The 2013 season was the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

' 44th in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) and their first under

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

Doug Marrone. It was also their final season under the ownership of

Ralph Wilson Ralph Cookerly Wilson Jr. (October 17, 1918 – March 25, 2014) was an American businessman and sports executive. He was best known as the founder and owner of the Buffalo Bills, a team in the National Football League (NFL). He was one of the f ...

, who died in March 2014 at the age of 95. The team equaled their record from

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

and missed the playoffs, increasing their playoff drought to 14 seasons. This was the first year of renewed leases on

Ralph Wilson Stadium Highmark Stadium (also known colloquially as The Ralph) is a stadium in Orchard Park, New York, United States, in the Southtowns of the Buffalo, New York, Buffalo metropolitan area. It is the home venue of the Buffalo Bills of the National Footb ...

and for the Bills Toronto Series, both of which were signed in the preceding offseason. The Toronto series was originally set to expire in 2017, but was cancelled in December 2014; the lease on Ralph Wilson Stadium expired in 2022 and was presumably the last long-term agreement with the aging stadium, as the lease specifies that the process of exploring a new stadium began during the lease period. The Bills also started the 2013 season with a new starting quarterback, first-round draft pick EJ Manuel, after previous starter

Ryan Fitzpatrick Ryan Joseph Fitzpatrick (born November 24, 1982) is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons. Fitzpatrick started at quarterback for nine teams, the ...

refused a pay cut and was subsequently released. As of the 2024 season, this is the most recent season the Bills finished in last place in the AFC East.

2013 draft

Notes : The Bills traded their first- and third-round selections (8th and 71st overall) to the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1995 through the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, California, where the team had played ...

in exchange for the Rams' first-, second-, third- and seventh-round selections (16th, 46th, 78th and 222nd overall). : The Bills traded their original seventh-round selection (214th overall) to the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

in exchange for

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

Tarvaris Jackson Tarvaris D'Andre Jackson (April 21, 1983 – April 12, 2020) was an American professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL). Jackson played college football for the Arkansas Razorbacks and the Alabama State ...

Staff

Final roster

Schedule

Preseason

Regular season

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. # Indicates that the game was part of the Bills Toronto Series.

Game summaries

Week 1: vs. New England Patriots

Stephen Gostkowski Stephen Carroll Gostkowski ( ; born January 28, 1984) is an American former professional football placekicker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons. A member of the New England Patriots for most of his career, he is th ...

kicked a 35-yard field goal with five seconds left to give the Patriots the win. With the loss, the Bills began the season 0–1.

Week 2: vs. Carolina Panthers

Buffalo trailed for most of their Week 2 game against the Panthers but took the lead with two seconds left after Stevie Johnson caught a 2-yard touchdown pass from EJ Manuel. Dan Carpenter kicked the extra point to give the Bills a 24–23 win. With the win, Buffalo improved to 1–1.

Week 3: at New York Jets

With the loss, the Bills fell to 1–2.

Week 4: vs. Baltimore Ravens

The Bills defense intercepted Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco five times in this game, as Flacco completed only 50% of his passes. Despite the five turnovers, the game was still somewhat close, but the Bills won the game 23–20. With the win, the Bills improved to 2–2.

Week 5: at Cleveland Browns

EJ Manuel left the game for the Bills with a knee injury, and was replaced by Jeff Tuel. The Bills had a 24–17 lead in the third quarter, but the Browns, who also lost quarterback

Brian Hoyer Axel Edward Brian Hoyer (born October 13, 1985) is an American professional American football, football quarterback. Since joining the NFL in 2009 as an undrafted free agent, he has started for eight different teams, the second-most in league hi ...

, won the game with Brandon Weeden at the helm. T. J. Ward returned an interception 44 yards to seal the game. With the loss, the Bills fell to 2–3.

Week 6: vs. Cincinnati Bengals

The Bills trailed 24–10 in the fourth quarter, but came back to tie the game after Marquise Goodwin caught a 40-yard touchdown pass from Thad Lewis and force overtime. In the extra period, the Bills got the ball first, but were forced to punt after they went three-and-out. The Bengals returned the punt 39 yards to set them up in field goal range. A couple of plays later, Mike Nugent kicked the game winning 43-yard field goal. With the tough loss, the Bills fell to 2–4.

Week 7: at Miami Dolphins

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

Week 8: at New Orleans Saints

This marked the Bills' only game outside of the Eastern time zone during the 2013 season.

Week 9: vs. Kansas City Chiefs

Despite Buffalo's defense not allowing a touchdown, the offense gave up two turnover returns for touchdowns in the second half. With the loss, the Bills fell to 3–6.

Week 10: at Pittsburgh Steelers

With the loss, the Bills fell to 3–7.

Week 11: vs. New York Jets

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

Week 13: vs. Atlanta Falcons

; Bills Toronto Series With the loss, the Bills fell to 4–8.

Week 14: at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

With the loss, the Bills fell to 4–9.

Week 15: at Jacksonville Jaguars

With the win, the Bills improved to 5–9, but were eliminated from playoff contention with the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...

' win over the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

Week 16: vs. Miami Dolphins

With the win, the Bills improved to 6–9. This was also the last home game that the Bills didn't sell out. Since the next game (Week 2 of the 2014 season against the Dolphins), every Bills home game has been sold out.