2014 Buffalo Bills season

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2014 Buffalo Bills season
OwnerMary Wilson (weeks 1-5)
Ralph Wilson Stadium
Ford Field (week 12)
Results
Record9–7
Division place2nd AFC East
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersMarcell Dareus, DT
Kyle Williams, DT
Mario Williams, DE

The 2014 Buffalo Bills season was the franchise's 45th season in the National Football League (NFL), 55th season of competition, second and final under head coach Doug Marrone and the first in franchise history without Ralph Wilson as owner. The Bills defense continued its strong play from last season, finishing first in the league with 54 quarterback sacks. Overall, the Bills improved on their 6–10 record from 2013, finishing with a 9–7 record, their first winning season since 2004, yet they still missed the playoffs after a Week 16 loss to the Oakland Raiders.

Background

Death of Ralph Wilson and sale to Terrence Pegula

team would relocate to Toronto
at the first opportunity. The Pegula family was named as the winning bidder on September 9 and closed on its purchase of the team on October 8.

Cancellation of the Toronto Series

On March 5, 2014, three weeks before Wilson's death, the Bills announced the postponement of the Bills Toronto Series for one year. Bills President and CEO Russ Brandon will evaluate the series in the future, possibly to permanently cancel games in Toronto. On December 3, 2014, after six years and a 1–5 record (their only win coming in a 23–0 shutout victory against the Washington Redskins), the Bills Toronto Series was permanently cancelled.

On-field

The Bills won their first two games, a 23–20 overtime road win at Chicago (their first-ever victory at Soldier Field) and an emotionally raucous 29–10 home win against division rival Miami, a game played just days after the announcement that the Pegulas would purchase the team and keep it in Buffalo. But Buffalo lost their next two, a 22–10 loss at home against San Diego and a 23–17 loss on the road at Houston, after which Marrone benched quarterback EJ Manuel (their first round pick the previous year) in favor of journeyman Kyle Orton. In his first start as a Bill against Detroit at Ford Field, Orton threw for 308 yards as Buffalo came back from a 14-0 halftime deficit to defeat Detroit 17–14 in then-defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz's first return to Detroit since being fired in the offseason, following an eventual game-winning 58-yard field goal by kicker Dan Carpenter.

Buffalo would lose its next game, a 37–22 loss at home against

Sammy Watkins and connecting with tight end Scott Chandler for 18 yards to convert a 3rd-and-12 and 24 yards to convert a 4th-and-20, respectively (Orton also had an interception and a lost fumble, one of three for the Bills offense). Unfortunately for Buffalo, running backs C. J. Spiller and Fred Jackson were both injured in the first half. With running back Bryce Brown, who the Bills traded their conditional fourth-rounder that can become a third-round selection (that they had acquired in the trade that sent Stevie Johnson to San Francisco) to Philadelphia, inactive for the game and no time to find anyone to help carry the ball, running back Anthony Dixon, who the Bills signed as a free agent from San Francisco was left to carry the ball himself, with fullback Frank Summers
assisting.

On November 30, the Bills beat the Cleveland Browns giving them their seventh win, which not only improved on the previous season, in which they finished 6-10 for the third time since 2003 (they finished 6–10 in 2009 and 2011, the latter of which after they started 5–2), but it also gives them their best start entering December since the 2000 Buffalo Bills season, in which they finished 8-8 and missed the playoffs. With a win against the Green Bay Packers on December 14, the Bills broke a league-leading streak of nine consecutive losing seasons dating back to 2005; however, the next week's 26–24 loss to the Oakland Raiders eliminated them from playoff contention for the 15th consecutive year, continuing a league-leading drought. The team finished with a 17–9 win against the New England Patriots, who were resting the starters in preparation for a playoff run; the win was the first time the team had won at Gillette Stadium (they had lost all 12 previous attempts) and established the team's first winning season since 2004 (former head coach Mike Mularkey's first season).

Roster changes

Free agents lost

Position Player 2014 Team Notes
S
Jairus Byrd New Orleans Saints Signed 6 years/$56 million
DE Alex Carrington St. Louis Rams Signed 1 year/$1.5 million
S
Jim Leonhard Cleveland Browns Signed 1 year/$855,000
LB Arthur Moats Pittsburgh Steelers Signed 1 year/$795,000
OT
Thomas Welch unsigned

Signings

Position Player 2013 Team Date signed Notes and references
MLB
Brandon Spikes New England Patriots March 18 Signed 1 year/$3.25 million
RB Anthony Dixon San Francisco 49ers March 15 Signed 3 years/$3.5 million
OG
Chris Williams St. Louis Rams March 12 Signed 4 years/$13.4 million
CB Corey Graham Baltimore Ravens March 12 Signed 4 years/$16.3 million
LB Keith Rivers New York Giants March 12 Signed 2 years/$4.05 million
CB Aaron Williams Buffalo Bills March 5 Signed 4 years/$26.01 million extension
K Dan Carpenter Buffalo Bills March 11 Signed 4 years/$9.95 million extension
TE Scott Chandler Buffalo Bills March 13 Signed 2 years/$4.75 million extension
RB Fred Jackson Buffalo Bills July 30 Signed 1 year/$2.6 million extension

2014 draft

2014 Buffalo Bills Draft
Round Selection Player Position College
1 4
Sammy Watkins
Wide receiver Clemson
2 44 Cyrus Kouandjio
Offensive tackle
Alabama
3 73 Preston Brown Linebacker Louisville
4 109 Ross Cockrell Cornerback Duke
5 153
Cyril Richardson
Guard Baylor
6 None — see draft trades below
7 221 Randell Johnson Linebacker Florida Atlantic
237 Seantrel Henderson Offensive tackle Miami
Draft trades
  • The Bills traded their original first-round selection (No. 9 overall) and their
    2015 first- and fourth-round selections to the Cleveland Browns
    in exchange for the Browns' first-round selection (No. 4 overall).
  • The Bills traded their original second-round selection (No. 41 overall) to the St. Louis Rams in exchange for the Rams' second- and fifth-round selections (Nos. 44 and 153 overall, respectively).
  • The Bills traded their original fifth-round selection (No. 149 overall) to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in exchange for the Buccaneers' seventh-round selection (No. 221 overall) and a 2015 fifth-round selection.
  • The Bills traded their sixth-round selection (No. 185 overall) to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in exchange for wide receiver Mike Williams.
  • The Bills traded their original seventh-round selection (No. 224 overall) to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange running back Bryce Brown and the Eagles' seventh-round selection (No. 237 overall). The trade also includes a conditional future draft selection, which the Eagles could receive from the Bills in either 2015 or 2016. If Brown hits undisclosed statistical rushing targets in 2014, the Eagles will receive the Bills' 2016 third-round selection, otherwise, the Eagles could receive the Bills' 2015 fourth-round selection, which the Bills conditionally acquired in a trade that sent wide receiver Stevie Johnson to the San Francisco 49ers. However, if Johnson does not meet certain statistical receiving targets with the 49ers in 2014, the trade with the 49ers will be voided, and if Brown does not meet certain statistical rushing targets with the Bills in 2014, the Bills will not have to send a future selection to the Eagles.

Staff

2014 Buffalo Bills staff

Front office

  • Owner/CEO –
    Terrence Pegula
  • Owner – Kim Pegula
  • President – Russ Brandon
  • General Manager – Doug Whaley
  • Senior Vice President of Football Administration – Jim Overdorf
  • Director of Football Administration - Don Purdy
  • Special Assistant – Buddy Nix
  • Director of Player Personnel – Jim Monos
  • Director of Pro Personnel – Tom Gibbons
  • Assistant Director of Pro Personnel – Rob Hanrahan
  • Director of College Scouting – Kelvin Fisher
  • Contract Administrator/Football Analyst – Kevin Meganck
  • Director of Analytics – Michael Lyons

Head coaches

  • Head coach – Doug Marrone
  • Assistant to the head coach – Stephen Brown

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

  • Special teams coordinator – Danny Crossman
  • Special teams assistant – John Anselmo

Strength and conditioning

  • Head strength and conditioning – Eric Ciano
  • Assistant strength and conditioning – Hal Luther
  • Strength and conditioning assistant – Dan Liburd

Final roster

2014 Buffalo Bills final roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists
  • 50 Kiko Alonso OLB (NF-Inj.Tooltip Non-football injury and illness)
  • 30
    IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 31
    IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 21
    IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 36
    IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 58
    IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 74
    IRTooltip Injured reserve)


Practice squad


Rookies in italics
53 active, 8 inactive, 10 practice squad

Schedule

Preseason

On February 27, 2014, the NFL announced that, to celebrate the induction of wide receiver Andre Reed, the Bills would play the New York Giants in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio, which took place on August 3, 2014, and aired on NBC.[1] The remainder of the Bills' preseason opponents were announced on April 9, 2014.

Week Date Opponent Result Record Game site NFL.com
recap
HOF August 3 vs. New York Giants L 13–17 0–1
Fawcett Stadium
Recap
1 August 8 at Carolina Panthers W 20–18 1–1 Bank of America Stadium Recap
2 August 16 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 16–19 1–2
Heinz Field
Recap
3 August 23 Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 14–27 1–3
Ralph Wilson Stadium
Recap
4 August 28 Detroit Lions L 0–23 1–4 Ralph Wilson Stadium Recap

Regular season

Week Date Opponent Result Record Game site NFL.com
recap
1 September 7 at Chicago Bears W 23–20 (OT) 1–0 Soldier Field Recap
2 September 14 Miami Dolphins W 29–10 2–0
Ralph Wilson Stadium
Recap
3 September 21 San Diego Chargers L 10–22 2–1 Ralph Wilson Stadium Recap
4 September 28 at Houston Texans L 17–23 2–2 NRG Stadium Recap
5 October 5 at Detroit Lions W 17–14 3–2 Ford Field Recap
6 October 12 New England Patriots L 22–37 3–3 Ralph Wilson Stadium Recap
7 October 19 Minnesota Vikings W 17–16 4–3 Ralph Wilson Stadium Recap
8 October 26 at New York Jets W 43–23 5–3 MetLife Stadium Recap
9 Bye
10 November 9 Kansas City Chiefs L 13–17 5–4 Ralph Wilson Stadium Recap
11 November 13 at Miami Dolphins L 9–22 5–5
Sun Life Stadium
Recap
12 November 24[A] New York Jets W 38–3 6–5 Ford Field Recap
13 November 30 Cleveland Browns W 26–10 7–5 Ralph Wilson Stadium Recap
14 December 7 at Denver Broncos L 17–24 7–6
Sports Authority Field at Mile High
Recap
15 December 14 Green Bay Packers W 21–13 8–6 Ralph Wilson Stadium Recap
16 December 21 at Oakland Raiders L 24–26 8–7
O.co Coliseum
Recap
17 December 28 at New England Patriots W 17–9 9–7 Gillette Stadium Recap
Notes
  • Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
  • For the first time since 2007, the Bills did not play a game in Toronto, as the Bills Toronto Series was suspended in March 2014 and permanently canceled later that year.[3]

Game summaries

Week 1: at Chicago Bears

Week One: Buffalo Bills at Chicago Bears – Game summary
Period 1 2 34OTTotal
Bills 7 10 03323
Bears 7 0 103020

at Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois

Game information

Week 2: vs. Miami Dolphins

Week Two: Miami Dolphins at Buffalo Bills – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Dolphins 0 0 10010
Bills 6 3 14629

at

Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, New York

Game information

Week 3: vs. San Diego Chargers

Game information

Week 4: at Houston Texans

Week Four: Buffalo Bills at Houston Texans – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Bills 0 10 0717
Texans 0 7 10623

at

Houston, Texas

Game information

Week 5: at Detroit Lions

Week Five: Buffalo Bills at Detroit Lions – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Bills 0 3 31117
Lions 7 7 0014

at Ford Field, Detroit, Michigan

  • Date: October 5
  • Game time: 1:00pm EDT
  • Game weather: Played indoors (dome stadium)
  • Game attendance: 62,775
  • Referee:
    Jennifer Hale
  • Recap, Gamebook
Game information

Week 6: vs. New England Patriots

Game information

Week 7: vs. Minnesota Vikings

Week Seven: Minnesota Vikings at Buffalo Bills – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Vikings 3 10 0316
Bills 0 10 0717

at Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, New York

Game information

Week 8: at New York Jets

Week Eight: Buffalo Bills at New York Jets – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Bills 14 10 61343
Jets 0 17 0623

at MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey

Game information

Week 10: vs. Kansas City Chiefs

Week Ten: Kansas City Chiefs at Buffalo Bills – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Chiefs 3 0 01417
Bills 7 3 3013

at Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, New York

  • Date: November 9
  • Game time: 1:00pm EST
  • Game weather: 42 °F (6 °C), cloudy
  • Game attendance: 68,119
  • Referee: Brad Allen
  • TV announcers (CBS): Spero Dedes and Solomon Wilcots
  • Recap, Gamebook
Game information

Week 11: at Miami Dolphins

Week Eleven: Buffalo Bills at Miami Dolphins – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Bills 3 3 309
Dolphins 3 0 91022

at

Sun Life Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida

Game information

Week 12: vs. New York Jets

Week Twelve: New York Jets at Buffalo Bills – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Jets 3 0 003
Bills 7 7 17738

at Ford Field, Detroit, Michigan[A]

  • Date: November 24[A]
  • Game time: 7:00pm EST[A]
  • Game weather: Played indoors (dome stadium)
  • Game attendance: 56,044
  • Referee: Pete Morelli
  • TV announcers (CBS[A]): Spero Dedes and Solomon Wilcots
  • Recap, Gamebook
Game information

Week 13: vs. Cleveland Browns

Week Thirteen: Cleveland Browns at Buffalo Bills – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Browns 3 0 0710
Bills 0 0 17926

at Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, New York

Game information

This was the 1st time the Bills have had a winning record this late in the season since 2008

Week 14: at Denver Broncos

Week Fourteen: Buffalo Bills at Denver Broncos – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Bills 0 3 01417
Broncos 7 7 10024

at

Denver, Colorado

  • Date: December 7
  • Game time: 4:05pm EST/2:05pm
    Ron Torbert
  • TV announcers (CBS): Kevin Harlan and Rich Gannon
  • Recap, Gamebook
Game information

Week 15: vs. Green Bay Packers

Game information