Buffalo Bills Receiving Insanely Short Odds to go 0-16
- Buffalo Bills have +450 odds to finish 0-16 this season
- Just two teams in NFL history – the 2017 Cleveland Browns and the 2008 Detroit Lions – have gone 0-16
- The 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a first-year expansion team, went 0-14
How quickly the tide has turned in Buffalo, the city that can’t seem to buy a break.
Last season, the 9-7 Bills earned an AFC wild card playoff position, ending the NFL’s longest active playoff drought, a dry spell that extended back to 1999.
This season, it’s taken Buffalo just two games to earn widespread scorn. Consecutive losses – a 47-3 road drubbing by the Baltimore Ravens and a 31-20 homefield setback to the Los Angeles Chargers – opened the season.
If that wasn’t bad enough, Bills cornerback Vontae Davis accentuated the hopelessness, announcing his retirement at halftime of the loss to the Chargers.
Is all hope lost? The Bills have astonishingly low +450 odds to run the table without tasting victory, becoming the NFL’s third 0-16 team.
Odds of NFL Teams Going 0-16
| Team | Odds |
|---|---|
| Buffalo Bills | +450 |
| Arizona Cardinals | +950 |
| New York Giants | +1000 |
| Houston Texans | +1400 |
| Seattle Seahawks | +4000 |
*No odds offered on Detroit Lions or Oakland Raiders
Bills Queuing Up At QB
When Buffalo announced Nathan Peterman as the Week 1 starting QB, let’s just say that the decision wasn’t embraced warmly by the Bills Mafia.
So its is written.
Nate Peterman is our starting QB #BillsMafia.
All I can say is if you dont believe in Prayer this would be a good time to start.
??????
— Huggy Bear (@buffdada) September 3, 2018
Originally, Peterman didn’t appear to figure in the conversation for the role, and no wonder. Who could ever forget Peterman’s first NFL start? It’s a certainty he hasn’t – no matter how hard he’s tried.
Peterman’s numbers against the Ravens – 5-of-8, 24 yards, no touchdowns, two interceptions and a QB rating of . . . wait for it . . . 0.0 – drove him back to the bench in favor of rookie Josh Allen, Buffalo’s 2018 first-round draft pick.
Allen is 24-of-48 for 319 yards, one TD, two interceptions, and a passer rating of 61.0, leaving him ranked 35th among the 41 NFL QBs to take a snap so far this season. Peterman is ranked 41st.
Meanwhile, Tyrod Taylor, who led the Bills to the playoffs last season and was dealt to Cleveland in the offseason, is situated slightly ahead of Allen with a passer rating of 63.7, so it’s not like the Bills gave up on a future Hall of Famer.
It’s one the traits of winless teams to deliver bizarro qurterback play. Detroit’s Dan Orlovsky provided a once-in-a-career moment that puncuated the Lions’ 0-16 campaign.
Does Karma Hate Buffalo?
The Bills aren’t remembered as the only NFL team to play in four straight Super Bowls. They are recalled as the only NFL team to lose four straight Super Bowls. Their most famous player – O.J. Simpson is also their most infamous player.
Thurman Thomas losing his helmet before Super Bowl 26. Wide right. The Music City Miracle. The Bills are already the NFL’s punchline. Does fate really need to pile on the ignonamy of a winless campaign?
Preseason Hope
Both the 2008 Lions and 2017 Browns share another common trait from their 0-16 fate. Both teams assembled perfect 4-0 slates during preseason play prior to their regular seasons of infamy.
Buffalo has come close to a winless season before, going 1-13 in 1971 and 1-12-1 in 1968
Perhaps it’s a good thing for the Bills that they got the failure underway early, dropping a pair of preseason games.
Three Words: Jets, Jets, Jets
The fly in the ointment of Buffalo’s pursuit of the 0-16 dream is that they are situated in the AFC East, the same division that houses the New York Jets. Does anyone honestly believe an NFL team could lose twice to the Jets in the same season?
Then again, the Jets did beat the Bills twice in 2016, including a Jan. 1 victory in frosty Buffalo.
Searching For A Bills Win
Let’s suppose the Bills are foiled twice by the Jets. There are other potential pitfalls along the way that could put 0-16 in jeopardy.
Along with the Jets and Lions, the Miami Dolphins also visit Buffalo in December. The Bills are 8-3 in their last 11 December home games.
Buffalo plays host to Tennessee in Week 5 and travels to Houston in Week 6, both of them winnable games.
An industry veteran, Bob literally taught the course on the history of sports at Elder College. He has worked as a Sports Columnist for Postmedia, appeared as a guest on several radio stations, was the Vice President of the Society For International Hockey Research in Ontario, and written 25 books.
