2021 Buffalo Bills season

2021 Buffalo Bills season
2021 Buffalo Bills season
Owner	Terry and Kim Pegula
Head coach	Sean McDermott
General manager	Brandon Beane
Home field	Highmark Stadium
Results
Record	11–6
Division place	1st AFC East
Playoff finish	Won Wild Card Playoffs (vs. Patriots) 47–17; Lost Divisional Playoffs (at Chiefs) 36–42 (OT)
Pro Bowlers	OT Dion Dawkins ; WR Stefon Diggs
AP All-Pros	FS Jordan Poyer (1st team); SS Micah Hyde (2nd team)
Uniform
	← 2020; Bills seasons; 2022 →;

The 2021 season was the Buffalo Bills' 52nd in the National Football League, and their fifth under the head coach Sean McDermott.

Draft

2021 Buffalo Bills Draft
Round	Selection	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	30	Gregory Rousseau	DE	Miami (FL)	Opted out of the 2020 CFB season while at the University of Miami
2	61	Carlos Basham Jr.	DE	Wake Forest
3	93	Spencer Brown	OT	Northern Iowa
5	161	Tommy Doyle	OT	Miami (OH)	from Las Vegas
6	203	Marquez Stevenson	WR	Houston	from Washington via Las Vegas and Miami and Houston
	212	Damar Hamlin	S	Pittsburgh	from New Orleans via Houston
	213	Rachad Wildgoose	CB	Wisconsin
7	236	Jack Anderson	OG	Texas Tech	from Carolina

Regular season

Schedule

The Bills 2021 schedule was announced on May 12.

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Recap
1	September 12	Pittsburgh Steelers	L 16–23	0–1	Highmark Stadium	Recap
2	September 19	at Miami Dolphins	W 35–0	1–1	Hard Rock Stadium	Recap
3	September 26	Washington Football Team	W 43–21	2–1	Highmark Stadium	Recap
4	October 3	Houston Texans	W 40–0	3–1	Highmark Stadium	Recap
5	October 10	at Kansas City Chiefs	W 38–20	4–1	Arrowhead Stadium	Recap
6	October 18	at Tennessee Titans	L 31–34	4–2	Nissan Stadium	Recap
7	Bye
8	October 31	Miami Dolphins	W 26–11	5–2	Highmark Stadium	Recap
9	November 7	at Jacksonville Jaguars	L 6–9	5–3	TIAA Bank Field	Recap
10	November 14	at New York Jets	W 45–17	6–3	MetLife Stadium	Recap
11	November 21	Indianapolis Colts	L 15–41	6–4	Highmark Stadium	Recap
12	November 25	at New Orleans Saints	W 31–6	7–4	Caesars Superdome	Recap
13	December 6	New England Patriots	L 10–14	7–5	Highmark Stadium	Recap
14	December 12	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	L 27–33 (OT)	7–6	Raymond James Stadium	Recap
15	December 19	Carolina Panthers	W 31–14	8–6	Highmark Stadium	Recap
16	December 26	at New England Patriots	W 33–21	9–6	Gillette Stadium	Recap
17	January 2	Atlanta Falcons	W 29–15	10–6	Highmark Stadium	Recap
18	January 9	New York Jets	W 27–10	11–6	Highmark Stadium	Recap

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

Division

AFC East
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
⁽³⁾ Buffalo Bills	11	6	0	.647	5–1	7–5	483	289	W4
⁽⁶⁾ New England Patriots	10	7	0	.588	3–3	8–4	462	303	L1
Miami Dolphins	9	8	0	.529	4–2	6–6	341	373	W1
New York Jets	4	13	0	.235	0–6	4–8	310	504	L2

Conference

AFC v t e
#	Team	Division	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	SOS	SOV	STK
Division winners
1^[a]	Tennessee Titans	South	12	5	0	.706	5–1	8–4	.472	.480	W3
2^[a]	Kansas City Chiefs	West	12	5	0	.706	5–1	7–5	.538	.517	W1
3	Buffalo Bills	East	11	6	0	.647	5–1	7–5	.472	.428	W4
4	Cincinnati Bengals	North	10	7	0	.588	4–2	8–4	.472	.462	L1
Wild cards
5^[b]	Las Vegas Raiders	West	10	7	0	.588	3–3	8–4	.510	.515	W4
6^[b]	New England Patriots	East	10	7	0	.588	3–3	8–4	.481	.394	L1
7	Pittsburgh Steelers	North	9	7	1	.559	4–2	7–5	.521	.490	W2
Did not qualify for the postseason
8^[c]	Indianapolis Colts	South	9	8	0	.529	3–3	7–5	.495	.431	L2
9^[c]^[d]	Miami Dolphins	East	9	8	0	.529	4–2	6–6	.464	.379	W1
10^[c]^[d]	Los Angeles Chargers	West	9	8	0	.529	3–3	6–6	.510	.500	L1
11^[e]	Cleveland Browns	North	8	9	0	.471	3–3	5–7	.514	.415	W1
12^[e]	Baltimore Ravens	North	8	9	0	.471	1–5	5–7	.531	.460	L6
13	Denver Broncos	West	7	10	0	.412	1–5	3–9	.484	.357	L4
14^[f]	New York Jets	East	4	13	0	.235	0–6	4–8	.512	.426	L2
15^[f]	Houston Texans	South	4	13	0	.235	3–3	4–8	.498	.397	L2
16	Jacksonville Jaguars	South	3	14	0	.176	1–5	3–9	.512	.569	W1
Tiebreakers^[g]
↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Tennessee finished ahead of Kansas City based on head-to-head victory. ↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 Las Vegas finished ahead of New England based on win percentage in common games. ↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 Indianapolis finished ahead of Miami and Los Angeles based on conference record. ↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 Miami finished ahead of LA Chargers based on win percentage in common games. ↑ ^5.0 ^5.1 Cleveland finished ahead of Baltimore based on division record. ↑ ^6.0 ^6.1 NY Jets finished ahead of Houston based on head-to-head victory. ↑ When breaking ties for three or more teams under the NFL's rules, they are first broken within divisions, then comparing only the highest ranked remaining team from each division.

Postseason

Schedule

Round	Date	Opponent (seed)	Result	Record	Venue	Recap
Wild Card	January 15	New England Patriots (6)	W 47–17	1–0	Highmark Stadium	Recap
Divisional	January 23	at Kansas City Chiefs (2)	L 36–42 (OT)	1–1	Arrowhead Stadium	Recap

[12-5-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Tennessee finished ahead of Kansas City based on head-to-head victory.

[10-7-2] 2.0 ^2.1 Las Vegas finished ahead of New England based on win percentage in common games.

[9-8a-3] 3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 Indianapolis finished ahead of Miami and Los Angeles based on conference record.

[9-8b-4] 4.0 ^4.1 Miami finished ahead of LA Chargers based on win percentage in common games.

[8-9-5] 5.0 ^5.1 Cleveland finished ahead of Baltimore based on division record.

[4-13-6] 6.0 ^6.1 NY Jets finished ahead of Houston based on head-to-head victory.

[7] When breaking ties for three or more teams under the NFL's rules, they are first broken within divisions, then comparing only the highest ranked remaining team from each division.

[a]

[b]

[c]

[d]

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[f]

[g]