1989 Buffalo Bills season

1989 Buffalo Bills season
Head coach	Marv Levy
General manager	Bill Polian
Owner	Ralph Wilson
Home field	Rich Stadium
Results
Record	9–7
Division place	1st AFC East
Playoff finish	L AFC Divisional
Timeline
Previous season      Next season < 1988      1990 >

The 1989 Buffalo Bills season was the 30th season for the team and the 20th season in the National Football League. The Bills finished in first place in the AFC East and finished the National Football League's 1989 season with a record of 9 wins and 7 losses. Although Buffalo won the division and qualified for the postseason, their record was a drop off from their 12-4 mark in 1988.

Bickering Bills

The team was nicknamed the Bickering Bills because of a rash of internal conflicts within the team. During a Monday Night loss to the Denver Broncos, Jim Kelly could be seen yelling at wide receiver Chris Burkett; it would be Burkett's last game with the team, as he was released shortly after the game.

Kelly was injured in a Week Five blowout loss to the Indianapolis Colts, and subsequently blamed his offensive line's blocking—notably offensive tackle Howard Ballard—for contributing to his injury.

In the week leading up to a Week Eight matchup with Miami, assistant coaches Tom Bresnahan and Nick Nicolau got into a fistfight while the two were reviewing game film.

The biggest blowup occurred when starting running back Thurman Thomas, asking to address Jim Kelly's criticism of the offense—and the pass-catching ability of running back Ronnie Harmon in particular—criticized Kelly himself on a Rochester, NY television show. When asked what position the Bills could upgrade at, Thomas replied, "Quarterback." Thomas claimed at first that it was a joke, but later, when appearing on Paul Maguire's Budweiser Sportsline show, he stated that the team didn't appreciate Kelly's public criticism, and that Kelly should elevate his own level of play.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Main article: 1989 NFL Draft

Lacking a first- or second-round pick in the 1989 draft, the Bills were able to pick wide receiver Don Beebe, a third-round pick from small Chadron State, who would be a productive wide receiver for the team for six seasons. Beebe would achieve something akin to folk hero status in Buffalo, when, in Super Bowl XXVII, as the Bills were being soundly defeated by Dallas, Beebe chased down Cowboys defensive tackle Leon Lett, stripped the ball from his hands and saved what would have been a sure touchdown.

The Bills also drafted future two-sport athlete Brian Jordan in the 7th round. Though the Bills cut him before the 1989 season began, Jordan would go on to play three productive seasons for the Atlanta Falcons, and fifteen seasons as a Major League Baseball outfielder.

Pick #	Player	Position	College
82	Don Beebe	Wide Receiver	Chadron State
109	John Kolesar	Wide Receiver	Michigan
137	Michael Andrews	Defensive Back	Alcorn State
164	Sean Doctor	Tight End	Marshall
173	Brian Jordan	Defensive Back	Richmond
193	Chris Hale	Defensive Back	USC
Supp	Brett Young	Defensive Back	Oregon
249	Pat Rabold	Defensive Tackle	Wyoming
276	Carlo Cheattom	Defensive Back	Auburn
305	Richard Harvey	Linebacker	Tulane
332	Derrell Marshall	Tackle	USC

Personnel

Staff

1989 Buffalo Bills staff
Front Office President – Ralph Wilson Vice President of Administration/General Manager – Bill Polian Assistant General Manager/Director of Pro Personnel – Bob Ferguson Director of Player Personnel – John Butler Assistant Director/Collegiate Scouting – A. J. Smith National Scout – Norm Pollom Head Coaches Vice President for Football Operations/Head Coach – Marv Levy Administrative Assistant to the Head Coach – Chuck Dickerson Offensive Coaches Offensive Coordinator – Ted Marchibroda Running Backs – Elijah Pitts Receivers – Nick Nicolau Tight Ends – Chuck Dickerson Offensive Line – Tom Bresnahan			Defensive Coaches Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers – Walt Corey Defensive Line – Ted Cottrell Defensive Backs – Dick Roach Defensive Assistant/Linebackers – Chuck Lester Special Teams Coaches Special Teams – Bruce DeHaven Strength and Conditioning Strength and Conditioning Coordinator – Rusty Jones

Roster

1989 Buffalo Bills roster
Quarterbacks  8 Stan Gelbaugh 12 Jim Kelly 14 Frank Reich Running Backs 23 Kenneth Davis 33 Ronnie Harmon 28 Larry Kinnebrew FB 39 Jamie Mueller FB 34 Thurman Thomas Wide Receivers 82 Don Beebe 85 Chris Burkett 80 Flip Johnson 86 James Lofton 83 Andre Reed Tight Ends 84 Keith McKeller 88 Pete Metzelaars 87 Butch Rolle		Offensive Linemen 75 Howard Ballard T 61 Leonard Burton T 65 John Davis G/T 70 Joe Devlin G 67 Kent Hull C 63 Adam Lingner C 51 Jim Ritcher G 69 Will Wolford T Defensive Linemen 94 Mark Pike DE 98 Elston Ridgle DE 96 Leon Seals DE 76 Fred Smerlas NT 78 Bruce Smith DE 72 Art Still DE 91 Jeff Wright NT		Linebackers 54 Carlton Bailey ILB 55 Cornelius Bennett OLB 50 Ray Bentley ILB 90 Tim Cofield 58 Shane Conlan ILB 57 Matt Monger 97 Scott Radecic 56 Darryl Talley OLB Defensive Backs 29 Derrick Burroughs CB 21 Wayne Davis CB 45 Dwight Drane S 22 John Hagy S 26 Chris Hale CB 47 Kirby Jackson CB 38 Mark Kelso S 37 Nate Odomes CB 46 Leonard Smith S 20 Mickey Sutton CB 22 Erroll Tucker CB		Special Teams  4 John Kidd P 11 Scott Norwood K 89 Steve Tasker Reserve Lists 59 Mitch Frerotte G (IR)  7 Gale Gilbert QB (IR) 36 John Kolesar WR (IR) 21 Carl Mims CB (IR) 40 Robb Riddick RB (IR) Developmental Squad 81 Deval Glover WR 92 Matt Jaworski LB 68 Derrell Marshall OL 52 Wes Pritchett LB 25 Tim Smiley S Rookies in italics

Regular season

Before the season, future Hall of Fame defensive end Bruce Smith was offered a large contract by Denver (US$7.5 million over five years), one that the Bills chose to match to retain Smith. In 1989, Smith became the Bills' all-time sack leader when he reached his 52nd sack; he would end his 19-year career with 200, the most of any NFL player all-time.

Despite the internal strife the Bills experienced, they had some memorable wins.^{[citation needed]} The Bills started the season with a last-second victory at Miami. With 0:02 left on the clock, quarterback Jim Kelly dropped back to pass, but ran the ball in to the end zone as time expired, securing a 27–24 win.

In Week Three, the Bills won an overtime shootout in the Houston Astrodome against the "Run and Shoot" Oilers, 47–41. Jim Kelly threw five touchdown passes in the game.

In Week Six, the Bills hosted the undefeated Los Angeles Rams, with backup quarterback Frank Reich subbing for an injured Jim Kelly. With 77 seconds remaining, Reich started a drive from the Buffalo 36 yard line. The Bills drove down the field, with Reich passing the winning touchdown to Andre Reed with :16 left.

In Week Thirteen, on Monday Night Football, the Bills lost to the Seattle Seahawks 17–16, which included Seahawk Steve Largent running in a botched extra point attempt for ultimately the 1-point difference.

What ensued was the Bills losing three games in a row, before securing the AFC East title with a shutout road win over the New York Jets.

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Game Site	Attendance
1	September 10, 1989	at Miami Dolphins	W 27–24	1–0	Joe Robbie Stadium	54,541
2	September 18, 1989	Denver Broncos	L 14–28	1–1	Rich Stadium	78,176
3	September 24, 1989	at Houston Oilers	W 47–41	2–1	Houston Astrodome	57,278
4	October 1, 1989	New England Patriots	W 31–10	3–1	Rich Stadium	78,921
5	October 8, 1989	at Indianapolis Colts	L 14–37	3–2	Hoosier Dome	58,890
6	October 16, 1989	Los Angeles Rams	W 23–20	4–2	Rich Stadium	76,231
7	October 22, 1989	New York Jets	W 34–3	5–2	Rich Stadium	76,811
8	October 29, 1989	Miami Dolphins	W 31–17	6–2	Rich Stadium	80,208
9	November 5, 1989	at Atlanta Falcons	L 28–30	6–3	Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium	45,267
10	November 12, 1989	Indianapolis Colts	W 30–7	7–3	Rich Stadium	79,256
11	November 19, 1989	at New England Patriots	L 24–33	7–4	Sullivan Stadium	49,663
12	November 26, 1989	Cincinnati Bengals	W 24–7	8–4	Rich Stadium	80,074
13	December 4, 1989	at Seattle Seahawks	L 16–17	8–5	Kingdome	57,682
14	December 10, 1989	New Orleans Saints	L 19–22	8–6	Rich Stadium	70,037
15	December 17, 1989	at San Francisco 49ers	L 10–21	8–7	Candlestick Park	60,927
16	December 23, 1989	at New York Jets	W 37–0	9–7	The Meadowlands	21,148

Standings

AFC East
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Buffalo Bills(3)	9	7	0	.563	6–2	8–4	409	317	W1
Indianapolis Colts	8	8	0	.500	4–4	7–5	298	301	L1
Miami Dolphins	8	8	0	.500	4–4	6–8	331	379	L2
New England Patriots	5	11	0	.313	4–4	5–7	297	391	L3
New York Jets	4	12	0	.250	2–6	3–9	253	411	L3

Playoffs

AFC Divisional Playoff

Buffalo Bills (9-7) at Cleveland Browns (9-6-1)

Cleveland Browns 34, Buffalo Bills 30 1 2 3 4 Total Bills 7 7 7 9 30 Browns 3 14 14 3 34 at Cleveland Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio Game time: Saturday, January 6, 1990. 12:30 p.m. EST Game attendance: 77,706 Referee: Dick Jorgensen TV announcers (NBC): Charlie Jones and Merlin Olsen

In a shootout, Browns linebacker Clay Matthews intercepted Bills quarterback Jim Kelly at the Cleveland 1-yard line with 3 seconds remaining to preserve a 34–30 victory. Kelly threw for 405 yards and 4 touchdowns while Browns quarterback Bernie Kosar threw for 251 yards and 3 touchdowns with no interceptions. Browns receiver Webster Slaughter had the best postseason performance of his career with 3 receptions for 114 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Buffalo scored first with wide receiver Andre Reed's 72-yard touchdown reception. But Cleveland struck back with a 45-yard field goal by Matt Bahr and a 52-yard touchdown pass from Kosar to Slaughter. Kelly's 33-yard touchdown pass to James Lofton put the Bills back in the lead, 14–10, but Browns retook the lead with Ron Middleton's 3-yard catch shortly before the end of the first half.

On the opening drive of the second half, Kosar hooked up with Slaughter for another touchdown pass, this one 44-yards, to increase their lead to 24–14. Buffalo responded with a 6 yard touchdown catch by running back Thurman Thomas, who tied an NFL playoff record with 13 receptions for 150 yards. But Browns running back Eric Metcalf returned the ensuing kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown to give his team a 31–21 lead by the end of the third quarter. After an exchange of field goals, Thomas caught a three yard touchdown pass. But the extra point failed, forcing the Bills to attempt to score a touchdown instead of a field goal on their final drive. With time running out, Kelly led the Bills to Cleveland's 11-yard line. But fullback Ronnie Harmon dropped a potential game winning catch in the end zone and Kelly was intercepted by Matthews on the next play.

Awards and records

• Shane Conlan, Pro Bowl Selection
• Kent Hull, Pro Bowl Selection
• Bruce Smith, Pro Bowl Selection
• Thurman Thomas, Pro Bowl Selection
• Thurman Thomas, NFL Combined Yards from Scrimmage Leader

External links

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