1991 Buffalo Bills season

1991 Buffalo Bills season
Head coach Marv Levy
General manager Bill Polian
Owner Ralph Wilson
Home field Rich Stadium
Results
Record 13–3
Division place 1st AFC East
Playoff finish Won AFC Divisional playoff vs. (Chiefs) 24–7
Won AFC Championship vs. (Broncos) 10–7
Lost Super Bowl XXVI vs. (Redskins) 24–37

The 1991 Buffalo Bills season was the 32nd season, and 22nd in the National Football League. The Buffalo Bills finished the National Football League's 1991 season with a record of 13 wins and 3 losses, the same record as their previous year's record, and finished first in the AFC East division. The Bills qualified for their second Super Bowl appearance.

The Bills No Huddle "K-Gun" offense, after having a breakout 1990 season, once again dominated the league by gaining an NFL leading 6,525 yards and scoring 458 points, a franchise record, and second only to Washington. The leaders of the offense, quarterback Jim Kelly and running back Thurman Thomas, both had the best seasons of their careers. Kelly completed 64.1 percent of his passes for 3,844 yards and a league leading 33 touchdowns, with only 17 interceptions, to give him a 97.6 passer rating. Thomas rushed for 1,407 yards, caught 62 passes for 620 yards, and scored 12 touchdowns to earn him both the NFL Offensive Player of the Year Award and the NFL Most Valuable Player Award. Just like Washington, Buffalo had more than one threat in their backfield. Running back Kenneth Davis emerged as a big threat off the bench, rushing for 624 yards, catching 20 passes for 118 yards, and scoring 5 touchdowns.

The Bills also had several major weapons in their passing game. Wide receiver Andre Reed led the team with 81 receptions for 1,113 yards and 10 touchdowns, and also rushed 12 times for 136 yards. On the other side of the field, veteran wide receiver James Lofton recorded 57 receptions for 1,072 yards and 8 touchdowns to earn his 8th Pro Bowl appearance and finish the year just 55 yards short of the all-time receiving record held by Steve Largent (13,089 yards). Pro Bowl tight end Keith McKeller was also a big contributor with 44 receptions for 434 yards, while receiver Don Beebe had 32 catches, 414 yards, and 6 touchdowns. Once again, the Bills offensive line was led by center Kent Hull along with Pro Bowl guard Jim Ritcher.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Despite few impact players in the later rounds, the Bills' first two picks had long careers in Buffalo. The first pick, safety Henry Jones, played for the next ten seasons in Buffalo, making the Pro Bowl in his second season. Defensive end Phil Hansen played his entire eleven-year career in Buffalo, joining the team's Wall of Fame in 2011.

Round # Pick # Player Position College
126Henry JonesDefensive BackIllinois
254Phil HansenDefensive endNorth Dakota State
382Darryl WrenDefensive backPittsburg State
4138Shawn WilbournDefensive BackLong Beach State
5166Millard HamiltonWide receiverClark University
6194Amir RasulRunning backFlorida A&M
8222Brad LambWide receiverAnderson
9249Mark MaddoxLinebackerNorthern Michigan
10277Tony DeLorenzoGuardNew Mexico State
11305Dean KirklandGuardWashington
12333Stephen ClarkTight EndTexas

Personnel

Staff

1991 Buffalo Bills staff
Front office

Head coaches

  • Vice President for Football Operations/Head Coach – Marv Levy
  • Administrative Assistant to the Head Coach – Chuck Lester

Offensive coaches

 Defensive coaches
  • Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers – Walt Corey
  • Defensive Line – Chuck Dickerson
  • Defensive Backs – Dick Roach
  • Defensive Quality Control – Chuck Lester

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning

[1]

Roster

1991 Buffalo Bills roster
Quarterbacks

Running Backs

Wide Receivers

Tight Ends

 Offensive Linemen

Defensive Linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive Backs

Special Teams

Preseason

Date Opponent Final Score Record
July 28, 1991 Sun. at Philadelphia Eagles W 17–13 1–0

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Game Site Final Score Record TV Time Attendance
1 September 1, 1991 Miami Dolphins Rich Stadium W 35–31 1–0 NBC 4:15pm
80,252
2 September 8, 1991 Pittsburgh Steelers Rich Stadium W 52–34 2–0 NBC 1:00pm
79,545
3 September 15, 1991 at New York Jets The Meadowlands W 23–20 3–0 NBC 4:15pm
65,309
4 September 22, 1991 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers Tampa Stadium W 17–10 4–0 NBC 4:15pm
57,323
5 September 29, 1991 Chicago Bears Rich Stadium W 35–20 5–0 CBS 1:00pm
80,366
6 October 7, 1991 at Kansas City Chiefs Arrowhead Stadium L 6–33 5–1 ABC 9:00pm
76,120
7 October 13, 1991 Indianapolis Colts Rich Stadium W 42–6 6–1 NBC 1:00pm
79,015
8 October 21, 1991 Cincinnati Bengals Rich Stadium W 35–16 7–1 ABC 9:00pm
80,131
9 Bye
10 November 3, 1991 New England Patriots Rich Stadium W 22–17 8–1 NBC 1:00pm
78,278
11 November 10, 1991 at Green Bay Packers Milwaukee County Stadium W 34–24 9–1 NBC 1:00pm
52,175
12 November 18, 1991 at Miami Dolphins Joe Robbie Stadium W 41–27 10–1 ABC 9:00pm
71,062
13 November 24, 1991 at New England Patriots Foxboro Stadium L 13–16 10–2 NBC 1:00pm
47,053
14 December 1, 1991 New York Jets Rich Stadium W 24–13 11–2 NBC 1:00pm
80,243
15 December 8, 1991 at Los Angeles Raiders Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum W 30–27 12–2 NBC 4:15pm
85,081
16 December 15, 1991 at Indianapolis Colts Hoosier Dome W 35–7 13–2 ESPN 8:15pm
48,286
17 December 22, 1991 Detroit Lions Rich Stadium L 14–17 13–3 CBS 1:00pm
78,059

Game summaries

Week 1 vs. Miami Dolphins

Miami Dolphins at Buffalo Bills
1 234Total
Dolphins 7 7314 31
• Bills 0 71414 35

Despite three touchdowns Dan Marino could not hold off Jim Kelly as the Bills erased a 17-7 Dolphins lead to win 35-31. The two teams combined for 331 rushing yards.

Week 2 vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

Jim Kelly erupted to six touchdowns as the Bills crushed the Steelers 52-34. Kelly threw for 363 yards, overshadowing the 194 rushing yards the Bills produced.

Week 3 at New York Jets

The Bills faced stiffer competition in their first road game of the year. The Jets clawed to a 10-3 lead late in the second; a pass-interference penalty set up a seven-yard Andre Reed touchdown catch. The Jets led 20-16 lead in the fourth quarter until Thurman Thomas caught a 15-yard score. The Jets raced downfield in the final seconds but missed a 51-yard field goal attempt, falling 23-20 to the Bills.

Week 4 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Returning to Tampa Stadium for the first time since Super Bowl XXV, Scott Norwood missed two field goal attempts. The Bucs behind Chris Chandler tied the game in the fourth. In the final minutes an apparent Bills fumble was nullified, and Keith McKeller caught the winning 29-yard touchdown for the 17-10 final.

Week 5 vs. Chicago Bears

The Bills held off the Bears 35-20 after putting up 422 yards of offense to Chicago's 353. Jim Harbaugh was intercepted once.

Week 6 Monday Night Football at Kansas City Chiefs

Harvey Williams and Christian Okoye combined for 225 rushing yards in leading a 33-6 massacre of the Bills; by themselves the two Chiefs backs put up more offense than the entire Bills offensive unit (211 total yards). Steve DeBerg added 150 passing yards and a touchdown as Buffalo's win streak crashed to a halt.

Week 7 vs. Indianapolis Colts

The Bills rebounded by hammering the winless Colts 42-6. The Colts failed to exceed six points for the sixth time in the season so far; they put up just 240 yards of offense vs. 276 rushing yards and four scores by Thurman Thomas, Kenneth Davis, and Carwell Gardner.

Week 8 Monday Night Football vs. Cincinnati Bengals

The Bills hosted winless Cincinnati in their second Monday Night appearance in three weeks. Jim Kelly overcame three interceptions to toss five touchdowns, winning 35-16; Boomer Esiason managed one score and one pick while his Bengals squad also chewed up 105 yards in penalties.

Week 10 vs. New England Patriots

The Bills struggled to a 22-17 win as Jim Kelly was picked off twice and Leonard Russell rushed for 106 yards and two scores. Jason Staurovsky missed two first-half field goal attempts amid periodic heavy winds at Rich Stadium. The Patriots got the ball back in the final 50 seconds after Kelly's second pick, but Hugh Millen was himself intercepted at the Bills 20.

Week 11 at Green Bay Packers

Milwaukee County Stadium hosted the Packers and Bills and the Pack made a game of it as future Steeler Mike Tomczak tossed for 317 yards and two touchdowns but was intercepted twice. Sterling Sharpe caught a 58-yard touchdown but was also blown up for a 15-yard loss on a rushing attempt.

Week 12 Monday Night Football at Miami Dolphins

The Dolphins fumbled three times and Dan Marino was intercepted twice as the Bills rolled to 262 rushing yards and three Jim Kelly touchdowns, winning 41-27.

Week 13 at New England Patriots

The Patriots pulled off one of the bigger upsets of the 1991 season as they picked off Jim Kelly four times while Hugh Millen threw a 50-yard score to Irving Fryar and ran in the winning score in a 16-13 win.

Week 14 vs. New York Jets

Jim Kelly and Ken O'Brien were both picked off twice as the Bills clawed to a 24-13 win, overcoming four turnovers and eleven penalties (76 yards).

Week 15 at LA Raiders

Amid a burgeoning feud with team owner Al Davis, Marcus Allen put up 95 all-purpose yards on 19 combined touches (16 of them rushes) and a touchdown as the Raiders led 27-14 after three quarters. Scott Norwood had a nightmarish day as he missed a PAT and two FGAs but the Bills rallied to tie the game and in overtime Norwood connected on the winning 42-yarder, and a 30-27 Bills win.

Week 16 at Indianapolis Colts

Jim Kelly and Frank Reich managed just thirteen completions, but four of them were touchdowns as the Bills romped 35-7. Jeff George was benched after completing just 83 yards and Mark Herrmann was even worse, throwing three interceptions. The win secured the #1 playoff seed for the Bills while the Colts secured a 1-15 season.

Week 17 vs. Detroit Lions

With the #1 AFC seed confirmed, the Bills started Frank Reich against the Lions, still fighting for a playoff bye with the Bears to play the 49ers on Monday Night. Barry Sanders rushed for 108 yards and a touchdown, and his burgeoning legend as impossible to bring down showed when Cornelius Bennett appeared to bring him down for a ten-yard loss in the first quarter but Sanders escaped for a one-yard gain. Reich's touchdown to Steve Tasker forced overtime but the Lions won on a 21-yard field goal, 17-14 the final; with San Francisco's 52-14 massacre of the Bears, the Lions secured a playoff bye.

Standings

AFC East
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
(1) Buffalo Bills 13 3 0 .813 7–1 10–2 458 318 L1
(6) New York Jets 8 8 0 .500 4–4 6–6 314 293 W1
Miami Dolphins 8 8 0 .500 4–4 5–7 343 349 L2
New England Patriots 6 10 0 .375 4–4 5–9 211 305 L1
Indianapolis Colts 1 15 0 .063 1–7 1–11 143 381 L6

Playoffs

AFC Divisional Playoffs

Buffalo Bills 37, Kansas City Chiefs 14
1 2 34Total
Chiefs 0 0 7714
Bills 7 10 71337

at Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, New York

AFC Championship Game

Buffalo Bills 10, Denver Broncos 7
1 2 34Total
Broncos 0 0 077
Bills 0 0 7310

at Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, New York

Super Bowl XXVI

The Bills became the 8th team to go scoreless in the 1st half,[2] while the Redskins scored 17 points in the second quarter.

The Redskins then increased their lead 24–0 just 16 seconds into the second half after linebacker Kurt Gouveia intercepted Kelly's pass on the first play of the third quarter and returned it 23 yards to the Bills' 2-yard line. One play later, Riggs scored his second touchdown of the game. The Redskins' 24–0 lead midway through the 3rd quarter is the largest shutout lead in Super Bowl history. The San Francisco 49ers had led the Cincinnati Bengals 20–0 at halftime in Super Bowl XVI.

The Bills finally got some momentum going with their next few drives. First, they drove 77 yards to the Redskins 3 yard-line, aided by a 43-yard completion from Kelly to receiver Don Beebe. Washington kept Buffalo out of the end zone, but kicker Scott Norwood kicked a 21-yard field goal to cut their deficit to 24–3. Then aided by a 29-yard pass interference penalty on Redskins cornerback Martin Mayhew in the end zone, the Bills finally scored a touchdown on their next drive with a 1-yard run by Thomas to make the score 24–10.

The two teams combined for the most points in a 3rd quarter in a Super Bowl history (24 total points: 14 for Washington and 10 for Buffalo) and the most combined in a second half (44 total points: 24 for Buffalo and 20 for Washington).

But Buffalo's hopes of a comeback faded when Washington advanced 79 yards in 11 plays on their ensuing drive, scoring on Clark's 30-yard touchdown reception to give the Redskins a 31–10 lead with 1:24 left in the third period. Then 3 plays after receiving the ensuing kickoff, Kelly fumbled the ball while being sacked by defensive back Alvoid Mays, and it was recovered by defensive end Fred Stokes. After the turnover, Washington drove to the Bills 7-yard line and increased their lead to 34–10 with Lohmiller's 25-yard field goal on the second play of the fourth quarter.

Then on the Bills ensuing drive, Kelly was sacked for a 9-yard loss by Stokes, threw an incomplete pass, and then threw his second interception of the game to Edwards, who returned it 35 yards to Buffalo's 33-yard line. Five plays later, Lohmiller kicked his second field goal with 11:36 left in the game to increase Washington's lead to 37–10. With the game almost completely out of reach, the Bills managed to respond with a 15-play, 79-yard drive to cut the score to 37–17 on a 2-yard touchdown pass from Kelly to Metzelaars. Then, after recovering an onside kick, the Bills drove 50 yards and scored another touchdown with Beebe's 4-yard reception to make the score 37–24. But the Bills' second onside kick attempt was unsuccessful and the Redskins were able to run out the clock. From there, the Bills attempted one final pass play before time expired.

Kelly, completed 28 of a Super Bowl-record 58 passes for 275 yards and two touchdowns, but was sacked 4 times, intercepted four times, and lost a fumble. Thomas ran for only 13 yards on 10 carries and was limited to 27 yards on four receptions. James Lofton was the top receiver for the Bills with 7 catches for 92 yards. But Reed was limited to just 5 catches for 31 yards. Clark had seven catches for 114 yards and a touchdown and Monk added seven for 113 yards. (Clark and Monk became the third pair of teammates to each have 100 yards receiving in a Super Bowl; they joined the Steelers' John Stallworth and Lynn Swann who did it in Super Bowl XIII and the Bengals' Cris Collinsworth and Dan Ross who did it in Super Bowl XVI).

Washington Redskins 37, Buffalo Bills 24
1 2 34Total
Redskins 0 17 14637
Bills 0 0 101424

at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Awards and records

References

  1. ↑ 1991 Buffalo Bills Media Guide. pp. 2–23.
  2. ↑ The others were the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III; the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowls IV, VIII, IX, and XI; the Redskins in Super Bowl VII; and the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XII

External links

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