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1981 Buffalo Bills

Franchise Index: Previous Season / Next Season

Record: 10-6-0, Finished 3rd in AFC East Division
NFL Season Summary

Scored 311 points (19.4/g), 20th of 28 in the NFL.
 Allowed 276 points (17.2/g), 6th.
 Differential of 35 points (2.2/g), 14th.
 Expected W-L: 9.1-6.9.

 Takeaway/Giveaway Differential -2 (-0.1/g), 16th.

Simple Rating System: Total 1.3, Offense: -2.5, Defense: 3.9, SoS: -0.9, versus averages of 0.0.

Coached by Chuck Knox

 Offensive Coordinator: Ray Prochaska

Training Camp: SUNY Fredonia (Fredonia, New York)

Team Stats and Rankings

Tot Yds & TO Passing Rushing
Pts Yds Ply Y/P 1stD Cmp Att Yds TD Int NY/A 1stD Att Yds TD Y/A 1stD TO FL 1stPy
Team Offense 311 5640 1043 5.4 315 253 503 3515 25 20 6.8 163 524 2125 13 4.1 127 38 18 25
Team Defense 276 4945 1037 4.8 298 267 474 2870 21 19 5.5 154 516 2075 7 4.0 113 36 17 31
Lg Rank Offense 20 8 13 13 9 7 9 5 13 13 17 15 9 14
Lg Rank Defense 6 7 11 6 4 12 16 6 15 17 1 14 17 14

Team Games & Schedule

Score Offense Defense
Week Day Date OT Rec Opp Tm Opp 1stD TotYd PassY RushY TO 1stD TotYd PassY RushY TO
1 Sun September 6 boxscore W 1-0 New York Jets 31 0 25 418 236 182 1 8 231 129 102 2
2 Sun September 13 boxscore W 2-0 @ Baltimore Colts 35 3 26 430 261 169 3 11 147 74 73 3
3 Thu September 17 boxscore L 2-1 Philadelphia Eagles 14 20 17 277 187 90 3 24 396 236 160 3
4 Sun September 27 boxscore L OT 2-2 @ Cincinnati Bengals 24 27 25 389 287 102 1 30 429 316 113 2
5 Sun October 4 boxscore W 3-2 Baltimore Colts 23 17 22 366 137 229 1 23 378 245 133 2
6 Mon October 12 boxscore W 4-2 Miami Dolphins 31 21 22 454 338 116 1 22 324 225 99 4
7 Sun October 18 boxscore L 4-3 @ New York Jets 14 33 14 288 242 46 3 21 374 174 200 1
8 Sun October 25 boxscore W 5-3 Denver Broncos 9 7 17 323 204 119 2 10 161 97 64
9 Sun November 1 boxscore W 6-3 Cleveland Browns 22 13 21 469 297 172 5 14 211 140 71 3
10 Mon November 9 boxscore L 6-4 @ Dallas Cowboys 14 27 18 365 310 55 5 21 398 202 196 3
11 Sun November 15 boxscore L 6-5 @ St. Louis Cardinals 0 24 17 311 226 85 6 22 338 80 258 1
12 Sun November 22 boxscore W 7-5 New England Patriots 20 17 19 434 249 185 2 11 297 181 116 2
13 Sun November 29 boxscore W 8-5 Washington Redskins 21 14 18 229 41 188 2 19 293 202 91 5
14 Sun December 6 boxscore W 9-5 @ San Diego Chargers 28 27 19 318 234 84 28 482 337 145 2
15 Sun December 13 boxscore W 10-5 @ New England Patriots 19 10 20 329 137 192 16 204 107 97 2
16 Sat December 19 boxscore L 10-6 @ Miami Dolphins 6 16 15 240 129 111 3 18 282 125 157 1
Playoffs
WildCard Sun December 27 boxscore W 11-6 @ New York Jets 31 27 15 321 230 91 4 23 419 348 71 5
Division Sun January 3 boxscore L 11-7 @ Cincinnati Bengals 21 28 21 336 202 134 2 22 305 169 136

Passing

ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+),
No. Age Pos G GS QBrec Cmp Att Cmp% Yds TD TD% Int Int% Lng Y/A AY/A Y/C Y/G Rate QBR Sk Yds NY/A ANY/A Sk% 4QC GWD
12 Joe Ferguson 31 QB 16 16 10-6-0 252 498 50.6 3652 24 4.8 20 4.0 67 7.3 6.5 14.5 228.3 74.1 15 137 6.85 6.03 2.9 2 2
17 Matt Robinson 26 15 0 0 2 0.0 0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 39.6 1 9 -3.00 -3.00 33.3
20 Joe Cribbs* 23 RB 15 15 1 1 100.0 9 1 100.0 0 0.0 9 9.0 29.0 9.0 0.6 143.7 0 0 9.00 29.00 0.0
48 Roosevelt Leaks 28 fb 16 5 0 1 0.0 0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 39.6 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.0
5 Nick Mike-Mayer 31 K 16 0 0 1 0.0 0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 39.6 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.0
Team Total 26.9 16 10-6-0 253 503 50.3 3661 25 5.0 20 4.0 67 7.3 6.5 14.5 228.8 74.3 16 146 6.77 6.00 3.1 2 2
Opp Total 16 267 474 56.3 3243 21 4.4 19 4.0 6.8 5.92 12.1 202.7 75.6 47 373 5.5 4.7 9.0

Rushing & Receiving

ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+),
Rushing Receiving
No. Age Pos G GS Att Yds TD Lng Y/A Y/G A/G Rec Yds Y/R TD Lng R/G Y/G YScm RRTD Fmb
20 Joe Cribbs* 23 RB 15 15 257 1097 3 35 4.3 73.1 17.1 40 603 15.1 7 65 2.7 40.2 1700 10 12
48 Roosevelt Leaks 28 fb 16 5 91 357 6 31 3.9 22.3 5.7 7 51 7.3 0 13 0.4 3.2 408 6 1
47 Curtis Brown 27 FB 14 8 62 226 0 13 3.6 16.1 4.4 7 46 6.6 1 10 0.5 3.3 272 1 4
25 Roland Hooks 28 PR 16 1 51 250 3 19 4.9 15.6 3.2 10 140 14.0 2 37 0.6 8.8 390 5 1
30 Lawrence McCutcheon 31 rb 6 3 34 138 0 12 4.1 23.0 5.7 5 40 8.0 0 17 0.8 6.7 178 0 1
12 Joe Ferguson 31 QB 16 16 20 29 1 16 1.5 1.8 1.3 29 1 2
40 Robb Riddick 24 10 0 3 29 0 12 9.7 2.9 0.3 29 0 1
86 Mark Brammer 23 TE 16 16 2 17 0 11 8.5 1.1 0.1 33 365 11.1 2 24 2.1 22.8 382 2 3
80 Jerry Butler 24 WR 16 16 1 1 0 1 1.0 0.1 0.1 55 842 15.3 8 67 3.4 52.6 843 8 2
85 Byron Franklin 23 KR 13 0 1 -11 0 -11 -11.0 -0.8 0.1 2 29 14.5 0 16 0.2 2.2 18 0 2
42 Rod Kush 25 16 0 1 -6 0 -6 -6.0 -0.4 0.1 -6 0 1
17 Matt Robinson 26 15 0 1 -2 0 -2 -2.0 -0.1 0.1 -2 0 1
82 Frank Lewis* 34 WR 16 16 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 70 1244 17.8 4 33 4.4 77.8 1244 4 1
81 Ron Jessie 33 15 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 15 200 13.3 0 44 1.0 13.3 200 0 0
89 Lou Piccone 32 14 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 5 65 13.0 0 16 0.4 4.6 65 0 0
84 Buster Barnett 23 16 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 4 36 9.0 1 16 0.3 2.3 36 1 0
Team Total 26.9 16 524 2125 13 35 4.1 132.8 32.8 253 3661 14.5 25 67 15.8 228.8 5786 38 33
Opp Total 16 516 2075 7 4.0 129.7 32.3 267 2870 10.7 21 16.7 179.4 4945 28 38

Kick & Punt Returns

ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+),
Punt Returns Kick Returns
No. Age Pos G GS Ret Yds TD Lng Y/R Rt Yds TD Lng Y/Rt APYd
25 Roland Hooks 28 PR 16 1 17 142 0 25 8.4 11 215 0 36 19.5 747
85 Byron Franklin 23 KR 13 0 5 45 0 15 9.0 21 436 0 33 20.8 499
40 Robb Riddick 24 10 0 4 48 0 22 12.0 14 257 0 25 18.4 334
89 Lou Piccone 32 14 0 9 57 0 13 6.3 2 31 0 16 15.5 153
47 Curtis Brown 27 FB 14 8 7 140 0 30 20.0 412
28 Rufus Bess 25 16 0 1 6 0 6 6.0 6
22 Steve Freeman 28 SS 16 16 1 0 0 0 0.0 0
Team Total 26.9 16 35 292 0 25 8.3 57 1085 0 36 19.0 7163
Opp Total 16 34 0 61 1268 1 20.8

Kicking & Punting

ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+),
0-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50+ Tot PAT Punting
No. Age Pos G GS FGA FGM FGA FGM FGA FGM FGA FGM FGA FGM FGA FGM FG% XPA XPM XP% Pnt Yds Lng Blck Y/P
7 Greg Cater 24 P 16 0 80 3175 71 0 39.7
5 Nick Mike-Mayer 31 K 16 0 6 4 7 5 10 5 1 24 14 58.3% 37 37 100.0%
Team Total 26.9 16 6 4 7 5 10 5 1 24 14 58.3% 37 37 100.0% 80 3175 71 0 39.7
Opp Total 16 26 22 84.6% 30 30 100.0% 77 3234 42.0

Defense & Fumbles

ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+),
Def Interceptions Fumbles Tackles
No. Age Pos G GS Sk Int Yds TD Lng PD FF Fmb FR Yds TD Tkl Ast Sfty
20 Joe Cribbs* 23 RB 15 15 0 12 1 0 0
29 Mario Clark 27 LCB 16 16 5 142 0 53 0 0 0 2 5 0
26 Charles Romes 27 RCB 16 16 4 113 0 35 0 0 1 2 11 0
42 Rod Kush 25 16 0 1 19 0 19 0 0 1 3 5 0
45 Bill Simpson 30 FS 16 16 4 42 0 42 0 0 0 1 0 0
86 Mark Brammer 23 TE 16 16 0 3 1 0 0
47 Curtis Brown 27 FB 14 8 0 4 0 0 0
28 Rufus Bess 25 16 0 1 12 0 12 0 0 0 2 4 0
80 Jerry Butler 24 WR 16 16 0 2 0 0 0
12 Joe Ferguson 31 QB 16 16 0 2 0 0 0
85 Byron Franklin 23 KR 13 0 0 2 0 0 0
91 Ken E. Johnson 26 16 0 0 0 2 0 0
72 Ken Jones 29 LT 15 15 0 0 2 0 0
82 Frank Lewis* 34 WR 16 16 0 1 1 0 0
58 Isiah Robertson 32 ROLB 16 16 2 15 0 15 0
77 Ben Williams 27 LDE 16 16 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
73 Jon Borchardt 24 LG 16 9 0 0 1 0 0
69 Conrad Dobler 31 RG 14 13 0 0 1 0 0
53 Will Grant 27 C 16 16 0 0 1 0 0
55 Jim Haslett 26 LILB 16 16 0 0 1 0 0
25 Roland Hooks 28 PR 16 1 0 1 0 0 0
50 Mike Humiston 22 16 0 0 0 1 0 0
48 Roosevelt Leaks 28 fb 16 5 0 1 0 0 0
30 Lawrence McCutcheon 31 rb 6 3 0 1 0 0 0
5 Nick Mike-Mayer 31 K 16 0 0 0 1 0 0
59 Shane Nelson 26 RILB 10 10 1 9 0 9 0
62 Ervin Parker 23 16 0 0 0 1 0 0
89 Lou Piccone 32 14 0 0 0 1 0 0
40 Robb Riddick 24 10 0 0 1 0 0 0
17 Matt Robinson 26 15 0 0 1 0 0 0
57 Lucius Sanford 25 LOLB 16 16 0 0 1 0 0
76 Fred Smerlas* 24 NT 16 16 0 0 1 17 0
41 Phil Villapiano 32 lb 16 4 0 0 1 0 0
83 Sherman White 33 RDE 16 16 0 0 1 0 0
Team Total 26.9 16 19 352 0 53 0 0 33 30 42 0 1
Opp Total 16 16 38 21

Scoring Summary

ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+),
No. Age Pos G GS RshTD RecTD PR TD KR TD FblTD IntTD OthTD AllTD 2PM XPM FGM Sfty Pts
5 Nick Mike-Mayer 31 K 16 0 37 14 79
20 Joe Cribbs* 23 RB 15 15 3 7 10 60
80 Jerry Butler 24 WR 16 16 8 8 48
48 Roosevelt Leaks 28 fb 16 5 6 6 36
25 Roland Hooks 28 PR 16 1 3 2 5 30
82 Frank Lewis* 34 WR 16 16 4 4 24
86 Mark Brammer 23 TE 16 16 2 2 12
84 Buster Barnett 23 16 0 1 1 6
47 Curtis Brown 27 FB 14 8 1 1 6
12 Joe Ferguson 31 QB 16 16 1 1 6
77 Ben Williams 27 LDE 16 16 1 2
Team Total 26.9 16 13 25 38 37 14 1 309
Opp Total 16 7 21 1 30 22 276