# 1982 Buffalo Bills season

The 1982 Buffalo Bills season was the franchise's 13th season in the National Football League, and the 23rd overall. Due to the 1982 NFL strike, the season was shortened to only nine games; the Bills' 4–5 record left them in the 9th spot in the AFC (one spot away from the last playoff seed), therefore eliminating the Bills from the playoffs in the 16-team tournament format.
The Bills led the league in rushing in 1982, with 1,371 yards (152.3 per game) on the ground. This was the last season with Chuck Knox as head coach, as negotiations for a new contract with ownership failed, which led him to leave Buffalo for the Seattle Seahawks in January 1983.

## Offseason
### NFL draft

Linebacker Eugene Marve played linebacker for Buffalo for six seasons. Placekicker Gary Anderson went on to become the second-leading scorer in NFL history, although he did so with five other NFL teams, as he never played a regular-season game for Buffalo.
1982 Buffalo Bills draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 19 | Perry Tuttle | Wide receiver | Clemson |
| 2 | 48 | Matt Kofler | Quarterback | San Diego State |
| 3 | 59 | Eugene Marve | Linebacker | Saginaw Valley State |
| 4 | 93 | Van Williams | Running back | Carson–Newman |
| 6 | 160 | DeWayne Chivers | Tight end | South Carolina |
| 7 | 171 | Gary Anderson * | Kicker | Syracuse |
| 8 | 218 | Luc Tousignant | Quarterback | Fairmont State |
| 9 | 245 | Dennis Edwards | Defensive end | USC |
| 10 | 272 | Vic James | Defensive back | Colorado |
| 11 | 298 | Frank Kalil | Guard | Arizona |
| 12 | 329 | Tony Suber | Defensive tackle | Gardner–Webb |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Game site | NFL.com recap |
| 1 | September 12 | Kansas City Chiefs | W 14–9 | 1–0 | Rich Stadium | Recap |
| 2 | September 16 | Minnesota Vikings | W 23–22 | 2–0 | Rich Stadium | Recap |
| Players' strike |||||||
| 3 | November 21 | Miami Dolphins | L 7–9 | 2–1 | Rich Stadium | Recap |
| 4 | November 28 | Baltimore Colts | W 20–0 | 3–1 | Rich Stadium | Recap |
| 5 | December 5 | at Green Bay Packers | L 21–33 | 3–2 | Milwaukee County Stadium | Recap |
| 6 | December 12 | Pittsburgh Steelers | W 13–0 | 4–2 | Rich Stadium | Recap |
| 7 | December 19 | at Tampa Bay Buccaneers | L 23–24 | 4–3 | Tampa Stadium | Recap |
| 8 | December 27 | at Miami Dolphins | L 10–27 | 4–4 | Miami Orange Bowl | Recap |
| 9 | January 2 | at New England Patriots | L 19–30 | 4–5 | Schaefer Stadium | Recap |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |||||||

### Game summaries
#### Week 1

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Chiefs | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 9 |
| • Bills | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 |

#### Week 2

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Vikings | 2 | 17 | 3 | 0 | 22 |
| • Bills | 0 | 7 | 6 | 10 | 23 |

#### Week 5

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bills | 0 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 21 |
| • Packers | 6 | 7 | 7 | 13 | 33 |

#### Week 6

Terry Bradshaws worst game in NFL
| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Steelers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| • Bills | 0 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 13 |

#### Week 8

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bills | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| • Dolphins | 0 | 7 | 13 | 7 | 27 |

### Standings

AFC East :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Miami Dolphins$^{(2)}$ | 7 | 2 | 0 | .778 | 6–1 | 6–1 | 198 | 131 | W3 |
| New York Jets$^{(6)}$ | 6 | 3 | 0 | .667 | 2–2 | 2–3 | 245 | 166 | L1 |
| New England Patriots$^{(7)}$ | 5 | 4 | 0 | .556 | 3–1 | 5–3 | 143 | 157 | W1 |
| Buffalo Bills | 4 | 5 | 0 | .444 | 1–3 | 3–3 | 150 | 154 | L3 |
| Baltimore Colts | 0 | 8 | 1 | .056 | 0–5–0 | 0–7–0 | 113 | 236 | L2 |
AFCvte :
| # | Team | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | STK |
| Seeded postseason qualifiers |||||||||
| 1 | Los Angeles Raiders | 8 | 1 | 0 | .889 | 260 | 200 | W5 |
| 2 | Miami Dolphins | 7 | 2 | 0 | .778 | 198 | 131 | W3 |
| 3 | Cincinnati Bengals | 7 | 2 | 0 | .778 | 232 | 177 | W2 |
| 4 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 6 | 3 | 0 | .667 | 204 | 146 | W2 |
| 5 | San Diego Chargers | 6 | 3 | 0 | .667 | 288 | 221 | L1 |
| 6 | New York Jets | 6 | 3 | 0 | .667 | 245 | 166 | L1 |
| 7 | New England Patriots | 5 | 4 | 0 | .556 | 143 | 157 | W1 |
| 8 | Cleveland Browns | 4 | 5 | 0 | .444 | 140 | 182 | L1 |
| Did not qualify for the postseason |||||||||
| 9 | Buffalo Bills | 4 | 5 | 0 | .444 | 150 | 154 | L3 |
| 10 | Seattle Seahawks | 4 | 5 | 0 | .444 | 127 | 147 | W1 |
| 11 | Kansas City Chiefs | 3 | 6 | 0 | .333 | 176 | 184 | W1 |
| 12 | Denver Broncos | 2 | 7 | 0 | .222 | 148 | 226 | L3 |
| 13 | Houston Oilers | 1 | 8 | 0 | .111 | 136 | 245 | L7 |
| 14 | Baltimore Colts | 0 | 8 | 1 | .056 | 113 | 236 | L2 |
| Tiebreakers |||||||||
| 1 2 Miami finished ahead of Cincinnati based on better conference record (6–1 to Cincinnati’s 6–2). 1 2 Pittsburgh finished ahead of San Diego based on better record against common opponents (3–1 to Chargers' 2–1). Conference tiebreak was initially used to eliminate New York Jets. 1 2 3 Pittsburgh and San Diego finished ahead of New York Jets based on conference record (Pittsburgh and San Diego 5–3 against Jets’ 2–3) 1 2 3 Cleveland finished ahead of Buffalo and Buffalo ahead of Seattle based on conference record (4–3 to Buffalo’s 3–3 to Seattle’s 3–5). |||||||||

## Awards and honors
### All-Pros

First Team
* Fred Smerlas, Nose tackle
Second Team
* Ben Williams, Defensive end