# 1988 Buffalo Bills season

The 1988 Buffalo Bills season was the franchise's 29th overall season as a football team and the 19th in the National Football League. The Bills ended a streak of four consecutive losing seasons by winning the AFC East. They finished the 1988 season with a record of twelve wins and four losses; it was the club's first winning season since 1981, its first 12-win season since the 1964 AFL championship season, and only the fifth double-digit win season in team history. The Bills were 8–0 at home for the first time in their franchise history. On the road, the Bills were 4–4. From an attendance standpoint, the franchise set a record for attendance with 631,818 fans. It was only their fourth playoff appearance since the NFL-AFL merger.
This was the first of four consecutive AFC East titles for the Bills. They started the season 11–1 before losing three of their final four games, costing them the top seed in the AFC, and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
It was Buffalo's first trip to the postseason since 1981. The Bills were the #2 seed in the AFC (behind #1 Cincinnati), giving the Bills their first home playoff game since the 1966 AFL Championship, and their first ever playoff game at Rich Stadium. The 1988 season would be the first of five AFC Championship game appearances over six seasons, and their only loss in the conference championship game.
The 1988 season was the first for running back Thurman Thomas, nose tackle Jeff Wright, and linebacker Carlton Bailey. Thomas would rush for 881 yards, despite only carrying the ball 207 times (42.7% of total team carries by a running back) while sharing carries with Robb Riddick, Jamie Mueller and Ronnie Harmon.
The Bills had a dominant defense in 1988: they gave up the fewest points (237) and the fewest total yards (4,578) in the AFC in 1988. The defensive unit was given the nickname "Blizzard Defense", alluding to Buffalo's harsh winters.
Four Bills players made the All-Pro team in 1988: defensive end Bruce Smith, linebackers Shane Conlan and Cornelius Bennett, and kicker Scott Norwood.
Head coach Marv Levy was named NFL Coach of the Year by The Sporting News and UPI.

## Offseason
### NFL draft

ESPN's cameras watched Oklahoma State running back Thurman Thomas in his home as he waited to be drafted. He fell to the second round, where the Bills made him their first pick at 40th overall. Thomas would go on to a Pro Football Hall of Fame career, where he would eclipse O. J. Simpson's all-time team rushing record with 12,074 yards. Thomas would set an NFL record by leading the league in yards-from-scrimmage for four consecutive years, from 1989 to 1992. (The record of three was previously held by Hall of Famer Jim Brown.) Thomas was a five-time Pro Bowl selection and NFL Offensive Player of the Year in 1992.
1988 Buffalo Bills draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College | Notes |
| 2 | 40 | Thurman Thomas * $^†$ | RB | Oklahoma State | |
| 3 | 65 | Bernard Ford | WR | Central Florida | |
| 5 | 123 | Ezekial Gadson | DB | Pittsburgh | |
| 5 | 135 | Kirk Roach | K | Western Carolina | |
| 6 | 150 | Dan Murray | OLB | East Stroudsburg | |
| 7 | 177 | Tim Borcky | OT | Memphis | |
| 7 | 184 | Bo Wright | RB | Alabama | |
| 8 | 204 | John Hagy | DB | Texas | |
| 8 | 213 | Jeff Wright | DT | Central Missouri State | |
| 9 | 235 | Carlton Bailey | ILB | North Carolina | |
| 10 | 262 | Martin Mayhew | CB | Florida State | Placed on injured reserve |
| 11 | 289 | Pete Curkendall | DT | Penn State | |
| 12 | 309 | John Driscoll | OT | New Hampshire | |
| 12 | 316 | Tom Erlandson | LB | Washington | |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 4 | Minnesota Vikings | W 13–10 | 1–0 | Rich Stadium | 76,783 |
| 2 | September 11 | Miami Dolphins | W 9–6 | 2–0 | Rich Stadium | 79,520 |
| 3 | September 18 | at New England Patriots | W 16–14 | 3–0 | Sullivan Stadium | 55,945 |
| 4 | September 25 | Pittsburgh Steelers | W 36–28 | 4–0 | Rich Stadium | 78,735 |
| 5 | October 2 | at Chicago Bears | L 3–24 | 4–1 | Soldier Field | 62,793 |
| 6 | October 9 | Indianapolis Colts | W 34–23 | 5–1 | Rich Stadium | 76,018 |
| 7 | October 17 | at New York Jets | W 37–14 | 6–1 | Giants Stadium | 70,218 |
| 8 | October 23 | New England Patriots | W 23–20 | 7–1 | Rich Stadium | 76,824 |
| 9 | October 30 | Green Bay Packers | W 28–0 | 8–1 | Rich Stadium | 79,176 |
| 10 | November 6 | at Seattle Seahawks | W 13–3 | 9–1 | Kingdome | 61,074 |
| 11 | November 14 | at Miami Dolphins | W 31–6 | 10–1 | Joe Robbie Stadium | 67,091 |
| 12 | November 20 | New York Jets | W 9–6 (OT) | 11–1 | Rich Stadium | 78,389 |
| 13 | November 27 | at Cincinnati Bengals | L 21–35 | 11–2 | Riverfront Stadium | 58,672 |
| 14 | December 4 | at Tampa Bay Buccaneers | L 5–10 | 11–3 | Tampa Stadium | 49,498 |
| 15 | December 11 | Los Angeles Raiders | W 37–21 | 12–3 | Rich Stadium | 77,348 |
| 16 | December 18 | at Indianapolis Colts | L 14–17 | 12–4 | Hoosier Dome | 59,908 |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |||||||

### Season summary
#### Week 1

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Vikings | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
| • Bills | 10 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 13 |

#### Week 2

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Dolphins | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| • Bills | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 9 |

#### Week 3

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Bills | 0 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 16 |
| Patriots | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 14 |

#### Week 4

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Steelers | 0 | 14 | 0 | 14 | 28 |
| • Bills | 10 | 6 | 14 | 6 | 36 |

#### Week 5

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bills | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| • Bears | 7 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 24 |

#### Week 6

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Colts | 10 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 23 |
| • Bills | 0 | 7 | 14 | 13 | 34 |

#### Week 7

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Bills | 17 | 14 | 3 | 3 | 37 |
| Jets | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 |

#### Week 9

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Packers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| • Bills | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 28 |
* Thurman Thomas 23 Rush, 116 Yds

#### Week 12

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
| Jets | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| • Bills | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 |
The Bills clinch the AFC Eastern division title.

### Week 16

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bills | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| • Colts | 3 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 17 |
The loss cost the Bills homefield advantage in the AFC playoffs.

### Standings

AFC East :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Buffalo Bills$^{(2)}$ | 12 | 4 | 0 | .750 | 7–1 | 10–2 | 329 | 237 | L1 |
| Indianapolis Colts | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 5–3 | 7–5 | 354 | 315 | W1 |
| New England Patriots | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 5–3 | 7–5 | 250 | 284 | L1 |
| New York Jets | 8 | 7 | 1 | .531 | 3–5 | 6–7–1 | 372 | 354 | W2 |
| Miami Dolphins | 6 | 10 | 0 | .375 | 0–8 | 3–9 | 319 | 380 | L1 |

## Playoffs
### AFC Divisional Playoff

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Oilers | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
| Bills | 0 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 17 |
at Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, New York
* Game time: 12:30 pm EST
* Game attendance: 79,532
* Referee: Gordon McCarter
* TV announcers (NBC): Marv Albert and Paul Maguire
Buffalo's first playoff game in seven years, first home playoff playoff game in 22 years (since their days in the AFL) and first-ever playoff game at Rich Stadium was a 17–10 win over the Oilers. Jim Kelly threw for 244 yards and an interception while Thurman Thomas and Robb Riddick had rushing scores to go with 87 rushing yards. The Bills intercepted Warren Moon once and forced two Oilers fumbles.

### AFC Championship Game

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bills | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Bengals | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 21 |
at Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati
* Game time: 12:30 pm EST
* Game attendance: 59,747
* Referee: Gene Barth
* TV announcers (NBC): Dick Enberg and Merlin Olsen
The Bengals forced three interceptions and allowed only 45 rushing yards and 136 passing yards to go with an offense that held the ball for 39:29 out of sixty minutes. Bills starting running back Thurman Thomas was held to just six yards on four carries, while quarterback Jim Kelly completed only 14-of-30 passes for 161 yards, one touchdown, and three interceptions.

## Awards and records
### All-Pros

First Team
* Bruce Smith, Defensive end
* Shane Conlan, Linebacker
* Cornelius Bennett, Linebacker
* Scott Norwood, Kicker
Second Team
* Kent Hull, Center
* Nate Odomes, Cornerback (Associated Press honorable mention)