LOS ANGELES, CA: Jim Kelly of the Buffalo Bills circa 1988 drops back to pass against the Los Angeles Radiers at the Coliseum in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Owen C. Shaw/Getty Images)
Ever wonder how the current Josh Allen-led Buffalo Bills team would stack up against Bills teams of the past? Do you think the Jim Kelly teams were the best Bills team in their history? How about OJ and the Electric Company?
The game has evolved incredibly over the past several decades and it’s difficult to compare eras in football. I, however, have attempted to quantify each Buffalo Bills season since the 1970 merger. Through different parameters including winning percentage, AFC East place standings, playoff appearances, playoff advancement, offensive and defensive rankings and Pro Bowl/All-Pro selections, I geeked out and created a “Team Success” formula to rank every Buffalo Bills team since the 1970 merger (sorry, AFL guys).
There are a lot of dud teams in the Bills’ 52-year, post-merger history. The mid-’80s teams and the infamous “drought” teams from ’00-’16 were particularly bad… but I’m not here to talk about them.
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the ten BEST teams in Buffalo Bills history…
10. 1980 Buffalo Bills (Team Success Score: 31)
Record: 11-5
Offense Rank (28 teams): 15th
Defense Rank (28 teams): 2nd
Playoffs: Lost in Divisional Round at Chargers
Pro-Bowlers: RB Joe Cribbs, WR Jerry Butler, NT Fred Smerlas
1st-Team All Pro: NT Fred Smerlas
The 1980 Buffalo Bills season ended in heartache at San Diego when Dan Fouts threw a 50 yard game-winning TD pass with only minutes remaining. Had Charles Romes been able to hold on to an errant Dan Fouts pass, it would have sealed the game for the Bills and they would have gone on to host the Raiders, who’d they’d beaten handily earlier in the Season.
The season might most be remembered by Bills fans, however, for when their team was able to end “the streak”, beating the Miami Dolphins for the first time in a DECADE.
9. 1998 Buffalo Bills (Team Success Score: 33)
Record: 10-6
Offense Rank (30 teams): 6
Defense Rank (30 teams): 10
Playoffs: Lost in Wild Card Round at Miami
Pro-Bowlers: QB Doug Flutie, FB Sam Gash, WR Eric Moulds, G Ruben Brown, NT Ted Washington, DE Bruce Smith
1st-Team All Pro: None
This season will be remembered by Bills Mafia as the season of Doug Flutie. After starting 0-3 under quarterback Rob Johnson, who went down with an injury during their third loss, the Bills started backup Doug Flutie who would lead them to a 10-3 record the rest of the season and a heartbreaking playoff loss in Miami. The 1998 season also saw the emergence of Eric Moulds.
8. 1989 Buffalo Bills (Team Success Score: 33)
Record: 9-7
Offense Rank (28 teams): 2nd
Defense Rank (28 teams): 12th
Playoffs: Lost in Divisional Round at Browns
Pro-Bowlers: RB Thurman Thomas, WR Andre Reed, DE Bruce Smith, C Kent Hull
1st-Team All Pro: None
After the hangover of the 1988 success, the 1989 season is looked at as a disappointment by many. Though the team DID win the AFC East with a 9-7 record, the ’89 Bills will be forever remembered as the “Bickering Bills.” With the cast of All-Pro-caliber players on the roster, the team underperformed big time. They lost a shootout in the Divisional Round of the playoffs to the Cleveland Browns 34-30 in a game that saw Jim Kelly throw for 405 yards and 4 TDs. This loss would prove to be a building block for the team as they’d put things together the following season and make their Super Bowl run.
7. 2021 Buffalo Bills (Team Success Score: 41)
Record: 11-6
Offense Rank (32 teams): 4th
Defense Rank (32 teams): 1st
Playoffs: Lost in Divisional Round at Chiefs
Pro-Bowlers: WR Stefon Diggs, T Dion Dawkins
1st-Team All Pro: S Jordan Poyer
The 2021 Bills’ heartbreaking loss to the Chiefs is still in all our souls and it probably won’t be exorcised until the Bills beat the Chiefs in the playoffs in this year. To put it simply: the ’21 Bills season was a rollercoaster. The team started off 5-1 with a big vengeance win at Kansas City. They’d go on to lose five of their next eight games resulting in a 7-6 record with four regular season games remaining. Of course, they’d sweep the last four games, win the AFC East, CRUSH the Patriots in the playoffs and lose perhaps the greatest game of all-time. Now, the question is: where will the 2022 Bills rank on this list after this year?
6. 2020 Buffalo Bills (Team Success Score: 51)
Record: 13-3
Offense Rank (32 teams): 2nd
Defense Rank (32 teams): 15th
Playoffs: Lost in AFC Championship Game at Chiefs
Pro-Bowlers: QB Josh Allen, WR Stefon Diggs, LB Tremaine Edmunds, CB Tre White
1st-Team All Pro: WR Stefon Diggs
Excuse my cheesiness, but the 2020 Buffalo Bills team was probably the most exhilarating Bills team since 1988. Even though there was a damper on the season with the ongoing pandemic, you knew there was something special with these guys that we hadn’t seen in decades. The ’19 Bills had come off a heartbreaking playoff loss in Houston and no one knew what to expect in the coming year. In the offseason, they had signed a “misfit” in Stefon Diggs and Josh Allen’s “hero ball” was only going to be cute for so long. But everything clicked in 2020. Allen and Diggs would crush single-season team records, the Bills would win the AFC East for the first time in the millennium, and the playoff win drought would end after 25 years. Bills Mafia rallied behind their team and even though the loss at Kansas City in the AFC Championship game would hurt (just like in 1988) everyone knew there’d be better things to come.
5. 1993 Buffalo Bills (Team Success Score: 68)
Record: 12-4
Offense Rank (28 teams): 6nd
Defense Rank (28 teams): 16th
Playoffs: Lost in Super Bowl to Cowboys
Pro-Bowlers: RB Thurman Thomas, WR Andre Reed, ST Steve Tasker, DE Bruce Smith, CB Nate Odomes, T Howard Ballard
1st-Team All Pro: DE Bruce Smith
The last of the four Super Bowl teams and perhaps the beginning of the end of the Kelly era, the 1993 Buffalo Bills were one of the most resilient teams in NFL history. After losing three consecutive Super Bowls, the same cast of Bills legends put together a 12-4 record, had the 6th-best offense in the league, and earned a first-round bye in the ’93 playoffs. They beat the Raiders and steamrolled the Chiefs in the AFC Championship. For those of you old enough to remember, the Bills were actually leading at halftime in the Super Bowl at the Georgia Dome, 13-6 before falling apart in the second half. The Super Bowl cast would go on to miss the playoffs in 1994 for the first time in seven years.
4. 1988 Buffalo Bills (Team Success Score: 72)
Record: 12-4
Offense Rank (28 teams): 13th
Defense Rank (28 teams): 3rd
Playoffs: Lost AFC Championship at Bengals
Pro-Bowlers: QB Jim Kelly, WR Andre Reed, C Kent Hull, DT Fred Smerlas, DE Bruce Smith, LB Cornelius Bennett, LB Shane Conlan, K Scott Norwood
1st-Team All Pro: DE Bruce Smith, LB Cornelius Bennett, K Scott Norwood
Prior to Jim Kelly’s arrival to Buffalo in 1986, the Bills had been the laughingstock of the league. The once anti-Buffalo quarterback immediately brought hope to a city that hadn’t seen a superstar since OJ Simpson who’d left ten years prior. The team steadily improved…seeing a record of 4-12 in ’86 and 7-8 in ’87. The 1988 team, however, is when it all came together for the Bills. With eight pro bowlers and three First-Team All-Pro selections, the ’88 Bills rolled to a 12-4 record, winning the AFC East for the first time in a decade. Though they’d go on to lose in the AFC Championship Game to the Bengals, this team of talented personalities would be the catalyst of the NFL’s best team of the 1990’s.
3. 1991 Buffalo Bills (Team Success Score: 77)
Record: 13-3
Offense Rank (28 teams): 1st
Defense Rank (28 teams): 23rd
Playoffs: Lost Super Bowl to Redskins
Pro-Bowlers: QB Jim Kelly, RB Thurman Thomas, WR Andre Reed, ST Steve Tasker, G Jim Ritcher, LB Cornelius Bennett, LB Darryl Talley, WR James Lofton
1st-Team All Pro: QB Jim Kelly, RB Thurman Thomas, C Kent Hull
The 1991 Bills team saw a healthy Jim Kelly start 15 games during the regular season (starters were benched for 16th game), which hadn’t happened in a couple seasons. The offense was the best and most balanced in team history. Kelly, Thurman Thomas and Kent Hull were all first-team All-Pro selections. Thurman was league MVP, leading the league in all-purpose yards for the third year in a row. Andre Reed and James Lofton both had 1000+ yards receiving. The offense was the best in the league. Unfortunately, Buffalo ran into the buzzsaw that was the 1991 Washington Redskins in the Super Bowl who played out of their MINDS that year.
2. 1992 Buffalo Bills (Team Success Score: 80)
Record: 11-5
Offense Rank (28 teams): 2nd
Defense Rank (28 teams): 13th
Playoffs: Lost in Super Bowl to Cowboys
Pro-Bowlers: QB Jim Kelly, RB Thurman Thomas, WR Andre Reed, ST Steve Tasker, T Will Wolford, G Jim Ritcher, T Howard Ballard, DE Bruce Smith, LB Cornelius Bennett, CB Nate Odomes, S Henry Jones
1st-Team All Pro: S Henry Jones
After losing consecutive Super Bowls, the 1992 Buffalo Bills were on a mission. Their offense remained consistent, placing six players in the Pro Bowl. The ’92 season saw the “No Punt Game” at San Francisco where Jim Kelly and Steve Young dueled to a total of over 1000+ yards of offense and a Bills 34-31 victory. Buffalo was a Wild Card team that year and pulled off “The Comeback,” led by Frank Reich vs Houston. They’d go on to get blown out versus Dallas in the Super Bowl 52-17, with Jim Kelly suffering a game-ending knee injury early in the game.
1. 1990 Buffalo Bills (Team Success Score: 95)
Record: 13-3
Offense Rank (28 teams): 3rd
Defense Rank (28 teams): 7th
Playoffs: Lost in Super Bowl to Giants
Pro-Bowlers: RB Thurman Thomas, QB Jim Kelly, WR Andre Reed, ST Steve Tasker, LB Darryl Talley, DE Bruce Smith, LB Shane Conlan, LB Cornelius Bennett, C Kent Hull
1st-Team All Pro: RB Thurman Thomas, DE Bruce Smith, C Kent Hull
The 1990 Buffalo Bills team is the greatest Bills team ever. The team had implemented and consistently used a no-huddle, “K-Gun” offense that took the league by storm. This new and intricate offense disallowed defensive substitutions and left the opposing teams gassed. The ‘90 Bills defense is what set the team apart from the other great Bills teams. The Bills D ranked 7th in the league, which was by far it’s highest ranking during the Super Bowl years. The likes of Darryl Talley, Bruce Smith, Shane Conlan and Cornelius Bennett were all Pro Bowl defenders for the Bills. The 1990 AFC Championship against the Raiders was the highlight of the season. The team hit on every point that day, SLAPPING Los Angeles 51-3 and put the Bills in their first ever Super Bowl. The town of Buffalo went from the high-of-highs against the Raiders to the low-of-lows a couple weeks later in Tampa when the phrase “wide right” was coined.
Here’s a rundown of the other 42 post-merger Bills teams in order of Team Success Score:
11. 1995 Bills (TSS: 31)*
12. 1973 Bills (TSS: 30)
13. 1996 Bills (TSS: 29)*
14. 1974 Bills (TSS: 27)
15. 1981 Bills (TSS: 24)*
16. 2004 Bills (TSS: 24)
17. 1999 Bills (TSS: 23)*
18. 1975 Bills (TSS: 21)
19. 1982 Bills (TSS: 20)
20. 2019 Bills (TSS: 20)*
21. 2016 Bills (TSS: 17)
22. 2000 Bills (TSS: 16)
23. 1994 Bills (TSS: 13)
24. 1987 Bills (TSS: 9)
25. 2015 Bills (TSS: 9)
26. 2002 Bills (TSS: 8)
27. 2014 Bills (TSS: 6)
28. 1997 Bills (TSS: 5)
29. 2003 Bills (TSS: 4)
30. 2006 Bills (TSS: 4)
31. 1972 Bills (TSS: 3)
32. 2017 Bills (TSS: 1)*
33. 1977 Bills (TSS: 0)
34. 1976 Bills (TSS: -1)
35. 2018 Bills (TSS: -1)
36. 1979 Bills (TSS: -2)
37. 2013 Bills (TSS: -2)
38. 2008 Bills (TSS: -4)
39. 1983 Bills (TSS: -6)
40. 2012 Bills (TSS: -6)
41. 1978 Bills (TSS: -7)
42. 1970 Bills (TSS: -8)
43. 2007 Bills (TSS: -9)
44. 2005 Bills (TSS: -10)
45. 1986 Bills (TSS: -11)
46. 2011 Bills (TSS: -13)
47. 2009 Bills (TSS: -14)
48. 2001 Bills (TSS: -17)
49. 1985 Bills (TSS: -19)
50. 2010 Bills (TSS: -21)
51. 1984 Bills (TSS: -22)
52. 1971 Bills (TSS: -26)
*Made Playoffs
