The 1990 Buffalo Bills season was the 31st for the franchise and the 21st in the National Football League (NFL). The team finished the year with a record of 13 wins and 3 losses, and first in the American Football Conference (AFC) East division. They were 8–0 at home for the second time in their franchise history.NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, , p. 262. On the road, the Bills were 5–3. Buffalo qualified for their first Super Bowl appearance, but lost 20–19 to the New York Giants after an infamous missed field goal by Scott Norwood in the game's closing seconds.
The Bills' offense was one of the best in the league; their 428 points (26.75 points per game) scored was first in the league, and since they only gave up 263 points (6th in the league), their point differential was 165 points (10.3 per game), which was the best in the NFL in 1990, as well as the best point-differential in franchise history.Pro-Football-Reference: 1990 Buffalo Bills Buffalo's 48 offensive touchdowns (28 passing, 20 rushing) also led the league.
Defensive end Bruce Smith was named Associated Press Defensive Player of the Year for 1990,Pro-Football-Reference.com: 1990 NFL Standings, Team & Offensive Statistics. recording 101 tackles, four forced fumbles, and a career-high 19 sacks.Pro-football-reference.com: Bruce Smith. The season was chronicled on October 2, 2008, for America's Game: The Missing Rings, as one of the five greatest NFL teams to never win the Super Bowl.
Offseason
NFL draft
Undrafted free agents
+ 1990 undrafted free agents of notePlayerPositionCollegeDave SchnellQuarterbackIndiana
Personnel
Staff
Roster 1990 Buffalo Bills roster Quarterbacks Gale Gilbert Jim Kelly Frank Reich
Running backs Kenneth Davis Carwell Gardner FB Jamie Mueller FB Don Smith KR Thurman Thomas
Wide receivers Al Edwards KR/PR James Lofton Andre Reed Steve Tasker RS Vernon Turner
Tight ends Keith McKeller Pete Metzelaars Butch RolleOffensive linemen Howard Ballard T John Davis G Mitch Frerotte G Kent Hull C Adam Lingner C/LS Glenn Parker T Jim Ritcher G Will Wolford T
Defensive linemen Gary Baldinger DE/NT Mike Lodish NT Mark Pike DE Leon Seals DT Bruce Smith DE Jeff Wright NT Linebackers Carlton Bailey OLB Cornelius Bennett ILB Ray Bentley ILB Shane Conlan ILB Hal Garner OLB Matt Monger OLB Marvcus Patton OLB Darryl Talley ILB
Defensive backs Dwight Drane SS John Hagy FS Cliff Hicks CB Mark Kelso FS Nate Odomes CB Kim Phillips DB David Pool CB Leonard Smith SS James Williams CB
Special teams Scott Norwood K Rick Tuten P Reserve lists Don Beebe WR/KR (IR) Kerry Brady K (IR) Leonard Burton C (IR) Eddie Fuller RB (IR) Deval Glover WR (PUP) Brent Griffith G (IR) Chris Hale CB/PR (IR) Kirby Jackson CB (IR) Carl Mims CB (IR) Robb Riddick RB (PUP) Tim Smiley S (PUP)
Practice squad Clarkston Hines WR Pat Marlatt DE Wes Pritchett LB Joe Staysniak G/T 47 active, 11 inactive, 4 practice squad*Note: rookies in italics
Regular season Bruce Smith set a club record with 19 sacks. Smith also had 101 tackles.
September 24, 1990 – Thurman Thomas rushed for 214 yards versus the New York Jets. It was the second highest total in the history of Monday Night Football. Bruce Smith had 8 tackles, 2 sacks, and 4 hurries in the Bills 30–23 victory over Philadelphia. Bruce Smith had 9 tackles, 4 sacks, and 2 pressures in the Bills victory over Indianapolis.
Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 September 9 Indianapolis Colts W 26–10 1–0 Rich Stadium 78,899 2 September 16 at Miami Dolphins L 7–30 1–1 Joe Robbie Stadium 68,142 3 September 24 at New York Jets W 30–7 2–1 Giants Stadium 69,927 4 September 30 Denver Broncos W 29–28 3–1 Rich Stadium 74,393 5 October 7 Los Angeles Raiders W 38–24 4–1 Rich Stadium 80,076 6 Bye 7 October 21 New York Jets W 30–27 5–1 Rich Stadium 79,002 8 October 28 at New England Patriots W 27–10 6–1 Foxboro Stadium 51,959 9 November 4 at Cleveland Browns W 42–0 7–1 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 78,331 10 November 11 Phoenix Cardinals W 45–14 8–1 Rich Stadium 74,904 11 November 18 New England Patriots W 14–0 9–1 Rich Stadium 74,729 12 November 26 at Houston Oilers L 24–27 9–2 Houston Astrodome 60,130 13 December 2 Philadelphia Eagles W 30–23 10–2 Rich Stadium 79,320 14 December 9 at Indianapolis Colts W 31–7 11–2 Hoosier Dome 53,268 15 December 15 at New York Giants W 17–13 12–2 Giants Stadium 66,893 16 December 23 Miami Dolphins W 24–14 13–2 Rich Stadium 80,325 17 December 30 at Washington Redskins L 14–29 13–3 RFK Stadium 52,397 Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Game summaries
Week 1 vs. Colts
Week 2
The Bills offense never got rolling and were soundly defeated on the road, 30–7, to their rival Miami Dolphins.
Week 3
Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com
Week 4
The Bills avenged their 1989 Monday Night defeat against the defending AFC Champion Broncos. The Broncos rushed for 208 yards, led 21–9 after three quarters, and held Jim Kelly and the offense to just 197 yards of offense, but the pivotal play of the game erupted in the fourth on a touchdown return of a blocked Bronco field goal by linebacker Cornelius Bennett. That started a three-touchdown, 20-point outburst in all of 77 seconds, with Leonard Smith returning a John Elway interception for one score and recovering an Elway fumbled snap inside the 5 to set up yet another easy touchdown to win 29–28.
Week 5
The Bills, on Sunday Night Football, trailed 24–14 in the fourth quarter before erupting to 24 points to defeat the then-unbeaten Los Angeles Raiders, 38–24. Among the fourth quarter scores were a blocked punt by Steve Tasker, returned by J.D. Williams, where Skip Caray burst into saying "They've done it again, they've done it again!" referencing the prior weeks block of a field goal for a TD return vs Denver....and a fumble return by Nate Odomes.
Week 7
For the third straight game the Bills erased a two-score gap for the win. The Jets led 21–7 in the second quarter and 24–17 in the third, but Kelly's 60-yard score to James Lofton tied the game entering the fourth quarter. Jamie Mueller's touchdown catch then won it, 30–27.
Week 8
The Bills beat the Patriots 27–10 at Foxboro Stadium, known as Sullivan Stadium at the time.
Week 9
The Bills avenged last season's playoff loss by destroying the Cleveland Browns in their own stadium 42–0.
Week 10
The Bills welcomed the NFC East team Phoenix Cardinals to an extremely windy Rich Stadium, and defeated them 45–14.
Week 11
The Bills, led by 209 yards on the ground (including an 80-yard Thurman Thomas TD run), shut out the Patriots 14–0 at Rich Stadium.
Week 12
A year after Buffalo's epic 47–41 win at the Astrodome they returned there at 9–1 to face the 5–5 Oilers on Monday Night Football. This time the Oilers made sure there would be no comeback as Warren Moon and Lorenzo White authored 425 combined yards of offense and three touchdowns. Kelly managed two touchdowns and a pick as the Bills fell 27–24 to their former division foe.
Week 13
The Bills opened the game in the no-huddle offense and used it the whole game. The Bills went up 24–0 in the 1st qtr and eventually won the game 30–23.
Week 14
Week 15
The Bills pulled out a close win this Saturday afternoon, in a game in which both starting quarterbacks went down with injuries. Jim Kelly, and New York QB Phil Simms, with the latter being out for the season.
Week 16
The Bills, under backup quarterback Frank Reich, defeated the Miami Dolphins and wrapped up the AFC East title. Reich connected with James Lofton and Andre Reed for touchdowns, ultimately winning 24–14 despite fourteen penalties to five for Miami.
Week 17
Bills Head Coach Marv Levy decided to rest his starters for the playoffs, dropping the final game of the season in Washington, 29–14. The Bills finished with their best record in team history at 13 wins 3 losses.
Standings
NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, , p. 292
Playoffs
AFC Divisional Playoffs Miami Dolphins (12–4) at Buffalo Bills (13–3)
Despite being a close score, the Bills never trailed in this classic Jim Kelly versus Dan Marino shootout. The weather, steady light snow, had crews occasionally come out to shovel off the 10- and 5-yard lines. Despite the conditions, both team offenses were explosive. In the end, after winning the AFC East crown from the Dolphins a few weeks earlier, the Bills also ended the 'Fins season in a game which had 78 combined points.
AFC Championship Game Los Angeles Raiders (12-4) at Buffalo Bills (13-3)
The Bills shredded the Raiders, limiting quarterback Jay Schroeder to 13 of 31 completions for 150 yards and intercepting him 5 times, while also holding running back Marcus Allen to just 26 yards on 10 carries. The Raiders offense clearly missed running back Bo Jackson, who suffered what would turn out to be a career-ending injury the week before in a win against the Cincinnati Bengals. On offense, the Bills amassed 502 total yards, including 202 yards on the ground. Running back Thurman Thomas rushed for 138 and a touchdown while also catching 5 passes for 61 yards, while running back Kenneth Davis tied an AFC playoff record with 3 rushing touchdowns. Buffalo also set an NFL playoff record by scoring 41 points in the first half. Bills quarterback Jim Kelly threw for 300 yards and two touchdown passes to wide receiver James Lofton, who finished the game with 5 receptions for 113 yards. Thomas recorded a 12-yard touchdown run, while Davis scored from 1 yard, 3 yards, and 1 yard out. Linebacker Darryl Talley returned one of his two interceptions 27 yards for a touchdown.
Super Bowl XXV
To counteract the Bills' no-huddle offense, the Giants' strategy was to use a power running game utilizing O.J. Anderson, aided by quarterback rollouts, bootlegs, and play-action fakes. As tight end Mark Bavaro later recalled, "[w]e came out with three tight ends, fat slobs picking you up and moving you and letting you tackle O.J., if you could." This enabled them to take time off the clock and limit Buffalo's possessions. The Giants set a Super Bowl record for time of possession with 40 minutes, 33 seconds, including 22 minutes in the second half. On defense, New York wanted to be physical with Buffalo's wideouts, and play with extra defensive backs to concentrate on stopping the Bills passing game, while conceding the running game.
The contrast in strategies was evident during the first period. After forcing the Bills to punt on the opening drive of the game, the Giants consumed 6:15 off the clock by marching 58 yards in 10 plays to score on a 28-yard field goal from Matt Bahr. In that drive, New York ran five rushing plays and five passing plays. But the Bills struck right back on their ensuing possession with a five-play, 66-yard drive that took 1:23 off the clock, including a tipped 61-yard completion from quarterback Jim Kelly to receiver James Lofton that set up Scott Norwood's 23-yard field goal to tie the game at 3–3.
After forcing the Giants to punt on their ensuing possession, the Bills' offensive strategy started to work to perfection. Kelly led the Bills on a 12-play, 80-yard scoring drive that consumed 4:27 and moved the ball so effectively that the team never faced a third down. Kelly completed six consecutive passes (four to Andre Reed) for 62 yards, and running back Don Smith capped it off with a one-yard touchdown run to give Buffalo a 10–3 lead. Smith's 1-yard touchdown run was his only carry of the game and the last carry of his career. Reed's 5 first quarter receptions were a Super Bowl record.