1997 Buffalo Bills season

Buffalo Bills
1997 Buffalo Bills season
Owner	Ralph Wilson
Head coach	Marv Levy
General manager	John Butler
Home field	Rich Stadium
Results
Record	6–10
Division place	4th AFC East
Playoff finish	Did not qualify

The 1997 Buffalo Bills season was their 38th in the league. The team failed to improve upon their previous season's output of 10–6, instead falling to 6–10.[1] They missed the playoffs for only the second time in ten seasons. 1997 was Hall of Fame head coach Marv Levy's final year as the team's head coach.

Todd Collins started at quarterback for the Bills in their first season in the post-Jim Kelly era. The Bills also signed Oakland's Billy Joe Hobert to challenge Collins for the starting job. Third-string quarterback Alex Van Pelt also saw playing time with three starts in Collins' absence.

Hobert's contract was terminated after Week Seven, in which Hobert was backing up an injured Collins, and after the game revealed to the media that he had not studied the playbook. Hobert was released the next day.[2]

One of the most memorable games in Buffalo Bills history occurred in Week Four against the Indianapolis Colts. The Colts roared to a 26–0 lead in the second quarter, before the Bills went on a 37–3 run, ultimately taking the lead 37–29 with 1:15 remaining in the game. The Colts closed to within two, but missed a two-point conversion, giving Buffalo a two-point victory.[3] The game was the second-greatest regular season comeback in NFL history (second only to a 28-point comeback by the 1980 49ers), and the second greatest in team history (second to "The Comeback" in the 1992 playoffs.)[4]

Offseason

Prior to the 1997 season, long-time quarterback (and future Hall of Famer) Jim Kelly announced his retirement from professional football. This left the Bills forced to find a different opening day starting quarterback for the first time since 1985. Third-year quarterback Todd Collins started the season, and the Bills signed former Raiders quarterback Billy Joe Hobert, whose contract was terminated after a Week Seven loss to New England.

NFL Draft

= Pro Bowler [5]

One notable player that was not drafted by the Bills, but debuted for the team in 1997, was future Pro Bowl defensive tackle Pat Williams, who played with the team for eight seasons.

1997 Buffalo Bills Draft
Round	Selection	Player	Position	College
1	23	Antowain Smith	RB	Houston
2	52	Marcellus Wiley[6]	DE	Columbia
4	120	Jamie Nails	OL	Florida A&M
5	153	Sean Woodson	DB	Jackson State
6	185	Marcus Spriggs	G	Houston
7	226	Pat Fitzgerald	TE	Texas

Roster

**1997 Buffalo Bills roster**

	Quarterbacks 15 Todd Collins 10 Alex Van Pelt Running backs 44 Darick Holmes 23 Antowain Smith 34 Thurman Thomas 33 Tim Tindale FB Wide receivers 88 Quinn Early 80 Eric Moulds 83 Andre Reed 81 Jerry Reese 89 Steve Tasker Tight ends 87 Rich Coons 84 Lonnie Johnson 85 Jay Riemersma		Offensive linemen 79 Ruben Brown G 63 Bill Conaty C 70 John Fina T 68 Corbin Lacina G 72 Corey Louchiey T 74 Jamie Nails G 60 Jerry Ostroski T 61 Dusty Zeigler C Defensive linemen 90 Phil Hansen DE 98 Sean Moran DT 99 Gabe Northern DE 94 Mark Pike DE 91 Shawn Price DE 78 Bruce Smith DE 92 Ted Washington DT 75 Marcellus Wiley DE 93 Pat Williams DT		Linebackers 96 Dan Brandenburg OLB 57 Damien Covington ILB 52 John Holecek ILB 95 Bryce Paup OLB 58 Marlo Perry OLB 59 Sam Rogers OLB 54 Chris Spielman ILB Defensive backs 22 Jeff Burris CB 27 Ken Irvin CB 31 Raymond Jackson FS 20 Henry Jones SS 21 Manny Martin CB 24 Kurt Schulz FS 40 Eric Smedley SS 28 Thomas Smith CB Special teams 76 Ethan Albright LS 2 Steve Christie K 9 Chris Mohr P		Reserve lists Practice squad Rookies in italics

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	TV Time(ET)	TV Announcers	Attendance	Record
1	August 31, 1997	Minnesota Vikings	L 34–13	1:00pm FOX	Eric Clemons & Trevor Matich	79,139	0-1
2	September 7, 1997	at New York Jets	W 28–22	1:00pm NBC	Marv Albert & Randy Cross	72,988	1-1
3	September 14, 1997	at Kansas City Chiefs	L 22–16	1:00pm NBC	Mike Breen & James Lofton	78,169	1-2
4	September 21, 1997	Indianapolis Colts	W 37–35	4:00pm NBC	Tom Hammond & Jim Kelly	55,340	2-2
5	Bye
6	October 5, 1997	Detroit Lions	W 22–13	1:00pm FOX	Paul Kennedy & Jerry Glanville	78,025	3-2
7	October 12, 1997	at New England Patriots	L 33–6	1:00pm NBC	Tom Hammond, Randy Cross & Jim Kelly	59,802	3-3
8	October 20, 1997	at Indianapolis Colts	W 9–6	9:00pm ABC	Al Michaels, Frank Gifford & Dan Dierdorf	61,139	4-3
9	October 26, 1997	Denver Broncos	L 23–20	1:00pm NBC	Tom Hammond , Randy Cross , Jim Kelly	78,458	4-4
10	November 2, 1997	Miami Dolphins	W 9–6	1:00pm NBC	Dan Hicks, Paul Maguire & Jim Kelly	78,011	5-4
11	November 9, 1997	New England Patriots	L 31–10	4:00pm NBC	Dick Enberg, Paul Maguire & Phil Simms	65,783	5-5
12	November 17, 1997	at Miami Dolphins	L 30–13	9:00pm ABC	Al Michaels, Frank Gifford & Dan Dierdorf	74,155	5-6
13	November 23, 1997	at Tennessee Oilers	L 31–14	1:00pm NBC	Joel Meyers & Beasley Reece	23,571	5-7
14	November 30, 1997	New York Jets	W 20–10	1:00pm NBC	Tom Hammond & Randy Cross	47,776	6-7
15	December 7, 1997	at Chicago Bears	L 20–3	1:00pm NBC	Don Criqui & Jim Mora	39,784	6-8
16	December 14, 1997	Jacksonville Jaguars	L 20–14	1:00pm NBC	Joel Meyers, Paul Maguire & Jim Kelly	41,231	6-9
17	December 20, 1997	at Green Bay Packers	L 31–21	12:30pm NBC	Tom Hammond & Randy Cross	60,108	6-10

Game summaries

Week 2

[7]

Week 3

Starting QBs -> Buffalo Bills: Todd Collins (quarterback) / Kansas City Chiefs: Elvis Grbac

Vegas Line: Kansas City Chiefs -4.5

Over/Under: 40.0 (under)

Buffalo Bills (1-1) at Kansas City Chiefs (1-1)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bills	0	3	7	6	16
• Chiefs	6	3	0	13	22

Date: Sep 14, 1997
Location: Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri
Game start: 1:00 PM EST
Game attendance: 78,169
Game weather: 72 °F (22 °C) • 6 miles per hour (9.7 km/h; 5.2 kn)
Referee: Tom White (American football official)
TV announcers (NFL on NBC): Mike Breen and James Lofton

[8]

Scoring summary

Quarter	Time	Drive			Team	Scoring information	Score
Quarter	Time	Plays	Yards	TOP	Team	Scoring information	BUF	KC
1	8:20	11	54	5:03	Chiefs	46-yard field goal by Pete Stoyanovich	0	3
1	1:08	6	30	2:38	Chiefs	45-yard field goal by Pete Stoyanovich	0	6
2	7:49	9	32	3:30	Bills	46-yard field goal by Steve Christie	3	6
2	1:03	9	47	1:07	Chiefs	42-yard field goal by Pete Stoyanovich	3	9
3	12:15	2	86	0:48	Bills	Andre Reed 77-yard touchdown reception from Todd Collins (quarterback), Steve Christie kick good	10	9
4	14:29	6	57	1:58	Bills	33-yard field goal by Steve Christie	13	9
4	14:13	1	94	0:16	Chiefs	Kickoff returned 94 yards for touchdown by Tamarick Vanover, Pete Stoyanovich kick good	13	16
4	11:52	5	49	2:21	Bills	30-yard field goal by Steve Christie	16	16
4	9:50	6	50	1:24	Chiefs	Tony Richardson (American football) 1-yard touchdown reception from Elvis Grbac, Pete Stoyanovich kick no good (blocked)	16	22
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.							16	22

[9]

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Bills	Passing	Todd Collins (quarterback)	22/43, 297 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT
	Rushing	Antowain Smith	11 carries, 30 yards
	Receiving	Andre Reed	4 receptions, 113 yards, 1 TD
Chiefs	Passing	Elvis Grbac	20/37, 179 yards, 1 TK
	Rushing	Greg Hill (running back)	17 carries, 59 yards
	Receiving	Andre Rison	5 receptions, 75 yards

[10]

Statistics	Bills	Chiefs
First downs	16	17
Plays–yards	66-325	62-267
Rushes–yards	23-50	25-107
Passing yards	275	160
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	22-43-2	20-37-0
Time of possession	31:32	28:28

[11]

Standings

AFC East
	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	STK
⁽³⁾ New England Patriots	10	6	0	.625	369	289	W1
⁽⁶⁾ Miami Dolphins	9	7	0	.563	339	327	L2
New York Jets	9	7	0	.563	348	287	L1
Buffalo Bills	6	10	0	.375	255	367	L3
Indianapolis Colts	3	13	0	.188	313	401	L1

References

1997 Buffalo Bills
David Fleming, Breaking down the Bills' QB situation ESPN.com, September 23, 2010, "the infamous Billy Joe Hobert who promptly threw a pick on his first pass leading to a 33–6 blowout loss, after which Billy Joe admitted (awesomely, I might add) that he hadn't actually, you know, opened his playbook that week" | retrieved January 9, 2012
Pro-Football-Reference.com: Indianapolis Colts 35 at Buffalo Bills 37, Sunday, September 21, 1997
YouTube: Buffalo Bills NFL Primetime 8
Players are identified as a Pro Bowler if they were selected for the Pro-Bowl at any time in their career.
Made Pro Bowl with San Diego in 2001
Pro-Football-Reference.com
. Retrieved 2020-Jul-06.
. Retrieved 2020-Jul-06.
. Retrieved 2020-Jul-06.
. Retrieved 2020-Jul-06.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[1] 1997 Buffalo Bills

[2] David Fleming, Breaking down the Bills' QB situation ESPN.com, September 23, 2010, "the infamous Billy Joe Hobert who promptly threw a pick on his first pass leading to a 33–6 blowout loss, after which Billy Joe admitted (awesomely, I might add) that he hadn't actually, you know, opened his playbook that week" | retrieved January 9, 2012

[3] Pro-Football-Reference.com: Indianapolis Colts 35 at Buffalo Bills 37, Sunday, September 21, 1997

[4] YouTube: Buffalo Bills NFL Primetime 8

[Pro_Bowler_note-5] Players are identified as a Pro Bowler if they were selected for the Pro-Bowl at any time in their career.

[6] Made Pro Bowl with San Diego in 2001

[7] Pro-Football-Reference.com

[8] . Retrieved 2020-Jul-06.

[9] . Retrieved 2020-Jul-06.

[10] . Retrieved 2020-Jul-06.

[11] . Retrieved 2020-Jul-06.

Buffalo Bills
Founded in 1960 Based and headquartered in Orchard Park, New York
Franchise	Franchise History Players Seasons Pro Bowl selections First-round draft picks Starting quarterbacks Coaches Logos and uniforms NFL in Toronto
Stadiums	War Memorial Stadium Bills Stadium Rogers Centre (Bills Toronto Series) Future Buffalo Bills stadium (proposed)
Culture	Ralph Wilson Billy Buffalo Buffalo Jills Ken "Pinto Ron" Johnson Buffalo '66 Second String Flutie Flakes "Shout" song "3 Acts of God" Four Falls of Buffalo Zubaz
Lore	AAFC Buffalo Bills Electric Company Wide Right No Punt Game The Comeback Immaculate Deception Snow Bowl Hail Murray
Rivalries	Miami Dolphins New England Patriots New York Jets
Division championships (11)	1964 1965 1966 1980 1988 1989 1990 1991 1993 1995 2020
Conference championships (4)	1990 1991 1992 1993
League championships (2)	1964 1965
Wall of Fame	Simpson Kemp McGroder Sestak Shaw Wilson 12th Man Dubenion Stratton Ferguson Levy DeLamielleure James Abramoski Kalsu Saimes Kelly Smerlas Hull Talley Ritcher Thomas Reed Tasker Smith Edgerson Hansen Polian Miller Saban Gilchrist
Media	Broadcasters Radio Radio Network WGR 550 Television MSG Western New York Personalities: John Murphy Van Miller Eric Wood Steve Tasker
Owners	Wilson Pegula family Terry Kim
Current league affiliations	League: National Football League (1970–present) Conference: American Football Conference Division: East Division
Former league affiliation	League: American Football League (1960–1969)
Seasons (60)	1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Championship seasons in bold Category Commons

Buffalo Bills seasons
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Bold indicates AFL Championship or Super Bowl victory Italics indicates AFL Championship or Super Bowl appearance