Buffalo Bills

History

The Bills began competitive play in 1960 as a charter member of the American Football League led by head coach Buster Ramsey and joined the NFL as part of the AFL–NFL merger in 1970. In the first two seasons, the Bills went 5–8–1 and 6–8 under Ramsey. The Bills won two consecutive American Football League titles in 1964 and 1965 with quarterback Jack Kemp and coach Lou Saban, but the club has yet to win a league championship since.

Once the AFL–NFL merger took effect, the Bills became the second NFL team to represent the city; they followed the Buffalo All-Americans, a charter member of the league. Buffalo had been left out of the league since the All-Americans (by that point renamed the Bisons) folded in 1929; the Bills were no less than the third professional non-NFL team to compete in the city before the merger, After the Indians/Tigers of the early 1940s and an earlier team named the Bills, originally the Bisons, in the late 1940s in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC).

After the AFL–NFL merger, the Bills were generally mediocre in the 1970s but featured All-Pro running back O. J. Simpson.

After being pushed to the brink of failure in the mid-1980s, the collapse of the United States Football League and a series of highly drafted players such as Jim Kelly (who initially played for the USFL instead of the Bills), Thurman Thomas, Bruce Smith and Darryl Talley allowed the Bills to rebuild into a perennial contender in the late 1980s through the mid-1990s under head coach Marv Levy, a period in which the team won four consecutive AFC Championships; the team nevertheless lost all four subsequent Super Bowls, records in both categories that still stand.

The rise of the division rival New England Patriots under Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, along with numerous failed attempts at rebuilding in the 2000s and 2010s, helped prevent the Bills from reaching the playoffs in seventeen consecutive seasons between 2000 and 2016, a 17-year drought that was the longest active playoff drought in all major professional sports at the time.

Mike Mularkey coached the Bills in the 2004 and 2005 seasons. He went 9–7 but missed the postseason in 2004 and 5–11 in 2005. He resigned from the team after the 2005 season.

From 2006 to 2009, the Bills were coached by Dick Jauron. After three consecutive 7–9 seasons, Jauron was dismissed after a 3–6 start to his fourth season. Perry Fewell finished out the season as interim with a 3–4 mark.

From 2010 to 2012, the Bills were coached by Chan Gailey. The team had Ryan Fitzpatrick as their quarterback in those seasons. Gailey was fired after three consecutive last place finishes in the AFC East.

Doug Marrone was hired to be the Bills' head coach before the 2013 season. The Bills went 6–10 in the 2013 season and improved to 9–7 in the 2014 season. Marrone decided to step down as head coach after the season. On October 8, 2014, Buffalo Sabres owners Terry and Kim Pegula received unanimous approval to acquire the Bills during the NFL owners' meetings, becoming the second ownership group of the team after team founder Ralph Wilson.

Before the 2015 season, the team hired former Jets head coach Rex Ryan to become the next head coach of the Bills. The team went 8–8 in 2015 and 7–9 in 2016. Ryan was dismissed with one game remaining in the 2016 season, with Anthony Lynn finishing the season as interim.

Under head coach Sean McDermott, the Bills broke the playoff drought, appearing in the playoffs for seven of the next eight seasons. The team drafted Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen with the seventh overall pick in the first round of the 2018 NFL draft. The team earned its first division championship and playoff wins since 1995 during the 2020 season, attributed to the Bills' own development of a core talent including Allen, Stefon Diggs, Matt Milano, and Tre'Davious White. In the 2020 season, the Bills reached the AFC Championship for the first time since the 1993 season. However, their run ended with a 38–24 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. The Bills won the AFC East with a 11–6 record in the 2021 season. The Bills defeated the Patriots 47–17 in the Wild Card Round before falling to the Kansas City Chiefs 42–36 in overtime.

In the 2022 season, the Bills won the AFC East with a 13–3 record. The season saw a cancelled game against the Bengals due to a near-fatal medical episode with Damar Hamlin, who eventually recovered and returned to football activities the following season. The team defeated the Miami Dolphins in the Wild Card Round 34–31 before falling to the Cincinnati Bengals 27–10 in the Divisional Round. In the 2023 season, the Bills won the AFC East for the fourth consecutive season. In the Wild Card Round, they defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 31–17 before falling to the Kansas City Chiefs in the Divisional Round 27–24. In the 2024 season, the Bills finished with a 13–4 record and won another AFC East title. After wins over the Denver Broncos in the Wild Card Round and the Baltimore Ravens in the Divisional Round, the Bills lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship. The following season saw the team's streak of consecutive division titles end, as they finished with a 12–5 record. They defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars in the Wild Card Round before falling to the Broncos in the Divisional Round. Two days later, McDermott was fired after 9 seasons.

After Kim Pegula was incapacitated by a 2022 vascular brain injury, a portion of her stake in the team was transferred to her stepdaugher Laura, with a 20% stake in the team sold to a coalition of private equity investors and former Toronto athletes Jozy Altidore, Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady in December 2024. The Bills announced plans to build a new stadium to replace Highmark Stadium that opened in summer 2026.. On September 17, 2026, the Bills played their first game in the new stadium, winning against the Detroit Lions by a score of 31-41.

Rivalries

The Bills have rivalries with their three AFC East opponents (the Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, and New York Jets) and with the Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts (a former divisional opponent), Kansas City Chiefs, Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Dallas Cowboys.

The Cleveland Browns shared a rivalry with the Bills' predecessors in the All-America Football Conference. The current teams have a more friendly relationship and have played sporadically since the AFL–NFL merger.

Miami Dolphins

This is often considered Buffalo's most famous rivalry. The Bills were one of the original eight American Football League, while the Dolphins began playing in 1966 as an expansion team. The rivalry first gained prominence when the Dolphins won every matchup against the Bills in the 1970s, and the first of the 1980s, for an NFL-record 20 straight wins against a single opponent. Fortunes changed in the following decades with the rise of Jim Kelly as Buffalo's franchise quarterback. Though Kelly and Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino shared a competitive rivalry in the 1980s and 1990s, the Bills became dominant in the 1990s. Things cooled down after the retirements of Kelly and Marino and the rise of the New England Patriots in the 2000s and 2010s, but Miami remains a fierce rival of the Bills, coming in second place in a recent poll of Buffalo's primary rival, and the two teams have typically been close to each other in win–loss records. They have often competed for the division title since Tua Tagovailoa became Miami's quarterback, despite Buffalo's 13–2 record over the Dolphins under Josh Allen. Miami leads the overall series 62–61–1 as of 2025, but Buffalo has the advantage in the playoffs at 4–1, including a win in the 1992 AFC Championship Game.

New England Patriots

The rivalry with the New England Patriots began when both teams were original franchises in the American Football League (AFL) before the NFL–AFL merger, but did not gain notability until the emergence of New England quarterback Tom Brady in 2001. The teams were very competitive before the 2000s. However, Brady's arrival in the early 2000s led to the Patriots dominating the AFC East, including the Bills, for two decades. As a result, New England replaced the Dolphins as Buffalo's most hated rival. The Bills have taken an 8–3 edge since Brady's departure in 2020, which included consecutive AFC East titles from 2020 to 2024 and a season sweep of the Patriots in two of the first three years. In 2021, the Bills dominated in a 47–17 victory against the Patriots in the two teams' first playoff match-up in 59 years, which saw the Bills score a touchdown on every offensive drive throughout the entire game and, as such, is the only "perfect offensive game" in NFL history. However, the Bills failed to reach the Super Bowl before the Patriots in the post-Brady era. Overall, the Patriots lead the series 79–51–1 as of 2024, but trail the Bills by a 48–47–1 margin without Brady on the field.

Several players have played for both teams, including Drew Bledsoe, Doug Flutie, Lawyer Milloy, Brandon Spikes, Scott Chandler, Chris Hogan, Mike Gillislee, Stephon Gilmore, Mack Hollins, and Stefon Diggs.

New York Jets

The Bills and Jets, both original AFL teams, represent the state of New York, though the Jets have played their home games in East Rutherford, New Jersey, since 1984. While the rivalry represents the differences between New York City and Western New York, it has historically not been as intense as Buffalo's rivalries with the Dolphins and Patriots. When not playing one another, the teams' fan bases either have grudging respect or low-key annoyance for each other (stemming more from the broader upstate-downstate tensions than the teams or sport). The Bills-Jets rivalry has often become characterized by ugly games and shared mediocrity, but it has had a handful of competitive moments. The series heated up recently when former Jets head coach Rex Ryan became the Bills' head coach for two seasons and had become notable again as Bills quarterback Josh Allen and former Jets quarterback Sam Darnold, both drafted in the same year, maintained a friendly rivalry with one another. Buffalo leads the series 72–58 as of 2025, including a playoff win in 1981.

Kansas City Chiefs

The Kansas City Chiefs, another original franchise in the AFL, have a long history against the Bills, despite the two teams never being in the same division. Buffalo currently leads the series 30–26–1, which has included seven playoff meetings, four of which were AFL/AFC Championship Games; Kansas City won the 1966 AFL Championship Game that determined the AFL's representative in the first Super Bowl against the NFL champion Green Bay Packers, in addition to the 2020 and 2024 AFC Championship Games that saw the team advance to its second and fifth Super Bowl appearances in six years, respectively, while Buffalo defeated Kansas City in the 1993 AFC Championship Game to advance to its fourth straight Super Bowl appearance. However, after each victory in the AFC Championship Game, the Chiefs or the Bills went on to lose the ensuing Super Bowl. Despite a lull in the series in the 2000s and 2010s, the rivalry gained attention as the Bills and Chiefs met in nine of ten years from 2008 to 2017.

After a two-year hiatus in the series, a rivalry between Bills quarterback Josh Allen and Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes developed, particularly in the post-season, drawing comparisons to Jim Kelly's rivalry with Dan Marino as well as the rivalry between Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. Since 2019, four high-profile postseason matchups occurred between the Bills and Chiefs. The four playoff games include the aforementioned 2020 Championship Game and the 2021 Divisional round game, the latter of which is now considered one of the greatest playoff games of all time, but was also controversial due to the league's overtime rules. In 2023 divisional round, Bills lost to the Chiefs 24–27 as Bills kicker Tyler Bass missed the game-tying field goal attempt wide right, a play that evoked memories of Scott Norwood missing the game-winning field goal attempt in Super Bowl XXV. In the 2024 AFC Championship Game, Bills failed to convert two 4th downs in the fourth quarter: the first was a 4th and inches quarterback sneak by Allen that was controversially ruled short of the line of gain and the second was a 4th and 5 pass from Allen that the tight end Kincaid dropped while sliding. The Chiefs went on to win 32–29. In the four playoff matchups between Allen and Mahomes, Mahomes leads the series 4–0, though Allen leads in the regular season 5–1.

Baltimore Ravens

Another new rivalry emerged with the Baltimore Ravens as the Bills and Ravens have often squared off for conference dominance since Josh Allen and Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson were drafted in 2018. The two quarterbacks are known for their similar dual-threat styles of play, similar to Patrick Mahomes, and have led their teams to similar success, in addition to combining for three NFL MVP awards. Bills and Ravens fans have also sparred over game results as well as 2024 MVP award, as Ravens supporters argued that Jackson, who finished second in voting, should have won the award instead of Allen. Jackson leads Allen in regular season games 3–2, though Allen has won both postseason matchups. Prior to this, Baltimore and Buffalo played sporadically since the Ravens joined the league in 1996, with the Ravens holding a general advantage in the early portion of the series. The series is tied at 7–7, with Baltimore leading in regular series games 7–5 and Buffalo leading in postseason games 2–0.

The Ravens' predecessors in Baltimore, the Baltimore Colts, were a divisional opponent for Buffalo in AFC East, from 1970 until 2001. The Colts relocated to Indianapolis in 1984 and were later reassigned to the AFC South in 2002.

Jacksonville Jaguars

A rivalry emerged between the Bills and the Jacksonville Jaguars after former Bills head coach Doug Marrone, who had quit the team after the 2014 season, was hired as a coaching assistant for Jacksonville and eventually rose to become the Jaguars' head coach from 2015 to 2020. The first game between the Marrone-led Jaguars was a London game in week 7 of the 2015 season, which saw the Jaguars' win 34–31. The most important game of this series was an ugly, low-scoring Wild Card game in 2017 that saw the Jaguars win 10–3. This game is notable as it was the first Bills playoff appearance in 17 seasons. Before this, Jacksonville had handed Buffalo its first playoff loss in Bills Stadium in 1996. The Bills and Jaguars have since met four times. The first was a "rematch" game in week 12 of the 2018 season; the Bills won 24–21. The teams brawled after trash talk from former Jaguars players such as Jalen Ramsey.

The second time was in week 9 of the 2021 season. By this point, Marrone's feud with the Bills organization and the personal drama between Bills and Jaguars players no longer applied, as Marrone had been fired and replaced by Urban Meyer and all the players from the 2017 Jaguars team have since moved on to other teams or retired. Regardless, this game was the seventh-largest upset at the time in NFL history: the 15.5-point favorite Bills lost 9–6. The Bills would narrowly beat the now Liam Coen led Jaguars 27-24 in the wildcard round of the 2025–26 NFL playoffs which saw the Bills claim the lead late in the 4th quarter with a tush push followed by a Trevor Lawrence interception to win.

Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans

The Tennessee Titans (formerly the Houston Oilers) also share an extended history with the Bills, with both teams being original AFL clubs and rivals in that league's East Division before the AFL-NFL merger. The two teams' owners, Ralph Wilson and Bud Adams, were the last owners from the inaugural AFL season still owning their teams at the time of Adams's 2013 death. Matchups were intense in the 1980s and 1990s, with quarterback Warren Moon leading the Oilers against Jim Kelly's Bills. Memorable playoff moments between the teams in the 1990s include The Comeback, in which the Frank Reich-led Bills overcame a 35–3 deficit to stun the Oilers 41–38 in 1992, and the Music City Miracle, in which the now-Titans scored on a near-last-minute kickoff return with a controversial lateral pass ruling to beat the Bills 22–16 in 1999. To add insult to injury, the Music City Miracle was Buffalo's last playoff appearance until 2017, leading to resentment by Bills fans towards the Titans. In 2009, after a particularly brutal Titans rout against the Bills, Adams infamously flipped off the Bills sideline from his suite.

After both teams failed to reach the same success in the late 2000s to early 2010s, they returned to consistent playoff contention starting in 2017, resulting in several high-profile games, in addition to a brief resurgence of the rivalry based on shared success and mutual respect between 2018 and 2022, when the Titans were led by head coach Mike Vrabel (a former Patriots player) and running back Derrick Henry. The Titans currently lead the series 30–21, but the Bills lead in postseason meetings 2–1.