Buffalo Bills

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Lore & Background

Founded in 1959 as a charter member of the American Football League (AFL), the team joined the NFL in 1970 after the AFL–NFL merger. The team's name is taken from an All-America Football Conference (AAFC) franchise from Buffalo that was named after western frontiersman Buffalo Bill. Drawing much of its fanbase from western New York and neighboring southern Ontario, the Bills are the only NFL team that plays home games in the state of New York. The franchise is owned by Terry Pegula, who purchased the Bills after the death of the original owner Ralph Wilson in 2014, and a coalition of private equity funds and investors who purchased a minority stake in the team in 2024. The Bills advanced to the AFL Championship Game three years in a row from 1964 to 1966, winning the first two—the only major professional sports championships for a team representing Buffalo. They struggled heavily in the latter years of the AFL and for much of their first two decades in the NFL, tallying only five winning seasons and three postseason berths from 1967 to 1987. They became perennial postseason contenders in the late 1980s; from 1990 to 1993, they appeared in a record four consecutive Super Bowls and lost each one. From the early 2000s to the mid-2010s, the Bills endured the longest playoff drought in the four major North American professional sports, a 17-year span that made them the last franchise in the four leagues to qualify for the postseason in the 21st century. They returned to consistent postseason contention by the late 2010s, but not the Super Bowl. Their four Super Bowl appearances are the most among NFL franchises that have not won the Super Bowl, a record they share with the Minnesota Vikings.

In Their Own Story

The narrative of the 2017 season turned on a single Week 11 matchup at home against the Bills. In this contest, the Chargers handily routed Buffalo, snapping a two-game losing streak to improve their record to 4–6. The victory was fueled by a chaotic performance from rookie quarterback Nathan Peterman, who threw five interceptions in the first half alone before being pulled for starter Tyrod Taylor. Despite this dominant regular-season win over Buffalo, the Bills later capitalized on tiebreakers when the season concluded. They claimed one of the two Wild Card spots in the four-way tie that also included the Chargers, Titans, and Ravens, effectively ending Los Angeles' 2017 playoff hopes.

Reader's Guide

The Bills began competitive play in 1960 as a charter member of the American Football League led by head coach Buster Ramsey and joined the NFL as part of the AFL–NFL merger in 1970. In the first two seasons, the Bills went 5–8–1 and 6–8 under Ramsey. The Bills won two consecutive American Football League titles in 1964 and 1965 with quarterback Jack Kemp and coach Lou Saban, but the club has yet to win a league championship since. After the AFL–NFL merger, the Bills were generally mediocre in the 1970s but featured All-Pro running back O. J. Simpson. After being pushed to the brink of failure in the mid-1980s, the collapse of the United States Football League and a series of highly drafted players such as Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, Bruce Smith and Darryl Talley allowed the Bills to rebuild into a perennial contender in the late 1980s through the mid-1990s under head coach Marv Levy, a period in which the team won four consecutive AFC Championships; the team nevertheless lost all four subsequent Super Bowls. The rise of the division rival New England Patriots under Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, along with numerous failed attempts at rebuilding in the 2000s and 2010s, helped prevent the Bills from reaching the playoffs in seventeen consecutive seasons between 2000 and 2016. Mike Mularkey coached the Bills in the 2004 and 2005 seasons. He went 9–7 but missed the postseason in 2004 and 5–11 in 2005. He resigned from the team after the 2005 season. From 2006 to 2009, the Bills were coached by Dick Jauron. After three consecutive 7–9 seasons, Jauron was dismissed after a 3–6 start to his fourth season. Perry Fewell finished out the season as interim with a 3–4 mark. From 2010 to 2012, the Bills were coached by Chan Gailey. The team had Ryan Fitzpatrick as their quarterback in those seasons. Gailey was fired after three consecutive last place finishes in the AFC East. Doug Marrone was hired to be the Bills' head coach before the 2013 season. The Bills went 6–10 in the 2013 season and improved to 9–7 in the 2014 season. Marrone decided to step down as head coach after the season. On October 8, 2014, Buffalo Sabres owners Terry and Kim Pegula received unanimous approval to acquire the Bills during the NFL owners' meetings, becoming the second ownership group of the team after team founder Ralph Wilson. Before the 2015 season, the team hired former Jets head coach Re

Did You Know?

• The Bills are the only NFL team that plays home games in the state of New York.
• The Bills won two consecutive American Football League titles in 1964 and 1965.
• The Bills appeared in a record four consecutive Super Bowls from 1990 to 1993 and lost each one.
• The Bills endured a 17-year playoff drought from 2000 to 2016, the longest in major North American professional sports at the time.
• In 2024, the Bills became one of the first NFL teams to sell part of their franchise to outside private equity investors.