Buffalo Bills

The Buffalo Bills, an American professional football franchise that plays in the American Football Conference (AFC) of the National Football League (NFL) and is based in Buffalo. As a member of the American Football League (AFL), the Bills won two championships (1964 and 1965) and while playing in the NFL (after the AFL-NFL merger in 1970) they featured in a record four consecutive Super Bowls (1991–94), losing at all times.

Bills was one of the eight founding members of the AFL (1960). They were one of the league's worst teams in their first two seasons, but the addition of quarterback Jack Kemp and the suspension of running back Cookie Gilchrist in the 1962 season helped turn the tide of the franchise. Gilchrist was named the AFL's Most Valuable Player that year, and the following year he set a league record by running 243 yards in a game. In 1963, his first full season with the team, Kemp led the Bills to a playoff appearance. The following year, the Bills won 12 of their 14 games and finished with the highest-ranking offense and defense in the AFL. At the end of the season, the Buffalo beat the San Diego Chargers to win their first championship in just their fifth year of existence. The Bills repeated their title win over the Chargers in 1965 and returned to the AFL Championship Game in 1966, only to lose to the Kansas City Chiefs and be denied entry to the first AFL World Championship Game — the NFL (now called the Super Bowl).

Buffalo then entered a long series of seasons, including the league's worst 1-12-1 record in 1968, which saw the team earn first choice in the 1969 NFL draft (both leagues took place three years before the 1970 joint draft ab Fusion), which he used. to compose O.J. Simpsons. Simpson ran behind a strong offensive line called "The Electric Company" (because they "turned on the juice" - a nod to Simpson's nickname) and set a number of NFL rushing records, including the first, for nine years with the Bills of the season 2,000-yard rusher. league in 1973, but the team made the playoffs only once during that span. The Bills struggled for a few more seasons after trading Simpson to the San Francisco 49ers in 1978, but in 1980 they made the first of two consecutive postseason berths.

The Bills selected quarterback Jim Kelly in the first round of the 1983 NFL Draft. Instead, Kelly signed to play in the newly formed United States Football League (USFL), and the Buffalo set a worst 2-14 league record in 1984 and 1985 in . After the USFL dissolved in 1986, Kelly joined the Bills, who retained their NFL rights. Head coach Marv Levy immediately took advantage of his quarterback skills and introduced the "K-Gun" (named after Kelly) attack that relied on a series of quick passes and out of shotgun formations. Buffalo's attack -- which also included future Hall of Famer running back Thurman Thomas and perennial Pro Bowl wide receiver Andre Reed -- was one of the best goals in the league at the time, and the team's defense was bolstered by a superb Bruce All Times defense anchored in Smith and star quarterback Cornelius Bennett. Between 1988 and 1993, the Bills made six consecutive playoff appearances (they won five division titles), and the team had a notable string of postseason successes during those years.

The Bills reached their first Super Bowl in 1991, losing to the New York Giants after a penultimate field goal attempt by Scott Norwood of Buffalo went wide to the right. The following year the Buffalo returned to the Super Bowl where they were beaten by the Washington Redskins. In the 1992 wildcard postseason, the Bills -- playing without the injured Kelly -- trailed the Houston Oilers 35-3 early in the third quarter. Reserve quarterback Frank Reich rounded up the Bills for five unanswered goals, and Buffalo beat the Oilers 41-38 in extra time. Bills' feat was the biggest kick-back in NFL history, including regular season and postseason games. The team's momentum continued through the AFC playoffs, and the Bills easily won two away games to advance to the third Super Bowl. There, however, they were beaten by the Dallas Cowboys 52-17. The Buffalo equaled a record fourth consecutive Super Bowl in 1994, but their rematch against the Cowboys ended in another big, disappointing loss. The Bills made two more postseason appearances in the mid-1990s, but each time failed to make it past the second round of the playoffs, and key members of the 1990s dynasty soon left the team.

Quarterback Doug Flutie led the Bills to short postseason stints after the 1998 and 1999 seasons, but the franchise fell back into the AFC mid-ranks in the 2000s. The financially-strapped team was dogged by rumors of an imminent move to Toronto, which only blossomed when the Bills agreed to host a series of "home games" (including pre-season and regular season competitions) in the Canadian city between 2008 and 2017. In October 2014, the Bills were sold to a local group of owners who promised to keep the team at Buffalo, and Toronto's record was overturned soon after. In 2017, the Bills posted a 9-7 record and ended a franchise-record 18-year postseason drought, but the team lost its first playoff game. Two years later, the team won 10 games - the first season in double-digit wins in 20 years - but again lost in its first post-season competition.