6188 Tony Steward   OLB Clemson
6194 Nick O'Leary   TE Florida St
7234 Dezmin Lewis   WR Central Arkansas
      Made roster        Pro Football Hall of Fame     *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Notes

Staff

2015 Buffalo Bills staff

Front office

  • Owner/CEO – Terry Pegula
  • Owner – Kim Pegula
  • President – Russ Brandon
  • General manager – Doug Whaley
  • Senior vice president of football administration – Jim Overdorf
  • Director of player personnel – Jim Monos
  • Director of college scouting – Kelvin Fisher
  • Director of football administration – Don Purdy
  • Director of football operations – Kevin Meganck
  • Director of pro personnel – Rob Hanrahan
  • Director of analytics – Michael Lyons
  • Special Assistant – Buddy Nix

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning

Final roster

2015 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

Reserve

Rookies in italics
53 active, 19 reserve, 9 practice squad

Schedule

Preseason

WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenueRecap
1August 14 Carolina Panthers L 24–250–1 Ralph Wilson Stadium Recap
2August 20at Cleveland Browns W 11–101–1 FirstEnergy Stadium Recap
3August 29 Pittsburgh Steelers W 43–192–1Ralph Wilson Stadium Recap
4September 3at Detroit Lions L 10–172–2 Ford Field Recap

Regular season

WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenueRecap
1September 13 Indianapolis Colts W 27–141–0 Ralph Wilson Stadium Recap
2September 20 New England Patriots L 32–401–1Ralph Wilson Stadium Recap
3September 27at Miami Dolphins W 41–142–1 Sun Life Stadium Recap
4October 4 New York Giants L 10–242–2Ralph Wilson Stadium Recap
5October 11at Tennessee Titans W 14–133–2 Nissan Stadium Recap
6October 18 Cincinnati Bengals L 21–343–3Ralph Wilson Stadium Recap
7 October 25 at Jacksonville Jaguars L 31–343–4 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Wembley Stadium (London) Recap
8 Bye
9November 8 Miami Dolphins W 33–174–4Ralph Wilson Stadium Recap
10November 12at New York Jets W 22–175–4 MetLife Stadium Recap
11November 23at New England Patriots L 13–205–5 Gillette Stadium Recap
12November 29at Kansas City Chiefs L 22–305–6 Arrowhead Stadium Recap
13December 6 Houston Texans W 30–216–6Ralph Wilson Stadium Recap
14December 13at Philadelphia Eagles L 20–236–7 Lincoln Financial Field Recap
15December 20at Washington Redskins L 25–356–8 FedExField Recap
16December 27 Dallas Cowboys W 16–67–8Ralph Wilson Stadium Recap
17January 3 New York Jets W 22–178–8Ralph Wilson Stadium Recap

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1: vs. Indianapolis Colts

Week One: Indianapolis Colts at Buffalo Bills – Game summary
Quarter1234Total
Colts0001414
Bills7107327

at Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, New York

Game information

The Bills franchise reached the 400th career win in its history [3] with a 27-14 win over the Colts. Running backs Karlos Williams, LeSean McCoy and quarterback Tyrod Taylor combined for 137 rushing yards and a touchdown (Anthony Dixon added another on the ground) and Taylor completed 14/19 for 195 yards and a touchdown. Colts quarterback Andrew Luck had two touchdowns, but he was intercepted and sacked twice. In a statistical anomaly, back-up quarterback Matt Cassel was credited with the win, as the Bills lined up for their first offensive play in a novelty formation with Cassel under center and Tyrod Taylor split out as a receiver. This made Cassel the starting quarterback of record, although it his only play of the game and he did not attempt either a pass or run.

Week 2: vs. New England Patriots

Week Two: New England Patriots at Buffalo Bills – Game summary
Quarter1234Total
Patriots141013340
Bills7601932

at Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, New York

Game information

With the close loss, the Bills dropped to 1-1. As if the loss wasn't bad enough, the team also lost safety Aaron Williams for the season with a neck injury sustained trying to keep Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski from reaching the end zone.

Week 3: at Miami Dolphins

Week Three: Buffalo Bills at Miami Dolphins – Game summary
Quarter1234Total
Bills141301441
Dolphins0001414

at Sun Life Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida

  • Date: September 27
  • Game time: 4:25pm EDT
  • Game weather: 87 °F (31 °C), mostly cloudy
  • Game attendance: 64,869
  • Referee: Jerome Boger
  • TV announcers (CBS): Spero Dedes and Solomon Wilcots
  • Recap, Gamebook
Game information

After leading 27-0, Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill finally threw two touchdowns, but his three interceptions, one of which a pick-six returned by linebacker Preston Brown 43 yards for a touchdown, proved to be too much as the Bills improved to 2-1.

Week 4: vs. New York Giants

Week Four: New York Giants at Buffalo Bills – Game summary
Quarter1234Total
Giants970824
Bills300710

at Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, New York

Game information

With their third straight loss to the Giants dating back to 2007, the Bills dropped to 2-2.

Week 5: at Tennessee Titans

Week Five: Buffalo Bills at Tennessee Titans – Game summary
Quarter1234Total
Bills0001414
Titans037313

at Nissan Stadium, Nashville, Tennessee

Game information

With the win, the Bills improved to 3-2.

Week 6: vs. Cincinnati Bengals

Week Six: Cincinnati Bengals at Buffalo Bills – Game summary
Quarter1234Total
Bengals71014334
Bills770721

at Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, New York

  • Date: October 18
  • Game time: 1:00pm EDT
  • Game weather: 40 °F (4 °C), cloudy
  • Game attendance: 69,593
  • Referee: Clete Blakeman
  • TV announcers (CBS): Spero Dedes and Solomon Wilcots
  • Recap, Gamebook
Game information

With their third straight loss to the Bengals dating back to 2011, the Bills dropped to 3-3.

Week 7: at Jacksonville Jaguars

NFL International Series

Week Seven: Buffalo Bills at Jacksonville Jaguars – Game summary
Quarter1234Total
Bills31001831
Jaguars0270734

at Wembley Stadium, London, England

  • Date: October 25
  • Game time: 1:30pm GMT/9:30am EDT
  • Game weather: 48 °F (9 °C), sunny intervals
  • Game attendance: 84,021
  • Referee: Terry McAulay
  • TV announcers (Yahoo! Screen, WIVB): Kevin Harlan, Rich Gannon and Jamie Erdahl
  • Recap, Gamebook
Game information

This was the Bills’ first game in London since 1991. Sadly, with the stunning loss, the Bills dropped to 3-4 heading into the bye week, marking the first time they had been under .500 all season.

Week 9: vs. Miami Dolphins

Week Nine: Miami Dolphins at Buffalo Bills – Game summary
Quarter1234Total
Dolphins077317
Bills9107733

at Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, New York

  • Date: November 8
  • Game time: 1:00pm ET
  • Game weather: 49 °F (9 °C), sunny with some clouds
  • Game attendance: 70,214
  • Referee: Carl Cheffers
  • TV announcers (CBS): Spero Dedes and Solomon Wilcots
  • Recap, Gamebook
Game information

With the win, not only did the Bills improve to 4-4, but they swept Miami for the first time since 2013.

Week 10: at New York Jets

Week Ten: Buffalo Bills at New York Jets – Game summary
Quarter1234Total
Bills01210022
Jets307717

at MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey

Game information

Rex Ryan made his return to MetLife Stadium for the first time since the Jets fired him after the 2014 season. The Bills wore their red Nike “color rush” uniforms. With 0:18 remaining, Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick attempted a comeback, but a game-saving interception by Bills safety Bacarri Rambo sealed the 22-17 victory over the Jets. With the win, the Bills improved to 5-4.

This was the debut for NFL Color Rush uniforms, with the Bills in all red and the Jets in all kelly green. The uniforms were indistinguishable to those with red-green color blindness, creating controversy. [4]

Week 11: at New England Patriots

Week Eleven: Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots – Game summary
Quarter1234Total
Bills037313
Patriots3710020

at Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts

Game information

With yet another close loss, the Bills dropped to 5-5.

Week 12: at Kansas City Chiefs

Week Twelve: Buffalo Bills at Kansas City Chiefs – Game summary
Quarter1234Total
Bills1066022
Chiefs01410630

at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri

  • Date: November 29
  • Game time: 1:00pm ET/12:00pm CT
  • Game weather: 35 °F (2 °C), cloudy and rainy
  • Game attendance: 72,493
  • Referee: Terry McAulay
  • TV announcers (CBS): Kevin Harlan and Rich Gannon
  • Recap, Gamebook
Game information

With the loss, the Bills dropped to 5-6.

Week 13: vs. Houston Texans

Week Thirteen: Houston Texans at Buffalo Bills – Game summary
Quarter1234Total
Texans670821
Bills7140930

at Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, New York

  • Date: December 6
  • Game time: 1:00pm ET
  • Game weather: 47 °F (8 °C), partly cloudy
  • Game attendance: 68,544
  • Referee: Tony Corrente
  • TV announcers (CBS): Spero Dedes and Solomon Wilcots
  • Recap, Gamebook
Game information

With the win, not only did the Bills improve to 6-6, they remained in the wild card race. It's also the Bills first win against the Texans since 2006.

Week 14: at Philadelphia Eagles

Week Fourteen: Buffalo Bills at Philadelphia Eagles – Game summary
Quarter1234Total
Bills7310020
Eagles7103323

at Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

  • Date: December 13
  • Game time: 1:00pm ET
  • Game weather: 66 °F (19 °C), partly cloudy
  • Game attendance: 69,596
  • Referee: Ed Hochuli
  • TV announcers (CBS): Spero Dedes and Solomon Wilcots
  • Recap, Gamebook
Game information

LeSean McCoy made his return to Philadelphia for the first time since the Eagles traded him in the offseason. McCoy was seen kissing the Eagles logo, but did not stick around to interact with his former teammates or coach Chip Kelly.

Week 15: at Washington Redskins

Week Fifteen: Buffalo Bills at Washington Redskins – Game summary
Quarter1234Total
Bills0002525
Redskins7147735

at FedExField, Landover, Maryland

  • Date: December 20
  • Game time: 1:00pm ET
  • Game weather: 43 °F (6 °C), sunny
  • Game attendance: 80,124
  • Referee: Clete Blakeman
  • TV announcers (Fox): Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston and Laura Okmin
  • Recap, Gamebook
Game information

With the loss, not only did the Bills drop to 6-8, but they were officially eliminated from playoff contention for the 16th consecutive season. [5]

Week 16: vs. Dallas Cowboys

Week Sixteen: Dallas Cowboys at Buffalo Bills – Game summary
Quarter1234Total
Cowboys33006
Bills603716

at Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, New York

  • Date: December 27
  • Game time: 1:00pm ET
  • Game weather: 39 °F (4 °C), rain showers
  • Game attendance: 70,172
  • Referee: Jeff Triplette
  • TV announcers (Fox): Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston and Laura Okmin
  • Recap, Gamebook
Game information

With the win, the Bills improved to 7-8 heading into the season finale.

Week 17: vs. New York Jets

Week Seventeen: New York Jets at Buffalo Bills – Game summary
Quarter1234Total
Jets0710017
Bills793322

at Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, New York

  • Date: January 3, 2016
  • Game time: 1:00pm ET
  • Game weather: 35 °F (2 °C), cloudy
  • Game attendance: 68,670
  • Referee: Walt Anderson
  • TV announcers (CBS): Ian Eagle, Dan Fouts and Evan Washburn
  • Recap, Gamebook
Game information

Prior to the game, the team called for paid volunteers to help shovel snow out of Ralph Wilson Stadium. [6] Former Bills quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick made his first return to Buffalo since being cut after the 2012 season, hoping to clinch a playoff spot for his new team with a win. Despite the Jets setting various team records, the Bills ultimately pulled out a win to close the season at 8-8 for the first time since 2002 in their final regular season game before Ralph Wilson Stadium was renamed New Era Field the following summer, not only keeping the Jets out of the playoffs for a fifth straight year, but helping the Pittsburgh Steelers reach the playoffs. As a thank you gift of sorts, the Steelers sent the Bills a care package of Primanti Brothers sandwiches.

Standings

Division

AFC East
WLTPCTDIVCONFPFPASTK
(2) New England Patriots 1240.7504–29–3465315L2
New York Jets 1060.6253–37–5387314L1
Buffalo Bills 880.5004–27–5379359W2
Miami Dolphins 6100.3751–54–8310389W1

Conference

#TeamDivisionWLTPCTDIVCONFSOSSOVSTK
Division Leaders
1 [a] Denver Broncos West1240.7504–28–4.500.479W2
2 [a] New England Patriots East1240.7504–29–3.473.448L2
3 [a] Cincinnati Bengals North1240.7505–19–3.477.406W1
4 Houston Texans South970.5635–17–5.496.410W3
Wild Cards
5 Kansas City Chiefs West1150.6885–110–2.496.432W10
6 [b] Pittsburgh Steelers North1060.6253–37–5.504.463W1
Did not qualify for the postseason
7 [b] New York Jets East1060.6253–37–5.441.388L1
8 [c] Buffalo Bills East880.5004–27–5.508.438W2
9 [c] Indianapolis Colts South880.5004–26–6.500.406W2
10 Oakland Raiders West790.4383–37–5.512.366L1
11 Miami Dolphins East6100.3751–54–8.469.469W2
12 [d] Jacksonville Jaguars South5110.3132–45–7.473.375L3
13 [d] Baltimore Ravens North5110.3133–34–8.508.425L1
14 San Diego Chargers West4120.2500–63–9.527.328L2
15 [e] Cleveland Browns North3130.1881–52–10.531.271L3
16 [e] Tennessee Titans South3130.1881–51–11.492.375L4
Tiebreakers [f]
  1. 1 2 3 Denver finished ahead of New England and Cincinnati for the No. 1 seed based on head-to-head sweep. New England finished ahead of Cincinnati for the No. 2 seed based on record vs. common opponents — New England's cumulative record against Buffalo, Denver, Houston and Pittsburgh was 4–1, while Cincinnati's cumulative record against the same four teams was 2–3.
  2. 1 2 Pittsburgh finished ahead of the New York Jets for the No. 6 seed and qualified for the last playoff spot based on record vs. common opponents — Pittsburgh's cumulative
    record against Cleveland, Indianapolis, New England and Oakland was 4–1, while the Jets' cumulative record against the same four teams was 3–2.
  3. 1 2 Buffalo finished ahead of Indianapolis based on head-to-head victory.
  4. 1 2 Jacksonville finished ahead of Baltimore based on head-to-head victory.
  5. 1 2 Cleveland finished ahead of Tennessee based on head-to-head victory.
  6. 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.

References

  1. Rodak, Mike (September 26, 2015). "Bills now have longest playoff drought among major sports". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 2, 2024.
  2. Patra, Kevin (January 12, 2015). "Buffalo Bills hire Rex Ryan as head coach". NFL.com. Retrieved June 16, 2025.
  3. "Buffalo Bills Team Encyclopedia - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
  4. "LOOK: Bills-Jets game is complete torture for color-blind people".
  5. "Cousins' 4 TD passes lead Skins past eliminated Bills 35-25".
  6. http://www.wgrz.com/story/news/2016/01/18/stadium-shovelers-paid-week/78971332/%5B%5D