In anticipation of the Buffalo Bills' 50th Anniversary, we'll be looking back on all 50 years of the Buffalo Bills, five years at a time. Every Sunday from now until the official kickoff of the 50th year at the 2009 Hall of Fame Game, we'll look at key additions and subtractions, team records, and other events high and low in the history of the Bills. You can find previous installments in the series here.

1979 - More Improvement
7-9 record, fourth of five in AFC East, 11 of 14 in AFC, 18 of 28 in NFL
Prior to the 1979 season, former Bills tackle Stew Barber was promoted to General Manager.  The Bills had another stellar draft in 1979.  The Bills had acquired the No. 1 overall pick in the 1979 NFL Draft from San Francisco as part of the OJ Simpson trade.   With the pick the Bills selected LB Tom Cousineau from Ohio State. He did not sign a contract with Buffalo saying the Bills were rude to him.  He instead opted to play in the Canadian Football League for the Montreal Alouettes (where they offered him double the money Buffalo offered).  Cousineau would eventually attempt to return to the NFL but we'll get to that later.  With the Bills original first round pick the team selected wide receiver Jerry Butler fifth overall.  In the second round the Bills selected nose tackle Fred Smerlas and in the third selected linebacker Jim Haslett, two stallwarts of the brand new 3-4 defense Buffalo was to employ.  Also of note, Van Miller returned to the Bills broadcast booth following an eight year absence.  Miller was the first radio announcer the Bills had in 1960 and would continue broadcasting the games until retiring in 2003.

The Bills season was filled with a mixture of successes and failures.  At least that's better than all failures like most of the 1970s.  In week two Roland Hicks had a career day rushing for four touchdowns on five carries in a 51-24 trouncing of the Bengals.  Jerry Butler had his first hundred-yard day in the win as well but his breakout game would come two weeks later.  In week four Joe Ferguson set a team record throwing for five touchdowns and 367 yards.  Butler caught ten of those passes and set team records in yards (255) and TD (4) as the Bills outgunned the Jets 46-31.  Commentator John Brodie said of Butler: "That was the best single-game performance I've ever seen from a wide receiver. I played 16 years, but I've never seen anything like that."  In Week 7, the Bills lost their twentieth straight game to division rival Miami.  The Bills did not beat the Dolphins once in the 1970s.  (November 16, 1969, was the last Bills win for those of you keeping score.)

On the year, the Bills finished No. 23 in points scored, 21 in yards gained, and were in the bottom eight in every offensive category.  The defense kept them in several games ranking eighth in points allowed and sixth in passing yards.  The defense did give up the fifth-most rushing yards that year.  Butler, Haslett, and Smerlas were all named to the UPI all-rookie team.  Butler was the UPI Offensive Rookie of the Year and Haslett was the AP Defensive Rookie of the Year.  Guard Joe DeLamielleure was the lone Bills representative on the Pro Bowl.  With a rookie class like that things were certainly looking up.

1980 - First AFC East Division Title
11-5 record, first of five in AFC East, first-tied of 14 in AFC, fourth-tied of 28 in NFL
Following the 1979 season the Bills traded nine-year Buffalo veteran Bob Chandler to the Raiders.  Chandler had only appeared in 3 games in 1979, catching no passes.  He would have a great year in Oakland catching ten touchdowns and setting a career-high in receiving yards and winning a Super Bowl.  Right before the 1980 season, Buffalo traded away another of its icon - Joe DeLamielleure.  Joe D. had been with the Bills since being selected in the first round of the 1973 draft.  He had blocked for the most potent offenses in Bills history as a member of the Electric Company.  The Bills traded Joe D. to Cleveland for two draft picks.  The Bills had been trying to trade DeLamielleure since the draft, when they selected guard Jim Ritcher with the sixteenth overall selection.  In the second round the Bills kept things going strong by selecting running back Joe Cribbs.  The Bills also took tight end Mark Brammer and punter Greg Cater in that draft. 

The season opener was one of the greatest days in Bills history.  The Bills finally got the monkey off their collective back by beating the archrival Miami Dolphins for the first time in 11 years.  The crowd of 79,598 stormed the field following the game.  Maybe this season would be different.  The Bills flew out of the gate after their big win, going 5-0 to start the season.  In week three Joe Ferguson passed Jack Kemp as the all-time leading passer in Buffalo history.  After a 1-3 slide the Bills winning ways resumed and they finished the year on a 5-2 streak, vaulting them to the top of the division.  For the first time in the NFL, the Bills won their division and were AFC East champs.  The biggest reason was the defense.  The Bills D was third in points allowed and first in yards allowed.  Strong Safety Steve Freeman picked off seven passes to lead the Bills.  The offense didn't rank highly but had some great games and players.  Rookie Joe Cribbs rushed for 1185 yards and 11 touchdowns while catching another touchdowns and gaining 415 more yards through the air en route to a Pro Bowl spot.  Second year man Jerry Butler also made the Pro Bowl on the strength of his 832 receiving yards and six touchdowns.

Buffalo was the third of the three division winner seeds due to a lower conference record than San Diego and a lower record vs. common opponents than Cleveland.  Because of the rule in place at the time the Chargers and Wild Card winning Raiders could not play in the divisional round since they were in the same division.  Therefore the Bills played at top-seeded San Diego in an old AFL match-up.  Buffalo jumped to a 14-3 halftime lead.  However, San Diego took the opening kickoff of the second half and marched 70 yards to score.  Then early in the fourth quarter, the Chargers added a field goal to cut the Bills' lead, 14-13. San Diego took over at their own 31-yard line with less than 4 minutes remaining.   With 2:08 left in the game, Chargers quarterback Dan Fouts threw the 50-yard winning touchdown pass to receiver Ron Smith to defeat the Bills, 20-14.  Buffalo cornerback Charles Romes almost intercepted Fouts on the play before the winning touchdown. After the game it was revealed that Joe Ferguson had been playing with a fractured ankle, suffered three weeks earlier in a game against the New England Patriots. 

Because of the great turnaround he had orchestrated in Buffalo, Chuck Knox was named Coach of the Year by the Sporting News.  The second week of the season saw the debut of the Bills' Wall of Fame at Rich Stadium.  O.J. Simpson was the team's first enshrinee.  Joining Cribbs and Butler in the Pro Bowl was nose tackle Fred Smerlas.  The young Bills with their bona fide coach were starting to get really good.

1981 - Playoffs Again
10-6 record, third of five in AFC East, fourth-tied of 14 in AFC, sixth-tied of 28 in NFL
Coming off their firs division crown, Buffalo had some big changes on tap.  First, they moved training camp from Niagra to Fredonia, presumably to expand their fanbase.  The draft was a questionable one.  In the first round the Bills selected running/fullback Booker Moore, despite having a Pro Bowl running back on the roster in Joe Cribbs.  Shortly following the draft Moore was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome, an auto-immune disorder that results in weakness or paralysis.  Moore was able to recover and play fullback for Buffalo from '82 to '85.  The entire class was underwhleming, a departure from the two previous drafts.

Once again, Joe Cribbs and the passing attack of Joe Ferguson and the duo of wideouts Frank Lewis and Jerry Butler powered the Bills offensive attack.  Cribbs topped 1000 yards again but scored only three touchdowns allowing fullback Roosevelt Leaks to punch in six scores.  Cribbs also was third on the team in receiving behind Lewis and Butler.  Ferguson had a franchise-best 3652 passing yards to go along with 24 touchdown passes.  His season passing yards total still ranks third-most all time in Bills history and during the season he passed .  The 34 year-old Lewis set the Bills single-season receiving marks by catching 70 passes and gaining 1244 yards through the air, becoming only the third receiver in Bills history to top one thousand yards (Dubenion '64 and Briscoe '70). Cribbs and Lewis were named to the Pro Bowl where they were joined by Fred Smerlas.  Jerry Butler added 842 yards and 8 touchdown grabs to lead the Bills to a top 10 offense.  While only ranking twentieth in points scored, the Bills were 8th in yards gained, 9th in passing yards, and 13th in rushing yards.  The defense was once again stout placing in the top ten in points allowed (6th), yards allowed (7th), and passing yards allowed (4th).  The rushing defense was still a problem allowing 2075 yards to come in 17th in the league. 

The Bills looked good out of the gate going 2-0 against division foes New York and Baltimore.  They stumbled in the next two weeks losing close games before two more wins.  After a loss to the Jets the Bills won two more conference games including a 9-7 win over the Denver Broncos.  The Bills just couldn't seem to get on a streak though losing their next two games.  Sitting at 6-5 the Bills still had time to get things in order - and they did.  The Bills rattled off four straight single digit victories including a week 14 win over the Chargers in San Diego.  The defense allowed 482 yards of offense, 343 from Dan Fouts' arm but a Chuck Muncie fumble recovery on Buffalo's 26 with 1:52 left preserved a 28-27 victory and the Bills playoffs hopes.  In week 17 the 10-5 Bills would face the hated Miami Dolphins and their 10-4-1 record with the division championship on the line.  Buffalo was only able to muster two Nick Mike-Mayer field goals and lost 16-6.  Now the Bills needed some luck just ot make the playoffs.  The 9-5-1New York Jets wre playing the Green Bay Packers and the 10-5 Broncos were facing the Chicago Bears.  If Denver and New York both won, they would beat Buffalo for the last Wild Card spot.  Instead only New York won.  Denver lost 35-24.  The Broncos and Bills finished the year with equal 10-6 records.  Denver had lost the division on a tiebreaker and now lost the Wild Card due to the Bills' Week 8 win.  Buffalo earned the 5th and final wild card spot.  Despite a 10-6 record, Denver would sit home.

In the Wild Card game, the Bills were matched against the New York Jets.  The Bills and Jets had split games that year with Buffalo handing New York a 31-0 beatdown in Week 1.  In Week 7 the Jets got their revenge beating Buffalo 33-14.  The stage was set for a showdown.  The Bills jumped to a 24-0 lead by the second quarter.  New York fumbled the opening kickoff and Buffalo returned it for a score to start things off.  New York got the ball back and punted and soon after Joe Ferguson completed a 50-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Frank Lewis.  Two more Jet interceptions led to 10 points and the rout was on at 24-0 - or so fans thought.  Jets quarterback Richard Todd threw a 30-yard touchdown, and kicker Pat Leahy added two field goals to cut Buffalo's lead, 24-13 by the end of the third quarter. In the fourth quarter the Bills finally got back on the board when Joe Cribbs ran for a 45-yard touchdown, increasing the Bills lead to 31-13. But Todd then led the Jets 80 yards in 8 plays and completed a 30-yard touchdown. Then after forcing a punt, New York drove for another score, aided by a pass interference call against Bills defensive back Mario Clark that nullified an interception. The Jets finished the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run to cut the score to 31-27. The Jets got the ball back with 2:36 remaining and then drove 69 yards to the Buffalo 11-yard line, aided by another penalty that wiped out an interception. However, Bill Simpson's second interception of the day at the 1-yard line halted New York's comeback with 2 seconds left. The Bills had finally secured their first NFL playoff win over a decade after joining the NFL and their first playoff win since the 1965 AFL Championship game.  Frank Lewis continued his stellar year catching 7 passes for a franchise postseason record 158 yards and 2 touchdowns. Both quarterbacks threw 2 touchdowns and were intercepted four times

Next up, Buffalo would face AFC top seed Cincinnatti.  The Bengals opened the scoring on their first two drives to jump ouot to an early 14-0 lead.  Late in the second quarter, Ferguson's 54-yard completion to Jerry Butler set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Joe Cribbs, cutting the score to 14-7 by halftime. In the third quarter, a 44-yard touchdown run by Cribbs tied the game, but he was injured on the play and was forced to sit out the rest of the game. Cincinnati scored again but was countered by a Ferguson 20-yard touchdown pass to Butler. With 10:39 remaining in the game, Bengals quarterback Ken Anderson threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to rookie wide receiver Cris Collinsworth, giving Cincinnati the lead, 28-21. The Bills drove to the Cincinnati 21-yard line with about three minutes left to play, and it appeared that Ferguson completed a fourth-down pass to gain a first down. However, Buffalo was called for a delay of game penalty, and Ferguson's pass attempt on the next snap fell incomplete. The Bengals were then able to take over and run out the clock, winning by the final of 28-21.

1982 - NFL Players' Strike, Playoff Door Closes
4-5 record, fourth of five in AFC East, eighth-tied of 14 in AFC, 15th-tied of 28 in NFL
There was a multitude of tension following the 1981 season for the league and the Bills.  The Bills cut ties with starting guard Conrad Dobler by not inviting him to training camp.  Running back Joe Cribbs declared himself a free agent in late August just prior to the season.  Cribbs was unhappy with his contract and had been publicly fueding with Bills brass including calling the Bills a "no-class operation".  Cribbs held out to begin the year.  In the draft the Bills added linebacker Eugene Marve and also selected kicker Gary Anderson, the second-leading scorer in NFL history, but was cut before the season.  On the second day of the 1982 NFL draft, the Bills traded their fifth-round pick to the Washington Redskins for eight-time Pro Bowl CB Lamar Parrish who played only seven games for the Bills.

In July prior to training camps opening around the league, the Collective Bargaining Agreement expired but play continued.  The owners did not lock players out of training camps.  Play continued for the first two weeks of the season but then the players went on strike.  On September 23, 1982, the first game was canceled due to the strike.  The Bills were 2-0 before the strike.  Fifty-seven days later the strike ended and play resumed.  When the players' strike ended so did Joe Cribbs holdout.  In the second week after the strike the Bills went up against the Indianapolis Colts.  The Bills defense set an all-time record by allowing only 88 yards, 52 passing and 36 rushing, in a 20-0 blowout win.  Two weeks later the Bills defense was at it again, holding the Pittsburgh Steelers to 94 yards, including negative two yards passing for Terry Bradshaw, in a 13-0 shutout.  The Bills were 4-2 and sitting pretty in the playoff race.  Because of the loss of games divisions were thrown out and the league decided to seed the top 8 teams from each conference into a huge playoff.  The Bills lost two straight to sit at 4-4 and be in danger of missing out on the playoffs with New England coming into town.  With a win the Bills would secure a playoff spot.  With a loss it would take a miracle to make it.  Buffalo was up 13-3 in the second quarter but New England closed the gap to 13-10 by the end of the half.  To start the second half the Patriots took the lead on a Steve Grogan touchdown pass but missed the extra point.  At the conclusion of the third quarter the score was tied 16-16.  But in the fourth, New England took over.  The Patriots scored two touchdowns while the Bills could only managae a field goal and the Patriots won 30-19, clinching a playoff spot.  Cleveland, Buffalo, and Seattle would finish with identical 4-5 records and only one spot available.  Cleveland finished ahead of Buffalo and Seattle based on better conference record (4-3 to Bills' 3-3 to Seahawks' 3-5) and the Bills missed the playoffs.

As you would imagine, Buffalo's defense ended up very well in the season rankings.  They gave up the 6th-fewest points, second-fewest overall yards and passing yards and the third-fewest first downs.  The Bills cornerbacks were stacked on both sides with underrated veterans Mario Clark and Charles Romes shutting down opposing wide receivers for several years in a row.  Ben Williams broke through and was named to his only Pro Bowl.  Defensive linemate Fred Smerlas joined him on the Pro Bowl squad and Smerlas was also named to his only All-Pro team.

1983 - Changes Again
8-8 record, second-tied of five in AFC East, seventh-tied of 14 in AFC, 13th-tied of 28 in NFL
After failing to agree to a new contract with owner Ralph Wilson, Chuck Knox left Buffalo to coach Seattle after the 1982 season.  Kay Stephenson was named to replace the winningest coach in Bills history.  To add to the changes in Buffalo, guard Reggie McKenzie, the longtime Bills offensive linemen, was traded to Knox's Seahawks and running back Joe Cribbs announced that 1983 would probably be his last season with the Bills and that he was going to sign a future services contract with the USFL. Following the 1979 draft, number one overall pick Tom Cousineau refused to play for the Buffalo Bills, opting to go to the CFL instead.  When he attempted to rejoin the NFL prior to the 1982 season, Buffalo matched the offer sheet from Houston, blocking Cousineau's first choice.  After finally agreeing to terms with Cousineau, the Bills traded him to the Cleveland Browns for a first round pick in the 1983 draft (14th overall).  Armed with two first round picks, the Bills would select tight end Tony Hunter from Notre Dame with the 12th overall pick and select quarterback Jim Kelly with the pick acquired from the Browns to replace an aging Joe Ferguson. Hunter would play only two years for the Bills and four total before leaving the league.  Like Cousineau, Kelly opted to play for a rival football league, joining the USFL instead. In the second round, Buffalo took West Virginia linebacker Darryl Talley.

Buffalo started the year strong going 3-1 and 5-2 before ultimately fading down the stretch to finish 8-8.  The offense was not very good and was shut out twice and held to 14 points or less in half their games. The offense finished 23rd of 28 teams in points, 25th in yards, 18th in passing yards, and 24th in rushing yards despite Joe Cribbs 1131 rushing yards.  The defense, a stallwarth of Chuck Knox coached teams, also fell hard coming in 18th in points allowed and passing yards allowed and 24th in total yards allowed and rushing yards allowed.  The 33-year-old Joe Ferguson barely missed out on his this 3000-yard season, throwing for 2995 yards and a career-high 26 touchdowns.

Some bright notes were present, however.  In a foreshadowing of the rest of his career, Dan Marino made his first start for the Dolphins in a week 6 home game against the Bills in what was Buffalo's first win in the Orange Bowl since 1966.  Joe Cribbs and Fred Smerlas were both named to the Pro Bowl. Following the 1983 season, longtime Buffalo Bill player and executive Stew Barber was fired as General Manager.  Terry Bledsoe was named as his replacement.  The Bills had lost two high draft picks in five years to rival leagues and been unable to re-sign their most successful recent coach.

Next week Jim Kelly makes a triumphant entrance to Buffalo.  Oh yeah - we draft Andre Reed, Bruce Smith, Thurman Thomas, and a slew of other Bills greats and Marv Levy and Bill Polian come to town setting the stage for the Super Bowl runs of the early 90s.  I know I'll see you guys then.