At the start of the season, Buffalo Bills fans were more concerned with getting as high a seed as possible in the AFC playoffs. However, it’s three months into the season and the Bills and their followers are more worried about making the playoffs at all. Due to the unexpected slow start, New York sportsbooks figure to be out ahead in action with Buffalo fans.
Sitting at 6-6 and in second place in the AFC East behind 9-3 Miami, the Bills are fighting for their playoff lives, just to make it as a wild card. And it won’t be easy.
The Bills still need to play Kansas City and Dallas, back to back, and division-rival Miami on the road in the last game of the regular season. Those three opponents are a combined 26-10. A daunting schedule for the Bills’ playoff chances.
The other two remaining games for Buffalo are against the foundering L.A. Chargers and dismal New England. At this point, eight teams have better records than the Bills and two other teams are also 6-6. Seven teams from each conference make the playoffs.
In short, the math clearly indicates that Bills face an uphill battle.
Utilizing ChampsorChumps.us, EmpireStakes.com – your source for NY sportsbook promos - went back to the 2013 season to determine how teams that started with 6-6 records finished their campaigns. In those 10 seasons, 50 teams have started 6-6. It should be noted that, before the 2021 season, teams played 16 regular-season games and now the NFL plays 17.
Season Performance of Teams Starting 6-6
Odds Not Promising at 6-6
Of the 50 teams that started 6-6, about a quarter of them, 12 teams, managed to qualify for the playoffs. From that group of teams, five (or 10%) got past the Wild Card Round, and two (just 4%) won in the Divisional Round.
Just last season, the Tom Brady-led Tampa Bay Buccaneers started 6-6, lost three of their final five regular-season games, but still went the playoffs as the 8-9 NFC South champions. Tampa Bay’s playoff hopes ended with a resounding 31-14 loss to Dallas in Brady’s final game.
The push for the 6-6 Bills begins Sunday in Kansas City, where the Bills are -1.5-point and +105 moneyline underdogs at BetMGM New York against the defending Super Bowl champs.
It might not be heartening news for Bills fans, but the reality is that no team that started 6-6 since 2013 has won a conference championship, and obviously, not the Super Bowl.
