1986 Buffalo Bills season
Owner	Ralph Wilson
General manager	Bill Polian
Head coach	Hank Bullough (2-5) Marv Levy (2-7)
Home field	Rich Stadium
Results
Record	4–12
Division place	4th AFC East
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	None
← 1985 Bills seasons 1987 →

The 1986 Buffalo Bills season was the franchise's 17th season in the National Football League, and the 27th overall.

Although the Bills were only 2–6 at the midway point of the season, their games were much more competitive than in years past. (Only two of their losses in the first eight games were by more than a touchdown.) Still, after a 6-point Week Nine loss to Tampa Bay, the Bills fired coach Hank Bullough, and hired former Kansas City coach Marv Levy to replace him. (Though Levy was not on the Bills' coaching staff, he had served as a television analyst for the team during the 1986 preseason and was hired away from his executive role from the Montreal Alouettes because of that team's terminal financial situation.) Levy would win his first game with the Bills against Pittsburgh in Week Ten, and one more game against Kansas City in Week Thirteen, finishing with a 2–5 record in his first half-season as head coach.^[a]

Years later, Bills offensive tackle Will Wolford alleged that the team purposely lost the week 9 game to Tampa Bay in order to get Bullough fired.^[1]

The Bills ended their 22-game losing streak on the road by beating the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium, 17–14. Coincidentally, the Bills beat the Chiefs, 14–9, in the road game leading up to the losing streak in 1983.

At the end of the 1985 season, the Bills' future was in serious jeopardy; two consecutive seasons in which the team had finished 2–14 had driven attendance at Rich Stadium to less than 30,000 fans per game. 1985 first overall draft pick Bruce Smith, while he had a respectable rookie season, underperformed compared to expectations and was admittedly not putting his whole heart into the game of football. Quarterback Jim Kelly, whom the team had drafted in the first round of the 1983 draft as their franchise quarterback of the future, still refused to play in Buffalo and was prepared to play the 1986 season as a member of the New Jersey Generals of the United States Football League; the Generals' soon-to-be-displaced quarterback, Doug Flutie, who would become a Bill much later in his career, also rejected the team's overtures and stayed in the USFL.^[2] These rejections forced the Bills to sign Art Schlichter, a notorious compulsive gambler who had flamed out with the Indianapolis Colts, as their backup plan; Schlichter was to compete with Frank Reich, whom the Bills drafted the previous year, for the starting position.

Buffalo's fortunes underwent a drastic improvement before the season. On July 29, 1986, the USFL received only a nominal judgment in its antitrust lawsuit against the NFL, leaving the league without much-needed capital and forcing the end of its operations. With no other options, Kelly then signed with the Bills amid much fanfare, and Schlichter was released. The signing (along with those of fellow USFL refugees Ray Bentley and Kent Hull) doubled the team's home attendance.^[3]

University of Iowa running back Ronnie Harmon played for the Bills for four seasons.^[b] Vanderbilt's Will Wolford played offensive tackle for the Bills for seven years, and was voted to the Pro Bowl in 1990 and 1992.^[c] Linebacker Mark Pike played his entire 13-year career with the Bills, mostly as a special teams star; he is the NFL's all-time leader in tackles on special teams, with 283. Tight end Butch Rolle played for the Bills for 6 years, and at one point had a streak of ten consecutive receptions for touchdowns.

1986 Buffalo Bills draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	16	Ronnie Harmon *	RB	Iowa
1	20	Will Wolford *	OT	Vanderbilt
3	77	Leonard Burton	C	South Carolina
5	111	Carl Byrum	RB	Mississippi Valley State
7	168	Bob Williams	TE	Penn State
7	178	Mark Pike	LB	Georgia Tech
7	180	Butch Rolle	TE	Michigan State
8	202	Tony Furjanic	LB	Notre Dame
9	222	Reggie Bynum	WR	Oregon State
10	251	Guy Tefatiller	DT	Illinois
11	278	Tony Garbarczyk	DT	Wake Forest
11	282	Billy Witt	DE	North Alabama
12	313	Brian McClure	QB	Bowling Green
12	331	Derek Christian	LB	West Virginia
Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

1986 Buffalo Bills staff

Front office President – Ralph Wilson Vice President of Administration/General Manager – Bill Polian Vice President of Football Operations – Hank Bullough Director of player personnel – Norm Pollom Assistant director of Player Personnel – Bob Ferguson Administrative Assistant to the Head Coach – Jim Valek Head coaches Head coach – Hank Bullough Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator/Offensive Line – Jim Ringo Quarterbacks/Passing Game Coordinator – Bob Leahy Running Backs – Elijah Pitts Receivers – Joe Daniels Tight Ends – Joe Faragalli

Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator/Inside Linebackers – Herb Paterra Defensive Line – Ted Cottrell Outside Linebackers – Ardell Wiegandt Defensive Backfield – Dick Moseley Special teams coaches Special Teams – Elijah Pitts Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning Coordinator – Rusty Jones

^[4]

1986 Buffalo Bills roster

Quarterbacks (QB)  8 Stan Gelbaugh 12 Jim Kelly 14 Frank Reich Running backs (RB) 35 Carl Byrum FB 33 Ronnie Harmon 40 Robb Riddick 42 Ricky Moore 49 Bruce King Wide receivers (WR) 85 Chris Burkett 80 Jerry Butler 89 Walter Broughton 83 Andre Reed 82 Eric Richardson 89 Steve Tasker 86 Jimmy Teal Tight ends (TE) 84 Don Kern 88 Pete Metzelaars 87 Butch Rolle 34 Gary Wilkins

Offensive linemen (OL) 61 Leonard Burton C 70 Joe Devlin T 71 Dale Hellestrae 67 Kent Hull C 72 Ken Jones T 51 Jim Ritcher G 62 Mark Traynowicz G/C 65 Tim Vogler G 73 Will Wolford T Defensive linemen (DL) 68 Jerry Boyarsky NT 68 Mark Catano NT 75 Mike Hamby DE 95 Sean McNanie DE 94 Mark Pike DE 79 Dean Prater DE 76 Fred Smerlas NT 78 Bruce Smith DE 74 Don Smith DT -- Kurt Ploeger DE

Linebackers (LB) 50 Ray Bentley ILB 58 George Cumby ILB 53 Tony Furjanic 99 Hal Garner 54 Eugene Marve ILB 57 Lucius Sanford OLB 56 Darryl Talley OLB Defensive backs (DB) 43 Martin Bayless SS 36 Rodney Bellinger CB 29 Derrick Burroughs CB 45 Dwight Drane SS 22 Steve Freeman FS 25 Rod Hill CB 48 Lawrence Johnson CB 38 Mark Kelso FS 27 Ron Pitts CB 26 Charles Romes CB 23 Kevin Williams CB Special teams  4 John Kidd P 11 Scott Norwood K

Reserve 28 Greg Bell RB (IR) 69 Greg Christy T (IR) 41 Steve Clark S (IR) 63 Justin Cross T (IR) 52 Guy Frazier OLB (IR) 13 Brian McClure QB (IR) 60 Jim Melka LB (IR) 84 Bob Williams TE (IR) Rookies in italics

• Steve Tasker was claimed off waivers by the Buffalo Bills on November 8, 1986.^[5]

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 7	New York Jets	L 24–28	0–1	Rich Stadium	79,951
2	September 14	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 33–36	0–2	Riverfront Stadium	52,714
3	September 21	St. Louis Cardinals	W 17–10	1–2	Rich Stadium	65,762
4	September 28	Kansas City Chiefs	L 17–20	1–3	Rich Stadium	67,555
5	October 5	at New York Jets	L 13–14	1–4	Giants Stadium	69,504
6	October 12	at Miami Dolphins	L 14–27	1–5	Miami Orange Bowl	49,467
7	October 19	Indianapolis Colts	W 24–13	2–5	Rich Stadium	50,050
8	October 26	New England Patriots	L 3–23	2–6	Rich Stadium	77,808
9	November 2	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	L 28–34	2–7	Tampa Stadium	32,806
10	November 9	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 16–12	3–7	Rich Stadium	72,000
11	November 16	Miami Dolphins	L 24–34	3–8	Rich Stadium	76,474
12	November 23	at New England Patriots	L 19–22	3–9	Sullivan Stadium	60,455
13	November 30	at Kansas City Chiefs	W 17–14	4–9	Arrowhead Stadium	31,492
14	December 7	Cleveland Browns	L 17–21	4–10	Rich Stadium	42,213
15	December 14	at Indianapolis Colts	L 14–24	4–11	Hoosier Dome	52,783
16	December 21	at Houston Oilers	L 7–16	4–12	Astrodome	31,409
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Three years after being drafted by the Bills, Jim Kelly debuted in front of the home crowd with 292 yards passing and three touchdowns but it was not enough to overcome the divisional rival Jets.

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP NYJ BUF 1 8:55 Bills Bell 2-yard touchdown reception from Kelly, Norwood kick good 0 7 1 6:14 Jets Paige 2-yard touchdown run, Leahy kick good 7 7 2 3:51 Jets Toon 46-yard touchdown reception from O'Brien, Leahy kick good 14 7 2 3:05 Bills 19-yard field goal by Norwood 14 10 4 14:00 Bills Reed 55-yard touchdown reception from Kelly, Norwood kick good 14 17 4 9:58 Jets Hector 1-yard touchdown run, Leahy kick good 21 17 4 5:24 Jets Walker 71-yard touchdown reception from O'Brien, Leahy kick good 28 17 4 3:55 Bills Metzelaars 4-yard touchdown reception from Kelly, Norwood kick good 28 24 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 28 24

1 2 3 4 OT Total Bills 3 6 17 0 0 26 • Bengals 7 14 0 12 3 36 Date: September 14 Location: Riverfront Stadium Referee: Red Cashion TV announcers (NBC): Len Berman and John Hannah

^[6]

1 2 3 4 Total Cardinals 0 0 3 7 10 • Bills 0 10 0 7 17 Date: September 21 Location: Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, New York Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 57 °F or 13.9 °C; wind 7 miles per hour (11 km/h; 6.1 kn) Referee: Jim Tunney TV announcers (CBS): Jack Buck and Joe Theismann

Scoring summary Q2 BUF Norwood 35 yard field goal BUF 3–0 Q2 BUF Moore 2 yard run (Norwood kick) BUF 10–0 Q3 STL Lee 27 yard field goal BUF 10–3 Q4 BUF Bell 6 yard run (Norwood kick) BUF 17–3 Q4 STL Sikahema 19 yard pass from Lomax (Lee kick) BUF 17–10

^[7]

1 2 3 4 Total • Chiefs 3 7 0 10 20 Bills 7 0 7 3 17 Date: September 28 Location: Rich Stadium Referee: Jerry Seeman

^[8]

Buffalo Bills (1-3) at New York Jets (3-1)

1 2 3 4 Total Bills 0 7 3 3 13 • Jets 0 7 0 7 14 Date: October 5 Location: Giants Stadium Game start: 4:00 PM EST Game attendance: 69,504 Game weather: 68 °F or 20 °C; wind 18 miles per hour (29 km/h; 16 kn) Referee: Ben Dreith TV announcers (NBC): Marv Albert and Bob Griese

Scoring summary Q2 NYJ Al Toon 4 yard pass from Ken O'Brien (Pat Leahy kick) NYJ 7–0 Q2 BUF Greg Bell 40 yard pass from Jim Kelly (Norwood kick) TIE 7–7 Q3 BUF Norwood 23 yard field goal BUF 10–7 Q4 BUF Norwood 32 yard field goal BUF 13–7 Q4 NYJ Mickey Shuler 36 yard pass from Ken O'Brien (Pat Leahy kick) NYJ 14–13

^[9]

1 2 3 4 Total Bills 7 0 0 7 14 • Dolphins 3 7 10 7 27 Date: October 12 Location: Miami Orange Bowl - Miami, Florida Game start: 1:00 PM EST Game attendance: 49,467 Game weather: 83 °F or 28.3 °C; wind 10 miles per hour (16 km/h; 8.7 kn) Referee: Fred Wyant TV announcers (NBC): Don Criqui and Bob Trumpy

^[10]

1 2 3 4 Total Colts 3 3 7 0 13 • Bills 7 10 7 0 24 Date: October 19 Location: Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, New York Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 42 °F or 5.6 °C; wind 9 miles per hour (14 km/h; 7.8 kn) Referee: Fred Silva

Scoring summary Q1 BUF Bellinger 15 yard fumble return (Norwood kick) BUF 7–0 Q1 IND Biasucci 46 yard field goal BUF 7–3 Q2 BUF Norwood 37 yard field goal BUF 10–3 Q2 IND Biasucci 44 yard field goal BUF 10–6 Q2 BUF Reed 6 yard pass from Kelly (Norwood kick) BUF 17–6 Q3 IND Brooks 18 yard pass from Trudeau (Biasucci kick) BUF 17–13 Q3 BUF Reed 13 yard pass from Kelly (Norwood kick) BUF 24–13

^[11]

1 2 3 4 Total • Patriots 7 10 3 3 23 Bills 0 0 3 0 3 Date: October 26 Location: Rich Stadium Referee: Bob McElwee

^[12]

1 2 3 4 Total Bills 0 0 14 14 28 • Buccaneers 10 10 0 14 34 Date: November 2 Location: Tampa Stadium Referee: Jim Tunney

^[13]

1 2 3 4 Total Steelers 0 0 12 0 12 • Bills 6 7 0 3 16 Date: November 9 Location: Rich Stadium Orchard Park, NY Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 72,000 Game weather: 55 °F or 12.8 °C; wind 27 miles per hour (43 km/h; 23 kn); gust 37 miles per hour (60 km/h; 32 kn) Referee: Gordon McCarter TV announcers (NBC): Jay Randolph and Reggie Rucker

Scoring summary Q1 6:15 BUF Reed 3 yard pass from Kelly (kick failed) BUF 6–0 Q2 3:06 BUF Riddick 5 yard run (Norwood kick) BUF 13–0 Q3 14:44 PIT Jackson 5 yard run (kick failed) BUF 13–6 Q3 10:11 PIT Thompson 11 yard pass from Malone (kick failed) BUF 13–12 Q4 10:18 BUF Norwood 29 yard field goal BUF 16–12

^[14]

• Marv Levy first game as Buffalo Bills head coach.
• First Buffalo head coach to win coaching debut

Miami Dolphins (4-6) at Buffalo Bills (3-7)

1 2 3 4 Total • Dolphins 0 10 10 14 34 Bills 7 14 3 0 24 Date: November 16 Location: Rich Stadium Orchard Park, NY Game start: 1:00 PM EST Game attendance: 76,474 Game weather: 36 °F or 2.2 °C; wind 10 miles per hour (16 km/h; 8.7 kn), cloudy, light rain Referee: Bob Frederic TV announcers (NBC): Gary Gerould and John Hannah

^[15]

1 2 3 4 Total Bills 0 3 3 13 19 • Patriots 9 6 0 7 22 Date: November 23 Location: Sullivan Stadium Referee: Dick Hantak

^[16]

1 2 3 4 Total • Bills 0 10 7 0 17 Chiefs 7 0 0 7 14 Date: November 30 Location: Arrowhead Stadium Referee: Tom Dooley

^[17]

1 2 3 4 Total • Browns 7 7 7 0 21 Bills 0 3 7 7 17 Date: December 7, 1986 Location: Rich Stadium Orchard Park, NY Game start: 1:00 PM EST Elapsed time: 2h 39m Game attendance: 42,213 Game weather: 33 °F or 0.6 °C; wind 16 miles per hour (26 km/h; 14 kn); wind chill 2 °F or −16.7 °C Referee: Fred Silva TV announcers (NBC): Len Berman and John Hannah

^[18]

1 2 3 4 Total Bills 7 7 0 0 14 • Colts 0 0 14 10 24 Date: December 14 Location: Hoosier Dome Game weather: Indoors (dome) Referee: Gordon McCarter

^[19]

1 2 3 4 Total Bills 0 7 0 0 7 • Oilers 7 3 3 3 16 Date: December 21 Location: Astrodome Game weather: Indoors (dome) Referee: Ben Dreith

^[20]

AFC East
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
New England Patriots(3)	11	5	0	.688	7–1	8–4	412	307	W1
New York Jets(4)	10	6	0	.625	6–2	8–4	364	386	L5
Miami Dolphins	8	8	0	.500	5–3	6–6	430	405	L1
Buffalo Bills	4	12	0	.250	1–7	3–11	287	348	L3
Indianapolis Colts	3	13	0	.188	1–7	2–10	229	400	W3

• 1986 Buffalo Bills at Pro-Football-Reference.com