1987 Buffalo Bills season

1987 Buffalo Bills season
Head coach	Marv Levy
General manager	Bill Polian
Owner	Ralph Wilson
Home field	Rich Stadium
Results
Record	7–8
Division place	4th AFC East
Playoff finish	did not qualify

The 1987 Buffalo Bills season was the 28th season for the club and its 18th in the National Football League (NFL).

On October 31, 1987, the Los Angeles Rams traded Eric Dickerson to the Indianapolis Colts in a three team trade involving the Bills. The Rams sent Dickerson to the Colts for six draft choices and two players. Buffalo obtained the rights to Cornelius Bennett from Indianapolis. Buffalo sent running back Greg Bell and three draft choices to the Rams, while Indianapolis added Owen Gill and three of their own draft picks to complete the deal with the Rams.^[1] Adding Bennett to the team helped to form the nucleus for a strong young defensive unit that would become the core of Buffalo's later Super Bowl teams.

Offseason

NFL draft

Buffalo's first two draft picks—linebacker Shane Conlan and defensive back Nate Odomes—would later go on to make to have a great deal of impact on Buffalo's defense. Conlan was named 1987 Defensive Rookie of the Year; he would be selected to three consecutive Pro Bowls, from the 1988–1990 seasons. Odomes would be selected to consecutive Pro Bowls in 1992 and 1993.

Another impactful rookie, Cornelius Bennett, was drafted by Indianapolis in 1987, before being traded to Buffalo.

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College
1987 Buffalo Bills draft
1	8	Shane Conlan *	Linebacker	Penn State
2	29	Nate Odomes *	Defensive back	Wisconsin
2	33	Roland Mitchell	Defensive back	Texas Tech
3	60	David Brandon	Linebacker	Memphis
3	78	Jamie Mueller	Running back	Benedictine (KS)
4	109	Leon Seals	Defensive end	Jackson State
7	171	Kerry Porter	Running back	Washington State
11	283	Howard Ballard *	Offensive Tackle	Alabama A&M
Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

^[2]

Personnel

Staff

1987 Buffalo Bills staff

Front office

President – Ralph Wilson
Vice President of Administration/General Manager – Bill Polian
Vice President of Football Operations – Marv Levy
Director of College Scouting – John Butler
Director of Pro Personnel – Bob Ferguson
National Scout – Norm Pollom
College Scout – A. J. Smith
Administrative Assistant to the Head Coach – Chuck Dickerson

Head coaches

Head Coach – Marv Levy

Offensive coaches

Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Line – Jim Ringo
Quarterbacks/Passing Game Coordinator – Ted Marchibroda
Running Backs – Elijah Pitts
Receivers – Ted Tollner
Tight Ends – Chuck Dickerson

Defensive coaches

Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers – Walt Corey
Defensive Line – Ted Cottrell
Defensive Backs – Dick Roach
Defensive Assistant – Chuck Lester

Special teams coaches

Special Teams – Bruce DeHaven

Strength and conditioning

Strength and Conditioning Coordinator – Rusty Jones

^[3]

Roster

1987 Buffalo Bills roster

Quarterbacks

12 Jim Kelly

Running backs

33 Ronnie Harmon

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

96 Leon Seals DE
76 Fred Smerlas NT
78 Bruce Smith DE

Linebackers

55 Cornelius Bennett OLB
50 Ray Bentley
58 Shane Conlan ILB
97 Scott Radecic ILB/OLB
56 Darryl Talley OLB

Defensive backs

Special teams

Rookies in italics

Regular season

Cornerback Nate Odomes was the youngest starting defensive player in the NFL. It was also his rookie season.

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 13, 1987	New York Jets	L 31–28	76,718
2	September 20, 1987	Houston Oilers	W 34–30	56,534
–	September 27, 1987	at Dallas Cowboys	canceled
3	October 4, 1987	Indianapolis Colts	L 47–6	9,860
4	October 11, 1987	at New England Patriots	L 14–7	11,878
5	October 18, 1987	New York Giants	W 6–3	15,737
6	October 25, 1987	at Miami Dolphins	W 34–31	61,295
7	November 1, 1987	Washington Redskins	L 27–7	71,640
8	November 8, 1987	Denver Broncos	W 21–14	63,698
9	November 15, 1987	at Cleveland Browns	L 27–21	78,409
10	November 22, 1987	at New York Jets	W 17–14	58,407
11	November 29, 1987	Miami Dolphins	W 27–0	68,055
12	December 6, 1987	at Los Angeles Raiders	L 34–21	43,143
13	December 13, 1987	at Indianapolis Colts	W 27–3	60,253
14	December 20, 1987	New England Patriots	L 13–7	74,945
15	December 27, 1987	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 17–7	57,547

Game summaries

Week 2

	1	2	3	4	Total
Oilers	3	14	3	10	30
• Bills	3	10	0	21	34

Date: September 20
Location: Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, New York
Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST
Game weather: 62°F • Wind 8

Scoring summary

1	BUF	Scott Norwood 45 yard field goal	Bills 3–0

1	HOU	Tony Zendejas 52 yard field goal	Tie 3–3

2	HOU	Drew Hill 2 yard pass from Warren Moon (Tony Zendejas kick)	Oilers 10–3

2	BUF	Scott Norwood 38 yard field goal	Oilers 10–6

2	HOU	Mike Rozier 8 yard run (Tony Zendejas kick)	Oilers 17–6

2	BUF	Robb Riddick 11 yard pass from Jim Kelly (Scott Norwood kick)	Oilers 17–13

3	HOU	Tony Zendejas 27 yard field goal	Oilers 20–13

4	BUF	Andre Reed 8 yard pass from Jim Kelly (Scott Norwood kick)	Tie 20–20

4	HOU	Ernest Givens 12 yard pass from Warren Moon (Tony Zendejas kick)	Oilers 27–20

4	HOU	Tony Zendejas 30 yard field goal	Oilers 30–20

4	BUF	Robb Riddick 2 yard run (Scott Norwood kick)	Oilers 30–27

4	BUF	Ronnie Harmon 2 yard pass from Jim Kelly (Scott Norwood kick)	Bills 34–30

^[4]

Standings

AFC East
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Indianapolis Colts⁽³⁾	9	6	0	.600	5–3	8–6	300	238	W2
New England Patriots	8	7	0	.533	6–2	8–4	320	293	W3
Miami Dolphins	8	7	0	.533	2–6	5–7	362	335	L1
Buffalo Bills	7	8	0	.467	4–4	6–6	270	305	L2
New York Jets	6	9	0	.400	3–5	6–5	334	360	L4

Player stats

Passing

Note: Comp = Completions; ATT = Attempts; TD = Touchdowns; INT = Interceptions

Player	Games	Comp	Att	Yards	TD	INT	Rating
Jim Kelly	12	250	419	2798	19	11	83.8
John Kidd	12	0	1	0	0	0	39.6
Dan Manucci	3	7	21	68	0	2	3.8
Brian McClure	1	20	38	181	0	3	32.9
Mark Miller	1	1	3	9	0	1	2.8
Robb Riddick	6	1	1	35	0	0	118.7
Willie Totten	2	13	33	155	2	2	49.4

^[5]

Rushing

Player	Games	Attempts	Yards	Avg	TD
Ronnie Harmon	12	116	485		2
Jamie Mueller	12	82	354		2
Carl Byrum	13	66	280		0
Robb Riddick	6	59	221		5
Ricky Porter	9	47	177		0
Jim Kelly	12	29	133		0

^[5]

Receiving

Player	Games	Number	Yards	Avg	TD
Chris Burkett	12	56	765	13.7	4
Andre Reed	12	57	752	13.2	5
Ronnie Harmon	12	56	477	8.5	2
Pete Metzelaars	12	28	290	10.4	0
Trumaine Johnson	12	15	186	12.4	2

^[5]

Defense

Note: FR = Fumble Recoveries; TCKL = Tackles; INT = Interceptions; TD = Touchdowns

Player	Games	Sacks	Forced Fumbles	FR	Tckl	INT	Yards	TD
Shane Conlan	12	0.5	1	0	114	0	0	0
Bruce Smith	12	12.0	3	0	2	0	0	0

Special teams

Note: FGA = Field Goals Attempted; FGM = Field Goals Made; FG% = Field Goal Percentage; XPA = Extra Points Attempted; XPM = Extra Points Made; XP% = Extra Points Percentage

Player	Games	FGA	FGM	FG %	XPA	XPM	XP %
Scott Norwood	12	15	10	66.7	31	31	100
Todd Schlopy	3	5	2	40	2	1	50

^[5]

Punting

Player	Games	Punts	Yards	Long	Blocked	Avg. yards
John Kidd	12	64	2495	67	0	39.0
Rick Partridge	3	18	678	52	1	37.7

^[5]

Awards and honors

Defensive Rookie of the Year^[6]

Shane Conlan

AFC Pro Bowl selections

Pro Bowl Most Valuable Player

Bruce Smith

All-Pros

First Team

Bruce Smith, Defensive end
Steve Tasker, Special teams

Second Team

Shane Conlan, Linebacker

References

↑ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p.286
↑ "1987 Buffalo Bills draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
↑ 1987 Buffalo Bills Media Guide. pp. 3–24.
↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com
1 2 3 4 5 1987 Buffalo Bills Statistics & Players – Pro-Football-Reference.com
↑ NFL Rookie of the Year

External links

1987 Buffalo Bills at Pro-Football-Reference.com

Buffalo Bills
Founded in 1960 Based and headquartered in Orchard Park, New York
Franchise	Franchise History Players Seasons Pro Bowl selections First-round draft picks Starting quarterbacks Coaches Logos and uniforms NFL in Toronto Bills series
Stadiums	War Memorial Stadium New Era Field Rogers Centre (Bills Toronto Series) New Era Field II (proposed)
Culture	Buffalo sports curse Ralph Wilson Billy Buffalo Buffalo Jills Ken "Pinto Ron" Johnson Second String Flutie Flakes "Shout" (The Isley Brothers song) Four Falls of Buffalo
Lore	AAFC Buffalo Bills Electric Company The Comeback Wide Right Music City Miracle
Rivalries	Miami Dolphins New England Patriots New York Jets
Division championships (10)	1964 1965 1966 1980 1988 1989 1990 1991 1993 1995
Conference championships (4)	1990 1991 1992 1993
League championships (2)	1964 1965
Wall of Fame	Simpson Kemp McGroder Sestak Shaw Wilson 12th Man Dubenion Stratton Ferguson Levy DeLamielleure James Abramoski Kalsu Saimes Kelly Smerlas Hull Talley Ritcher Thomas Reed Tasker Smith Edgerson Hansen Polian Miller Saban
Media	Broadcasters Radio Radio Network WGR 550 Television MSG Western New York Personalities: John Murphy Van Miller Mark Kelso Steve Tasker
Owners	Wilson Pegula family Terry Kim
Current league affiliations	League: National Football League (1970–present) Conference: American Football Conference Division: East Division
Former league affiliation	League: American Football League (1960–1969)
Seasons (56)	1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Championship seasons in bold

Buffalo Bills seasons
1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Bold indicates AFL Championship or Super Bowl victory Italics indicates AFL Championship or Super Bowl appearance

1987 NFL season

East	Central	West	East	Central	West
Buffalo	Cincinnati	Denver	Dallas	Chicago	Atlanta
Indianapolis	Cleveland	Kansas City	NY Giants	Detroit	LA Rams
Miami	Houston	LA Raiders	Philadelphia	Green Bay	New Orleans
New England	Pittsburgh	San Diego	St. Louis	Minnesota	San Francisco
NY Jets		Seattle	Washington	Tampa Bay

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