1986 Buffalo Bills season

1986 Buffalo Bills season
Head coach	Hank Bullough Marv Levy
General manager	Bill Polian
Owner	Ralph Wilson
Home field	Rich Stadium
Results
Record	4–12
Division place	4th AFC East
Playoff finish	did not qualify
← 1985 Bills seasons 1987 →

1 2 3 4 Total • Jets 7 7 0 14 28 Bills 7 3 0 14 24 Date: September 7 Location: Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, New York Game start: 4:00 p.m. Game weather: 56°F; wind 12

Scoring summary Q1 BUF Bell 2 yard pass from Kelly (Norwood kick) BUF 7–0 Q1 NYJ Paige 2 yard run (Leahy kick) Tie 7–7 Q2 NYJ Toon 46 yard pass from O'Brien (Leahy kick) NYJ 14–7 Q2 BUF Norwood 19 yard field goal NYJ 14–10 Q4 BUF Reed 55 yard pass from Kelly (Norwood kick) BUF 17–14 Q4 NYJ Hector 1 yard run (Leahy kick) NYJ 21–17 Q4 NYJ Walker 71 yard pass from O'Brien (Leahy kick) NYJ 28–17 Q4 BUF Metzelaars 4 yard pass from Kelly (Norwood kick) NYJ 28–24

Scoring summary
Q1		BUF	Bell 2 yard pass from Kelly (Norwood kick)	BUF 7–0
Q1		NYJ	Paige 2 yard run (Leahy kick)	Tie 7–7
Q2		NYJ	Toon 46 yard pass from O'Brien (Leahy kick)	NYJ 14–7
Q2		BUF	Norwood 19 yard field goal	NYJ 14–10
Q4		BUF	Reed 55 yard pass from Kelly (Norwood kick)	BUF 17–14
Q4		NYJ	Hector 1 yard run (Leahy kick)	NYJ 21–17
Q4		NYJ	Walker 71 yard pass from O'Brien (Leahy kick)	NYJ 28–17
Q4		BUF	Metzelaars 4 yard pass from Kelly (Norwood kick)	NYJ 28–24

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; wind 7

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

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

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; wind 9

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

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

1 2 3 4 Total Steelers 0 0 12 0 12 • Bills 6 7 0 3 16 Date: November 9 Location: Rich Stadium Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game weather: 55°F; wind 27

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

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

The 1986 Buffalo Bills season was the 27th season for the club and its 17th in the National Football League (NFL).

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 from outside the organization, an unusual mid-season tactic. (Levy had been out of coaching since being the head man with the USFL's Chicago Blitz in 1984.) 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.

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. 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.

...
Wikipedia