Buffalo Bills

Many fans hope that replacement J.P Losman can lead the Bills to the playoffs in the 2005-2006 season. The Jags also have a program called Playbooks, which is designed to help stop illiteracy. In the offseason, the Bills released quarterback Drew Bledsoe, who was then signed by the Dallas Cowboys. In recent years, there has been increasing emphasis on youth programs, such as Honor Rows and Fresh Futures. Though they would lose to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the final game of the season, costing them a playoff berth, the late season surge gave the team a positive direction to approach 2005. Since then, the Foundation has given over $6 million to area efforts in community improvement. This, along with the emergence of Willis McGahee taking over the starting running back role from the injured Travis Henry, and emergence of Lee Evans to give the Bills a second deep threat, sparked the Bills to go 7-2 in their next nine games. This string of victories allowed the Bills to be in the hunt for a final AFC wildcard playoff spot. The Jacksonville Jaguars Foundation was established in 1995, when the franchise deal was first announced.

The team finally managed to turn things around with a victory at home against the also winless Miami Dolphins. None. Additionally, each loss was heartbreakingly close. (none). The Bills started the 2004 season 0-4, with Bledsoe and his offense struggling in their run-first offense, averaging only 13 points per game. But the following week's shutout by the Houston Texans eventually would eliminate the Jaguars from the playoffs, thus they would not be able to play the Super Bowl on their own home turf (this is the first year the Jaguars have hosted the Super Bowl). And indeed, Bledsoe did continue to struggle in 2004. The 2004-2005 season resulted in a winning record of 9-7 (their best victory came on December 19th against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field).

Losman, to be used if Bledsoe continued to struggle in 2004. The years 2000-2002 all featured losing records and in January of 2003, the Jaguars fired head coach Tom Coughlin and replaced him with former Carolina Panthers defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio. The Bills also drafted another quarterback, J.P. Following the defeat in the AFC Championship Game, the team's fortunes declined as players left due to the team's poor salary cap position. Gregg Williams was fired as head coach after the 2003 season and replaced with Mike Mularkey. The Jaguars ultimately lost to the Tennessee Titans in the AFC Championship game. In one game, however, the Bills' fans gained a small measure of satisfaction when the defense sacked Rob Johnson multilpe times in his relief effort for Washington. In the January 2000 AFC Divisional playoffs, the Jaguars flattened the Miami Dolphins 62-7 in what turned out to be Dan Marino and Jimmy Johnson's last NFL game. Jacksonville's 62 points and 55-point margin are the second most ever in NFL playoff history, and Fred Taylor's 90-yard run is the longest ever in an NFL playoff game.

After beating eventual champions New England 31-0 in the first game, and crushing the Jaguars in their second game, the Bills stumbled through the rest of the season, finishing 6-10. The 1999 season was quite a success for the Jacksonville Jaguars as they compiled a record of 14-2, which was the best regular season record in the NFL for that year. Another Patriot castoff, safety Lawyer Milloy, joined the Bills days before the 2003 season began and gave the team an immediate boost on defense. In December 1998, the Jaguars won the AFC Central Division and became the first NFL expansion team to make the playoffs three times in its first four seasons of play. However, in a tough division with all other teams finishing 9-7, they were still in last place. The Jaguars' 30-27 upset postseason win over the John Elway-led Denver Broncos on January 4, 1997, is generally considered the greatest victory in Jaguars history. Bledsoe revived the Bills for the 2002 season, leading them to an 8-8 record, setting 10 team passing records in the process. But, more importantly, they stunned the sports world by, not only making the playoffs, but also reaching the AFC Championship game in January 1997 before losing 20-6 to the New England Patriots.

After the season they traded for quarterback Drew Bledsoe, deemed expendable by the Patriots after Tom Brady led them to a Super Bowl victory. They won their last seven games of the season and finished with a record of 9-7. The Bills even lost a much-hyped mid-season matchup with "Bills West" (the Flutie-led Chargers). Jacksonville's 1996 season was a marked success. Buffalo finished 3-13. The Jaguars finished their inaugural season with a record of 4-12. Rob Johnson went down in mid-season with an injury and Alex Van Pelt took over. In 1995, along with the Carolina Panthers, the Jacksonville Jaguars entered the NFL as the first expansion teams in almost 20 years.

Titans defensive coordinator Gregg Williams took over as head coach for the 2001 season, which proved to be the worst in recent memory for the Bills. The Jacksonville Jaguars (Jags for short) are a National Football League team based in Jacksonville, Florida. Smith would be quickly replaced by rookie Travis Henry. Tom Coughlin (coach). Both Flutie and Smith were dominant in their final game as Bills, in a rout of the Seahawks. Hardy Nickerson LB. Antowain Smith also left as a free agent for the New England Patriots, where he was the starting running back on their two Super Bowl championship teams. Natrone Means RB.

Doug Flutie left the Bills with a .677 winning percentage in 31 starts. Keenan McCardell WR. Flutie controversy, general manager John Butler departed for the San Diego Chargers - and took Flutie and Wiley with him. Mike Hollis K. Antowain Smith, Eric Moulds and Marcellus Wiley respectively had long since eclipsed them on the depth chart. After a dismal 8-8 season, and the team still caught up in the Johnson vs. Mark Brunell QB. The final ties to the Bills' Super Bowl years were cut in 2000 when Thurman Thomas, Andre Reed and Bruce Smith were all cut. Tony Brackens DT.

Others believe it wouldn't be an issue, had Johnson not taken sack in the endzone early on, allowing Tennessee to get 2 points, and good field position, which they used to score a touchdown. Tony Boselli LT. The Titans ended up advancing to the Super Bowl. Todd Yoder TE. Many Bills fans still think that the lateral was actually a forward pass, and the touchdown should not have counted. Reggie Williams WR. The Bills scored a field goal with 16 seconds left to give them a 16-15 lead, but the Music City Miracle, a lateral from Frank Wycheck to Kevin Dyson that led to a Tennessee touchdown on the ensuing kickoff lost the game for Buffalo. Fred Taylor RB.

Flutie's popularity continued into the 1999 season, with the Bills finishing 11-5, two games behind the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC East standings. However, Johnson was given the starting job in the first playoff game against the Tennessee Titans (the former Houston Oilers) in Nashville. Marcus Stroud DT. They faltered in their first playoff game against the Dolphins, though the game's poor officiating was one of many poorly called games which caused instant replay to be brought back in 1999. Jimmy Smith WR. After Johnson and the Bills stumbled to begin the season, Flutie came in and led the Bills to a playoff spot and 10-6 record. Byron Leftwich QB. Despite many Bills fans wanting Flutie to get the starting job, Phillips named Johnson to the position. Reggie Hayward DE.

This started one of the biggest controversies in the NFL at the time. John Henderson DT. The Bills, under new coach Wade Phillips signed two quarterbacks for the 1998 season, Rob Johnson and former Canadian Football League star Doug Flutie. Deon Grant S. Coach Marv Levy retired after the season. Donavin Darius SS. Kelly's loss was felt in 1997, with the Bills stumbling to 6-10. Terry Cousin CB.

Thurman Thomas gave way to new running back Antowain Smith. Rashean Mathis CB. Jim Kelly retired after the season, signalling an end to the most successful era in Bills history. Kyle Brady TE. They still made the playoffs, but as a wild card - and the first victim of the cinderella Jacksonville Jaguars. In 1996 the Bills saw their commanding lead in the AFC East race disappear to a surging New England Patriots team.

They would not get a chance to get back to the Super Bowl - the Pittsburgh Steelers beat Buffalo in the divisional playoff and ended up being the AFC's representative there. In 1995 Buffalo, with free agent linebacker Bryce Paup anchoring the defense, again made the playoffs with a 10-6 record, and defeated Miami in the wild card round. The 1993 Bills also proved to be the first of twelve different teams to lose the Super Bowl, with no NFL team doing so twice since then. The outcome of Buffalo's 1994 season has proven to mark the start of what has become known as the "Super Bowl Runner-up Jinx:" Beginning with the 1993 Bills, no Super Bowl loser has since reached the conference championship game the following year in either the AFC or the NFC, and only one has advanced that far in the postseason in either of the next two seasons after losing a Super Bowl (the Steelers, who lost to Denver in the 1997 AFC Championship Game two years after having lost Super Bowl XXX to Dallas); furthermore, only one Super Bowl loser since the 1989 Denver Broncos (who lost the game the year before the first of Buffalo's four defeats) has won a Super Bowl in any season since losing one (the New England Patriots, who lost the game in 1996 but won it in 2001, 2003 and 2004) and starting with the 1998 Atlanta Falcons, five out of six Super Bowl losers have finished with losing records the season after.

The team stumbled down the stretch and finished 7-9, fourth in the division and out of the playoffs. The Bills would not get a chance to make it five straight in 1994. A Thurman Thomas fumble returned for a touchdown by James Washington put Dallas in the lead, however, and the Bills were stunned again, 30-13. The Bills became the only team ever to play in four straight Super Bowls, and looked ready to finally win one when they led at halftime.

They won the AFC East championship with a 12-4 record, and again won playoff games against the Los Angeles Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs, setting up a rematch with the Cowboys in Super Bowl XXVIII on January 30, 1994 . They looked to rectify the situation in the 1993 season, but the same result happened. By now the Bills had become laughingstocks, poster children for failure in the eyes of many. Lett held the ball out long enough for Tasker, who had made up a considerable distance to get to Lett, to knock it out of his hand.

One of the sole bright spots for the Bills was Steve Tasker's rundown and strip of Leon Lett after Lett had returned a fumble inside the Bills five and was on his way to scoring. Buffalo committed 9 turnovers en route to a 52-17 thrashing. Super Bowl XXVII, played against the Dallas Cowboys, turned out to be a mismatch. They then handily defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers in the divisional playoff and upset the archrival Dolphins in the AFC Championship to advance to their third straight Super Bowl.

Undaunted, the Bills scored touchdowns on several consecutive possessions to tie the game and force overtime. Steve Christie kicked the game-winning field goal in the extra session to cap the biggest comeback in NFL history, 41-38. Backup quarterback Frank Reich started their wild card playoff game against the Houston Oilers, and they were down 35-3 by the third quarter. The Bills lost the 1992 AFC East title to the Miami Dolphins and Jim Kelly was injured in the final game of the regular season. The Redskins opened up a 24-0 halftime lead and never looked back, handing the Bills a 37-24 loss (an embarrassing moment occurred as the teams were leaving the field at the end of the first half when Bills center Adam Lingner angrily ordered a cameraman to "Get that f***in' camera out of my face;" the comment was picked up by a nearby microphone and everyone watching or listening to the game on television or radio would have had an opportunity to hear it).

The Bills looked to avenge their heartbreaking Super Bowl loss a year earlier by playing the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl XXVI, but it was not to be. The Bills steamrolled through the 1991 regular season as well, finishing 13-3 again and with Thurman Thomas winning the Offensive Player of the Year award. They also had an easy time with the Kansas City Chiefs in their first playoff game and beat the Denver Broncos in a defensive struggle in the AFC Championship. Norwood's miss set the stage for future failures by the Bills in the early 1990s. It went wide to the right, and the Giants emerged victorious; however, some criticized Levy for not calling one more offensive play in an effort to make the field goal try shorter.

The game featured many lead changes, and with the score 20-19 in favor of New York with eight seconds left, Bills kicker Scott Norwood attempted a 47-yard field goal. The Bills were overwhelming favorites to beat the New York Giants, but the defensive plan laid out by coach Bill Parcells and defensive coordinator Bill Belichick kept Buffalo in check (and without the ball) throughout the game. The team finished 13-3 and blew out the Miami Dolphins and Los Angeles Raiders in the playoffs on their way to Super Bowl XXV. In 1990 the Bills switched to a no-huddle offense and it started one of the most successful runs in NFL history.

1989 was a relative disappointment, with a 9-7 record and a first-round playoff loss to the Cleveland Browns. After having an easy time with the Houston Oilers in the divisional playoff, they lost the AFC championship to the Cincinnati Bengals. In 1988, the rookie season of running back Thurman Thomas, the Bills went 12-4 and finished atop the AFC East for the first of four consecutive seasons. In addition to new coach Marv Levy, a receiving game featuring Andre Reed and a defense led by first-overall draft pick Bruce Smith, the Bills started marching back to the top.

After the USFL's demise, Jim Kelly joined the Bills for the 1986 season, and immediately proved to be worth the wait. In 1984 and 1985 the Bills went 2-14. Knox left his coaching position to take a job with the Seattle Seahawks, and new coach Kay Stephenson proved to be less than stellar. In the famous 1983 draft the Bills selected quarterback Jim Kelly as their replacement to an aging Joe Ferguson, but Kelly decided to play in the upstart United States Football League instead.

The following year — the strike-shortened season of 1982 — the Bills slipped to a 4-5 final record. The team's players and fans alike adopted the informal slogan "We're Talkin' Proud" during this period. They lost in the second round to the eventual AFC champion Cincinnati Bengals. The following season they lost their title to the Dolphins, but won their first NFL playoff game (over the New York Jets).

They beat the archrival Miami Dolphins for the first time in 11 years in their season opener, en route to winning their first AFC East title. 1980 marked another breakthrough for the Bills. Chuck Knox was hired as head coach and he would end up leading the Bills back to the top. After the 1977 season Simpson was traded to the San Francisco 49ers (his legal troubles were still years down the road).

After a mediocre 1975 season the Bills had internal troubles in 1976 as the team dropped to the bottom of the AFC East, where they stayed for the rest of the 1970s. They made the NFL playoffs for the first time in 1974, but lost in the first round to the eventual champion Pittsburgh Steelers. 1973 was a season of change: Joe Ferguson became their new quarterback, they moved into a new stadium, Simpson recorded a 2000-yard season and was voted NFL MVP, and the team had its first winning record since 1966. Lou Saban, who had coached the Bills' AFL championship teams, was rehired in 1972.

In 1971, not only did the Bills finish in sole possession of the NFL's worst overall record at 1-13, but they also scored the fewest points (184) in the league that year while allowing the most (394); no NFL team has since done all three of those things in the same season in a non-strike year. The Bills became part of the NFL when the latter absorbed the AFL in a merger in 1970. Simpson, who would become the face of the franchise through the 1970s. Before the 1969 season, the Bills drafted running back O.J.

Tragedy struck the Bills in when Bob Kalsu, an offensive lineman, quit the team after his 1968 rookie season to serve in the Vietnam War, where he was killed in action in 1970. In addition to their defensive prowess, the Bills had offensive muscle as well, in stars such as fullback Cookie Gilchrist, quarterbacks Jack Kemp and Daryle Lamonica, and receivers Elbert Dubenion and Ernie Warlick. The Bills won AFL championships in both 1964 and 1965, were one of only three teams to appear in an AFL championship game for three consecutive years, and the only AFL team to play in the post-season for four straight years, 1963 through 1966. The only player ever inducted to the "pro football" hall of fame, without ever playing in the NFL, was a member of the 1964 Bills; guard Billy Shaw.

Three were eventually named to the American Football League's All-Time Team, six to the second team, and sixteen are in the American Football League Hall of Fame. Eight members of the 1964 squad were on that year's AFL Eastern Division All-Star Team. In 1964, the Bills defense allowed only four touchdowns rushing all season, and started a string that would extend into the 1965 season: seventeen straight games without allowing an opponent to score a rushing touchdown. They were the first American Football League team to win 13 games in a season.

The same defense registered fifty quarterback sacks, a team record that stands today, even though it was established in a 14-game season. The 1964 Bills allowed their opponents only 300 rushing attempts and held them to 913 yards rushing during the regular season; a pro football record, just over 65 yards per game. The 1964 Buffalo Bills squad was one of the great teams in professional football history. With a linebacking corps of Harry Jacobs, Mike Stratton and John Tracey; and defensive line stalwarts like Tom Day, Tom Sestak, Jim Dunaway and Ron McDole.

In the AFL, a predominantly offensive league, the Buffalo Bills were a great defensive team. After a public contest, the team adopted the same name as the former All-America Football Conference team in Buffalo. The Bufalo Bills were a founding member of the American Football League in 1960. The Buffalo Bills are a Buffalo, New York-based National Football League team which plays its home games in the suburb of Orchard Park.

Drew Bledsoe. Scott Norwood K. Ruben Brown LG. Ernie Warlick.

Ted Washington DT. John Tracey. Thurman Thomas RB. Steve Tasker WR-Special Teams.

Bruce Smith DE. Andre Reed WR. Frank Reich QB. Reggie McKenzie OL.

Ron McDole. Paul Maguire P. Daryle Lamonica QB. Doug Flutie QB.

Phil Hansen DE. Cookie Gilchrist. Booker Edgerson. Jim Dunaway.

Tom Day. Shane Conlan. Wray Carlton. Larry Centers FB.

Butch Byrd. Cornelius Bennett LB. Don Beebe WR. The 12th Man (Fans).

(Founder). Wilson Jr. Ralph C. Marv Levy (Head Coach).

Patrick J. McGroder (Vice President). Eddie Abramowski (Trainer). Darryl Talley. Mike Stratton.

Fred Smerlas. Simpson. J. O.

Billy Shaw. Tom Sestak. George Saimes. Jack Kemp.

Jim Kelly. Bob Kalsu (1945 - 1970, one of only two pro football players to die in the Vietnam War). Robert James. Kent Hull.

Joe Ferguson. Elbert Dubenion. Joe Delamielleure. 12 - Jim Kelly.

Losman QB. J.P. Mike Williams OT. Troy Vincent CB/FS.

Takeo Spikes LB. Aaron Schobel DE. Eric Moulds WR. Lawyer Milloy S.

Willis McGahee RB. Terrence McGee CB. Travis Henry RB. London Fletcher LB.

Lee Evans WR. Nate Clements CB. Sam Adams DT. Rozelle Award winner Van Miller.

McCann Award winner Larry Felser. James Lofton. Simpson. J.

O. Billy Shaw. Marv Levy. Jim Kelly.

Joe Delamielleure.