Won Divisional Playoffs (vs. Oilers) 17–10 Lost AFC Championship (at Bengals) 10–21
Pro Bowlers
QB Jim Kelly WR Andre Reed C Kent Hull DE Bruce Smith DT Fred Smerlas OLB Cornelius Bennett ILB Shane Conlan K Scott Norwood
← 1987
Bills seasons
1989 →
The 1988 Buffalo Bills season was the franchise's 29th overall season as a football team and the 19th in the National Football League. The Bills ended a streak of four consecutive losing seasons by winning the AFC East; they finished the NFL's 1988 season with a record of twelve wins and four losses; it was the club's first winning season since 1981, its first 12-win season since the 1964 AFL championship season, and only the fifth double-digit win season in team history. The Bills were 8–0 at home for the first time in their franchise history.[1] On the road, the Bills were 4–4. From an attendance standpoint, the franchise set a record for attendance with 631,818 fans.[2]
This was the first of four consecutive AFC East titles for the Bills. They started the season 11–1 before losing three of their final four games, costing them the top seed in the AFC, and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
It was Buffalo's first trip to the postseason since 1981. The Bills were the #2 seed in the AFC (behind #1 Cincinnati), giving the Bills their first home playoff game since the 1966 AFL Championship, and their first ever playoff game at Rich Stadium. The 1988 season would be the first of five AFC Championship game appearances over six seasons,[3] and their only loss in the conference championship game.
The 1988 season was the first for running back Thurman Thomas, nose tackle Jeff Wright, and linebacker Carlton Bailey. Thomas would rush for 881 yards, despite only carrying the ball 207 times (42.7% of total team carries by a running back) while sharing carries with Robb Riddick, Jamie Mueller and Ronnie Harmon.
The Bills had a dominant defense in 1988: they gave up the fewest points (237) and the fewest total yards (4,578) in the AFC in 1988. The defensive unit was given the nickname "Blizzard Defense",[4][5] alluding to Buffalo's harsh winters.
Four Bills players made the All-Pro team in 1988: defensive end Bruce Smith, linebackers Shane Conlan and Cornelius Bennett, and kicker Scott Norwood.
Head coach Marv Levy was named NFL Coach of the Year by The Sporting News and UPI.
^NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 262
^NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 390
^Buffalo also reached the conference championship following the 1990, 1991, 1992, and 1993 seasons, winning them all
^December 21, 1988, Milwaukee Journal | Retrieved January 11, 2012
^December 22, 1988, Orlando Sentinel | Retrieved January 11, 2012: "ANOTHER BLIZZARD is sweeping through Buffalo. The effects of this one aren't being felt by residents, but by opposing teams at the Buffalo Bills' Rich Stadium. This blizzard is actually The Blizzard Defense, which is the name Bills defenders chose for themselves as part of a local newspaper's Name That Defense contest. Members of the AFC's top-ranked defense selected that name over dozens submitted by readers of The Buffalo News."
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