Buffalo Bills Tickets Information
Based in the Buffalo, New York metropolitan area, the Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team. Their home games are played in the suburb of Orchard Park. Currently, they are members of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL).
In 1960, the Bills started competitive playing as a charter member of the American Football League and joined the NFL as part of the AFL-NFL Merger.
The Bills have the honor of winning two consecutive AFL titles in 1964 and 1965. But no championship has been won by them since the merger. Buffalo has the distinction of being the first and only team to win four consecutive American Football Conference Championships.
The Bills are named after Buffalo Bill Cody, the winning entry in a local contest. The Bills' cheerleaders are known as the Buffalo Jills.
History:
In 1960, the team began played as a charter member of the American Football League (AFL) and were successful in winning two consecutive AFL titles in 1964 and 1965. The club became part of the NFL when the latter absorbed the AFL in a merger in 1970. The Bills have the distinction of being the only team to advance to four consecutive Super Bowls, but lost all four of them.
1970s-early 1980s
Before the 1969 season, O.J. Simpson was drafted by the Bills who would become the face of the franchise through the 1970s. The Bills joined the National Football League (NFL) as part of the 1970 AFL-NFL Merger. Simpson recorded a 2,000-yard season and was voted NFL MVP, and the team had its first winning record since 1966. Then in 1973, Joe Ferguson became their new quarterback.
Mid-1980s-1997: Jim Kelly and the "K-gun"
In the 1983 draft , the quarterback Jim Kelly was selected by the Bills as their replacement to an aging Joe Ferguson, but Kelly preferred to play in the upstart United States Football League. Meanwhile, the team finished with 2-14 record in 1984 and 1985.
1998-present
Under new coach Wade Phillips, two quarterbacks for the 1998 season were signed by the Bills. Jaguars backup Rob Johnson was traded as high first round pick for, and Doug Flutie was signed as almost an afterthought. Doug Flutie was a former Heisman Trophy winner and Canadian Football League star Doug Flutie. He was also very popular among Bills fans who wanted Flutie to get the starting job. He looked the better of the two QBs in camp and in preseason. But the position was named to Johnson by Phillips.
The Bills could not begin the season with desired results. A rib injury was occurred to Johnson against the Indianapolis Colts. Flutie came in and successfully led the Bills to a playoff spot and a 10-6 record. In their first playoff game against the Miami Dolphins, the Bills stumbled although a playoff record for most receiving yards in a game with 240 was set by Eric Moulds.
Flutie's continued enjoying great popularity into the 1999 season. By finishing 11-5, the Bills were two games behind the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC East standings.
Even though Flutie had won 10 games and had gotten the Bills into the playoffs, Rob Johnson was given the starting quarterback job in the first round playoff game against the Tennessee Titans by the Wade Phillips. The Bills were successful in scoring a field goal with 16 seconds left to give them a 16-15 lead.
For the 2001 season, Titans defensive coordinator Gregg Williams took over as head coach. This change proved to be the worst in recent memory for the Bills. Rob Johnson went down in mid-season with an injury and Alex Van Pelt took over. Buffalo finished 3-13. The Bills even lost a much-hyped mid-season match up with "Bills West" (the Flutie-led Chargers).
After the season, quarterback Drew Bledsoe was traded by them. Bledsoe revived the Bills for the 2002 season. He was successful in leading them to an 8-8 record, setting 10 team passing records in the process. However, they were still in last place in a tough division with all other teams finishing 9-7.
Before the beginning of the 2003 season, another Patriots castoff, safety Lawyer Milloy, joined the Bills.The team received an immediate boost on defense with Milloy.
|