1999 Buffalo Bills season

1999 Buffalo Bills season
Head coach	Wade Phillips
General manager	John Butler
Owner	Ralph Wilson
Home field	Ralph Wilson Stadium
Results
Record	11–5
Division place	2nd AFC East
Playoff finish	Lost AFC Wild Card

The 1999 Buffalo Bills season was the 40th season for the team in the National Football League (NFL). It would be the final season that Bruce Smith, Andre Reed, and Thurman Thomas, the last three players remaining from the Bills' Super Bowl teams were on the same team together. All three were released at the end of the season due to salary cap reasons.

The Bills surrendered only 229 points (14.3 points per game), the lowest total in franchise history in a 16-game season, and second-fewest in the league.^[1] Buffalo's 2,675 passing yards and 4,045 total yards allowed were both the fewest totals in the NFL in 1999.

The Bills finished in second place in the AFC East and finished the National Football League's 1999 season with a record of 11 wins and 5 losses. The Bills qualified for the postseason for the seventh time in the decade. They would lose to the Titans in the game called "The Music City Miracle".

As of the 2015 season, this was the last season that Buffalo qualified for the playoffs, making it 15 straight years that the Buffalo Bills have missed the playoffs.

Offseason

NFL draft

1999 Buffalo Bills draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	23	Antoine Winfield *	CB	Ohio St
2	53	Peerless Price *	WR	Tennessee
3	86	Shawn Bryson	RB	Tennessee
4	119	Keith Newman	OLB	North Carolina
4	122	Bobby Collins	TE	North Alabama
5	156	Jay Foreman	ILB	Nebraska
6	194	Armon Hatcher	S	Oregon St
7	230	Sheldon Jackson	TE	Nebraska
7	248	Bryce Fisher	DE	Air Force
Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Personnel

Staff

1999 Buffalo Bills staff
	Front office President – Ralph Wilson Executive Vice President/General Manager – John Butler Vice President of Football Operations – Wade Phillips Director of Pro Personnel – A.J. Smith Director of Player Personnel – Dwight Adams Head coaches Head Coach – Wade Phillips Assistant to the Head Coach – Max Bowman Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator – Joe Pendry Quarterbacks – Turk Schonert Running Backs – Bishop Harris Receivers – Charlie Joiner Tight Ends – Max Bowman Offensive Line – Carl Mauck Offensive Quality Control – Chris Dickson			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator – Ted Cottrell Defensive Line – John Levra Linebackers – Chuck Lester Defensive Backs – Bill Bradley Special teams coaches Special Teams – Bruce DeHaven Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning Coordinator – Rusty Jones

Roster

1999 Buffalo Bills roster
	Quarterbacks  7 Doug Flutie 11 Rob Johnson 10 Alex Van Pelt Running backs 38 Shawn Bryson 34 Thurman Thomas Wide receivers 80 Eric Moulds 81 Peerless Price 83 Andre Reed		Tight ends 84 Bobby Collins Offensive linemen 79 Ruben Brown G 70 John Fina T 77 Robert Hicks T 60 Jerry Ostroski C		Defensive linemen 90 Phil Hansen DE 78 Bruce Smith DE Linebackers 56 Sam Cowart 52 John Holecek		Defensive backs 29 Keion Carpenter S 27 Ken Irvin CB 20 Henry Jones S Special teams  2 Steve Christie K  9 Chris Mohr P Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 12, 1999	at Indianapolis Colts	L 31–14	56,238
2	September 19, 1999	New York Jets	W 17–3	68,839
3	September 26, 1999	Philadelphia Eagles	W 26–0	70,872
4	October 4, 1999	at Miami Dolphins	W 23–18	74,073
5	October 10, 1999	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 24–21	71,038
6	October 17, 1999	Oakland Raiders	L 20–14	71,113
7	October 24, 1999	at Seattle Seahawks	L 26–16	66,301
8	October 31, 1999	at Baltimore Ravens	W 13–10	68,673
9	November 7, 1999	at Washington Redskins	W 34–17	78,721
10	November 14, 1999	Miami Dolphins	W 23–3	72,810
11	November 21, 1999	at New York Jets	L 17–7	79,285
12	November 28, 1999	New England Patriots	W 17–7	72,111
13	Bye
14	December 12, 1999	New York Giants	L 19–17	72,527
15	December 19, 1999	at Arizona Cardinals	W 31–21	64,337
16	December 26, 1999	at New England Patriots	W 13–10	55,014
17	January 2, 2000	Indianapolis Colts	W 31–6	61,959

Game summaries

Week 1

1 2 3 4 Total Bills 0 6 8 0 14 • Colts 7 7 7 10 31 Date: September 12 Location: RCA Dome, Indianapolis, Indiana Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: indoors (dome)

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Week 2

1 2 3 4 Total Jets 0 0 3 0 3 • Bills 0 7 7 3 17 Date: September 19 Location: Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, New York Game start: 8:20 p.m. Game weather: 62°F, wind 5

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Week 3

1 2 3 4 Total Eagles 0 0 0 0 0 • Bills 9 10 7 0 26 Date: September 26 Location: Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, New York Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 60°F, wind 7

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Week 4

1 2 3 4 Total • Bills 3 10 0 10 23 Dolphins 6 3 0 9 18 Date: October 4 Location: Pro Player Stadium, Miami, Florida Game start: 9:00 p.m. Game weather: 82°F, wind 13 Television network: ABC

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Week 5

1 2 3 4 Total Steelers 7 7 0 7 21 • Bills 7 10 7 0 24 Date: October 10 Location: Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, New York Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 60°F, wind 8

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Week 6

1 2 3 4 Total • Raiders 10 3 7 0 20 Bills 7 0 0 7 14 Date: October 17 Location: Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, New York Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 58°F, wind 12

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Week 7

1 2 3 4 Total Bills 0 3 6 7 16 • Seahawks 13 10 0 3 26 Date: October 24 Location: Kingdome, Seattle, Washington Game start: 1:15 p.m. Game weather: indoors (dome)

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Week 8

1 2 3 4 Total • Bills 0 3 0 10 13 Ravens 10 0 0 0 10 Date: October 31 Location: PSINet Stadium, Baltimore, Maryland Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 59°F, wind 4

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Week 9

1 2 3 4 Total • Bills 3 14 14 3 34 Redskins 7 3 0 7 17 Date: November 7 Location: Jack Kent Cooke Stadium, Washington, D.C. Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 55°F, wind 14

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Week 10

1 2 3 4 Total Dolphins 0 3 0 0 3 • Bills 9 7 7 0 23 Date: November 14 Location: Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, New York Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 50°F, wind 19

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Week 11

1 2 3 4 Total Bills 0 0 7 0 7 • Jets 0 14 3 0 17 Date: November 21 Location: Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 58°F, wind 8

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Week 12

1 2 3 4 Total Patriots 0 0 0 7 7 • Bills 3 7 7 0 17 Date: November 28 Location: Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, New York Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 39°F, wind 16

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Week 14

1 2 3 4 Total • Giants 3 10 3 3 19 Bills 3 7 0 7 17 Date: December 12 Location: Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, New York Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 30°F, wind 6

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Week 15

1 2 3 4 Total • Bills 14 0 3 14 31 Cardinals 0 14 0 7 21 Date: December 19 Location: Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, Arizona Game start: 6:20 p.m. Game weather: 57°F, wind 4

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Week 16

1 2 3 4 OT Total • Bills 3 0 0 7 3 13 Patriots 0 3 0 7 0 10 Date: December 26 Location: Foxboro Stadium, Foxboro, Massachusetts Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 29°F, wind 18

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Week 17

1 2 3 4 Total Colts 3 3 0 0 6 • Bills 7 14 0 10 31 Date: January 2 Location: Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, New York Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 44°F, wind 14

^[17]

Standings

AFC East
	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	STK
^(2) Indianapolis Colts	13	3	0	.813	423	333	L1
^(5) Buffalo Bills	11	5	0	.688	320	229	W3
^(6) Miami Dolphins	9	7	0	.563	326	336	L2
New York Jets	8	8	0	.500	308	309	W4
New England Patriots	8	8	0	.500	299	284	W1

Playoffs

AFC Wild Card

1 2 3 4 Total Bills 0 0 7 9 16 • Titans 0 12 0 10 22 Date: January 8 Location: Adelphia Coliseum, Nashville, Tennessee Game start: 12:30 p.m. EST Game attendance: 66,672 Game weather: Cloudy, 58 °F (14 °C) Referee: Phil Luckett TV announcers (ABC): Mike Patrick, Joe Theismann, Paul Maguire, and Solomon Wilcots

The Music City Miracle is a famous play in the NFL Wild Card Playoffs involving the Tennessee Titans and Buffalo Bills that took place on January 8, 2000 (following the 1999 regular season) at Adelphia Coliseum in Nashville, Tennessee.

Going into the game, Bills coach Wade Phillips created a stir by starting quarterback Rob Johnson, rather than Doug Flutie, who had started 15 games, and who had led the team to the playoffs. Late in the fourth quarter, the stage was set for an exciting finish. Tennessee received the ball with 6:15 remaining. Titans receiver Isaac Byrd's 16-yard punt return and five carries from Eddie George for 17 yards set up a wobbly 36-yard field goal by Del Greco. The Titans took a 15–13 lead with 1:48 to go. On the ensuing drive, with no timeouts remaining, Bills quarterback Johnson led the Bills on a five-play, 37-yard drive to the Titans' 24-yard line. On the last two plays from scrimmage, Johnson played with only one shoe on, as he had lost one and had no time to put it back on, with the clock running out. With only 16 seconds remaining in the game, Steve Christie, the Bills' kicker, made a 41-yard field goal to put Buffalo in the lead, 16–15.

Moments later, Christie kicked off, and Titans player Lorenzo Neal received. Neal handed the ball off to Titans tight end Frank Wycheck, who then lateraled the ball across the field to another Titans player, Kevin Dyson, who then ran down the sidelines for a 75-yard touchdown. The play was named Home Run Throwback by the Titans and was developed by Special Teams Coordinator Alan Lowry.

• Official review

Per the instant replay rules, the play was reviewed by referee Phil Luckett since it was uncertain if the ball had been a forward pass, which is illegal on a kickoff return. However, the call on the field was upheld as a touchdown, and the Titans won the game 22–16. After the game, however, many Bills players and fans continued to insist that it was indeed an illegal forward pass.

• Aftermath

The victory, in front of a franchise-record crowd at Adelphia Coliseum, allowed the Tennessee franchise to advance to the divisional round of the AFC playoffs for the first time since 1993. Subsequent victories over the Indianapolis Colts and Jacksonville Jaguars sent the Titans to Super Bowl XXXIV to face the St. Louis Rams, where they lost by one yard.

It could be said that the game served as revenge for the Titans/Oilers franchise for The Comeback, where the Bills came back from a 32-point deficit to defeat the Houston Oilers, 41–38, in overtime. For the Bills, it led to the firing after 13 seasons of special teams coach Bruce DeHaven. One year later, Phillips was fired (partly due to his failure to lead the Bills past the first round of the playoffs during his tenure) and replaced by Titans defensive coordinator Gregg Williams. It was added to the list of infamous moments in Buffalo sports history, joining Wide Right and No Goal.

As of the conclusion of the 2015 NFL Regular Season, Buffalo has not reached the playoffs since the Music City Miracle.

References

1. Jacksonville allowed 217 points
2. Pro-Football-Reference.com
3. Pro-Football-Reference.com
4. Pro-Football-Reference.com
5. Pro-Football-Reference.com
6. Pro-Football-Reference.com
7. Pro-Football-Reference.com
8. Pro-Football-Reference.com
9. Pro-Football-Reference.com
10. Pro-Football-Reference.com
11. Pro-Football-Reference.com
12. Pro-Football-Reference.com
13. Pro-Football-Reference.com
14. Pro-Football-Reference.com
15. Pro-Football-Reference.com
16. Pro-Football-Reference.com
17. Pro-Football-Reference.com

External links

• 1999 Buffalo Bills at Pro-Football-Reference.com