# 1983 Buffalo Bills season

The 1983 Buffalo Bills season was the franchise's 14th season in the National Football League, and the 24th overall. It was the first of three seasons for head coach Kay Stephenson. Bills running back Joe Cribbs was both the Bills' leading rusher (1,131 yards), and the team's leader in receptions and receiving yards (57 catches for 524 yards). The team looked to improve on its 4–5 record from 1982. With the NFL schedule back to 16 games, the Bills were a more competitive team during 1983. The team started 5–2 through its first 7 games. However, they would struggle the rest of the way, as they went 3–6 in its final 9 games en route to a mediocre 8–8 season. This season also saw the Bills beat the Dolphins in Miami for the first time since 1966, Miami's inaugural season. After beating the Chiefs, 14–9, in Arrowhead Stadium on December 4, the Bills would lose 22 road games in a row, which included going 0–8 on the road in each of the following two seasons.

## Offseason
### NFL draft

The Bills drafted future Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly, the third of a record six quarterbacks taken in the first round of the 1983 draft. Kelly received opposing offers from the United States Football League and from the Canadian Football League’s Montreal Concordes. Kelly would ultimately sign with the USFL’s Houston Gamblers for the following three seasons before making his first start with the Bills in Week One of the 1986 season. The Bills later retired Kelly's #12, at the time the only number the franchise retired. Linebacker Darryl Talley played for twelve years with the Bills. He was a two-time Pro Bowler, in 1990 and 1991. He was inducted into the Bills Wall of Fame.
1983 Buffalo Bills draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College | Notes |
| 1 | 12 | Tony Hunter | Tight end | Notre Dame | |
| 1 | 14 | Jim Kelly * $^†$ | Quarterback | Miami (FL) | Kelly would join the Bills for the 1986 season. |
| 2 | 39 | Darryl Talley * | Linebacker | West Virginia | |
| 4 | 93 | Trey Junkin | Linebacker | Louisiana Tech | |
| 4 | 112 | Jimmy Payne | Defensive end | Georgia | |
| 5 | 126 | Matt Vandenboom | Defensive back | Wisconsin | |
| 7 | 180 | Gurnest Brown | Defensive tackle | Maryland | |
| 8 | 207 | James Durham | Defensive back | Houston | |
| 9 | 234 | George Parker | Running back | Norfolk State | |
| 10 | 260 | Richard Tharpe | Defensive tackle | Louisville | |
| 11 | 293 | Larry White | Defensive end | Jackson State | |
| 12 | 320 | Julius Dawkins | Wide receiver | Pittsburgh | |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Attendance | Notes |
| 1 | September 4, 1983 | Miami Dolphins | L 12–0 | 0–1 | 78,715 | Uwe von Schamann accounted for all points scored |
| 2 | September 11, 1983 | at Cincinnati Bengals | W 10–6 | 1–1 | 46,839 | Joe Ferguson threw a 14-yard touchdown |
| 3 | September 18, 1983 | Baltimore Colts | W 28–23 | 2–1 | 40,937 | Game lead changed seven times in final three quarters |
| 4 | September 25, 1983 | Houston Oilers | W 30–13 | 3–1 | 60,070 | Ferguson threw for only 127 yards |
| 5 | October 3, 1983 | New York Jets | L 34–10 | 3–2 | 79,933 | Buffalo's only Monday Night Football appearance of the year |
| 6 | October 9, 1983 | at Miami Dolphins | W 38–35 | 4–2 | 59,948 | Ferguson threw five touchdowns and 419 yards; first road win over Miami since 1966 |
| 7 | October 16, 1983 | at Baltimore Colts | W 30–7 | 5–2 | 38,565 | Last trip to Baltimore until formation of Ravens |
| 8 | October 23, 1983 | New England Patriots | L 31–0 | 5–3 | 60,424 | Ferguson intercepted three times by Roland James |
| 9 | October 30, 1983 | New Orleans Saints | W 27–21 | 6–3 | 49,413 | Ferguson threw four touchdowns |
| 10 | November 6, 1983 | at New England Patriots | L 21–7 | 6–4 | 42,604 | Ferguson intercepted four times |
| 11 | November 13, 1983 | at New York Jets | W 24–17 | 7–4 | 48,513 | Bills outscored Jets 24–3 in second half; Bills last visit ever to Shea Stadium and Queens, NY |
| 12 | November 20, 1983 | Los Angeles Raiders | L 27–24 | 7–5 | 72,393 | Bills lost despite erasing 21-point Raiders lead in the fourth |
| 13 | November 27, 1983 | at Los Angeles Rams | L 41–17 | 7–6 | 48,246 | Eric Dickerson rushed for 125 yards |
| 14 | December 4, 1983 | at Kansas City Chiefs | W 14–9 | 8–6 | 27,104 | Joe Cribbs' 185 rushing yards constituted almost all of Buffalo's offense |
| 15 | December 11, 1983 | San Francisco 49ers | L 23–10 | 8–7 | 38,039 | Ferguson intercepted three times |
| 16 | December 18, 1983 | at Atlanta Falcons | L 31–14 | 8–8 | 31,015 | Matt Kofler threw for 125 yards |
| Note: Intra-divisional opponents are in bold text |||||||

## Season summary
### Week 1

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Dolphins | 0 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 12 |
| Bills | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Week 2

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Bills | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 10 |
| Bengals | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 |

### Week 3

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Colts | 6 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 23 |
| • Bills | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 28 |

### Week 4

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Oilers | 3 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 13 |
| • Bills | 7 | 6 | 3 | 14 | 30 |

### Week 5

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Jets | 0 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 34 |
| Bills | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 10 |

### Week 6

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
| • Bills | 7 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 3 | 38 |
| Dolphins | 0 | 7 | 14 | 14 | 0 | 35 |

### Week 7

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Bills | 7 | 17 | 3 | 3 | 30 |
| Colts | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |

### Week 8

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Patriots | 0 | 7 | 0 | 24 | 31 |
| Bills | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Week 9

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Saints | 0 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 21 |
| • Bills | 7 | 13 | 7 | 0 | 27 |
The Bills knocked Ken Stabler out of the game at the end of the first quarter with a rib injury.

### Week 10

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

### Week 11

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Bills | 0 | 0 | 14 | 10 | 24 |
| Jets | 0 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 17 |

### Week 12

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Raiders | 7 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 27 |
| Bills | 0 | 3 | 0 | 21 | 24 |

### Week 13

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bills | 0 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 17 |
| • Rams | 0 | 14 | 10 | 17 | 41 |

### Week 14

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

### Week 15

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • 49ers | 3 | 3 | 14 | 3 | 23 |
| Bills | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 |

### Week 16

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bills | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| • Falcons | 3 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 31 |

## Standings

AFC East :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Miami Dolphins$^{(2)}$ | 12 | 4 | 0 | .750 | 6–2 | 9–3 | 389 | 250 | W5 |
| New England Patriots | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | 4–4 | 6–6 | 274 | 289 | L1 |
| Buffalo Bills | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | 4–4 | 7–5 | 283 | 351 | L2 |
| Baltimore Colts | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 3–5 | 5–9 | 264 | 354 | W1 |
| New York Jets | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 3–5 | 4–8 | 313 | 331 | L2 |

## Awards and honors
### All-Pros

* Fred Smerlas, Nose tackle
* Steve Freeman, Safety