2009 Buffalo Bills season
Bills 50th season logo
Owner	Ralph Wilson
General manager	Russ Brandon
Head coach	Dick Jauron (fired November 17, 3–6 record) Perry Fewell (interim, 3–4 record)
Home stadium	Ralph Wilson Stadium Rogers Centre
Results
Record	6–10
Division place	4thAFC East
Playoffs	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	SJairus Byrd
← 2008 Bills seasons 2010 →

The2009 season was theBuffalo Bills' 40th season in theNational Football League (NFL) the 50th overall and the fourth and final under thehead coachDick Jauron.

The Bills brought in star receiverTerrell Owens in an attempt to revitalize the fanbase and improve the receiving corps for embattled quarterbackTrent Edwards. However, they were unable to improve upon their third consecutive 7–9 regular-season record (2006,2007 and2008) and failed to make the playoffs for the 10th consecutive year, the longest-standing playoff drought in the NFL which did not end until the2017 season.

Jauron returned as head coach for a fourth season, the first Bills coach sinceMarv Levy to receive a contract extension beyond three years. He was fired on November 17 after a 3–6 start, and was replaced on an interim basis by defensive coordinatorPerry Fewell, who was fired at the end of the season, but not before startingRyan Fitzpatrick at quarterback for the rest of the season.

In addition, running backFred Jackson emerged as an effective starter, eclipsing 1,000 rushing yards in the wake ofMarshawn Lynch dealing with an early-season suspension and injuries.

With the 2009 season, the Bills became one of only two non-expansion teams to not make the playoffs in the 2000s (the other being theDetroit Lions).

• WRTerrell Owens – Signed March 7. – Former Team:Dallas Cowboys
• CBDrayton Florence – Signed March 3. – Former Team:Jacksonville Jaguars
• QBRyan Fitzpatrick – Signed February 27. – Former Team:Cincinnati Bengals
• CGeoff Hangartner – Signed February 28. – Former team:Carolina Panthers
• RBDominic Rhodes – Signed April 18. But released September 5 – Former Team:Indianapolis Colts

• OGDerrick Dockery – Released February 26. Dockery re-joined theWashington Redskins.
• QBJ. P. Losman – Allowed to leave as a free agent. After not receiving any interest from the NFL, signed with theLas Vegas Locomotives of theUnited Football League in June 2009.
• TERobert Royal – Released February 26. Royal signed a contract to join theCleveland Browns.
• LTJason Peters – Traded to thePhiladelphia Eagles. Traded for the 28th (Eric Wood) and 121st pick (Shawn Nelson) in the2009 NFL draft and a conditional 6th round pick in the2010 NFL draft.
• LT/RTLangston Walker – Released September 8. Re-signed with theOakland Raiders.

The Bills drafted three players—Eric Wood, Andy Levitre and Jairus Byrd—who would later become starters on the team. Byrd was runner-up inDefensive Rookie of the Year voting. First round pick Aaron Maybin was released from the Bills shortly before the2011 season after two disappointing seasons with the team.

The Bills were selected to play against theTennessee Titans in thePro Football Hall of Fame Game on August 9, 2009; the game seeks to celebrate the 50th anniversary of theAmerican Football League. Bills ownerRalph Wilson was among the 2009 inductees to theHall and is one of the two surviving original AFL owners, the other being Titans ownerBud Adams. Each team wore their AFL throwback uniforms, with the Titans inHouston Oilers uniforms, as the team played inHouston until the early-1990s.

The Bills played a 16-game schedule in 2009, in accordance with theNFL scheduling formula. The schedule consisted of six games against theirAFC East divisional rivals (two each against theMiami Dolphins,New England Patriots, andNew York Jets), four intra-conference games versus theAFC South (one game each against theHouston Texans,Indianapolis Colts,Jacksonville Jaguars, andTennessee Titans), four inter-conference games against teams from theNFC South (one game each against theAtlanta Falcons,Carolina Panthers,New Orleans Saints, andTampa Bay Buccaneers), and two games against the remaining two AFC teams that, like Buffalo, finished fourth in their respective divisions in 2008 (one game each versus theCleveland Browns andKansas City Chiefs). For the first time, the Bills faced the Buccaneers in Buffalo; in the 33-year history of the Tampa Bay franchise, all previous regular-season games between the two teams were held inTampa, Florida.

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Recap
1	September 14	atNew England Patriots	L 24–25	0–1	Gillette Stadium	Recap
2	September 20	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 33–20	1–1	Ralph Wilson Stadium	Recap
3	September 27	New Orleans Saints	L 7–27	1–2	Ralph Wilson Stadium	Recap
4	October 4	atMiami Dolphins	L 10–38	1–3	Land Shark Stadium	Recap
5	October 11	Cleveland Browns	L 3–6	1–4	Ralph Wilson Stadium	Recap
6	October 18	atNew York Jets	W 16–13(OT)	2–4	Giants Stadium	Recap
7	October 25	atCarolina Panthers	W 20–9	3–4	Bank of America Stadium	Recap
8	November 1	Houston Texans	L 10–31	3–5	Ralph Wilson Stadium	Recap
9	Bye
10	November 15	atTennessee Titans	L 17–41	3–6	LP Field	Recap
11	November 22	atJacksonville Jaguars	L 15–18	3–7	Jacksonville Municipal Stadium	Recap
12	November 29	Miami Dolphins	W 31–14	4–7	Ralph Wilson Stadium	Recap
13	December 3	New York Jets	L 13–19	4–8	Rogers Centre(Toronto)	Recap
14	December 13	atKansas City Chiefs	W 16–10	5–8	Arrowhead Stadium	Recap
15	December 20	New England Patriots	L 10–17	5–9	Ralph Wilson Stadium	Recap
16	December 27	atAtlanta Falcons	L 3–31	5–10	Georgia Dome	Recap
17	January 3	Indianapolis Colts	W 30–7	6–10	Ralph Wilson Stadium	Recap

Note: Intra-division opponents are inbold text.

The Bills began their season atGillette Stadium for an AFL Legacy duel with their AFC East rival, theNew England Patriots, in the first game of aMNF doubleheader. Buffalo got off to a fast start in the first quarter as quarterbackTrent Edwards completed an 11-yard touchdown pass to rookie tight endShawn Nelson. The Patriots would respond in the second quarter as running backFred Taylor got a 1-yard touchdown run, yet Buffalo came right back as defensive endAaron Schobel returned an interception 26 yards for a touchdown. New England would close out the half with kickerStephen Gostkowski getting a 20-yard field goal.

In the third quarter, the Bills would add to their lead as kickerRian Lindell made a 40-yard field goal. In the fourth quarter, the Patriots replied with Gostkowski nailing a 28-yard field goal. Buffalo would increase their lead as Edwards completed a 10-yard touchdown pass to running backFred Jackson. With just over 5 minutes to play, The Patriots would strike back as quarterbackTom Brady completed an 18-yard touchdown pass to tight endBenjamin Watson (with a failed two-point conversion). On the ensuing kickoff, cornerbackLeodis McKelvin got the kickoff from his own endzone and got as far as the Bills 31-yard line, where he was stripped of the ball and New England's Gostkowski recovered. This would eventually set up Brady's 16-yard touchdown pass to Watson (with another failed two-point conversion). With under a minute to play Buffalo tried to respond, but the Patriots' defense was too much to overcome.

With the bitter loss, the Bills began their season at 0–1.

Hoping to rebound from a tough loss to the Patriots, the Bills would play their Week 2 home opener in an interconference duel with theTampa Bay Buccaneers. This would be the first time that Buffalo ever hosted Tampa Bay in a regular season game, having played a preseason game with each other in 1977. In the first quarter, the Bills came out firing as quarterbackTrent Edwards completed a 32-yard touchdown pass to wide receiverLee Evans, safetyDonte Whitner returning an interception 76 yards for a touchdown and kickerRian Lindell making a 31-yard field goal. The Buccaneers would get on the board in the second quarter as quarterbackByron Leftwich completed a 42-yard touchdown pass to tight endKellen Winslow, while Buffalo replied with Lindell getting a 43-yard field goal. Tampa Bay would close out the half as Leftwich completed an 8-yard touchdown pass to running backCarnell "Cadillac" Williams. After a scoreless third quarter, the Bills began to pull away as Lindell got a 43-yard field goal and Edwards completed a 43-yard touchdown pass to wide receiverTerrell Owens. The Buccaneers tried to rally as Leftwich completed a 6-yard touchdown pass to tight endJerramy Stevens (with a failed two-point conversion), yet Buffalo closed out the game with Lindell nailing a 20-yard field goal. With the win, the Bills improved to 1–1.

Coming off their win the Buccaneers, the Bills stayed at home for a Week 3 interconference duel with theNew Orleans Saints. Buffalo would trail early as Saints running backLynell Hamilton got a 1-yard touchdown run. The Bills would answer in the second quarter on a fake field goal attempt, punterBrian Moorman threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to defensive endRyan Denney. New Orleans would close out the half with kickerJohn Carney's 27-yard field goal. After a scoreless third quarter, the Saints took control in the fourth quarter with running backPierre Thomas' 34-yard touchdown run, Carney's 35-yard field goal and Thomas' 19-yard touchdown run. With the loss, Buffalo fell to 1–2.

Hoping to rebound from their home loss to the Saints, the Bills flew toLand Shark Stadium for a Week 4 AFC East duel with theMiami Dolphins. After a scoreless first quarter, Buffalo would find themselves trailing in the second as Dolphins kickerDan Carpenter got a 33-yard field goal, followed by cornerbackVontae Davis returning an interception 23 yards for a touchdown. The Bills would get on the board with a 35-yard field goal from kickerRian Lindell, but Miami would answer with running backRonnie Brown's 1-yard touchdown run.

The Dolphins' domination continued into the third quarter with quarterbackChad Henne completing a 5-yard touchdown pass to wide receiverBrian Hartline, followed by a 1-yard touchdown run by running backRicky Williams. Buffalo tried to salvage the game in the fourth quarter with quarterbackTrent Edwards completing a 3-yard touchdown pass to wide receiverJosh Reed, but Miami would close out the game with Brown's 4-yard touchdown pass.

With the loss, the Bills fell to 1–3.

The Bills, hoping to shake off a loss to the winlessMiami Dolphins on the road the week before, faced the 0–4Cleveland Browns atRalph Wilson Stadium. The wind played a factor throughout the game, making it difficult for both teams to sustain drives in the air. The Browns and Bills traded punts in the first quarter until the Bills had a drive end at their own 47 after turning it over on downs. This stop led to the only points of the first half by the Browns, a 24-yard field goal by backup kickerBilly Cundiff. Cundiff was the starter at kicker for the Browns due to the injury to their regular kickerPhil Dawson.

In the second half, the longest drive by the Bills in the game was in their opening possession, which led to a successful 36-yard field goal by Bills kickerRian Lindell to tie the game at 3. Later in the third quarter, each quarterback threw an interception, firstTrent Edwards of the Bills to cornerbackEric Wright of the Browns, and thenDerek Anderson of the Browns to Bills' safetyJairus Byrd. Deadlocked at 3 apiece going into the fourth quarter, both offenses continued to be stifled. However, a special teams blunder by Bills punt returnerRoscoe Parrish allowed the Browns to set up at the Buffalo 16-yard line after Parrish muffed the punt. From this turnover, the Browns were able to win the game on an 18-yard field goal by Cundiff with 23 seconds left to play. This loss dropped the Bills' record to 1–4, with the division rivalNew York Jets next up on the schedule in theMeadowlands. The Browns improved their record to 1–4. During the game, the Bills lost two defensive starters to injury who were carted off the field- linebackerKawika Mitchell and linebackerMarcus Buggs.

In this loss, the Bills earned the dubious distinction of losing to a quarterback with the worst completion percentage in NFL history in a win (minimum of 10 attempts), the Browns Derek Anderson, who completed just 2 out of 17 passes for just 23 yards- a percentage of 11.7%.Joe Ferguson (Buffalo) won a game on September 29, 1974, against theNew York Jets while completing neither of his two pass attempts in the last NFL game won by a team without a pass completion.^[3]

Trying to snap a three-game losing streak, the Bills flew toThe Meadowlands for a Week 6 AFC East duel with theNew York Jets. In the first quarter, Buffalo got the initial strike as kickerRian Lindell got a 33-yard field goal. The Jets would answer with a 23-yard field goal from kickerJay Feely. New York would take the lead in the second quarter Feely's 41-yard field goal and running backThomas Jones' 71-yard touchdown run.

In the third quarter, the Bills fought back as Lindell nailed a 25-yard field goal, followed by quarterbackRyan Fitzpatrick completing a 37-yard touchdown pass to wide receiverLee Evans. Both teams would fight hard throughout the fourth quarter and eventually, Lindell got a chance to kick a last-second field goal. However, his 46-yard attempt went wide right, sending the game into overtime. In overtime, both teams would slug it out with each other throughout most of the quarter. In the end, Buffalo emerged victorious as Lindell booted the game-winning 47-yard field goal.

With the win, not only did the Bills improve to 2–4, but the defense managed to record five interceptions (two for rookie safetyJairus Byrd, one for safetyGeorge Wilson, one for cornerbackReggie Corner, and one for linebackerPaul Posluszny).

Starting quarterbackTrent Edwards (5/5 for 43 yards) left the game in the second quarter with a concussion.

Coming off their thrilling overtime road win over the Jets, the Bills flew toBank of America Stadium for a Week 7 interconference duel with theCarolina Panthers. With quarterbackTrent Edwards recovering from a concussion, quarterbackRyan Fitzpatrick was given the start.

Buffalo delivered the opening charge in the first quarter with a 7-yard touchdown run from running backMarshawn Lynch. In the second quarter, the Panthers got on the board as defensive tackleHollis Thomas tackled running backFred Jackson in his own endzone for a safety.

After a scoreless third quarter, the Bills increased their lead in the fourth quarter with Fitzpatrick completing a 2-yard touchdown pass to wide receiverLee Evans, followed by a 29-yard field goal from kickerRian Lindell. Carolina tried to rally as running backDeAngelo Williams got a 15-yard touchdown run, yet Buffalo pulled away with Lindell's 22-yard field goal.

With the win, the Bills improved to 3–4.

Coming off their road win over the Panthers, the Bills went home for a Week 8 duel with theHouston Texans. In the first quarter, Buffalo struck first as wide receiverTerrell Owens got a 29-yard touchdown run. The Texans would answer in the second quarter with a 42-yard and a 22-yard field goal from kickerKris Brown. The Bills would end the half with kickerRian Lindell's 21-yard field goal.

Houston would creep closer in the third quarter with Brown booting a 26-yard field goal. In the fourth quarter, the Texans would take the lead and never look back as running backRyan Moats got three touchdown runs of 11 yards (followed by quarterbackMatt Schaub's 2-point conversion pass to wide receiverAndre Johnson), 1 yard, and 3 yards.

With the loss, Buffalo went into their bye week at 3–5.

Despite the loss, rookie safetyJairus Byrd once again had two interceptions. He would become the first rookie and only the second player in NFL history to have three-straight multi-interception games.

Coming off their bye week, the Bills flew toLP Field, donned their throwbacks, and played a Week 10 AFL Legacy game with theTennessee Titans. In the first quarter, Buffalo struck first with a trick play as running backFred Jackson completed a 27-yard touchdown pass to wide receiverLee Evans. The Titans would answer with a 28-yard touchdown run from running backChris Johnson and quarterbackVince Young's 14-yard touchdown pass to wide receiverNate Washington. Tennessee would add onto their lead in the second quarter with a 38-yard field goal from kickerRob Bironas. The Bills would close out the half with quarterbackTrent Edwards' 8-yard touchdown pass to Evans. Buffalo would tie the game in the third quarter with kickerRian Lindell nailing a 25-yard field goal, but the Titans would pull away in the fourth quarter with Johnson's 1-yard touchdown run, Bironas' 51-yard field goal, safetyVincent Fuller returning an interception 26 yards for a touchdown and cornerbackRod Hood returning an interception 31 yards for a touchdown. With the loss, not only did the Bills fall to 3–6, but head coachDick Jauron would get fired two days later.^[4]

Hoping to rebound from their loss to the Titans, the Bills flew to Jacksonville Municipal Stadium for an intraconference duel with theJacksonville Jaguars. In the 1st quarter Buffalo trailed early as kickerJosh Scobee made a 29-yard field goal. Then the Bills came on top with kickerRian Lindell hitting a 26 and a 28-yard field goal. The Bills fell behind in the 2nd quarter when RBMaurice Jones-Drew got a 3-yard touchdown run. Then the Bills would score to end the half with Lindell nailing a 22-yard field goal. In the third quarter Buffalo took the lead with QBRyan Fitzpatrick making a 98-yard touchdown pass to WRTerrell Owens (with a failed 2-point conversion attempt). In the fourth quarter Buffalo fell behind again with QBDavid Garrard making a 3-yard touchdown pass to WRMike Sims-Walker (With a successful QB sneak to make the two-point conversion). With the loss, the Bills fell to 3–7 inPerry Fewell's first game as interim head coach.

Trying to snap a three-game losing streak, the Bills went home, donned their throwback uniforms (again), and played a Week 12 AFC East rematch with theMiami Dolphins. After a scoreless first quarter, Buffalo would trail early in the second quarter as Dolphins quarterbackChad Henne threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to wide receiverBrian Hartline. The Bills would tie the game with quarterbackRyan Fitzpatrick getting an impressive 31-yard touchdown run.

Miami would retake the lead in the third quarter with a 1-yard touchdown run from running backRicky Williams, yet Buffalo's offense would explode with points in the fourth quarter. It would begin with running backFred Jackson's 3-yard touchdown run and continued with kickerRian Lindell booting a 56-yard field goal. Afterwards, Fitzpatrick would hook up with wide receiverTerrell Owens on a 51-yard touchdown pass, while Jackson got a 7-yard touchdown run.

With the win, the Bills improved to 4–7.

In their second-ever regular season game north of the border, Buffalo traveled toToronto to take on divisional rivals theNew York Jets. The team traded field goals in the first quarter before the Bills took a 10–6 lead after a 15-yard touchdown run fromMarshawn Lynch. The Jets regained the lead after quarterbackMark Sanchez threw a 13-yard touchdown pass toBraylon Edwards. The teams went scoreless in the third quarter that was notable for Sanchez suffering a sprainedPosterior cruciate ligament to his right knee. The team again traded field goals in the final quarter. Buffalo had a chance to take the lead or at least tie in the final two minutes, but quarterbackRyan Fitzpatrick threw an interception toDarrelle Revis, sealing the victory for the Jets. With the loss, Buffalo fell to 4–8 overall and 1–2 since firing Jauron.

Buffalo won its season finale for the first time since2002.

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