1984 Buffalo Bills

1984 Buffalo Bills season
Head Coach	Kay Stephenson
Home Field	Rich Stadium
Results
Record	2-14
Place	5th in AFC East
Playoff Finish	Did not qualify for playoffs
Timeline
Previous Season	Next Season
1983	1985

The 1984 Buffalo Bills season was the 25th season for the club and its 15th in the National Football League (NFL). The team started the season with eleven consecutive losses before an upset home win over Dallas in Week 12. The 1984 Bills gave up a team-record 454 points on defense, an average of more than 28 per game.^[1] The Bills gave up 30+ points eight times and allowed fewer than 20 points in a game only three times all season. The Bills also allowed 60 quarterback sacks, for a total of 554 yards, the most-ever at the time.^[2][3] The Bills' 4,341 total yards gained was second-worst in the league in 1984 (only the Colts had fewer total yards gained).^[4][5] The 1984 Bills are one of only two NFL teams^[6] to have been outscored by 25 points six different times during the season.^[7]

OffseasonEdit

Uniform changeEdit

For the third time in team history, the Bills changed their helmets. While keeping the streaking buffalo logo from the second change, the Bills changed their helmet color from white to red. They would keep the red helmet through the 2010 season.^[8] It was the Bills first major change to their helmets since changing from the "standing Bison" to the streaking buffalo before the 1974 season. Since three of the Bills' four AFC Eastern division opponents—Miami, Indianapolis and New England—had white helmets, "it was easier for [Ferguson] to distinguish and that's the reason why we made the switch."^[9][10] Ferguson had thrown a high number of interceptions over the previous two seasons, and coach Kay Stephenson hoped it would help the quarterback reduce them. Ironically, 1984 was Ferguson's last year with the Bills, and only year with the red helmets; Ferguson, after 107 consecutive starts dating to the 1977 season (at the time tied with the league record), was benched in favor of Joe Dufek on September 30. Ferguson's interception total actually increased compared to the previous year, and he would go on to play for at least three more teams (Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Indianapolis Colts and Canadian football's San Antonio Texans) that all had white helmets.

OffseasonEdit

NFL draftEdit

Main article: 1983 NFL Draft

The Bills drafted future Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly, the third of a record six quarterbacks taken in the first round of the 1983 draft. Kelly would play for the USFL's Houston Gamblers from 1983–1985, before making his first start with the Bills in Week One of the 1986 season. The Bills later retired Kelly's #12, at the time the only number the franchise retired. Linebacker Darryl Talley played for twelve years with the Bills. He was a two-time Pro Bowler, in 1990 and 1991. He was inducted into the Bills Wall of Fame.

1984 Buffalo Bills draft picks [11]
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Made Roster?	Pro Bowl (?)	HOF (?)
1	26	Greg Hill	Running back	Notre Dame	Yes	No	No
2	41	Rodney Bellinger	Defensive back	Miami (FL)	Yes	No	No
3	79	Sean McNanie	Defensive end	San Diego State	Yes	No	No
3	82	Speedy Neal	Running back	Miami (FL)	Yes	No	No
4	95	Mitchell Brookins	Wide receiver	Illinois	Yes	No	No
5	128	John Kidd	Punter	Northwestern	Yes	No	No
6	155	Tony Slaton	Center	USC	No	No	No
7	182	Stan David	Linebacker	Texas Tech	Yes	No	No
8	209	Stacy Rayfield	Defensive back	Texas–Arlington	No	No	No
9	236	Leroy Howell	Defensive end	Appalachian State	No	No	No
10	263	Joe Azelby	Linebacker	Harvard	Yes	No	No
11	299	Craig White	Wide receiver	Missouri	Yes	No	No
12	322	Russell Davis	Wide receiver	Maryland	No	No	No

PersonnelEdit

Staff/CoachesEdit

1984 Buffalo Bills staff

Front Office Majority Owner/Team President – Ralph Wilson VP of Administration/General Manager – Terry Bledsoe Vice President of Football Operations - Kay Stephenson Senior Executive Vice President/Minority Owner – Pat McGroder Director of Pro Personnel – Bill Polian Vice President of Player Personnel – Bruce Nicholas Coaching Staff Head Coach – Kay Stephenson   Offensive Coaches Quarterbacks Coach - John Becker Running Backs Coach - Andy McDonald Wide Receivers Coach - Milt Jackson Offensive Line - Jim Niblack  Tight Ends Coach - Perry Moss Defensive/Special Teams Coaches Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Line – Don Lawrence Linebackers - Monte Kiffin Defensive Backs – Pete Carroll Defensive Assistant / Special Teams - Miller MaCalmon Strength & Conditioning Strength/Conditioning Coach - Jim Speros

RosterEdit

1984 Buffalo Bills roster
Quarterbacks 11 Joe Dufek 12 Joe Ferguson 10 Matt Kofler Running Backs 28 Greg Bell 23 Van Williams RB/WR/KR 34 Booker Moore 40 Robb Riddick 48 Speedy Neal 41 Booker Moore Wide Receivers 27 Craig White WR/RB 29 John Mistler 80 Jerry Butler 81 Perry Tuttle 83 Preston Dennard 85 Byron Franklin 88 Mike Mosley WR/KR 89 Julius Dawkins Tight Ends 86 Mark Brammer 87 Tony Hunter LB-TE 49 Ulysses Norris		Offensive Linemen 70 Joe Devlin T 53 Will Grant C 63 Justin Cross T 72 Ken Jones T 73 Jon Borchardt G 51 Jim Ritcher G 61 Tom Lynch G 65 Tim Vogler G Defensive Linemen 91 Ken Johnson DE 93 Scott Virkus DE 95 Sean McNanie DE 75 Bill Acker NT 76 Fred Smerlas DT 79 Dean Prater DE 77 Ben Williams DE		Linebackers 55 Jim Haslett 56 Darryl Talley OLB 52 Chris Keating 54 Eugene Marve 56 Darryl Talley OLB 57 Lucius Sanford OLB 58 Mark Merrill -- Trey Junkin LB/TE 62 Al Wenglikowski 58 Steve Potter		Defensive Backs 21 Don Wilson FS -- Brian Carpenter 22 Steve Freeman FS 24 Gary Thompson DB 25 Rod Hill DB 26 Charles Romes CB 29 Mario Clark CB 30 Marco Tounge 36 Rodney Bellinger DB 38 Jeff Nixon SS 42 Rod Kush 43 Martin Bayless 45 Len Walterscheid DB 47 Lucious Smith DB 48 Lawrence Johnson DB Special Teams 19 Joe Danelo K 5 Fred Steinfort K 7 Greg Cater P
Note: Rookies in italics

ReferencesEdit

External linksEdit

• 1984 Buffalo Bills season article at Wikipedia