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1987 Buffalo Bills season

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1987 Buffalo Bills season
OwnerRalph Wilson
General managerBill Polian
Head coachMarv Levy
Home fieldRich Stadium
Results
Record7–8
Division place4th AFC East
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersQB Jim Kelly
DE Bruce Smith
AP All-ProsDE Bruce Smith (1st team)
ST Steve Tasker (1st team)
LB Shane Conlan (2nd team)

The 1987 Buffalo Bills season was the franchise's 18th season in the National Football League, and 28th overall.

On October 31, 1987, the Los Angeles Rams traded Eric Dickerson to the Indianapolis Colts in a three team trade involving the Bills. The Rams sent Dickerson to the Colts for six draft choices and two players. Buffalo obtained the rights to Cornelius Bennett from Indianapolis. Buffalo sent running back Greg Bell and three draft choices to the Rams, while Indianapolis added Owen Gill and three of their own draft picks to complete the deal with the Rams.[1] Adding Bennett to the team helped to form the nucleus for a strong young defensive unit that would become the core of Buffalo's later Super Bowl teams.

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1987 NFL draft

Buffalo's first two draft picks—linebacker Shane Conlan and defensive back Nate Odomes—would later go on to make to have a great deal of impact on Buffalo's defense. Conlan was named 1987 Defensive Rookie of the Year and would be selected to three consecutive Pro Bowls in the 1988, 1989 and 1990 seasons. Odomes would be selected to consecutive Pro Bowls in 1992 and 1993.

Another impactful rookie, Cornelius Bennett, was drafted by Indianapolis in 1987, before being traded to Buffalo.

1987 Buffalo Bills draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 8 Shane Conlan *  Linebacker Penn State
2 29 Nate Odomes *  Defensive back Wisconsin
2 33 Roland Mitchell  Defensive back Texas Tech
3 60 David Brandon  Linebacker Memphis State
3 78 Jamie Mueller  Running back Benedictine (KS)
4 109 Leon Seals  Defensive end Jackson State
7 171 Kerry Porter  Running back Washington State
11 283 Howard Ballard *  Offensive Tackle Alabama A&M
      Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[2]

Personnel

Staff

1987 Buffalo Bills staff

Front office

  • President – Ralph Wilson
  • Vice President of Administration/General Manager – Bill Polian
  • Vice President of Football Operations – Marv Levy
  • Director of College Scouting – John Butler
  • Director of Pro Personnel – Bob Ferguson
  • National Scout – Norm Pollom
  • College Scout – A. J. Smith
  • Administrative Assistant to the Head Coach – Chuck Dickerson

Head coaches

  • Head Coach – Marv Levy

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches
  • Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers – Walt Corey
  • Defensive Line – Ted Cottrell
  • Defensive Backs – Dick Roach
  • Defensive Assistant – Chuck Lester

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning


[3]

NFL replacement players

After the league decided to use replacement players during the NFLPA strike, the following team was assembled:

1987 Buffalo Bills replacement roster

Quarterbacks

Running Backs

Wide Receivers

Tight Ends

Offensive Linemen

Defensive Linemen

Linebackers

Defensive Backs

Special Teams

Roster

1987 Buffalo Bills roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB) {{{defensive_back}}}

Special teams

Practice squad

Reserve


Rookies in italics

Regular season

Cornerback Nate Odomes was the youngest starting defensive player in the NFL. It was also his rookie season.

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Attendance
1 September 13 New York Jets L 31–28 76,718
2 September 20 Houston Oilers W 34–30 56,534
– September 27 at Dallas Cowboys canceled
3 October 4 Indianapolis Colts L 47–6 9,860
4 October 11 at New England Patriots L 14–7 11,878
5 October 18 New York Giants W 6–3 15,737
6 October 25 at Miami Dolphins W 34–31 OT 61,295
7 November 1 Washington Redskins L 27–7 71,640
8 November 8 Denver Broncos W 21–14 63,698
9 November 15 at Cleveland Browns L 27–21 78,409
10 November 22 at New York Jets W 17–14 58,407
11 November 29 Miami Dolphins W 27–0 68,055
12 December 6 at Los Angeles Raiders L 34–21 43,143
13 December 13 at Indianapolis Colts W 27–3 60,253
14 December 20 New England Patriots L 13–7 74,945
15 December 27 at Philadelphia Eagles L 17–7 57,547

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 2

1 234Total
Oilers 3 14310 30
• Bills 3 10021 34
Scoring summary
1BUFScott Norwood 45 yard field goalBills 3–0
1HOUTony Zendejas 52 yard field goalTie 3–3
2HOUDrew Hill 2 yard pass from Warren Moon (Tony Zendejas kick)Oilers 10–3
2BUFScott Norwood 38 yard field goalOilers 10–6
2HOUMike Rozier 8 yard run (Tony Zendejas kick)Oilers 17–6
2BUFRobb Riddick 11 yard pass from Jim Kelly (Scott Norwood kick)Oilers 17–13
3HOUTony Zendejas 27 yard field goalOilers 20–13
4BUFAndre Reed 8 yard pass from Jim Kelly (Scott Norwood kick)Tie 20–20
4HOUErnest Givens 12 yard pass from Warren Moon (Tony Zendejas kick)Oilers 27–20
4HOUTony Zendejas 30 yard field goalOilers 30–20
4BUFRobb Riddick 2 yard run (Scott Norwood kick)Oilers 30–27
4BUFRonnie Harmon 2 yard pass from Jim Kelly (Scott Norwood kick)Bills 34–30

[4]

Week 6

Buffalo Bills (2–3) at Miami Dolphins (2–3)
1 234OTTotal
• Bills 0 314143 34
Dolphins 14 70100 31

[5]

Week 7

Washington Redskins (5–1) at Buffalo Bills (3–3)
1 234Total
• Redskins 3 14100 27
Bills 0 007 7

[6]

Week 8

Week Eight: Denver Broncos (4–2–1) at Buffalo Bills (3–4)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Broncos 0 0 7714
Bills 0 18 3021

at Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, New York

Game information
  • Cornelius Bennett’s first game as a Buffalo Bill, wearing #55.
  • Steve Tasker blocked punt just before halftime resulting in a safety and 18–0 halftime score.

Week 9

1 234Total
Bills 7 0014 21
• Browns 3 1473 27

[8]

Week 11 vs Dolphins

Week Twelve: Miami Dolphins (5–5) at Buffalo Bills (5–5)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Dolphins 0 0 000
Bills 0 21 3327

at Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, New York

Game information

Week 12

1 234Total
Bills 0 1470 21
• Raiders 10 3147 34

[9]

Week 15

Buffalo Bills (7–7) at Philadelphia Eagles (6–8)
1 234Total
Bills 0 007 7
• Eagles 0 1070 17
  • Date: December 27, 1987
  • Location: Veterans Stadium Philadelphia, PA
  • Game start: 1:00 EST
  • Game weather: 35 °F (1.7 °C); wind 10 miles per hour (16 km/h; 8.7 kn)
  • TV announcers (NBC): Tom Hammond

[10]

Standings

AFC East
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Indianapolis Colts(3) 9 6 0 .600 5–3 8–6 300 238 W2
New England Patriots 8 7 0 .533 6–2 8–4 320 293 W3
Miami Dolphins 8 7 0 .533 2–6 5–7 362 335 L1
Buffalo Bills 7 8 0 .467 4–4 6–6 270 305 L2
New York Jets 6 9 0 .400 3–5 6–5 334 360 L4

Player stats

Passing

Note: Comp = Completions; ATT = Attempts; TD = Touchdowns; INT = Interceptions

Player Games Comp Att Yards TD INT Rating
Jim Kelly 12 250 419 2798 19 11 83.8
John Kidd 12 0 1 0 0 0 39.6
Dan Manucci 3 7 21 68 0 2 3.8
Brian McClure 1 20 38 181 0 3 32.9
Mark Miller 1 1 3 9 0 1 2.8
Robb Riddick 6 1 1 35 0 0 118.7
Willie Totten 2 13 33 155 2 2 49.4

[11]

Rushing

Player Games Attempts Yards Avg TD
Ronnie Harmon 12 116 485 2
Jamie Mueller 12 82 354 2
Carl Byrum 13 66 280 0
Robb Riddick 6 59 221 5
Ricky Porter 9 47 177 0
Jim Kelly 12 29 133 0

[11]

Receiving

Player Games Number Yards Avg TD
Chris Burkett 12 56 765 13.7 4
Andre Reed 12 57 752 13.2 5
Ronnie Harmon 12 56 477 8.5 2
Pete Metzelaars 12 28 290 10.4 0
Trumaine Johnson 12 15 186 12.4 2

[11]

Defense

Note: FR = Fumble Recoveries; TCKL = Tackles; INT = Interceptions; TD = Touchdowns

Player Games Sacks Forced Fumbles FR Tckl INT Yards TD
Shane Conlan 12 0.5 1 0 114 0 0 0
Bruce Smith 12 12.0 3 0 2 0 0 0

Special teams

Note: FGA = Field Goals Attempted; FGM = Field Goals Made; FG% = Field goal percentage; XPA = Extra Points Attempted; XPM = Extra Points Made; XP% = Extra points percentage

Player Games FGA FGM FG % XPA XPM XP %
Scott Norwood 12 15 10 66.7 31 31 100
Todd Schlopy 3 5 2 40 2 1 50

[11]

Punting

Player Games Punts Yards Long Blocked Avg. yards
John Kidd 12 64 2495 67 0 39.0
Rick Partridge 3 18 678 52 1 37.7

[11]

Awards and honors

Defensive Rookie of the Year[12]

Pro Bowl Most Valuable Player

  • Bruce Smith

References

  1. ^ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p.286
  2. ^ "1987 Buffalo Bills draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
  3. ^ 1987 Buffalo Bills Media Guide. pp. 3–24.
  4. ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com
  5. ^ [1]. Retrieved 2021-Jul-19.
  6. ^ [2]. Retrieved 2021-Jun-05.
  7. ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2022-Feb-19.
  8. ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com
  9. ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com
  10. ^ Pro-Football-Reference. Retrieved 2022-Mar-23.
  11. ^ a b c d e 1987 Buffalo Bills Statistics & Players – Pro-Football-Reference.com
  12. ^ NFL Rookie of the Year
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