1984 Buffalo Bills season

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] 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][note 1] The Bills’ 4,341 total yards gained was second-worst in the league in 1984 (only the Colts gained fewer total yards).[3] The 1984 Bills are one of only two NFL teams[note 2] to have been outscored by 25 points six different times during the season.[4] This season is notable for being Pete Carroll’s first NFL coaching experience.

1984 Buffalo Bills season
OwnerRalph Wilson
Head coachKay Stephenson
Home fieldRich Stadium
Results
Record2–14
Division place5th AFC East
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersRB Greg Bell

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.[5] 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 1998-2018; 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."[6][7] 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.

NFL draft
Main article: 1984 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
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 26 Greg Bell *  Running back Notre Dame
2 41 Eric Richardson  Wide receiver San Jose State
3 77 Rodney Bellinger  Defensive back Miami (FL)
3 79 Sean McNanie  Defensive end San Diego State
3 82 Speedy Neal  Running back Miami (FL)
4 95 Mitchell Brookins  Wide receiver Illinois
5 128 John Kidd  Punter Northwestern
6 155 Tony Slaton  Center USC
7 182 Stan David  Linebacker Texas Tech
8 209 Stacy Rayfield  Defensive back Texas–Arlington
9 236 Leroy Howell  Defensive end Appalachian State
10 263 Joe Azelby  Linebacker Harvard
11 299 Craig White  Wide receiver Missouri
12 322 Russell Davis  Wide receiver Maryland
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[8]

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

[9]

Roster
1984 Buffalo Bills roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

 Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

 Reserve lists


Practice squad



Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule
Week Date Opponent Result Attendance
1 September 2, 1984 New England Patriots L 21–17
48,528
2 September 9, 1984 at St. Louis Cardinals L 37–7
35,785
3 September 17, 1984 Miami Dolphins L 21–17
65,455
4 September 23, 1984 New York Jets L 28–26
48,330
5 September 30, 1984 at Indianapolis Colts L 31–17
60,032
6 October 7, 1984 Philadelphia Eagles L 27–17
37,555
7 October 14, 1984 at Seattle Seahawks L 31–28
59,034
8 October 21, 1984 Denver Broncos L 37–7
31,204
9 October 28, 1984 at Miami Dolphins L 38–7
58,824
10 November 4, 1984 Cleveland Browns L 13–10
33,343
11 November 11, 1984 at New England Patriots L 38–10
43,313
12 November 18, 1984 Dallas Cowboys W 14–3
74,391
13 November 25, 1984 at Washington Redskins L 41–14
51,513
14 December 2, 1984 Indianapolis Colts W 21–15
20,693
15 December 8, 1984 at New York Jets L 21–17
45,378
16 December 16, 1984 at Cincinnati Bengals L 52–21
55,771

Week 12
1 234Total
Cowboys 0 300 3
• Bills 7 007 14

[10]

Week 14
1 234Total
Colts 0 933 15
• Bills 21 000 21

[11]

Standings
AFC East
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Miami Dolphins(1) 14 2 0 .875 8–0 10–2 513 298 W2
New England Patriots 9 7 0 .563 6–2 9–3 362 352 W1
New York Jets 7 9 0 .438 3–5 7–7 332 364 L1
Indianapolis Colts 4 12 0 .250 2–6 4–8 239 414 L5
Buffalo Bills 2 14 0 .125 1–7 1–11 250 454 L2

Notes
  1. The record was later shattered by the Eagles in 1986.
  2. The 1975 Bears are the other

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. Pro-Football-Reference.com: 1984 NFL Standings, Team & Offensive Statistics
  4. 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.
  5. SportsLogos.net: Buffalo Bills Logos
  6. ProFootballTalk.com: The story behind the Bills’ red helmets, 23 June 2011|Retrieved January 4, 2012]
  7. 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
  8. "1984 Buffalo Bills draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
  9. 1984 Buffalo Bills Media Guide. pp. 3–19.
  10. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Nov-15.
  11. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Nov-16.
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