2021 Buffalo Bills

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.

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Draft

• Main article: 2021 NFL Draft

2021 Buffalo Bills 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.
• The Bills got a conditional seventh-round selection from the Carolina Panthers in exchange for offensive tackle Marshall Newhouse.

Staff

Buffalo Bills current staff
	Front Office Owner/CEO – Terry Pegula Owner/President – Kim Pegula General Manager – Brandon Beane Assistant General Manager – Brian Gaine Director of Player Personnel – Terrance Gray Co-director of pro scouting – Chris Marrow Co-director of pro scouting – Curtis Rukavina Assistant director of pro scouting – Asil Mulbah Vice president of football administration – Kevin Meganck Director of football operations – Brendan Rowe Director of college scouting – Matt Bazirgan Head Coaches Head Coach - Sean McDermott Offensive Coaches Offensive Coordinator – Joe Brady Quarterbacks – Ronald Curry Running Backs – Kelly Skipper Wide Receivers – Adam Henry Tight Ends – Rob Boras Offensive Line – Aaron Kromer Assistant Offensive Line – Austin Gund Offensive Quality Control – DJ Mangus Offensive Quality Control – Kyle Shurmur Passing game specialist/game management – Marc Lubick			Defensive Coaches Defensive Coordinator – Bobby Babich Defensive Line – Marcus West Assistant Defensive Line - Matt Edwards Linebackers – Al Holcomb Cornerbacks – Jahmile Addae Nickel/senior defensive assistant – Scott Booker Safteties - Joe Danna Defensive Quality Control – Christian Taylor Special Teams Coaches Special Teams Coordinator - Matt Smiley Assistant Special Teams - Cory Harkey Director of team administration – Matt Worswick Strength and Conditioning Head Strength and Conditioning - Eric Ciano Assistant Strength and Conditioning – Will Greenberg Strength and Conditioning Assistant – Hal Luther Strength and Conditioning Assistant – Jason Oszvart Strength and Conditioning Assistant – Nick Lacy → More NFL staffs

Current roster

Buffalo Bills current roster
Quarterbacks 17 Josh Allen  6 Shane Buechele 11 Mitchell Trubisky Running backs  4 James Cook 22 Ray Davis 37 Darrynton Evans 41 Reggie Gilliam FB 20 Frank Gore Jr. 26 Ty Johnson Wide receivers 14 Chase Claypool  0 Keon Coleman 19 K. J. Hamler 13 Mack Hollins 87 Andy Isabella 16 Xavier Johnson 82 Lawrence Keys  1 Curtis Samuel 10 Khalil Shakir 80 Tyrell Shavers 18 Justin Shorter 89 Bryan Thompson 81 Marquez Valdes-Scantling Tight ends 84 Zach Davidson 86 Dalton Kincaid 88 Dawson Knox 83 Tre' McKitty 85 Quintin Morris		Offensive linemen 70 Alec Anderson G 60 Keaton Bills G 61 Gunner Britton G 79 Spencer Brown T 77 Will Clapp C 67 Travis Clayton T 71 La'el Collins T 73 Dion Dawkins T 76 David Edwards G 65 Mike Edwards T 75 Richard Gouraige T 68 Tylan Grable T 63 Kevin Jarvis G 66 Connor McGovern C 64 O'Cyrus Torrence G 74 Ryan Van Demark T 62 Sedrick Van Pran-Granger C Defensive linemen 51 Eli Ankou DT 97 Rondell Bothroyd DE 90 DeWayne Carter DT 96 Kameron Cline DE 53 Branson Deen DT 57 A. J. Epenesa DE 98 Austin Johnson DT 59 Kingsley Jonathan DE 92 DaQuan Jones DT 91 Ed Oliver DT 50 Gregory Rousseau DE 94 Dawuane Smoot DE 56 Javon Solomon DE 61 Gable Steveson DT 99 Casey Toohill DE 55 David Ugwoegbu DE 93 DeShawn Williams DT		Linebackers 44 Joe Andreessen MLB 43 Terrel Bernard MLB 45 Deion Jones MLB 58 Matt Milano OLB 40 Von Miller OLB 52 Nicholas Morrow MLB 54 Baylon Spector OLB 48 Edefuan Ulofoshio MLB 42 Dorian Williams OLB Defensive backs 47 Christian Benford CB 24 Cole Bishop FS 32 Kyron Brown CB -- Terrell Burgess S 33 Te'Cory Couch CB 29 Dee Delaney S 31 Rasul Douglas CB 21 Mike Edwards FS  5 Kaiir Elam CB  3 Damar Hamlin FS 25 Daequan Hardy CB 46 Ja'Marcus Ingram CB 27 Kareem Jackson S  7 Taron Johnson CB 39 Cam Lewis FS 38 Keni-H Lovely CB  9 Taylor Rapp SS 36 Kendall Williamson S Special teams  2 Tyler Bass K 69 Reid Ferguson LS  8 Sam Martin P				Reserve lists 72 Tommy Doyle T (PUP) Practice squad Unrestricted FAs Restricted FAs Exclusive-Rights FAs Rookies in italics Roster updated July 31, 2024 Depth chart • Transactions 90 active, 1 inactive → NFL rosters

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	August 13	at Detroit	W 16–15	1–0	Ford Field	Recap
2	August 21	at Chicago	W 41–15	2–0	Soldier Field	Recap
3	August 28	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.
• 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 1 2 3 4 Total Steelers 0 0 6 17 23 Bills 3 7 0 6 16 at Highmark Stadium, Orchard Park, New York Date: September 12 Game time: 1:00 p.m. EDT Game weather: Cloudy, Template:Convert/F Game attendance: 69,787 Referee: John Hussey TV announcers (CBS): Ian Eagle, Charles Davis and Evan Washburn Recap, Game Book

Week 2: at Miami Dolphins

Week 2: Buffalo Bills at Miami Dolphins – Game summary 1 2 3 4 Total Bills 0 0 0 0 0 Dolphins 0 0 0 0 0 at Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida Date: September 19 Game time: 1:00 p.m. EDT TV: Fox Preview

Standings

Division

Template:2021 AFC East standings

Conference

Template:2021 AFC standings

External links

• Official website