1988 Buffalo Bills (NFL) |
| 1st place • American Football Conference • Eastern Division • 12-4-0 .750 |
| Playoff Statistics |
| Head Coach: Marv Levy |
| Walt Corey | Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers |
| Ted Cottrell | Defensive Line |
| Bruce DeHaven | Special Teams |
| Chuck Dickerson | Special Assistant to the Head Coach |
| Rusty Jones | Strength and Conditioning |
| Chuck Lester | Defensive Assistant |
| Ted Marchibroda | Quarterbacks/Passing Game Coordinator |
| Elijah Pitts | Running Backs |
| Jim Ringo | Offensive Coordinator/Running Game Coordinator |
| Dick Roach | Defensive Backs |
| Ted Tollner | Receivers |
| SCORES | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day | Date | Opponent | Result | Location | Venue | Attendance | |||
| Thu | 8/4/1988 | A | Houston Oilers | 9-13 | L | Houston, TX | Astrodome | 35482 | |
| Sat | 8/13/1988 | H | Cincinnati Bengals | 13-24 | L | Orchard Park, NY | Rich Stadium | 43546 | |
| Fri | 8/19/1988 | A | Seattle Seahawks | 13-30 | L | Seattle, WA | Kingdome | 57000 | |
| Thu | 8/25/1988 | N | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 14-7 | W | Nashville, TN | Vanderbilt Stadium | 20600 | |
| Sun | 9/4/1988 | H | Minnesota Vikings | 13-10 | W | Orchard Park, NY | Rich Stadium | 76783 | |
| Sun | 9/11/1988 | H | Miami Dolphins | 9-6 | W | Orchard Park, NY | Rich Stadium | 79520 | |
| Sun | 9/18/1988 | A | New England Patriots | 16-14 | W | Foxborough, MA | Sullivan Stadium | 55945 | |
| Sun | 9/25/1988 | H | Pittsburgh Steelers | 36-28 | W | Orchard Park, NY | Rich Stadium | 78735 | |
| Sun | 10/2/1988 | A | Chicago Bears | 3-24 | L | Chicago, IL | Soldier Field | 62793 | |
| Sun | 10/9/1988 | H | Indianapolis Colts | 34-23 | W | Orchard Park, NY | Rich Stadium | 76018 | |
| Mon | 10/17/1988 | A | New York Jets | 37-14 | W | East Rutherford, NJ | Giants Stadium | 70218 | |
| Sun | 10/23/1988 | H | New England Patriots | 23-20 | W | Orchard Park, NY | Rich Stadium | 76824 | |
| Sun | 10/30/1988 | H | Green Bay Packers | 28-0 | W | Orchard Park, NY | Rich Stadium | 79176 | |
| Sun | 11/6/1988 | A | Seattle Seahawks | 13-3 | W | Seattle, WA | Kingdome | 61074 | |
| Mon | 11/14/1988 | A | Miami Dolphins | 31-6 | W | Miami-Dade County, FL | Joe Robbie Stadium | 67091 | |
| Sun | 11/20/1988 | H | New York Jets | 9-6 | W | OT | Orchard Park, NY | Rich Stadium | 78389 |
| Sun | 11/27/1988 | A | Cincinnati Bengals | 21-35 | L | Cincinnati, OH | Riverfront Stadium | 58672 | |
| Sun | 12/4/1988 | A | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 5-10 | L | Tampa, FL | Tampa Stadium | 49498 | |
| Sun | 12/11/1988 | H | Los Angeles Raiders | 37-21 | W | Orchard Park, NY | Rich Stadium | 77348 | |
| Sun | 12/18/1988 | A | Indianapolis Colts | 14-17 | L | Indianapolis, IN | Hoosier Dome | 59908 | |
| AFC Divisional Playoff | |||||||||
| Sun | 1/1/1989 | H | Houston Oilers | 17-10 | W | Orchard Park, NY | Rich Stadium | 79532 | |
| AFC Championship | |||||||||
| Sun | 1/8/1989 | A | Cincinnati Bengals | 10-21 | L | Cincinnati, OH | Riverfront Stadium | 59747 | |
| ROSTER | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | No | Pos | Ht | Wt | Age | College | GP | GS |
| Carlton Bailey | 54 | LB | 6-3 | 239 | 24 | North Carolina | 6 | 0 |
| Howard Ballard | 75 | OT | 6-6 | 320 | 25 | Alabama A&M | 16 | 0 |
| Cornelius Bennett | 55 | LOLB | 6-2 | 237 | 23 | Alabama | 16 | 16 |
| Ray Bentley | 50 | RILB-LILB | 6-2 | 240 | 28 | Central Michigan | 16 | 16 |
| Walter Broughton | 81 | WR | 5-10 | 180 | 26 | Jacksonville State | 1 | 0 |
| Chris Burkett | 85 | WR | 6-4 | 203 | 26 | Jackson State | 11 | 8 |
| Derrick Burroughs | 29 | LCB | 6-1 | 180 | 26 | Memphis | 14 | 13 |
| Len Burton | 61 | OT | 6-3 | 272 | 24 | Northwest Mississippi CC; South Carolina | 16 | 4 |
| Carl Byrum | 35 | FB | 6-0 | 232 | 25 | Mississippi Valley State | 15 | 1 |
| Sherman Cocroft | 20 | CB-S | 6-1 | 197 | 27 | Cabrillo JC; San Jose State | 13 | 0 |
| Shane Conlan | 58 | LILB-RILB | 6-3 | 232 | 24 | Penn State | 13 | 13 |
| Wayne Davis | 21 | CB | 5-11 | 177 | 25 | Indiana State | 16 | 3 |
| Joe Devlin | 70 | ROT | 6-5 | 280 | 34 | Iowa | 16 | 16 |
| Dwight Drane | 49 | SS | 6-1 | 203 | 26 | Oklahoma | 16 | 4 |
| Tom Erlandson | 53 | LB | 6-1 | 232 | 22 | Washington | 4 | 0 |
| Hal Garner | 99 | ROLB | 6-4 | 225 | 26 | Utah State | 12 | 1 |
| Don Graham | 59 | LB | 6-2 | 244 | 24 | Penn State | 10 | 0 |
| John Hagy | 49 | S | 5-11 | 190 | 23 | Texas | 3 | 0 |
| Ronnie Harmon | 33 | RB | 5-11 | 198 | 24 | Iowa | 16 | 1 |
| Dale Hellestrae | 71 | ROG | 6-5 | 288 | 26 | Southern Methodist | 16 | 2 |
| Kent Hull | 67 | C | 6-4 | 272 | 27 | Mississippi State | 16 | 16 |
| Kirby Jackson | 47 | CB | 5-9 | 180 | 23 | Mississippi State | 8 | 0 |
| Flip Johnson | 80 | WR | 5-10 | 185 | 25 | McNeese State | 11 | 0 |
| Trumaine Johnson | 86 | WR | 6-1 | 196 | 28 | Grambling State | 16 | 10 |
| Jim Kelly | 12 | QB | 6-3 | 218 | 28 | Miami (Florida) | 16 | 16 |
| Mark Kelso | 38 | FS | 5-11 | 183 | 25 | William & Mary | 16 | 16 |
| John Kidd | 4 | P | 6-3 | 211 | 27 | Northwestern | 16 | 0 |
| Keith McKeller | 84 | TE | 6-5 | 244 | 24 | Jacksonville State | 12 | 0 |
| Pete Metzelaars | 88 | TE | 6-7 | 248 | 28 | Wabash | 16 | 16 |
| Roland Mitchell | 25 | CB | 5-11 | 187 | 24 | Texas Tech | 3 | 0 |
| Jamie Mueller | 39 | FB | 6-1 | 225 | 24 | Benedictine (Kansas) | 15 | 15 |
| Scott Norwood | 11 | K | 6-0 | 207 | 28 | James Madison | 16 | 0 |
| Nate Odomes | 37 | RCB | 5-10 | 187 | 23 | Wisconsin | 16 | 16 |
| Mark Pike | 94 | LB | 6-4 | 272 | 25 | Georgia Tech | 16 | 0 |
| Dean Prater | 79 | DE | 6-5 | 249 | 30 | Oklahoma State | 4 | 0 |
| Scott Radecic | 97 | RILB-LILB | 6-3 | 241 | 26 | Penn State | 16 | 3 |
| Andre Reed | 83 | WR | 6-2 | 189 | 24 | Kutztown | 15 | 14 |
| Frank Reich | 14 | QB | 6-4 | 209 | 27 | Maryland | 3 | 0 |
| Robb Riddick | 40 | RB | 6-0 | 195 | 31 | Millersville | 15 | 0 |
| Jim Ritcher | 51 | LOG | 6-3 | 272 | 30 | North Carolina State | 16 | 16 |
| Butch Rolle | 87 | TE | 6-3 | 243 | 24 | Michigan State | 16 | 0 |
| Leon Seals | 96 | RDE-LDE | 6-4 | 268 | 24 | Jackson State | 16 | 5 |
| Fred Smerlas | 76 | NT | 6-4 | 285 | 31 | Boston College | 16 | 16 |
| Bruce Smith | 78 | RDE | 6-4 | 273 | 25 | Virginia Tech | 12 | 12 |
| Leonard Smith | 46 | SS | 5-11 | 202 | 28 | McNeese State | 13 | 12 |
| Art Still | 72 | LDE | 6-7 | 255 | 33 | Kentucky | 15 | 15 |
| Darryl Talley | 56 | ROLB | 6-4 | 235 | 28 | West Virginia | 16 | 15 |
| Steve Tasker | 89 | WR | 5-9 | 184 | 26 | Dodge City CC; Northwestern | 14 | 0 |
| Thurman Thomas | 34 | RB | 5-10 | 198 | 22 | Oklahoma State | 15 | 15 |
| Mark Traynowicz | 62 | OG | 6-5 | 279 | 26 | Nebraska | 4 | 0 |
| Erroll Tucker | 22 | CB-S | 5-9 | 170 | 24 | Long Beach CC; Utah | 9 | 0 |
| Tim Vogler | 65 | ROG | 6-3 | 285 | 32 | Ohio State | 10 | 10 |
| Will Wolford | 73 | LOT-OG | 6-5 | 295 | 24 | Vanderbilt | 16 | 16 |
| Jeff Wright | 91 | NT | 6-2 | 272 | 25 | Tulsa; Coffeyville CC; Central Missouri | 15 | 0 |
| DRAFT LIST | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Round | Overall | Player | Pos | College |
| 2 | 40 | Thurman Thomas | RB | Oklahoma State |
| 3 | 65 | Bernard Ford | WR | Central Florida |
| 5 | 123 | Zeke Gadson | DB | Pittsburgh |
| 5 | 135 | Kirk Roach | K | Western Carolina |
| 6 | 150 | Dan Murray | LB | East Stroudsburg |
| 7 | 177 | Tim Borcky | T | Memphis |
| 7 | 184 | Bo Wright | RB | Alabama |
| 8 | 204 | John Hagy | DB | Texas |
| 8 | 213 | Jeff Wright | NT | Central Missouri |
| 9 | 235 | Carlton Bailey | NT | North Carolina |
| 10 | 262 | Martin Mayhew | DB | Florida State |
| 11 | 289 | Pete Curkendall | NT | Penn State |
| 12 | 309 | John Driscoll | T | New Hampshire |
| 12 | 316 | Tom Erlandson | LB | Washington |
| SCORING BY QUARTERS | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | OT | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Totals | 71 | 83 | 81 | 91 | 3 | 329 |
| Opponents Totals | 44 | 104 | 27 | 62 | 0 | 237 |
| TEAM STATS | TOP | 1st Downs | FDR | FDP | FDX | 3rd Down Efficiency | 4th Down Efficiency | PEN | PENY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Totals | 29:54 | 313 | 137 | 161 | 15 | 88/207 42.5% | 9/13 69.2% | 109 | 824 |
| Opponents Totals | 30:06 | 299 | 114 | 146 | 39 | 69/192 35.9% | 6/17 35.3% | 90 | 713 |
| SCORING | TD | X1 | X1A | PCT | FG | FGA | PCT | SAF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scott Norwood | 0 | 33 | 33 | 100.0 | 32 | 37 | 86.5 | 0 | 129 |
| Robb Riddick | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 84 | ||
| Andre Reed | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | ||
| Ronnie Harmon | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | ||
| Butch Rolle | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||
| Thurman Thomas | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||
| Chris Burkett | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Flip Johnson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Mark Kelso | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Pete Metzelaars | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Leon Seals | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Bruce Smith | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| Team Totals | 33 | 33 | 33 | 100.0 | 32 | 37 | 86.5 | 1 | 329 |
| Opponents Totals | 29 | 27 | 29 | 93.1 | 12 | 24 | 50.0 | 0 | 237 |
| FIELD GOALS | MADE | ATT | PCT | BL | LG | 1-19 | 20-29 | 30-39 | 40-49 | 50+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scott Norwood | 32 | 37 | 86.5 | 0 | 49 | 1/1 | 10/10 | 15/16 | 6/9 | 0/1 |
| Team Totals | 32 | 37 | 86.5 | 0 | 49 | 1/1 | 10/10 | 15/16 | 6/9 | 0/1 |
| Opponents Totals | 12 | 24 | 50.0 | 0/0 | 5/7 | 3/4 | 3/8 | 1/5 |
| RUSHING | ATT | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thurman Thomas | 207 | 881 | 4.3 | 37t | 2 |
| Robb Riddick | 111 | 438 | 3.9 | 21 | 12 |
| Jamie Mueller | 81 | 296 | 3.7 | 20 | 0 |
| Ronnie Harmon | 57 | 212 | 3.7 | 32 | 1 |
| Jim Kelly | 35 | 154 | 4.4 | 20 | 0 |
| Carl Byrum | 28 | 91 | 3.3 | 11 | 0 |
| Andre Reed | 6 | 64 | 10.7 | 36 | 0 |
| Frank Reich | 3 | -3 | -1.0 | -1 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 528 | 2133 | 4.0 | 37t | 15 |
| Opponents Totals | 477 | 1854 | 3.9 | 58t | 14 |
| PASSING | ATT | COM | PCT | INC | YDS | Y/ATT | Y/COM | LG | TD | TD% | INT | INT% | TS | YL | NYP | RTG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Kelly | 452 | 269 | 59.5 | 166 | 3380 | 7.5 | 12.6 | 66t | 15 | 3.3 | 17 | 3.8 | 30 | 229 | 3151 | 78.2 |
| Robb Riddick | 2 | 2 | 100.0 | 0 | 31 | 15.5 | 15.5 | 26 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 118.8 |
| Team Totals | 454 | 271 | 59.7 | 166 | 3411 | 7.5 | 12.6 | 66t | 15 | 3.3 | 17 | 3.7 | 30 | 229 | 3182 | 78.5 |
| Opponents Totals | 448 | 250 | 55.8 | 183 | 3046 | 6.8 | 12.2 | 63t | 14 | 3.1 | 15 | 3.3 | 46 | 322 | 2724 | 73.4 |
| RECEIVING | REC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andre Reed | 71 | 968 | 13.6 | 65t | 6 |
| Trumaine Johnson | 37 | 514 | 13.9 | 49 | 0 |
| Ronnie Harmon | 37 | 427 | 11.5 | 36 | 3 |
| Pete Metzelaars | 33 | 438 | 13.3 | 35 | 1 |
| Robb Riddick | 30 | 282 | 9.4 | 26 | 1 |
| Chris Burkett | 23 | 354 | 15.4 | 34 | 1 |
| Thurman Thomas | 18 | 208 | 11.6 | 34 | 0 |
| Flip Johnson | 9 | 170 | 18.9 | 66t | 1 |
| Jamie Mueller | 8 | 42 | 5.3 | 17 | 0 |
| Butch Rolle | 2 | 3 | 1.5 | 2t | 2 |
| Carl Byrum | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 3 | 0 |
| Jim Kelly | 1 | 5 | 5.0 | 5 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 271 | 3411 | 12.6 | 66t | 15 |
| Opponents Totals | 250 | 3046 | 12.2 | 63t | 14 |
| INTERCEPTIONS | INT | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mark Kelso | 7 | 180 | 25.7 | 78t | 1 |
| Cornelius Bennett | 2 | 30 | 15.0 | 30 | 0 |
| Sherman Cocroft | 1 | 17 | 17.0 | 17 | 0 |
| Leonard Smith | 1 | 14 | 14.0 | 14 | 0 |
| Wayne Davis | 1 | 3 | 3.0 | 3 | 0 |
| Ray Bentley | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Shane Conlan | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nate Odomes | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 15 | 244 | 16.3 | 78t | 1 |
| Opponents Totals | 17 | 202 | 11.9 | 40t | 1 |
| PUNTING | NO | YDS | AVG | LG | BL | TB | I20 | RYDS | NYDS | NET |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Kidd | 62 | 2451 | 39.5 | 60 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 222 | 2189 | 35.3 |
| Team Totals | 62 | 2451 | 39.5 | 60 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 222 | 2189 | 35.3 |
| Opponents Totals | 75 | 2977 | 39.7 | 64 | 2 | 12 | 21 | 152 | 2585 | 34.5 |
| PUNT RETURNS | NO | FC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flip Johnson | 16 | 3 | 72 | 4.5 | 16 | 0 |
| Erroll Tucker | 10 | 5 | 80 | 8.0 | 24 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 26 | 8 | 152 | 5.8 | 24 | 0 |
| Opponents Totals | 36 | 10 | 222 | 6.2 | 18 | 0 |
| KICKOFF RETURNS | NO | FC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Erroll Tucker | 15 | 0 | 310 | 20.7 | 30 | 0 |
| Flip Johnson | 14 | 0 | 250 | 17.9 | 24 | 0 |
| Ronnie Harmon | 11 | 0 | 249 | 22.6 | 37 | 0 |
| Robb Riddick | 6 | 0 | 100 | 16.7 | 23 | 0 |
| Carl Byrum | 2 | 0 | 9 | 4.5 | 9 | 0 |
| Butch Rolle | 1 | 0 | 12 | 12.0 | 12 | 0 |
| Mark Pike | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5.0 | 5 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 50 | 0 | 935 | 18.7 | 37 | 0 |
| Opponents Totals | 69 | 1117 | 16.2 | 30 | 0 |
| SACKS | NO | YDS |
|---|---|---|
| Bruce Smith | 11.0 | |
| Cornelius Bennett | 9.5 | |
| Art Still | 6.0 | |
| Jeff Wright | 5.0 | |
| Fred Smerlas | 4.0 | |
| Darryl Talley | 2.5 | |
| Leon Seals | 2.0 | |
| Shane Conlan | 1.5 | |
| Scott Radecic | 1.5 | |
| Ray Bentley | 1.0 | |
| Hal Garner | 1.0 | |
| Leonard Smith | 1.0 | |
| Team Totals | 46.0 | 322.0 |
| Opponents Totals | 30.0 | 229.0 |
| FUMBLES | NO | LOST | OWN | OPP | REC | YDS | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cornelius Bennett | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Ray Bentley | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Derrick Burroughs | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Carl Byrum | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Sherman Cocroft | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Shane Conlan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Joe Devlin | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Ronnie Harmon | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Flip Johnson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Trumaine Johnson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Jim Kelly | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Pete Metzelaars | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Jamie Mueller | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Scott Radecic | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Andre Reed | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Robb Riddick | 3 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
| Leon Seals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 1 |
| Fred Smerlas | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| Art Still | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Darryl Talley | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Thurman Thomas | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Erroll Tucker | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Will Wolford | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Jeff Wright | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 26 | 18 | 8 | 17 | 25 | 11 | 1 |
| Opponents Totals | 28 | 17 | 11 | 16 | 27 | 0 |
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