Week 4 against the Bills marks the third straight Bengals foe with a great 90's and a lousy 00's. And also like the Broncos and 49ers, the last few years have not been particularly kind. Nevertheless, the down years are not so numerous and not so low when compared to Mikey's boys.

I give Bengals versus Bills over the last 20 years.


Standard Preamble/Overview

- Weeks "in the hunt for a winning season" serves as a rough proxy for playoff contention. And thus for fans' hope and happiness. We ultimately want a championship, right?

- To be in the hunt, a team can be no more than one game below .500 with no more than seven losses.

- During the season, a team can fall out of the hunt and then climb back in.

- An example running won-loss record for five weeks: 1-0, 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, 2-3. This team was in the hunt after Weeks 1, 2, 3, and 5 (total = 4).

- Bye weeks are counted like any other week in the season. For example, the Bungs get a freebie if a bye comes while they're still in it. Why? This is all about the fans' experience. (By the way, there were two byes in '93.)

- Adjusted "percent weeks in the hunt" throws out the first week, as all teams get an automatic freebie.

- The time period covers Mike Brown's ownership on the Cincinnati Bengals franchise, counting complete seasons (1991-2000).

- Tables compiled from data on pro-football-reference.com.


Bengals versus Bills

Bengals (repeat of graph shown in previous posts):




Bills:





Quick Comments

- The Bills have been "in the hunt" about two-thirds of the time over the past 20 years, with an average of 67%. Compare to 30% for the Bengals. (Very similar to the 49ers in the last post.)

- The Bungs have been a tad better over the past ten years, 48% v. 41% (Just like with the 49ers again. Wow, I get to copy-n-paste a lot this time around.) Has Mike Brown been a stronger owner than Ralph Wilson since 2001? Yikes! But maybe that will change this year with the fast start the Bills are having.

- For the first ten years in the cycle (1991-2000), the Bills blew away the Bungs 93% v. 12%. Even worse than the 49ers.


Previous posts

Week 1 Browns:   http://www.network54.com/Forum/90650/thread/1315628376/In-the-Hunt+Futility+Stats%2C+Bengals+v-+Browns

Week 2 Broncos:   http://www.network54.com/Forum/90650/thread/1316235434/last-1316245390/In-the-Hunt+Futility+Stats%2C+Bengals+v.+Broncos

Week 3 49ers:   http://www.network54.com/Forum/90650/thread/1316971735/last-1316989401/In-the-Hunt+Futility+Stats%2C+Bengals+v.+49ers


A Note on the Game

If the Bengals lose like we all expect them to, then they will fall "out of the hunt" this year, likely never to climb back in. That will feel about right, as that will work out to about 19% for 2011 (Three weeks out of 16, after throwing out the first week.)

The Bungles have actually been more "stable" in the coaching ranks than the Bills have. Now that's a hard one to swallow. For either team.





"So he got fired? Big deal. It's happened to the best of us. So he got kicked out of his house by his 400 lb'ed wife?!?!? That's probably better for him anyways."-OldSchooler on ChrisMBHater's absence

keep this up psycho these stats are very hard to argue with...love reading these every week...while i cringe, of course...

Bills 34 bungs 6 (only because I'm a "glass half full" kinda guy. Where's my fduckin' rake!


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Stupid Fduckin' Sheep

Bengals haven't actually won a game versus the Bills in like forever.

Not going to change today.

The Bills may even try to find ways to hand the Bengals the game.

The Bengals will do even more to shoot themselves however.

I wonder what 3rd down will be like today? ****, on both sides of the ball.

Can they make a 3rd down, can they make a 3rd down stop?

Ohio football really sucks this year.

We've got three threads going with predictions. I'm there with WCB, but I think the Bungs also manage a late TD against the Bills reserves. We won't sniff .500 from here on out.

I was just offered a free bungs ticket about 30 minutes ago......HAHAHAHAHAHAH! I hope he finds someone to go with.


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Stupid Fduckin' Sheep

LOL. Good luck to him. He better hurry, or the outcome will be decided before he gets there.

With the Bungs shocking everyone with a come-from-behind win over the Bills, they're 2-2 and still in the hunt. Amazing. With three winnable games coming up next (Jags, Colts, and Seahawks), and a bye week, they could stay in the hunt well past mid-season. That would give them one of the better seasons over the past 21.

But it speaks volumes when "just hanging in there" represents one of your better seasons. Especially when you factor in the easy schedule.