1992 Buffalo Bills season

1992 Buffalo Bills season
Head Coach	Marv Levy
Home Field	Rich Stadium
Results
Record	11–5
Place	2nd AFC East
Playoff Finish	W AFC Wild Card W AFC Divisional W AFC Championship L Super Bowl XXVI
Timeline
Previous season	Next season
1991	1993

The 1992 Buffalo Bills season was the 33rd season for the team in the National Football League. The Buffalo Bills finished the National Football League's 1992 season with a record of 11 wins and 5 losses, and finished second in the AFC East division. The Bills qualified for their third straight Super Bowl appearance.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Main article: 1992 NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College
1	27	John Fina	Tackle	Arizona
3	83	Keith Goganious	Linebacker	Penn State
4	111	Frank Kmet	Defensive End	Purdue
5	139	Matt Darby	Defensive Back	UCLA
6	167	Nate Turner	Running Back	Nebraska
7	195	Kurt Schulz	Defensive Back	Eastern Washington
8	223	Leonard Humphries	Defensive Back	Penn State
9	251	Chris Walsh	Wide Receiver	Stanford
10	279	Barry Rose	Wide Receiver	Wisconsin–Stevens Point
11	307	Vince Marrow	Tight End	Toledo
12	335	Matt Rodgers	Quarterback	Iowa

Personnel

Staff

1992 Buffalo Bills staff
Front Office President – Ralph Wilson Vice President of Administration/General Manager – Bill Polian Assistant General Manager/Director of Pro Personnel – Bob Ferguson Director of Player Personnel – John Butler Assistant Director/Collegiate Scouting – A. J. Smith Head Coaches Vice President for Football Operations/Head Coach – Marv Levy Assistant Head Coach/Running Backs – Elijah Pitts Administrative Assistant to the Head Coach – Chuck Lester Offensive Coaches Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Line – Tom Bresnahan Quarterbacks – Jim Shofner Receivers – Charlie Joiner Offensive Quality Control/Tight Ends – Don Lawrence			Defensive Coaches Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers – Walt Corey Defensive Line – Dan Sekanovich Defensive Backs – Dick Roach Defensive Quality Control – Chuck Lester Special Teams Coaches Special Teams – Bruce DeHaven Strength and Conditioning Strength and Conditioning Coordinator – Rusty Jones

Roster

1992 Buffalo Bills roster
Quarterbacks 13 Gale Gilbert 12 Jim Kelly 14 Frank Reich Running Backs 23 Kenneth Davis 35 Carwell Gardner FB 34 Thurman Thomas Wide Receivers 82 Don Beebe 85 Al Edwards 81 Brad Lamb 80 James Lofton 83 Andre Reed Tight Ends 86 Rob Awalt 84 Keith McKeller 88 Pete Metzelaars		Offensive Linemen 75 Howard Ballard T 70 John Fina T 59 Mitch Frerotte G 67 Kent Hull C 74 Glenn Parker G 51 Jim Ritcher G 69 Will Wolford T Defensive Linemen 92 Gary Baldinger NT 90 Phil Hansen DE 73 Mike Lodish NT 78 Bruce Smith DE 93 Keith Willis DE 91 Jeff Wright NT		Linebackers 54 Carlton Bailey 97 Cornelius Bennett ILB 58 Shane Conlan 95 Keith Goganious 55 Mark Maddox 53 Marvcus Patton 56 Darryl Talley ILB Defensive Backs 43 Matt Darby S 27 Cliff Hicks 47 Kirby Jackson 20 Henry Jones S 38 Mark Kelso S 37 Nate Odomes CB 24 Kurt Schulz S 31 James Williams CB		Special Teams  2 Steve Christie K 63 Adam Lingner LS  9 Chris Mohr P 89 Steve Tasker WR

Regular season

• Week 2 (September 13, 1992) – Buffalo's 34–31 win over the San Francisco 49ers was the first game in NFL history in which neither team punted.

• Week 12 (November 22, 1992) – Buffalo set an NFL record by rushing for 315 yards in a game versus the Atlanta Falcons.

• Week 17 (December 27, 1992) – Jim Kelly is injured in the final game of the season, forcing Frank Reich to take over as starting quarterback to begin the playoffs. One week later, Reich would engineer the greatest comeback in NFL history. (See below.)

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Game Site	Final Score	Record	Attendance
1	September 6, 1992	Los Angeles Rams	Rich Stadium	W 40–7	1–0	79,001
2	September 13, 1992	at San Francisco 49ers	Candlestick Park	W 34–31	2–0	64,053
3	September 20, 1992	Indianapolis Colts	Rich Stadium	W 38–0	3–0	77,781
4	September 27, 1992	at New England Patriots	Foxboro Stadium	W 41–7	4–0	52,527
5	October 4, 1992	Miami Dolphins	Rich Stadium	L 37–10	4–1	80,368
6	October 11, 1992	at Los Angeles Raiders	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	L 20–3	4–2	52,287
7	Bye
8	October 26, 1992	at New York Jets	The Meadowlands	W 24–20	5–2	68,181
9	November 1, 1992	New England Patriots	Rich Stadium	W 16–7	6–2	78,268
10	November 8, 1992	Pittsburgh Steelers	Rich Stadium	W 28–20	7–2	80,294
11	November 16, 1992	at Miami Dolphins	Joe Robbie Stadium	W 26–20	8–2	70,629
12	November 22, 1992	Atlanta Falcons	Rich Stadium	W 41–14	9–2	80,004
13	November 29, 1992	at Indianapolis Colts	Hoosier Dome	L 16–13	9–3	50,221
14	December 6, 1992	New York Jets	Rich Stadium	L 24–17	9–4	75,876
15	December 12, 1992	Denver Broncos	Rich Stadium	W 27–17	10–4	71,740
16	December 20, 1992	at New Orleans Saints	Louisiana Superdome	W 20–16	11–4	68,591
17	December 27, 1992	at Houston Oilers	Houston Astrodome	L 27–3	11–5	61,742

Standings

AFC East
	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA
Miami Dolphins	11	5	0	.688	340	281
Buffalo Bills	11	5	0	.688	381	283
Indianapolis Colts	9	7	0	.563	216	302
New York Jets	4	12	0	.250	220	315
New England Patriots	2	14	0	.125	205	363

Playoffs

Week	Date	Opponent	Final Score	Attendance
Wildcard	January 3, 1993	Houston Oilers	W 41–38	75,141
Division	January 9, 1993	at Pittsburgh Steelers	W 24–3	60,407
Conference Championship	January 17, 1993	at Miami Dolphins	W 29–10	72,703
Super Bowl	January 31, 1993	N Dallas Cowboys	L 52–17	98,374

AFC Wildcard Playoff

The Comeback

Frank Reich's defining moment in his pro career is actually another comeback, this one often called the greatest comeback in NFL history (it is the greatest comeback in terms of deficit overcome, 32 points), in the playoffs following the 1992 season against the Houston Oilers. Reich led the Bills on a 35–3 run in the second half and overtime against the Oiler defense en route to a 41–38 victory. Reich would help the Bills defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers in the divisional round before once again giving the team back to Kelly, who led them into Super Bowl XXVII, where they fell to the Dallas Cowboys 52–17.

Scoring summary

	1	2	3	4	OT
Oilers	7	21	7	3	38
Bills	3	0	28	7	41

• HOU – Jeffires 3-yard pass from Moon (Del Greco kick) 7–0 HOU
• BUF – FG Christie 36-yards 7–3 HOU
• HOU – Slaughter 7-yard pass from Moon (Del Greco kick) 14–3 HOU
• HOU – Duncan 26-yard pass from Moon (Del Greco kick) 21–3 HOU
• HOU – Jeffires 27-yard pass from Moon (Del Greco kick) 28–3 HOU
• HOU – McDowell 58-yard interception return (Del Greco kick) 35–3 HOU
• BUF – K. Davis 1-yard run (Christie kick) 35–10 HOU
• BUF – Beebe 38-yard pass from Reich (Christie kick) 35–17 HOU
• BUF – Reed 26-yard pass from Reich (Christie kick) 35–24 HOU
• BUF – Reed 18-yard pass from Reich (Christie kick) 35–31 HOU
• BUF – Reed 17-yard pass from Reich (Christie kick) 38–35 BUF
• HOU – FG Del Greco 26-yards 38–38 tie
• BUF – FG Christie 32-yards 41–38 BUF

Super Bowl XXVII

The Bills entered Super Bowl XXVII trying to avoid becoming the first team to lose three consecutive Super Bowls. Once again the team was loaded with talent, boasting 12 Pro Bowl selections. During the regular season, Buffalo's no-huddle offense ranked as the number two offense in the league (6,114 yards) and ranked as the number one rushing offense (2,436). Running back Thurman Thomas rushed for 1,487 yards and 9 touchdowns during the regular season, while also catching 58 passes for 626 yards and another 3 touchdowns. Running back Kenneth Davis rushed for 613 yards, caught 15 passes for 80 yards, and added another 251 yards returning kickoffs. Quarterback Jim Kelly had 269 out of 462 completions for 3,457 yards, 23 touchdowns, and 19 interceptions. Wide receiver Andre Reed lead the team with 65 receptions for 913 yards and 3 touchdowns, receiver James Lofton contributed 51 receptions for 786 yards and 6 touchdowns, and wide receiver Don Beebe had 33 receptions for 554 and 2 touchdowns. Also tight end Pete Metzelaars recorded 30 receptions for 298 yards and 6 touchdowns. The Bills also had one of the best offensive lines in the NFL, led by Pro Bowlers Will Wolford, Jim Ritcher, and Howard Ballard, along with center Kent Hull.

On defense, the line was anchored by tackles Bruce Smith (14 sacks) and Jeff Wright (6 sacks, 1 fumble recovery), who were fully recovered after missing almost all of the previous season due to injuries. The Bills were once again led by their trio of linebackers Darryl Talley (77 tackles, 4 sacks), Shane Conlan (66 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 interception), and Pro Bowler Cornelius Bennett (52 tackles, 4 sacks, 3 fumble recoveries. The defensive secondary was aided by the emergence of second year defensive back Henry Jones, who led the NFL with 8 interceptions, returning them for 263 yards and 2 touchdowns. Defensive back Mark Kelso recorded 7 interceptions, while Pro Bowl defensive back Nate Odomes had 5.

However, the Bills quest for a third consecutive Super Bowl suffered a major setback when they lost the final game of the season to the Houston Oilers. The loss caused the Bills to finish with an 11–5 record, losing the AFC East title to the Miami Dolphins based on tiebreaking rules, and thus making them a wild card team for the playoffs. Thus, even if they won their first playoff game, they would have to win two on the road to make the Super Bowl. To make matters worse, Kelly also suffered strained knee ligaments during the loss to the Oilers and had to miss the first 2 playoff games. Furthermore, their first opponent in the playoffs ended up being the Oilers. A headline on a Buffalo newspaper stated the Bills situation: "Bills Begin The Longest Road Today."

Starting lineups

Source:

Position Name WR James Lofton LT Will Wolford LG Jim Ritcher C Kent Hull RG Glenn Parker RT Howard Ballard TE Pete Metzelaars WR Andre Reed QB Jim Kelly RB Thurman Thomas FB-WR Don Beebe Position Name LE Phil Hansen LDT-NT Jeff Wright RDT-RE Bruce Smith RE-LOLB Marvcus Patton LOLB-LILB Shane Conlan MLB-RILB Cornelius Bennett ROLB Darryl Talley LCB James Williams RCB Nate Odomes SS Henry Jones FS Mark Kelso Scoring summary BUF – TD: Thurman Thomas 2 yard run (Steve Christie kick) 7–0 BUF DAL – TD: Jay Novacek 23 yard pass from Troy Aikman (Lin Elliott kick) 7–7 tie DAL – TD: Jimmie Jones 2 yard fumble return (Lin Elliott kick) 14–7 DAL BUF – FG: Steve Christie 21 yards 14–10 DAL DAL – TD: Michael Irvin 19 yard pass from Troy Aikman (Lin Elliott kick) 21–10 DAL DAL – TD: Michael Irvin 18 yard pass from Troy Aikman (Lin Elliott kick) 28–10 DAL DAL – FG: Lin Elliott 20 yards 31–10 DAL BUF – TD: Don Beebe 40 yard pass from Frank Reich (Steve Christie kick) 31–17 DAL DAL – TD: Alvin Harper 45 yard pass from Troy Aikman (Lin Elliott kick) 38–17 DAL DAL – TD: Emmitt Smith 10 yard run (Lin Elliott kick) 45–17 DAL DAL – TD: Ken Norton Jr. 9 yard fumble return (Lin Elliott kick) 52–17 DAL Awards and records Fewest Rushing Yards allowed in NFL, 1395 yards Led NFL in Total Yards Rushing, 2436 yards Led AFC in Points Scored, 381 Led AFC in Yards Gained, 5893 Set NFL record for most rushing yards by a club in one game (315) Steve Christie, Tied NFL record, Most Field Goals Attempted in a Playoff Game (6) Steve Christie, Tied NFL record, Most Field Goals Made in a Playoff Game (5) Henry Jones, Tied NFL Lead, 8 Interceptions Steve Tasker, Pro Bowl MVP Thurman Thomas, AFC Leader, 12 Touchdowns

References

External links

• Bills on Pro Football Reference
• Bills on jt-sw.com
• Bills Stats on jt-sw.com