1981 Buffalo Bills season

1981 Buffalo Bills season
1981 Buffalo Bills season
Owner	Ralph Wilson
Head coach	Chuck Knox
Home field	Rich Stadium
Results
Record	10–6
Division place	3rd AFC East
Playoff finish	Won Wild Card Playoffs; (at Jets) 31–27; Lost Divisional Playoffs; (at Bengals) 21–28
Pro Bowlers	RB Joe Cribbs; WR Frank Lewis; DT Fred Smerlas
	← 1980; Bills seasons; 1982 →;

Bills' running back Joe Cribbs (*middle*) rushes the ball against the Jets in the 1981 AFC wild card game.

The 1981 Buffalo Bills season was the franchise's 12th season in the National Football League, and the 22nd overall.

The season's most memorable moment was probably a Hail Mary catch against the New England Patriots in Week Twelve.^[1] The 36-yard touchdown pass from Bills quarterback Joe Ferguson to running back Roland Hooks as time expired won the game for Buffalo, 20–17.^[2] The win proved to be crucial in giving Buffalo the final playoff spot in the AFC in 1981.^[3] The Bills qualified for the playoffs, but lost, 28-21, to the Cincinnati Bengals.

^ NFL.com: Hooks' Hail Mary catch video
^ Buffalo Rumblings: Best Moments in Bills History, No. 21: Roland Hooks' Hail Mary Catch
^ Had the Bills lost the game, the last wild card spot would have gone to 10–6 Denver, whom the Bills beat out for the spot by virtue of a head-to-head tiebreaker.

[1] NFL.com: Hooks' Hail Mary catch video

[2] Buffalo Rumblings: Best Moments in Bills History, No. 21: Roland Hooks' Hail Mary Catch

[3] Had the Bills lost the game, the last wild card spot would have gone to 10–6 Denver, whom the Bills beat out for the spot by virtue of a head-to-head tiebreaker.

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