27th season in franchise history; first with Jim Kelly and Marv Levy
1986 Buffalo Bills season
Owner
Ralph Wilson
General manager
Bill Polian
Head coach
Hank Bullough Marv Levy
Home field
Rich Stadium
Results
Record
4–12
Division place
4th AFC East
Playoff finish
Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers
None
← 1985
Bills seasons
1987 →
The 1986 Buffalo Bills season was the franchise's 17th season in the National Football League, and the 27th overall.
Although the Bills were only 2–6 at the midway point of the season, their games were much more competitive than in years past. (Only two of their losses in the first eight games were by more than a touchdown.) Still, after a 6-point Week Nine loss to Tampa Bay, the Bills fired coach Hank Bullough, and hired former Kansas City coach Marv Levy to replace him. (Though Levy was not on the Bills' coaching staff, he had served as a television analyst for the team during the 1986 preseason and was hired away from his executive role from the Montreal Alouettes because of that team's terminal financial situation.) Levy would win his first game with the Bills against Pittsburgh in Week Ten, and one more game against Kansas City in Week Thirteen, finishing with a 2–5 record in his first half-season as head coach.[a]
Years later, Bills offensive tackle Will Wolford alleged that the team purposely lost the week 9 game to Tampa Bay in order to get Bullough fired.[1]
The Bills ended their 22-game losing streak on the road by beating the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium, 17–14. Coincidentally, the Bills beat the Chiefs, 14–9, in the road game leading up to the losing streak in 1983.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
^Talbot, Ryan (March 29, 2019). "Losing for Levy: How throwing game led to Buffalo Bills hiring HOF coach". syracuse.com. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
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