from_dunkirk Posted August 24, 2019 Share Posted August 24, 2019 (edited) Yes, I know, the NFL preseason means nothing and has little or no relation to the regular season. That being said, here is some fascinating trivia to satisfy you during this final week of the preseason. I have painstakingly spent half of a day compiling this data from various online sources. A. Buffalo can set a team record this Thursday. If the Bills win the final preseason game vs. Minnesota, they will be 4-0 and go undefeated for the first time in 44 seasons of Bills preseason history for which we have online data.* B. The best Buffalo has done so far in the preseason is 3-1, on five separate times in 1982, 1994, 1999, 2000, and 2003. In each of these five preseasons of 3-1, the Bills won the first preseason game, only to lose the second game, going 1-1. C. Overall, the Bills have gone 66-115-1 in the preseason beginning in 1976, the first year which we have online records, with a winning percentage of 0.363. In 6 of those preseasons, the Bills have had winning records. In 24 of those preseasons, the Bills have had losing records. In 14 of those preseasons, the Bills have had 0.500 records. This equates to a 0.295 percentage of seasons with winning records, assuming a 0.500 preseason counts as a half-winning season and half-losing season. In a perfectly random world, the average would be 0.500, assuming each of the following five theoretically-possible records occurs equally in a 4-game preseason: 4-0, 3-1, 2-2, 1-3, 0-4. D. From 2004-2018, the Bills had losing or 0.500 records in 14 of the 15 preseasons. From 1976-1998, the Bills had losing or 0.500 records in 21 of the 23 preseasons. From 1983-1990, Buffalo suffered 8 consecutive losing preseasons. From 1976-1990, Buffalo had losing preseason records in 13 of 15 seasons. E. Here are the overall preseason records and preseason winning percentages for all Buffalo Bills coaches for which records exist: 1. Wade Phillips - 8-4 - 0.667 2. Sean McDermott - 6-5 - 0.545 3. Rex Ryan - 4-4 - 0.500 4. Gregg Williams - 5-7 - 0.417 5. Mike Mularkey - 3-5 - 0.375 6. Dick Jauron - 6-11 - 0.353 7. (tie) Marv Levy - 15-30 - 0.333 7. (tie) Doug Marrone - 3-6 - 0.333 7. (tie) Jim Ringo - 2-4 - 0.333 10. Chuck Knox - 6-14 - 0.300 11. (tie) Chan Gailey - 3-9 - 0.250 11. (tie) Hank Bullough - 1-3 - 0.250 13. Kay Stephenson - 2-9-1 - 0.208 F. The only coach with career winning preseason and regular season records in Bills history is Wade Phillips (preseason 8-4 and regular season 29-19). Sean McDermott can join him with a regular season this year of 9-6-1 or better; and a tie, win, or cancellation of this Thursday's final preseason game vs. Minnesota.. G. Two of the three all-time regular season winningest coaches in Bills history for which we have preseason records have overall losing records in the preseason: Marv Levy and Chuck Knox. (As stated above, Wade Phillips has both preseason and regular season career winning records.) (Few preseason records exist for Lou Saban, who is the third winningest coach in Bills history.) H. Buffalo is 0-4 in Hall of Fame Games, losing in 2014, 2009, 1989, and 1974. I. The only AFL team to have ever defeated legendary NFL coach Vince Lombardi was Buffalo in the 1969 preseason on August 8, in which the Bills defeated Washington 21-17.** J. In researching the preseason records of Buffalo, I also found out the last three non-interim coaches for the Bills have nearly identical regular season records: a. Sean McDermott - 15-17 b. Rex Ryan - 15-16 c. Doug Marrone - 15-17 ------------ NOTES: *Most records for NFL preseason games do not exist before 1976 online, at least in resources I knew about and checked. Likewise, it seems that no AFL preseason records exist online, so this post only concerns the Bills from 1976 onward. From 1970-1977, NFL teams played 6-7 preseason games and 14 regular season games. From 1960-1969, AFL teams played up to 6 preseason games. Most of the preseason records for the Bills came from this site: https://www.footballdb.com/teams/nfl/buffalo-bills/results/ supplemented by this site: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pro_Football_Hall_of_Fame_Game since the first site did not include Hall of Fame Games. and this site: https://www.nfl.com/standings (preseason records from 2006 onward). There may have been a few seasons from 1978-2005 in which the Bills played five preseason games in a year in which they did not participate in the Hall of Fame game. The first website above did not include these possible games, nor did any other site which I checked. **http://www.remembertheafl.com/AFLNFLexhibitions.htm Edited August 25, 2019 by from_dunkirk 5 1 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ALLEN1QB Posted August 24, 2019 Share Posted August 24, 2019 Wow interesting!! BTW Jim Ringo? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boca BIlls Posted August 24, 2019 Share Posted August 24, 2019 I just get reminded of teams that went 0-4 in preseason and won super bowls... And then Lions and Browns going 4-0 in preseason... 0-16 regular season. So many things show why preseason is useless and it's just a money grab from the NFL against season ticket holders. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Otreply Posted August 24, 2019 Share Posted August 24, 2019 Neat bit of team trivia, thanks. Go Bills!!! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
from_dunkirk Posted August 24, 2019 Author Share Posted August 24, 2019 (edited) 6 minutes ago, ALLEN1QB said: Wow interesting!! BTW Jim Ringo? Thanks! Yeah, Ringo coached the Bills briefly in part of 1976 and 1977. I learned he was also a Hall of Fame player, but not for Buffalo. Edited August 24, 2019 by from_dunkirk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOUSE Posted August 24, 2019 Share Posted August 24, 2019 To bad Tyree Jackson will play at least a half. Oh well, that ends that streak 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
from_dunkirk Posted August 24, 2019 Author Share Posted August 24, 2019 Just now, HOUSE said: To bad Tyree Jackson will play at least a half. Oh well, that ends that streak I had totally forgotten that! Ugh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOUSE Posted August 24, 2019 Share Posted August 24, 2019 1 hour ago, from_dunkirk said: I had totally forgotten that! Ugh. I hate to be negative but that kid is not ready for the practice squad 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
from_dunkirk Posted August 24, 2019 Author Share Posted August 24, 2019 Just now, HOUSE said: I hate to be negative but that kid is not ready for the practice squad No, I agree. Maybe if we could get a PS exemption, like for Wade, lol. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Costa Posted August 24, 2019 Share Posted August 24, 2019 5 minutes ago, HOUSE said: To bad Tyree Jackson will play at least a half. Oh well, that ends that streak ?????? Thanks for doing the research, interesting stuff ? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chandler#81 Posted August 24, 2019 Share Posted August 24, 2019 That was a helluva lot of effort. Maybe we’ll get a reprieve and Tyree will play the 1st Half and Barkley pick up the pieces and deliver a come from behind win in the 2nd Half. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSHMEAB Posted August 24, 2019 Share Posted August 24, 2019 Where's that guy who's last wish was to see the Bills go undefeated in the preseason? He's just itching to pop that champagne bottle! Let's not jinx it though. 2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
from_dunkirk Posted August 24, 2019 Author Share Posted August 24, 2019 31 minutes ago, Chandler#81 said: That was a helluva lot of effort. Maybe we’ll get a reprieve and Tyree will play the 1st Half and Barkley pick up the pieces and deliver a come from behind win in the 2nd Half. Thanks! I agree...or maybe Barkley can build up a big enough of a lead in the first half, though I would hate to put him at risk. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stosh64 Posted August 24, 2019 Share Posted August 24, 2019 (edited) 1 hour ago, from_dunkirk said: B. The best Buffalo has done so far in the preseason is 3-1, on five separate times in 1982, 1994, 1999, 2000, and 2003. In each of these five preseasons of 3-1, the Bills won the first preseason game, only to lose the second game, going 1-1. For what it's worth, in the 5, 3-1 preseasons this was our regular season record. 1982 : 4-5 (strike season) 1994: 7-9 1999: 11-5 2000: 8-8 2003: 6-10 In other words preseason record doesn't mean squat so wtf, 4-0 for the first time would be cool. As long as it doesn't jinx us and we go 0-16. Edited August 24, 2019 by stosh64 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drunken Pygmy Goat Posted August 24, 2019 Share Posted August 24, 2019 1 hour ago, Boca BIlls said: I just get reminded of teams that went 0-4 in preseason and won super bowls... And then Lions and Browns going 4-0 in preseason... 0-16 regular season. So many things show why preseason is useless and it's just a money grab from the NFL against season ticket holders. I know the 90s Bills went 0-4 and went to Super Bowls. I wonder which teams went winless and won the SB. Also, the Ravens have won 16 consecutive preseason games. They have yet to finish 0-16 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boca BIlls Posted August 24, 2019 Share Posted August 24, 2019 1 minute ago, Drunken Pygmy Goat said: I know the 90s Bills went 0-4 and went to Super Bowls. I wonder which teams went winless and won the SB. Also, the Ravens have won 16 consecutive preseason games. They have yet to finish 0-16 Bills are closer to Browns & Lions than Ravens though. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freddie's Dead Posted August 24, 2019 Share Posted August 24, 2019 Who TF is Mike Williams? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
from_dunkirk Posted August 24, 2019 Author Share Posted August 24, 2019 (edited) 40 minutes ago, stosh64 said: For what it's worth, in the 5, 3-1 preseasons this was our regular season record. 1982 : 4-5 (strike season) 1994: 7-9 1999: 11-5 2000: 8-8 2003: 6-10 In other words preseason record doesn't mean squat so wtf, 4-0 for the first time would be cool. As long as it doesn't jinx us and we go 0-16. Haha, good post! The regular season results you posted were a mixed bag, but one thing I would like to point out is during the 1982 season, the Bills actually started 2-0 before the strike, with a stunning come-from-behind win against Minnesota in game 2. I was in 6th grade and listened to the game on the radio in bed, since it was blacked out, as usual, lol. The Bills went 10-6 the year before. SI (was it Paul Zimmerman??) even predicted Buffalo would win the SB that year after they lost a close one to the AFC Champion Cincinnati Bengals in the 1981 playoffs. Then the strike came and ruined their momentum. The Bills went 2-5 and things snowballed from there. And Chuck Knox left for Seattle in 1983 since Ralph Wilson wouldn't pay him when his contract was up. Joe Cribbs and Jim Kelly left for the USFL. Edited August 25, 2019 by from_dunkirk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
from_dunkirk Posted August 24, 2019 Author Share Posted August 24, 2019 (edited) 11 minutes ago, Freddie's Dead said: Who TF is Mike Williams? Oh duh! I meant Gregg Williams! We used to have a Mike Williams on our roster, two actually. ? And for some reason I also got "the Dougs" (Whaley and Marrone) confused with a hypothetical "the Mikes" when I was thinking of "Mike Williams"and "Mike Mularkey". I will go back and edit. Thanks for catching that. Edited August 25, 2019 by from_dunkirk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chandler#81 Posted August 25, 2019 Share Posted August 25, 2019 Without checking, I think the comeback win was at the Vikings and was televised nationally. I was living in Kansas at the time and watched it. It was thrilling! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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