1984 Buffalo Bills season

1984 Buffalo Bills season
Head coach	Kay Stephenson
Owner	Ralph Wilson
Home field	Rich Stadium
Results
Record	2–14
Division place	5th AFC East
Playoff finish	did not qualify

The 1984 Buffalo Bills season was the 25th season for the club and its 15th in the National Football League (NFL). The team started the season with eleven consecutive losses before an upset home win over Dallas in Week Twelve.

The 1984 Bills gave up a team-record 454 points on defense, an average of more than 28 points 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 60 quarterback sacks, for a total of 554 yards, which were the most-ever yards-lost on sacks at the time.^[2][3] The Bills' 4,341 total yards gained was second-worst in the league in 1984.^[4][5] The 1984 Bills are one of only two NFL teams^[6] to have been outscored by 25 points six different times during the season.^[7]

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.^[8] It was the Bills first major change to their helmets since changing from the "standing Bison" to the streaking buffalo before the 1974 season.

The reason for the change, according to Bills equipment coordinator Dave Hojnowski, was because Bills quarterback Joe Ferguson was color-blind. Since three of the Bills' four AFC Eastern division opponents—Miami, Indianapolis and New England—had white helmets, "it was easier for [Ferguson] to distinguish, and that’s the reason why we made the switch."^[9][10] 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'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

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

^[11]

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 Head Coach – Kay Stephenson Offensive coaches Quarterbacks – John Becker Running Backs – Andy MacDonald Receivers – Milt Jackson Tight Ends – Perry Moss Offensive Line – Jim Niblack			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Line – Don Lawrence Linebackers – Monte Kiffin Defensive Backfield – Pete Carroll Defensive Assistant – Miller McCalmon Special teams coaches Special Teams – Miller McCalmon Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning Coordinator – Jim Speros

^[12]

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

Game summaries

Week 12

1 2 3 4 Total Cowboys 0 3 0 0 3 • Bills 7 0 0 7 14 Date: November 18 Location: Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, NY Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 38°F; wind 17

Scoring summary Q1 BUF Bell 85 yard run (Nelson kick) BUF 7–0 Q2 DAL Septien 20 yard field goal BUF 7–3 Q4 BUF Bell 3 yard pass from Ferguson (Nelson kick) BUF 14–3

• Greg Bell 27 Rush, 206 Yds

^[13]

Week 14

1 2 3 4 Total Colts 0 9 3 3 15 • Bills 21 0 0 0 21 Date: December 2 Location: Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, NY Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 35°F; wind 14

Scoring summary Q1 BUF Bell 7 yard run (Nelson kick) BUF 7–0 Q1 BUF Hunter 18 yard pass from Duek (Nelson kick) BUF 14–0 Q1 BUF Franklin 64 yard pass from Dufek (Nelson kick) BUF 21–0 Q2 IND Safety, Wilson tackled in end zone BUF 21–2 Q2 IND Middleton 14 yard pass from Schlichter (Allegre kick) BUF 21–9 Q3 IND Allegre 28 yard field goal BUF 21–12 Q4 IND Allegre 21 yard field goal BUF 21–15

^[14]

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

Awards and honors

Pro Bowlers

• Greg Bell, Running back

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. The record was later shattered by the Eagles in 1986.
4. Second to Indianapolis
5. Pro-Football-Reference.com: 1984 NFL Standings, Team & Offensive Statistics
6. 1975 Bears
7. 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.
8. SportsLogos.net: Buffalo Bills Logos
9. ProFootballTalk.com: The story behind the Bills’ red helmets, 23 June 2011|Retrieved January 4, 2012]
10. BuffaloBills.com: Untold uniform stories: Fergie behind helmet color change, 23 June 2011|Retrieved January 4, 2012
11. "1984 Buffalo Bills draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
12. 1984 Buffalo Bills Media Guide. pp. 3–19.
13. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Nov-15.
14. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Nov-16.

External links

• 1984 Buffalo Bills at Pro-Football-Reference.com