1998 Buffalo Bills season

1998 Buffalo Bills season
Head Coach	Wade Phillips
Home Field	Ralph Wilson Stadium
Results
Record	10–6
Place	3rd AFC East
Playoff Finish	Lost AFC Wildcard
Timeline
Previous season	Next season
1997	1999

The 1998 Buffalo Bills season was the 39th season for the team in the National Football League. The season marked an important development in the Bills history as a quarterback controversy would consume the whole season between Rob Johnson and Doug Flutie. It would also mark the beginning of the Wade Phillips era. The Bills finished second in the AFC East with a 10–6 record, and would qualify for the play-offs only to lose in the wild card round to the Miami Dolphins.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Main article: 1998 NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	School/Club Team
2	39	Sam Cowart	Middle Linebacker	Florida State
3	68	Robert Hicks	Offensive Tackle	Mississippi State
5	131	Jonathan Linton	Fullback	North Carolina
6	160	Fred Coleman	Wide Receiver	Washington
7	198	Victor Allotey	Offensive Guard	Indiana
7	238	Kamil Loud	Wide Receiver	Cal-Poly SLO

Personnel

Staff

1998 Buffalo Bills staff
Front Office President – Ralph Wilson Executive Vice President/General Manager – John Butler Director of Pro Personnel – A. J. Smith Director of Player Personnel – Dwight Adams Head Coaches Vice President of Football Operations/Head Coach – Wade Phillips Offensive Coaches Offensive Coordinator – Joe Pendry Quarterbacks – Turk Schonert Running Backs – Bishop Harris Receivers – Charlie Joiner Assistant to the Head Coach/Tight Ends – Max Bowman Offensive Line – Carl Mauck Offensive Quality Control – Chris Dickson			Defensive Coaches Defensive Coordinator – Ted Cottrell Defensive Line – John Levra Linebackers – Chuck Lester Defensive Backs – Bill Bradley Special Teams Coaches Special Teams – Bruce DeHaven Strength and Conditioning Strength and Conditioning Coordinator – Rusty Jones

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 6, 1998	at San Diego Chargers	L 16–14	64,037
2	September 13, 1998	at Miami Dolphins	L 13–7	73,097
3	September 20, 1998	St. Louis Rams	L 34–33	65,199
4	Bye
5	October 4, 1998	San Francisco 49ers	W 26–21	76,615
6	October 11, 1998	at Indianapolis Colts	W 31–24	52,938
7	October 18, 1998	Jacksonville Jaguars	W 17–16	77,635
8	October 25, 1998	at Carolina Panthers	W 30–14	64,050
9	November 1, 1998	Miami Dolphins	W 30–24	79,011
10	November 8, 1998	at New York Jets	L 34–12	75,403
11	November 15, 1998	New England Patriots	W 13–10	72,020
12	November 23, 1998	Indianapolis Colts	W 34–11	49,032
13	November 29, 1998	at New England Patriots	L 25–21	58,304
14	December 6, 1998	at Cincinnati Bengals	W 33–20	54,359
15	December 13, 1998	Oakland Raiders	W 44–21	62,002
16	December 19, 1998	New York Jets	L 17–10	79,056
17	December 27, 1998	at New Orleans Saints	W 45–33	39,707

Standings

AFC East
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA
New York Jets	12	4	0	.750	416	266
Miami Dolphins	10	6	0	.625	321	265
Buffalo Bills	10	6	0	.625	400	333
New England Patriots	9	7	0	.563	337	329
Indianapolis Colts	3	13	0	.188	310	444

Playoffs

AFC: Miami Dolphins 24, Buffalo Bills 17

1 2 3 4 Total Bills 0 7 7 3 17 Dolphins 3 3 8 10 24 at Pro Player Stadium, Miami, Florida Game time: 12:30 p.m. EST Game weather: 80 °F (27 °C), partly cloudy Game attendance: 72,698 Referee: Mike Carey TV announcers (ABC): Al Michaels (play-by-play), Dan Dierdorf, Boomer Esiason (color commentators), and Lesley Visser (sideline reporter)

Awards and honors

• Doug Flutie, AFC Pro Bowl Selection
• Doug Flutie, NFL Comeback Player of the Year

References

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