| 2021 Buffalo Bills season | |
|---|---|
| Owner | Terry and Kim Pegula |
| President | Kim Pegula |
| Head Coach | Sean McDermott |
| General Manager | Brandon Beane |
| Offensive Coordinator | Brian Daboll |
| Defensive Coordinator | Leslie Frazier |
| Home Field | Highmark Stadium |
| Results | |
| Record | 11-5 |
| Place | 1st AFC East |
| Playoff Finish | Won Wild Card Playoffs (vs. Patriots) 47–17 Lost Divisional Playoffs (at Chiefs) 36–42 (OT) |
| Pro Bowlers | OT Dion Dawkins WR Stefon Diggs |
| AP All-Pros | FS Jordan Poyer (1st team) SS Micah Hyde (2nd team) |
| Uniform | |
 | |
| Timeline | |
| Previous Season | Next Season |
| 2020 | 2022 |
The 2021 season was the Buffalo Bills' 52nd in the National Football League, seventh full under the ownership of Terry and Kim Pegula, and their fifth under the head coach/general manager tandem of Sean McDermott and Brandon Beane.
Although unable to match their 13–3 record from the previous season, the Bills clinched the AFC East for a second consecutive year, their first consecutive division title since 1991. They finished the regular season at 11–6 to obtain the #3 seed for the playoffs, also marking their third consecutive postseason berth and fourth in five years. Statistically, the Bills had the No. 1-ranked defense, as well as the highest point differential and margin of victory. All of the team's victories were by multiple possessions, but they lost every game that was within one possession.
The Bills defeated their AFC East rival New England Patriots in the wild card round, a game marked by them becoming the first NFL team to score a touchdown on every offensive drive. Facing the Kansas City Chiefs in a Divisional Round matchup, the Bills lost amid a quarterback duel between Buffalo's Josh Allen and Kansas City's Patrick Mahomes. Although the Bills were able to take a three-point lead with 13 seconds remaining, the Chiefs scored a game-tying field goal on their following drive and won in overtime. The defeat marked the second consecutive year the Bills were eliminated by the Chiefs.
The season also saw Pittsburgh-based health insurance company Highmark purchase the rights to the Bills' stadium, resulting in it being named Highmark Stadium.[1]
Template:TOC limit
Draft[]
- Main article: 2021 NFL Draft
| Round | Selection | Player | Position | College | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 30 | Gregory Rousseau | DE | Miami (FL) | |
| 2 | 61 | Carlos Basham Jr. | DE | Wake Forest | |
| 3 | 93 | Spencer Brown | OT | Northern Iowa | |
| 5 | 161 | Tommy Doyle | OT | Miami (OH) | from Las Vegas |
| 6 | 203 | Marquez Stevenson | WR | Houston | from Washington via Las Vegas and Miami and Houston |
| 212 | Damar Hamlin | S | Pittsburgh | from New Orleans via Houston | |
| 213 | Rachad Wildgoose | CB | Wisconsin | ||
| 7 | 236 | Jack Anderson | OG | Texas Tech | from Carolina |
Notes
- The Bills received a fifth-round selection from the Las Vegas Raiders in exchange for wide receiver Zay Jones.[trade 1]
- The Bills got a conditional seventh-round selection from the Carolina Panthers in exchange for offensive tackle Marshall Newhouse.[trade 2]
- ↑ Williams, Charean (2021-03-29). Bills rename stadium to Highmark Stadium after naming-rights deal (in en-US).
Staff[]
Buffalo Bills current staff
| ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Front Office
Head Coaches
Offensive Coaches
|
Defensive Coaches
Special Teams Coaches
Strength and Conditioning
| |||||
Current roster[]
Buffalo Bills current roster
| ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Quarterbacks
Running Backs
Wide Receivers
Tight Ends
Offensive Linemen
Defensive Linemen
|
Linebackers
Defensive Backs
Special Teams
|
Reserve Lists
Practice Squad
Rookies in italics | ||||
Player codes[]
- Active/PUP - Active / Physically Unable to Perform
- PUP - Reserve / Physically Unable to Perform
- IR - Injured Reserve
- IR/DFR - Injured Reserve / Slated for Return
- R - Rookie (player name in italics)
- FA - Free Agent (Restriced)
- UFA - Unrestriced free agent
- NF-Inj. - Reserve-Non-Football Related Injury
- NF-Ill. - Reserve-Non-Football Related Illness
- PS-IR - Practice Squad/Injured Reserve
- S- Suspended
- SI - Suspended infdefinitely
- Did Not Report - Reserve/Did not report
- Exempt/Left Squad - Exempt/Left squad
- Left Squad - Reserve/Left squad
- Susp. or Suspended- Reserve/Suspended
- Military - Reserve/Military
- Future - Reserve/Future
- Exempt - Roster exemption
Preseason[]
The Bills preseason schedule was announced on May 12. They opened the preseason with a 16-15 road win against the Detroit Lions.
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Recap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Template:Dow tooltip | at Detroit | W 16–15 | 1–0 | Ford Field | Recap |
| 2 | Template:Dow tooltip | at Chicago | W 41–15 | 2–0 | Soldier Field | Recap |
| 3 | Template:Dow tooltip | Green Bay | W 19–0 | 3–0 | Highmark Stadium | Recap |
Regular season[]
Schedule[]
The Bills 2021 schedule was announced on May 12.
| Week | Date | Time (ET) | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | TV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 12 | 1:00 p.m. | Pittsburgh | L 16–23 | 0–1 | Highmark Stadium | CBS |
| 2 | September 19 | 1:00 p.m. | at Miami | W 35–0 | 1–1 | Hard Rock Stadium | Fox |
| 3 | September 26 | 1:00 p.m. | Washington | W 43–21 | 2–1 | Highmark Stadium | Fox |
| 4 | October 3 | 1:00 p.m. | Houston | W 40–0 | 3–1 | Highmark Stadium | CBS |
| 5 | October 10 | 8:20 p.m. | at Kansas City | W 38–20 | 4–1 | Arrowhead Stadium | NBC |
| 6 | October 18 | 8:15 p.m. | at Tennessee | L 31–34 | 4–2 | Nissan Stadium | ESPN |
| 7 | Bye | ||||||
| 8 | October 31 | 1:00 p.m. | Miami | Highmark Stadium | CBS | ||
| 9 | November 7 | 1:00 p.m. | at Jacksonville | TIAA Bank Field | CBS | ||
| 10 | November 14 | 1:00 p.m. | at NY Jets | MetLife Stadium | CBS | ||
| 11 | November 21 | 1:00 p.m. | Indianapolis | Highmark Stadium | CBS | ||
| 12 | November 25 | 8:20 p.m. | at New Orleans | Caesars Superdome | NBC | ||
| 13 | December 6 | 8:15 p.m. | New England | Highmark Stadium | ESPN | ||
| 14 | December 12 | 4:25 p.m. | at Tampa Bay | Raymond James Stadium | CBS | ||
| 15 | December 18 or 19 | TBD | Carolina | Highmark Stadium | TBD | ||
| 16 | December 26 | 1:00 p.m. | at New England | Gillette Stadium | CBS | ||
| 17 | January 2 | 1:00 p.m. | Atlanta | Highmark Stadium | Fox | ||
| 18 | January 9 | 1:00 p.m. | NY Jets | Highmark Stadium | CBS | ||
Notes:
- Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
- Networks and times for Sunday games from Weeks 5–18 are subject to change as a result of flexible scheduling.
- As the result of Saturday flexible scheduling during Week 15, the date, time and network for that week's game vs. the Carolina Panthers will be finalized at a later date—by no later than four weeks prior to game day.[1]
- Week 18 is subject to being flexed to Saturday, January 8.
Game summaries[]
Week 1: vs. Pittsburgh Steelers[]
Week 1: Pittsburgh Steelers at Buffalo Bills – Game summary
|
Week 2: at Miami Dolphins[]
Week 2: Buffalo Bills at Miami Dolphins – Game summary
|
Standings[]
Division[]
Template:2021 AFC East standings
Conference[]
Template:2021 AFC standings
References[]
- ↑ 2021 NFL Schedule Announced. NFL Communications (May 12, 2021). Retrieved on May 12, 2021.
External links[]
Cite error: <ref> tags exist for a group named "trade", but no corresponding <references group="trade"/> tag was found