1982 Buffalo Bills season

23rd season in franchise history

1982 Buffalo Bills season

Owner| Ralph Wilson
Head coach| Chuck Knox
Home field| Rich Stadium
Results
Record| 4–5
Division place| 4th AFC East
Playoff finish| Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers| DT Fred Smerlas
DE Ben Williams

* <- 1981
* Bills seasons
* 1983 ->

The 1982 Buffalo Bills season was the franchise's 13th season in the National Football League, and the 23rd overall. Due to the 1982 NFL strike, the season was shortened to only nine games; the Bills' 4–5 record left them in the 9th spot in the AFC (one spot away from the last playoff seed), therefore eliminating the Bills from the playoffs in the 16-team tournament format.

The Bills led the league in rushing in 1982, with 1,371 yards (152.3 per game) on the ground.[1][2] This was the last season with Chuck Knox as head coach, as negotiations for a new contract with ownership failed, which led him to leave Buffalo for the Seattle Seahawks in January 1983.

## Offseason[edit]

### NFL draft[edit]

Main article: 1982 NFL Draft

Linebacker Eugene Marve played linebacker for Buffalo for six seasons. Placekicker Gary Anderson went on to become the second-leading scorer in NFL history, although he did so with five other NFL teams,[3] as he never played a regular-season game for Buffalo.

1982 Buffalo Bills Draft  Round | Selection | Player | Position | College | Notes

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1  | 19  | Perry Tuttle | WR | Clemson |
2  | 48  | Matt Kofler | QB | San Diego State |
3  | 59  | Eugene Marve | LB | Saginaw Valley State |
4  | 93  | Van Williams  | RB | Carson-Newman |
6  | 160  | DeWayne Chivers  | TE | South Carolina |
7  | 171  | Gary Anderson | K | Syracuse |
8  | 218  | Luc Tousignant | QB  | Fairmont State |
9  | 245  | Dennis Edwards  | DE | USC |
10  | 272  | Vic James  | DB | Colorado |
11  | 298  | Frank Kalil | G | Arizona |
12  | 329  | Tony Suber  | DT | Gardner–Webb |

## Personnel[edit]

### Staff/coaches[edit]

1982 Buffalo Bills staff

Front office

* Majority owner/team president – Ralph Wilson
* General manager – Stew Barber
* Vice president/minority owner – Pat McGroder

Coaching staff

* Head coach – Chuck Knox
* Assistant head coach - - Tom Caitlin

Offensive coaches

* Offensive coordinator / offensive line – Ray Proschaska
* Running backs coach – Chick Harris
* Quarterbacks coach - Kay Stephenson
* Wide receivers coach – Jack Donaldson

Defensive/special teams coaches

* Defensive coordinator / linebackers coach - Tom Caitlin
* Defensive line – Jim Carmody
* Defensive backs – Ralph Hawkins
* Special teams – Steve Moore

Special assignments

* Special assignments coach – Miller McCalmon

### Roster[edit]

1982 Buffalo Bills roster

| Quarterbacks

* 12 Joe Ferguson
* 10 Matt Kofler
* 17 Matt Robinson

Running backs

* 47 Curtis Brown FB
* 20 Joe Cribbs
* 25 Roland Hooks
* 48 Roosevelt Leaks FB
* 34 Booker Moore
* 40 Robb Riddick

Wide receivers

* 80 Jerry Butler
* 87 Robert Holt
* 82 Frank Lewis
* 88 Mike Mosley KR/WR
* 89 Lou Piccone
* 81 Perry Tuttle

Tight ends

* 86 Mark Brammer
* 84 Buster Barnett

|  | Offensive linemen

* 73 Jon Borchardt T
* 78 Justin Cross T
* 70 Joe Devlin T
* 53 Will Grant C
* 72 Ken Jones T
* 61 Tom Lynch G
* 67 Reggie McKenzie G
* 51 Jim Ritcher G
* 65 Tim Vogler G/C

Defensive linemen

* 91 Ken Johnson DE
* 97 Darrell Irvin DE
* 99 Mark Roopenian NT
* 76 Fred Smerlas DT
* 83 Sherman White DE
* 77 Ben Williams DE

|  | Linebackers

* 55 Jim Haslett ILB
* 52 Chris Keating ILB
* 60 Joey Lumpkin
* 54 Eugene Marve ILB
* 59 Shane Nelson ILB
* 62 Ervin Parker OLB
* 58 Isiah Robertson OLB
* 57 Lucius Sanford OLB
* 41 Phil Villapiano OLB

Defensive backs

* 29 Mario Clark CB
* 22 Steve Freeman SS
* 42 Rod Kush SS
* 24 Lemar Parrish CB
* 38 Jeff Nixon FS
* 26 Charles Romes CB
* 45 Bill Simpson FS
* 27 Chris Williams CB

Special teams

* 7 Greg Cater P
* 1 Efrén Herrera K
* 5 Nick Mike-Mayer K

|  | Reserve lists

* 85 Byron Franklin WR (IRTooltip Injured reserve)

Practice squad

Rookies in italics

## Regular season[edit]

### Schedule[edit]

Week  | Date  | Opponent  | Result  | Record  | Game site  | NFL.com
recap

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1  | September 12  | Kansas City Chiefs | W 14–9  | 1–0  | Rich Stadium | Recap
2  | September 16  | Minnesota Vikings | W 23–22  | 2–0  | Rich Stadium  | Recap
Players' strike
3  | November 21  | Miami Dolphins | L  7–9  | 2–1  | Rich Stadium  | Recap
4  | November 28  | Baltimore Colts | W 20–0  | 3–1  | Rich Stadium  | Recap
5  | December 5  | at Green Bay Packers | L 21–33  | 3–2  | Milwaukee County Stadium | Recap
6  | December 12  | Pittsburgh Steelers | W 13–0  | 4–2  | Rich Stadium  | Recap
7  | December 19  | at Tampa Bay Buccaneers | L 23–24  | 4–3  | Tampa Stadium | Recap
8  | December 27  | at Miami Dolphins | L  10–27  | 4–4  | Miami Orange Bowl | Recap
9  | January 2  | at New England Patriots | L 19–30  | 4–5  | Schaefer Stadium | Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

### Game summaries[edit]

#### Week 1[edit]

|  | 1 | 2| 3| 4| Total

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Chiefs | 3 | 3| 0| 3 | 9
• Bills | 7 | 7| 0| 0 | 14

* Date: September 12
* Location: Rich Stadium • Orchard Park, New York
* Game start: 1:00 p.m.
* Game weather: 73 °F (22.8 °C) • Wind 6 miles per hour (9.7 km/h; 5.2 kn)
* Referee: Jerry Seeman

| Scoring summary

1| | KC| Nick Lowery 39 yard field goal| Chiefs 3–0
1| | BUF| Frank Lewis 20 yard pass from Joe Ferguson (Nick Mike-Mayer kick)| Bills 7–3
2| | KC| Nick Lowery 47 yard field goal| Bills 7–6
2| | BUF| Jerry Butler 6 yard pass from Joe Ferguson (Nick Mike-Mayer kick)| Bills 14–6
4| | KC| Nick Lowery 42 yard field goal| Bills 14–9

[4]

#### Week 2[edit]

|  | 1 | 2| 3| 4| Total

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Vikings | 2 | 17| 3| 0 | 22
• Bills | 0 | 7| 6| 10 | 23

* Date: Thursday September 16
* Location: Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, New York
* Game start: 8:30 p.m. EST
* Game weather: 60 °F (15.6 °C), wind 11 miles per hour (18 km/h; 9.6 kn)
* Referee: Fred Wyant
* TV announcers (ABC): Frank Gifford, Howard Cosell, Don Meredith,and Fran Tarkenton

| Scoring summary

1| | MIN| Safety, Moore tackled by Mullaney in end zone| Vikings 2–0
2| | MIN| Bob Bruer 27 yard pass from Tommy Kramer (Rick Danmeier kick)| Vikings 9–0
2| | MIN| Bob Bruer 2 yard pass from Tommy Kramer (Rick Danmeier kick)| Vikings 16–0
2| | MIN| Rick Danmeier 43 yard field goal| Vikings 19–0
2| | BUF| Frank Lewis 6 yard pass from Joe Ferguson (Nick Mike-Mayer kick)| Vikings 19–7
3| | BUF| Jerry Butler 4 yard pass from Joe Ferguson (kick failed)| Vikings 19–13
3| | MIN| Rick Danmeier 42 yard field goal| Vikings 22–13
4| | BUF| Nick Mike-Mayer 21 yard field goal| Vikings 22–16
4| | BUF| Jerry Butler 11 yard pass from Joe Ferguson (Nick Mike-Mayer kick)| Bills 23–22

[5]

#### Week 5[edit]

|  | 1 | 2| 3| 4| Total

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Bills | 0 | 7| 0| 14 | 21
• Packers | 6 | 7| 7| 13 | 33

* Date: December 12
* Location: Milwaukee County Stadium
* Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST
* Game weather: 42 °F (5.6 °C) • Wind 12 miles per hour (19 km/h; 10 kn)
* Referee: Ben Dreith
* TV announcers (NBC): Bob Costas and Bob Trumpy

[6]

#### Week 6[edit]

Terry Bradshaws worst game in NFL

Pittsburgh Steelers (4-1) at Buffalo Bills (3-2)  |  | 1 | 2| 3| 4| Total

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Steelers | 0 | 0| 0| 0 | 0
• Bills | 0 | 10| 3| 0 | 13

* Date: December 12
* Location: Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, New York
* Game start: 12:00 p.m. EST
* Game attendance: 58,391
* Game weather: 20 °F (−6.7 °C) • Wind 12 miles per hour (19 km/h; 10 kn); snow
* Referee: Pat Haggerty
* TV announcers (NBC): Don Criqui and John Brodie

| Scoring summary

2| | BUF| Roosevelt Leaks 1 yard rush (Efrén Herrera kick)| Bills 7–0
2| | BUF| Efrén Herrera 34 yard field goal| Bills 10–0
3| | BUF| Efrén Herrera 19 yard field goal| Bills 13–0

[7]

### Standings[edit]

AFC East

* view
* talk
* edit

| W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK
Miami Dolphins(2) | 7  | 2  | 0  | .778  | 6–1  | 6–1  | 198  | 131  | W3
New York Jets(6) | 6  | 3  | 0  | .667  | 2–2  | 2–3  | 245  | 166  | L1
New England Patriots(7) | 5  | 4  | 0  | .556  | 3–1  | 5–3  | 143  | 157  | W1
Buffalo Bills | 4  | 5  | 0  | .444  | 1–3  | 3–3  | 150  | 154  | L3
Baltimore Colts | 0  | 8  | 1  | .056  | 0–5–0  | 0–7–0  | 113  | 236  | L2
American Football Conference

* view
* talk
* edit

| W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | STK
Los Angeles Raiders(1) | 8  | 1  | 0  | .889  | 260  | 200  | W5
Miami Dolphins(2) | 7  | 2  | 0  | .778  | 198  | 131  | W3
Cincinnati Bengals(3) | 7  | 2  | 0  | .778  | 232  | 177  | W2
Pittsburgh Steelers(4) | 6  | 3  | 0  | .667  | 204  | 146  | W2
San Diego Chargers(5) | 6  | 3  | 0  | .667  | 288  | 221  | L1
New York Jets(6) | 6  | 3  | 0  | .667  | 245  | 166  | L1
New England Patriots(7) | 5  | 4  | 0  | .556  | 143  | 157  | W1
Cleveland Browns(8) | 4  | 5  | 0  | .444  | 140  | 182  | L1
Buffalo Bills | 4  | 5  | 0  | .444  | 150  | 154  | L3
Seattle Seahawks | 4  | 5  | 0  | .444  | 127  | 147  | W1
Kansas City Chiefs | 3  | 6  | 0  | .333  | 176  | 184  | W1
Denver Broncos | 2  | 7  | 0  | .222  | 148  | 226  | L3
Houston Oilers | 1  | 8  | 0  | .111  | 136  | 245  | L7
Baltimore Colts | 0  | 8  | 1  | .056  | 113  | 236  | L2

## Awards and honors[edit]

### All-Pros[edit]

First Team

* Fred Smerlas, Nose tackle

Second Team

* Ben Williams, Defensive end

## References[edit]

1. ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com: 1982 NFL Standings, Team & Offensive Statistics
2. ^ "1982 Buffalo Bills".
3. ^ Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Minnesota, Tennessee
4. ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com
5. ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com
6. ^ "Buffalo Bills at Green Bay Packers - December 5th, 1982". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
7. ^ "Pittsburgh Steelers at Buffalo Bills - December 12th, 1982". Pro-Football-Reference.com.

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

* v
* t
* e

Buffalo Bills

* Founded in 1960
* Based and headquartered in Orchard Park, New York

Franchise|

* Franchise
* History
* Players
* Seasons
* Pro Bowl selections
* First-round draft picks
* Starting quarterbacks
* Coaches
* NFL in Toronto

Stadiums|

* War Memorial Stadium
* Highmark Stadium
* Rogers Centre (Bills Toronto Series)
* New Highmark Stadium (set to open in 2026)

Culture|

* Ralph Wilson
* Billy Buffalo
* Buffalo Jills
* Ken "Pinto Ron" Johnson
* Tim Russert
* Buffalo '66
* Second String
* Flutie Flakes
* "Shout" song
* "3 Acts of God"
* Elway to Marino
* Four Falls of Buffalo
* Zubaz
* "No one circles the wagons like the Buffalo Bills!"

Lore|

* Electric Company
* Wide Right
* No Punt Game
* The Comeback
* Music City Miracle
* Snowvertime
* Hail Murray
* 13 Seconds

Rivalries|

* Kansas City Chiefs
* Miami Dolphins
* New England Patriots
* New York Jets
* Tennessee Titans

Division championships (14)|

* 1964
* 1965
* 1966
* 1980
* 1988
* 1989
* 1990
* 1991
* 1993
* 1995
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023

Conference championships (4)|

* 1990
* 1991
* 1992
* 1993

League championships (2)|

* 1964
* 1965

Wall of Fame|

* Simpson
* Kemp
* McGroder
* Sestak
* Shaw
* Wilson
* 12th Man
* Dubenion
* Stratton
* Ferguson
* Levy
* DeLamielleure
* James
* Abramoski
* Kalsu
* Saimes
* Kelly
* Smerlas
* Hull
* Talley
* Ritcher
* Thomas
* Reed
* Tasker
* Smith
* Edgerson
* Hansen
* Polian
* Miller
* Saban
* Gilchrist

Media|

* Broadcasters
* Radio
* Radio Network
* WGR 550
* Television
* MSG Western New York
* Personalities:
* John Murphy
* Chris Brown
* Van Miller
* Eric Wood
* Steve Tasker

Owners|

* Ralph Wilson
* Pegula family
* Terry
* Kim

Current league affiliations|

* League: National Football League (1970–present)
* Conference: American Football Conference
* Division: East Division

Former league affiliation|

* League: American Football League (1960–1969)

* Category
* Commons

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Buffalo Bills seasons

* 1960
* 1961
* 1962
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* 1968
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* 1983
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* 2022
* 2023

Bold indicates AFL Championship or Super Bowl victory
Italics indicates AFL Championship or Super Bowl appearance

* v
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* e

1982 NFL season

| AFC| East | Central| West| East| Central| West | NFC

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Baltimore | Cincinnati| Denver| Dallas| Chicago| Atlanta
Buffalo | Cleveland| Kansas City| NY Giants| Detroit| LA Rams
Miami | Houston| LA Raiders| Philadelphia| Green Bay| New Orleans
New England | Pittsburgh| San Diego| St. Louis| Minnesota| San Francisco
NY Jets | | Seattle| Washington| Tampa Bay|

* 1982 NFL Draft
* 1982 NFL strike
* NFL playoffs
* Pro Bowl
* Super Bowl XVII

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*[IR]: Injured reserve
*[W]: Wins
*[L]: Losses
*[T]: Ties
*[PCT]: Winning percentage
*[DIV]: Win–Loss record within their division
*[CONF]: Win–Loss record within their conference
*[PF]: Points For (Total points scored)
*[PA]: Points Against (Total points allowed)
*[STK]: Current Winning or Losing Streak
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template