AHC: Buffalo Bills As a Successful Team

Buffalo went to the Super Bowl four times, and lost each times. And it has all gone downhill from there. They have the longest standing playoff drought in the NFL. They go through a series of coaches that were supposed to bring the team to glory, who fail despite their blustering, and are replaced with another. Changes in team strategies that are supposed to work often just lead to confusion, disarray, player turnover, and losses. In short, they have not done well in recent decades, and the team has only been around since the Sixties. The challenge here is to make the team as historically successful as possible.
 

ben0628

Banned
Bill Belichick and Tom Brady never join the New England Patriots. Patriots become an average team, giving the Bills a 25% chance of winning their division.

The Buffalo Bills aren't a unsuccessful team. Their average and the only reason why they never make it to the playoffs is because to make it to the playoffs, you either a) have to win your division (which is impossible when the Patriots are in their division) or b) get a wild card spot (which is nearly impossible because you are literally competing with about 8 other AFC teams for that spot, not to mention your records sucks because you play and lose to the patriots twice a year).

I would also like to point out that the Dolphins and Jets haven't been to a superbowl in years and haven't been going to the playoffs regularly. Why? Because theyr'e in the same division as the patriots, that's why.

If you want the Bills to go to the playoffs, you have to either sabotage the Patriots, or get rid of the conference divisions and give playoff bids to the teams with the top 6 season records in their conference.
 
Historically, the Bills had two periods of success: from 1963 to 1966, when Louis Saban was coach. The Bills won two AFL championships, and made the playoffs four years in a row, and the Marv Levy years, which includes the four Super Bowl appearances.

The first step towards more success, then, is a Super Bowl in the Marv Levy years. And the best bet is XXV; the mere fact that Wide Left is a thing shows how close it was. Just a third-quarter field goal would do it.

As for more success in the 2000s, 2004 is the key, absent a massive POD in QB and coach. Despite a 9-7 record, they ended the season with a better point differential than the Wild Card Broncos and Jets. This speaks to some bad luck, and Pro Football Reference's Expected win-Loss formula give an 11-5 record.
 
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