This Buffalo Bills trivia quiz has 190 free questions with answers and runs from Ralph Wilson's 1959 telegram to Lamar Hunt through the new Highmark Stadium that opened in 2026. It covers the AFL championships with Jack Kemp and Cookie Gilchrist, O.J. Simpson's 2,003-yard season behind the Electric Company, and the Marv Levy era: Jim Kelly's K-Gun, Thurman Thomas, Bruce Smith, Andre Reed, four straight AFC titles and four straight Super Bowl losses, starting with Scott Norwood's 47-yarder that went wide right. Then come the modern chapters - Frank Reich's 32-point Comeback, the Music City Miracle, the 17-year playoff drought that Sean McDermott ended, Josh Allen from a Firebaugh cotton farm to NFL MVP, the 13-seconds heartbreak in Kansas City, Damar Hamlin's recovery, the Pegulas, Bills Mafia and its tables. Roughly a third of the questions are easy warm-ups for casual fans; the rest are for people who still cannot talk about the Home Run Throwback. Every answer has been checked against Wikipedia and the primary sources it cites, and each explanation adds one more thing worth knowing.
30 of 190 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01The Bills began play in 1960 as a charter member of which upstart rival to the NFL?
The AFL
They joined the NFL in the 1970 merger; the name came from an earlier AAFC team in Buffalo, itself named after Buffalo Bill Cody.
Q 02The Bills are the only NFL team that plays its home games in which state?
New York
The Giants and Jets play in New Jersey; the Bills draw much of their fanbase from western New York and southern Ontario.
Q 03In which two consecutive years did the Bills win the AFL Championship?
1964 and 1965
Quarterback Jack Kemp, later a congressman, and coach Lou Saban led them; those remain Buffalo's only major pro championships.
Q 04In September 1959, Ralph Wilson sent Lamar Hunt a telegram reading what?
'Count me in with Buffalo'
Miami had actually been his first choice, but local officials there were wary after the AAFC's Miami Seahawks had failed.
Q 05Ralph Wilson was a minority owner of which NFL team when he decided to join the AFL?
Detroit Lions
He was one of only three AFL owners on solid financial footing and lent the struggling Raiders $400,000.
Q 06Which ex-CFL running back did the Bills 'fire' mid-game in the 1960s before Jack Kemp brokered a reconciliation?
Cookie Gilchrist
He had refused to take the field with his teammates during a 1964 game against the Boston Patriots.
Q 07How many rushing yards did O.J. Simpson finish with in his record 1973 season?
2,003
He remains the only player to do it in a 14-game season; his offensive line was nicknamed the Electric Company because it 'turned on the Juice'.
Q 08O.J. Simpson won the Heisman Trophy in 1968 playing for which college?
USC
The Bills took him first overall in 1969, and he made five straight first-team All-Pro selections from 1972 to 1976.
Q 09How many straight Super Bowls did the Bills lose from the 1990 through 1993 seasons?
Four
Both the four straight AFC titles and the four straight losses remain records; the Braves were dubbed 'the Buffalo Bills of baseball' after their 1990s World Series losses.
Q 10How long was Scott Norwood's missed field goal at the end of Super Bowl XXV?
47 yards
ABC's Al Michaels called it 'wide right'; the Giants won 20-19, still the only Super Bowl decided by a single point.
Q 11Who was named MVP of Super Bowl XXV after rushing for 102 yards for the Giants against the Bills?
Ottis Anderson
Whitney Houston sang the anthem, ABC cut to Gulf War coverage at halftime, and neither team committed a turnover - a Super Bowl first.
Q 12What was the name of the fictional field-goal-missing kicker in 1994's Ace Ventura: Pet Detective?
Ray Finkle
In the film the miss costs the 1984 Dolphins the game by one point, exactly Buffalo's margin in Tampa.
Q 13What deficit did the Bills overcome to beat the Oilers 41-38 in 'The Comeback' of January 1993?
35-3
The 32-point rally is still the biggest in postseason history and was the biggest ever until the Vikings' 2022 comeback.
Q 21Andre Reed, a fourth-round pick in 1985, played college football at which small Pennsylvania school?
Kutztown
He retired second in all-time NFL receptions and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2014.
Q 22Steve Tasker earned seven Pro Bowl selections and five first-team All-Pro nods primarily in what role?
Special teams
He played at Dodge City Community College and Northwestern before a broadcasting career that included CBS Sports.
Q 23In the 2000 'Music City Miracle', who threw the lateral and who ran it 75 yards for the Titans' touchdown?
Frank Wycheck to Kevin Dyson
Q 14Which backup quarterback led The Comeback after Jim Kelly was hurt?
Frank Reich
Remarkably, he had also led Maryland back from 31-0 down to beat Miami in 1984; he later coached the Colts.
Q 15Jim Kelly was drafted by the Bills in 1983 but instead spent two seasons with which USFL team?
Houston Gamblers
He only arrived in Buffalo when the USFL folded in 1986; his no-huddle offense was known as the K-Gun.
Q 16Jim Kelly was one of how many quarterbacks taken in the first round of the famous 1983 draft?
Six
He went 14th overall; John Elway and Dan Marino were among the others in that class.
Q 17Before Buffalo, Marv Levy won two Grey Cups as head coach of which CFL team?
Montreal Alouettes
He also coached the Kansas City Chiefs for five seasons and is in both the Pro Football and Canadian Football Halls of Fame.
Q 18Thurman Thomas won the NFL MVP award in which year?
1991
He was a college teammate of Barry Sanders at Oklahoma State, where his No. 34 is one of only three retired numbers.
Q 19Where did Thurman Thomas normally leave the helmet he could not find at the start of Super Bowl XXVI?
On the 34-yard line
It had been moved so a stage could be set up for Harry Connick Jr.'s pre-game performance.
Q 20Bruce Smith retired as the NFL's all-time leader in sacks with how many?
200
The Bills took him first overall in 1985 out of Virginia Tech, where he had won the Outland Trophy.
Buffalo had just gone ahead 16-15 with 16 seconds left; replays of the possibly forward pass were ruled inconclusive.
Q 24Which quarterback did Wade Phillips controversially start over Doug Flutie in the Music City Miracle game?
Rob Johnson
Flutie had won 10 games that season to get the Bills into the playoffs.
Q 25How many straight seasons did the Bills miss the playoffs in their drought from 2000 to 2016?
17
It was the longest active drought in the four major North American sports, ended in Sean McDermott's first season in 2017.
Q 26Sean McDermott came to Buffalo in 2017 after six seasons as defensive coordinator of which team?
Carolina Panthers
That stint included Super Bowl 50; he had earlier been the Eagles' coordinator in 2009-10.
Q 27Where did Josh Allen play college football before the Bills drafted him seventh overall in 2018?
Wyoming
Lightly recruited out of high school, he started at Reedley College, a junior college; he grew up on a 3,000-acre cotton farm near Firebaugh, California.
Q 28In which season was Josh Allen named NFL Most Valuable Player?
2024
He publicly revealed his relationship with actress Hailee Steinfeld earlier that year.
Q 29What was the final score of the '13 seconds' playoff loss to Kansas City after the 2021 season?
42-36
Buffalo never touched the ball in overtime; the Chiefs won the toss and scored on the opening drive, prompting a change to playoff overtime rules.
Q 30Damar Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest during a January 2023 Monday Night game against whom?
Cincinnati Bengals
First responders performed CPR and used a defibrillator on the field for 10 minutes; he left hospital nine days later and eventually returned to play.