1986 Buffalo Bills season

1986 Buffalo Bills season
Head coach	Hank Bullough Marv Levy
General manager	Bill Polian
Owner	Ralph Wilson
Home field	Rich Stadium
Results
Record	4–12
Division place	4th AFC East
Playoff finish	did not qualify
Timeline
Previous season      Next season < 1985      1987 >

The 1986 Buffalo Bills season was the 27th season for the club and its 17th in the National Football League.

Although the Bills were only 2-6 at the midway point of the season, their games were much more competitive than in years past. (Only two of their losses in the first eight games were by more than a touchdown.) Still, after a 6-point Week Nine loss to Tampa Bay, the Bills fired coach Hank Bullough, and hired former Kansas City coach Marv Levy from outside the organization, an unusual mid-season tactic. (Levy had been out of coaching since being the head man with the USFL's Chicago Blitz in 1984.) Levy would win his first game with the Bills against Pittsburgh in Week Ten, and one more game against Kansas City in Week Thirteen, finishing with a 2-5 record in his first half-season as head coach.

Offseason

Buffalo's quarterback position underwent a drastic improvement before the season, as first-round draft pick Jim Kelly—fresh from the recently-folded United States Football League—signed with the team admid much fanfare. The signing increased home attendance at Rich Stadium by 30,000 per game.

NFL Draft

Main article: 1986 NFL Draft

University of Iowa running back Ronnie Harmon played for the Bills for four seasons. Vanderbilt's Will Wolford played offensive tackle for the Bills for seven years, and was voted to the Pro Bowl in 1990 and 1992. Linebacker Mark Pike played his entire 13-year career with the Bills, mostly as a special teams star; he is the NFL's all-time leader in tackles on special teams, with 283. Tight end Butch Rolle played for the Bills for 6 years, and at one point had a streak of ten consecutive receptions for touchdowns.

= Pro Bowler

Round	Pick #	Player	Position	College
1	16	Ronnie Harmon	Running back	Iowa
1	20	Will Wolford	Offensive Tackle	Vanderbilt
3	77	Leonard Burton	Center	South Carolina
5	111	Carl Byrum	Running back	Mississippi Valley State
7	168	Bob Williams	Tight end	Penn State
7	178	Mark Pike	Linebacker	Georgia Tech
7	180	Butch Rolle	Tight end	Michigan State
8	202	Tony Furjanic	Linebacker	Notre Dame
9	222	Reggie Bynum	Wide receiver	Oregon State
10	251	Guy Teafatiller	Defensive tackle	Illinois
11	278	Tony Garbarczyk	Defensive tackle	Wake Forest
11	282	Billy Witt	Defensive end	North Alabama
12	313	Brian McClure	Quarterback	Bowling Green
12	331	Derek Christian	Linebacker	West Virginia Tech

Personnel

Staff

1986 Buffalo Bills staff
Front Office President – Ralph Wilson Vice President of Administration/General Manager – Bill Polian Director of Player Personnel – Norm Pollom Assistant Director of Player Personnel – Bob Ferguson Head Coaches Vice President of Football Operations/Head Coach – Hank Bullough Administrative Assistant to the Head Coach – Jim Valek Offensive Coaches Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Line – Jim Ringo Quarterbacks/Passing Game Coordinator – Bob Leahy Running Backs/Special Teams – Elijah Pitts Receivers – Joe Daniels Tight Ends – Joe Faragalli			Defensive Coaches Defensive Coordinator/Inside Linebackers – Herb Paterra Defensive Line – Ted Cottrell Outside Linebackers – Ardell Wiegandt Defensive Backfield – Dick Moseley Strength and Conditioning Strength and Conditioning Coordinator – Rusty Jones

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 7, 1986	New York Jets	L 28–24	79,951
2	September 14, 1986	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 36–33	52,714
3	September 21, 1986	St. Louis Cardinals	W 17–10	65,762
4	September 28, 1986	Kansas City Chiefs	L 20–17	67,555
5	October 5, 1986	at New York Jets	L 14–13	69,504
6	October 12, 1986	at Miami Dolphins	L 27–14	49,467
7	October 19, 1986	Indianapolis Colts	W 24–13	50,050
8	October 26, 1986	New England Patriots	L 23–3	77,808
9	November 2, 1986	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	L 34–28	32,806
10	November 9, 1986	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 16–12	72,000
11	November 16, 1986	Miami Dolphins	L 34–24	76,474
12	November 23, 1986	at New England Patriots	L 22–19	60,455
13	November 30, 1986	at Kansas City Chiefs	W 17–14	31,492
14	December 7, 1986	Cleveland Browns	L 21–17	42,213
15	December 14, 1986	at Indianapolis Colts	L 24–14	52,783
16	December 21, 1986	at Houston Oilers	L 16–7	31,409

Game summaries

Week 1: vs. New York Jets

See also: 1986 New York Jets season

1 2 3 4 Total Jets 7 7 0 14 28 Bills 7 3 0 14 24 at Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, New York Date: Sunday, September 7 Game time: 4:00 p.m. Game weather: 56°F, wind 12 mph Pro-Football-Reference.com Game information First Quarter BUF - Greg Bell 2 yard pass from Jim Kelly (Scott Norwood kick) - Bills 7-0 NYJ - Tony Paige 2 yard run (Pat Leahy kick) - Tied 7-7 Second Quarter NYJ - Al Toon 46 yard pass from Ken O'Brien (Pat Leahy kick) - Jets 14-7 BUF - Scott Norwood 19 yard field goal - Jets 14-10 Fourth Quarter BUF - Andre Reed 55 yard pass from Jim Kelly (Scott Norwood kick) - Bills 17-14 NYJ - Johnny Hector 1 yard run (Pat Leahy kick) - Jets 21-17 NYJ - Wesley Walker 71 yard pass from Ken O'Brien (Pat Leahy kick) - Jets 28-17 BUF - Pete Metzelaars 4 yard pass from Jim Kelly (Scott Norwood kick) - Jets 28-24 Jets Ken O'Brien 18/25, 318 Yds, 2 TD Freeman McNeil 21 Rush, 72 Yds Al Toon 6 Rec, 119 Yds, TD Bills Jim Kelly 20/33, 292 Yds, 3 TD Greg Bell 17 Rush, 44 Yds Andre Reed 5 Rec, 95 Yds, TD

Standings

AFC East
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA
New England Patriots(3)	11	5	0	.688	7–1	8–4	412	307
New York Jets(4)	10	6	0	.625	6–2	8–4	364	386
Miami Dolphins(5)	8	8	0	.500	5–3	6–6	430	405
Buffalo Bills	4	12	0	.250	1–7	3–11	287	348
Indianapolis Colts	3	13	0	.188	1–7	2–10	229	400

References

• Bills on Pro Football Reference
• Bills on jt-sw.com
• Bills Stats on jt-sw.com