# 1987 Buffalo Bills season

The 1987 Buffalo Bills season was the franchise's 18th season in the National Football League, and 28th overall.
On October 31, 1987, the Los Angeles Rams traded Eric Dickerson to the Indianapolis Colts in a three team trade involving the Bills. The Rams sent Dickerson to the Colts for six draft choices and two players. Buffalo obtained the rights to Cornelius Bennett from Indianapolis. Buffalo sent running back Greg Bell and three draft choices to the Rams, while Indianapolis added Owen Gill and three of their own draft picks to complete the deal with the Rams. Adding Bennett to the team helped to form the nucleus for a strong young defensive unit that would become the core of Buffalo's later Super Bowl teams.

## Offseason
### NFL draft

Buffalo's first two draft picks—linebacker Shane Conlan and defensive back Nate Odomes—would later go on to make to have a great deal of impact on Buffalo's defense. Conlan was named 1987 Defensive Rookie of the Year and would be selected to three consecutive Pro Bowls in the 1988, 1989 and 1990 seasons. Odomes would be selected to consecutive Pro Bowls in 1992 and 1993.
Another impactful rookie, Cornelius Bennett, was drafted by Indianapolis in 1987, before being traded to Buffalo.
1987 Buffalo Bills draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 8 | Shane Conlan * | Linebacker | Penn State |
| 2 | 29 | Nate Odomes * | Defensive back | Wisconsin |
| 2 | 33 | Roland Mitchell | Defensive back | Texas Tech |
| 3 | 60 | David Brandon | Linebacker | Memphis State |
| 3 | 78 | Jamie Mueller | Running back | Benedictine (KS) |
| 4 | 109 | Leon Seals | Defensive end | Jackson State |
| 7 | 171 | Kerry Porter | Running back | Washington State |
| 11 | 283 | Howard Ballard * | Offensive Tackle | Alabama A&M |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Personnel
### NFL replacement players

After the league decided to use replacement players during the NFLPA strike, the following team was assembled:

### Roster
## Regular season

Cornerback Nate Odomes was the youngest starting defensive player in the NFL. It was also his rookie season.

### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Attendance |
| 1 | September 13 | New York Jets | L 31–28 | 0–1 | 76,718 |
| 2 | September 20 | Houston Oilers | W 34–30 | 1–1 | 56,534 |
| – | September 27 | at Dallas Cowboys | canceled | canceled | canceled |
| 3 | October 4 | Indianapolis Colts | L 47–6 | 1–2 | 9,860 |
| 4 | October 11 | at New England Patriots | L 14–7 | 1–3 | 11,878 |
| 5 | October 18 | New York Giants | W 6–3 | 2–3 | 15,737 |
| 6 | October 25 | at Miami Dolphins | W 34–31 OT | 3–3 | 61,295 |
| 7 | November 1 | Washington Redskins | L 27–7 | 3–4 | 71,640 |
| 8 | November 8 | Denver Broncos | W 21–14 | 4–4 | 63,698 |
| 9 | November 15 | at Cleveland Browns | L 27–21 | 4–5 | 78,409 |
| 10 | November 22 | at New York Jets | W 17–14 | 5–5 | 58,407 |
| 11 | November 29 | Miami Dolphins | W 27–0 | 6–5 | 68,055 |
| 12 | December 6 | at Los Angeles Raiders | L 34–21 | 6–6 | 43,143 |
| 13 | December 13 | at Indianapolis Colts | W 27–3 | 7–6 | 60,253 |
| 14 | December 20 | New England Patriots | L 13–7 | 7–7 | 74,945 |
| 15 | December 27 | at Philadelphia Eagles | L 17–7 | 7–8 | 57,547 |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. ||||||

### Game summaries
#### Week 2

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Oilers | 3 | 14 | 3 | 10 | 30 |
| • Bills | 3 | 10 | 0 | 21 | 34 |

#### Week 6

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
| • Bills | 0 | 3 | 14 | 14 | 3 | 34 |
| Dolphins | 14 | 7 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 31 |

#### Week 7

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Redskins | 3 | 14 | 10 | 0 | 27 |
| Bills | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |

#### Week 8

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Broncos | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 |
| Bills | 0 | 18 | 3 | 0 | 21 |
at Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, New York
* Date: November 8, 1987
* Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST
* Game weather: 50 °F or 10 °C; wind 17 miles per hour (27 km/h; 15 kn)
* Game attendance: 63,698
* Referee: Dick Jorgensen
* TV announcers (NBC): Gary Gerould and Reggie Rucker
Game information :
First quarter
No scoring
Second quarter
BUF – Andre Reed 9 yard pass from Jim Kelly (Scott Norwood kick). Bills 7–0
BUF – Safety, Robb Riddick blocked punt through end zone. Bills 9–0
BUF – Robb Riddick 1 yard rush (Scott Norwood kick). Bills 16–0
BUF – Safety, Steve Tasker blocked punt through end zone. Bills 18–0
Third quarter
BUF – Scott Norwood 30-yard field goal. Bills 21–0.
DEN – Sammy Winder 6 yard rush (Rich Karlis kick). Bills 21–7.
Fourth quarter
DEN – Vance Johnson 15 yard pass from John Elway (Rich Karlis kick). Bills 21–14.
Top passers
DEN – John Elway – 13/30, 163 yards, 1 INT, 1 TD
BUF – Jim Kelly – 14/23, 135 yards, 1 INT, 1 TD
Top rushers
DEN – Sammy Winder – 12 rushes, 40 yards, 1 TD
BUF – Robb Riddick – 19 rushes, 78 yards, 1 TD
Top receivers
DEN – Vance Johnson – 5 receptions, 95 yards, 1 TD
BUF – Andre Reed – 5 receptions, 60 yards, 1 TD :
* Cornelius Bennett’s first game as a Buffalo Bill, wearing #55.
* Steve Tasker blocked punt just before halftime resulting in a safety and 18–0 halftime score.

#### Week 9

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bills | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 21 |
| • Browns | 3 | 14 | 7 | 3 | 27 |

#### Week 11 vs Dolphins

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Dolphins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bills | 0 | 21 | 3 | 3 | 27 |
at Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, New York
* Date: November 29
* Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST
* Game weather: 48 °F or 8.9 °C
* Game attendance: 68,055
* Referee: Red Cashion
* TV announcers (NBC): Don Criqui and Bob Trumpy
* Box Score, Box Score
Game information :
First quarter
No scoring
Second quarter
BUF – Jamie Mueller 5-yard run (Scott Norwood kick), 14:51. Bills 7–0.
BUF – Butch Rolle 3-yard pass from Jim Kelly (Scott Norwood kick), 5:58. Bills 14–0.
BUF – Chris Burkett 22-yard pass from Jim Kelly (Scott Norwood kick), 1:02. Bills 21–0.
Third quarter
BUF – Scott Norwood 39-yard field goal, 10:01. Bills 24–0.
Fourth quarter
BUF – Scott Norwood 28-yard field goal, 7:52. Bils 27–0.
Top passers
MIA – Dan Marino – 13/28, 165 yards, 3 INT
BUF – Jim Kelly – 15/21, 217 yards, 2 TD
Top rushers
MIA – Troy Stradford – 15 rushes, 23 yards
BUF – Ronnie Harmon – 23 rushes, 119 yards
Top receivers
MIA – Ron Davenport – 3 receptions, 41 yards
BUF – Andre Reed – 4 receptions, 96 yards :

#### Week 12

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bills | 0 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 21 |
| • Raiders | 10 | 3 | 14 | 7 | 34 |

#### Week 15

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bills | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| • Eagles | 0 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 17 |

### Standings

AFC East :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Indianapolis Colts$^{(3)}$ | 9 | 6 | 0 | .600 | 5–3 | 8–6 | 300 | 238 | W2 |
| New England Patriots | 8 | 7 | 0 | .533 | 6–2 | 8–4 | 320 | 293 | W3 |
| Miami Dolphins | 8 | 7 | 0 | .533 | 2–6 | 5–7 | 362 | 335 | L1 |
| Buffalo Bills | 7 | 8 | 0 | .467 | 4–4 | 6–6 | 270 | 305 | L2 |
| New York Jets | 6 | 9 | 0 | .400 | 3–5 | 6–5 | 334 | 360 | L4 |

## Player stats
### Passing

Note: Comp = Completions; ATT = Attempts; TD = Touchdowns; INT = Interceptions
| Player | Games | Comp | Att | Yards | TD | INT | Rating |
| Jim Kelly | 12 | 250 | 419 | 2798 | 19 | 11 | 83.8 |
| John Kidd | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39.6 |
| Dan Manucci | 3 | 7 | 21 | 68 | 0 | 2 | 3.8 |
| Brian McClure | 1 | 20 | 38 | 181 | 0 | 3 | 32.9 |
| Mark Miller | 1 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 2.8 |
| Robb Riddick | 6 | 1 | 1 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 118.7 |
| Willie Totten | 2 | 13 | 33 | 155 | 2 | 2 | 49.4 |

### Rushing

| Player | Games | Attempts | Yards | TD |
| Ronnie Harmon | 12 | 116 | 485 | 2 |
| Jamie Mueller | 12 | 82 | 354 | 2 |
| Carl Byrum | 13 | 66 | 280 | 0 |
| Robb Riddick | 6 | 59 | 221 | 5 |
| Ricky Porter | 9 | 47 | 177 | 0 |
| Jim Kelly | 12 | 29 | 133 | 0 |

### Receiving

| Player | Games | Number | Yards | Avg | TD |
| Chris Burkett | 12 | 56 | 765 | 13.7 | 4 |
| Andre Reed | 12 | 57 | 752 | 13.2 | 5 |
| Ronnie Harmon | 12 | 56 | 477 | 8.5 | 2 |
| Pete Metzelaars | 12 | 28 | 290 | 10.4 | 0 |
| Trumaine Johnson | 12 | 15 | 186 | 12.4 | 2 |

### Defense

Note: FR = Fumble Recoveries; TCKL = Tackles; INT = Interceptions; TD = Touchdowns
| Player | Games | Sacks | Forced Fumbles | FR | Tckl | INT | Yards | TD |
| Shane Conlan | 12 | 0.5 | 1 | 0 | 114 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bruce Smith | 12 | 12.0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Special teams

Note: FGA = Field Goals Attempted; FGM = Field Goals Made; FG% = Field goal percentage; XPA = Extra Points Attempted; XPM = Extra Points Made; XP% = Extra points percentage
| Player | Games | FGA | FGM | FG % | XPA | XPM | XP % |
| Scott Norwood | 12 | 15 | 10 | 66.7 | 31 | 31 | 100 |
| Todd Schlopy | 3 | 5 | 2 | 40 | 2 | 1 | 50 |

#### Punting

| Player | Games | Punts | Yards | Long | Blocked | Avg. yards |
| John Kidd | 12 | 64 | 2495 | 67 | 0 | 39.0 |
| Rick Partridge | 3 | 18 | 678 | 52 | 1 | 37.7 |

## Awards and honors

Defensive Rookie of the Year
* Shane Conlan
Pro Bowl Most Valuable Player
* Bruce Smith