Bills vs Inter and Intra-conference oppenents recent years

[K-Apps]

I recently thought about one of the reasons the Bills haven't gotten into the playoffs recent years going back to Dick Jauron's 1st season in 2006. It dawned on me that it just as important to have an above .500 record vs the inter-conference opponents (AFC division that you are match-up to face) and intra-conference opponents (NFC division that you are match-up to face), considering these 8 games are half the schedule, they are just as important as divisional match-ups for having a winning record and having good tiebreakers if need be.

 

2006: 4-4 (2-2 vs NFC North and 2-2 vs AFC South)

 

-Not bad, in fact the Bills had a 3-3 record in the division, so the Bills were essentially a .500 team go figure

 

2007: 3-5 (1-3 NFC East and 2-2 vs AFC North)

 

- Not having a good record didn't necessarily hurt the Bills during this season because of their 4-2 divisional record, the three game losing streak late in the year when they were 7-6 with an outside chance at a playoff berth did.

 

2008: 6-4 (2-2 NFC West and 4-0 vs AFC West)

 

-Pretty good, if the Bills were able to at least win 2 or 3 games in the division, they could've won the division

 

I'm gonna skip the 2009 and 2010 seasons, those were essentially re-building years with the firing of Dick Jauron and hiring of Chan Gailey to re-tool the team.

 

2011: 5-3 (2-2 NFC East and 3-1 AFC West)

-Solid, big problem was their 1-5 record in the division, which a lot of the losses came from in that 7 game losing streak after starting 5-2

 

2012: 2-6 (1-3 NFC West and 1-3 AFC South)

-Just wasn't a good season across the board for the Bills including a 2-4 divisional record. A lot of winnable games lost of the Colts, Patriots (A), Titans, Rams. Imagine if Gailey got another year if he could won 2 of those games and hired Pettine

 

2013: 2-6 (1-3 NFC South and 1-3 AFC North)

-Again, winnable games vs the Patriots (H), Falcons, and Bengals might have able to turn the fortunes of the Bills even despite new coach and rookie QB, Bills had a 3-3 record in the division.

 

2014: 4-4 (4-0 NFC North and 0-4 AFC West)

-By far the most frustrating one of all the records especially those losses to Kansas City and Oakland. Win one of those games and the Houston game or beat both teams and the Bills are in the playoffs

 

2015: 4-4 (1-3 NFC East and 3-1 AFC South)

-Really the big one besides the losses to the Eagles and Redskins was the game in London vs Jacksonville, despite EJ Manuel's CFL level performance, Bills defense could not stop the Jags from scoring late in that one.

 

Overall, Bills have been at .500 for the most part during these games, the years they were over that mark, their divisional record was their undoing. Basically, for the Bills is make the playoffs in 2016:

 

Gotta finish at least 3-3 or 4-2 in the division

Win an combined 5 or 6 inter-conference and intra-conference games

That will put the Bills at 8-10 wins with the two AFC teams that finished with the same divisional place to play

Edited January 1, 2016 by K-Apps

[K-Apps]

Update the 2015 stats that they finished 4-2 in the division.