ieatcrayonz Posted September 1, 2011 Share Posted September 1, 2011 Why do the Bills always play the Lions in the preseason? In any given year the odds of playing them is 4/31 unless the Bills have an extra preseason game which would make it 5/31. The way statistics works is through multiplication so for the Bills to play them say 5 years in a row is 4/31*4/31*4/31*4/3*4/31. That is .0000357 after some rounding. It is quite an anomaly and it will be interesting to see if it happens next year. There is about a 13% chance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Cincinnati Kid Posted September 1, 2011 Share Posted September 1, 2011 They have a deal with the Lions where they play every preseason. The Jets and Giants, 49ers and Raiders, Steelers and Eagles, etc all do the same thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billsfan in n.h Posted September 1, 2011 Share Posted September 1, 2011 at least they could switch it up a little Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flomoe Posted September 1, 2011 Share Posted September 1, 2011 I don't know the exact history of the Bills/Lions preseason games but if I recall, they usually play in the last preseason game. Given the close proximity of the two cities and the usually short turnaround time between games 3 and 4, it kind of makes sense to play the final game against someone geographically closer just to save on time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fan in Chicago Posted September 1, 2011 Share Posted September 1, 2011 Why do the Bills always play the Lions in the preseason? In any given year the odds of playing them is 4/31 unless the Bills have an extra preseason game which would make it 5/31. The way statistics works is through multiplication so for the Bills to play them say 5 years in a row is 4/31*4/31*4/31*4/3*4/31. That is .0000357 after some rounding. It is quite an anomaly and it will be interesting to see if it happens next year. There is about a 13% chance. You need to factor in the league's desire to make games look competitive by matching up two similarly (un)talented teams. They can't do this in the regular season so treat the preseason as their sandbox Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ieatcrayonz Posted September 1, 2011 Author Share Posted September 1, 2011 They have a deal with the Lions where they play every preseason. The Jets and Giants, 49ers and Raiders, Steelers and Eagles, etc all do the same thing. This doesn't make sense for two reasons: 1. Deals like this are not fair for other teams. I think if teams were doing this other teams would cry collusion. 2. Why in the heck would the Bills pick the Lions as the "rival"? If you couldn't do an in division rival, how about Cleveland or Indy who used to be in the division? The Lions make no sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rex Ryan's Lapband Posted September 1, 2011 Share Posted September 1, 2011 I think you're looking waaaaaayyy too much into this preseason scheduling. They're glorified scrimmages, nothing more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bopper2 Posted September 1, 2011 Share Posted September 1, 2011 Ralph is from Detroit. The original 1960 Bill's uniforms were knockoffs of the Lion's unis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Cincinnati Kid Posted September 1, 2011 Share Posted September 1, 2011 This doesn't make sense for two reasons: 1. Deals like this are not fair for other teams. I think if teams were doing this other teams would cry collusion. 2. Why in the heck would the Bills pick the Lions as the "rival"? If you couldn't do an in division rival, how about Cleveland or Indy who used to be in the division? The Lions make no sense. Ralph is from and still lives in Detroit, for starters. If you would cry collusion for a preseason game tradition, you're a little nuts. Its preseason and every team does it. They all have a team they play every year. Not necessarily a "rival" just a team they play. Another reason is that they do not play in the same division or conference so their regular season games a limited. Yes they did play in the regular season last year, but those games only come around once every 5 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jauronimo Posted September 1, 2011 Share Posted September 1, 2011 This doesn't make sense for two reasons: 1. Deals like this are not fair for other teams. I think if teams were doing this other teams would cry collusion. 2. Why in the heck would the Bills pick the Lions as the "rival"? If you couldn't do an in division rival, how about Cleveland or Indy who used to be in the division? The Lions make no sense. Because the Bills, or Lions East, are a puppet franchise run by the Ford family. Fact, the Ford family is from Detroit. Fact, Ralph Wilson is from Detroit. Fact, the Lions and Bills have the longest running playoff droughts. Coincidence? Football is at the frontlines of the Ford family's plot. They intend to crush our spirits with year after year of terrible football and turn us all into mindless drones and provide cheap labor for their automotive plants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haven Moses Posted September 1, 2011 Share Posted September 1, 2011 (edited) They used to have a preseason double header in Detroit with the lions, Bills, Browns, and someone else. Can't remember. Edited September 1, 2011 by Haven Moses Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ieatcrayonz Posted September 1, 2011 Author Share Posted September 1, 2011 Because the Bills, or Lions East, are a puppet franchise run by the Ford family. Fact, the Ford family is from Detroit. Fact, Ralph Wilson is from Detroit. Fact, the Lions and Bills have the longest running playoff droughts. Coincidence? Football is at the frontlines of the Ford family's plot. They intend to crush our spirits with year after year of terrible football and turn us all into mindless drones and provide cheap labor for their automotive plants. They're in Detroit and looking for mindless drones? Ummm have they look across the river into Canada? :wallbash: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattM Posted September 1, 2011 Share Posted September 1, 2011 (edited) Why do the Bills always play the Lions in the preseason? In any given year the odds of playing them is 4/31 unless the Bills have an extra preseason game which would make it 5/31. The way statistics works is through multiplication so for the Bills to play them say 5 years in a row is 4/31*4/31*4/31*4/3*4/31. That is .0000357 after some rounding. It is quite an anomaly and it will be interesting to see if it happens next year. There is about a 13% chance. I did a similar analysis a year or so ago on the fact that we played the Pats* after their bye something like 4 years in a row. Came out to something like 4000 to one odds. Remember, too, that in those years we were actually often seen as the most likely interdivision rival to them (ahh, the good old days)..... Edited September 1, 2011 by MattM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miyagi-Do Karate Posted September 1, 2011 Share Posted September 1, 2011 I did a similar analysis a year or so ago on the fact that we played the Pats* after their by something like 4 years in a row. Came out to something like 4000 to one odds. Remember, too, that in those years we were actually often seen as the most likely interdivision rival to them (ahh, the good old days)..... Add that to the stat that Bellichick is something absurd like 100 and 1 in games where he has two weeks to prepare, and that explains a lot... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. K Posted September 1, 2011 Share Posted September 1, 2011 It's because Ralph is from Detroit and HE wants the Bills to play them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buffalohotwings Posted September 1, 2011 Share Posted September 1, 2011 I am pretty sure preseason games are scheduled to be close geographically, and outside the division. If you notice KC always plays St. Louis, the FL teams always play each other, same thing with the West Coast teams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buftex Posted September 1, 2011 Share Posted September 1, 2011 (edited) This doesn't make sense for two reasons: 1. Deals like this are not fair for other teams. I think if teams were doing this other teams would cry collusion. 2. Why in the heck would the Bills pick the Lions as the "rival"? If you couldn't do an in division rival, how about Cleveland or Indy who used to be in the division? The Lions make no sense. I can't tell if you are in your crayon eating mode, or just really don't understand...but I will play along...the preseason games are set up by the franchies' not the league. There were times where the Raiders and Cowboys would play eachother twice in pre-season... Mr Wilson, as you may or may not know, before owning the Bills, was a minority owner of the Lions. The first year the Bills were in existence, the Bills wore, essentially, the Lions uniform, and colors. The Bills have a connection to the Lions in that regard...the Bills have played the Lions in pre-season for as long as I can remember...the Bills/Lions "pre-season classic" was even on national television a few times, I have the VHS tape to prove it... Edited September 1, 2011 by Buftex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeHateMe Posted September 1, 2011 Share Posted September 1, 2011 Not random, who cares. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ieatcrayonz Posted September 1, 2011 Author Share Posted September 1, 2011 I did a similar analysis a year or so ago on the fact that we played the Pats* after their bye something like 4 years in a row. Came out to something like 4000 to one odds. Remember, too, that in those years we were actually often seen as the most likely interdivision rival to them (ahh, the good old days)..... Good work. Most of the people in this thread don't understand math and feel the need to ramble on about uniform colors to mask their lack of understanding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Lightning Posted September 1, 2011 Share Posted September 1, 2011 Why do always play KC in KC and New England after their bye week? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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