The 2016 Buffalo Bills are the greatest coin flip team of the past few decades
We’ve seen the dysfunction levels rising with the Buffalo Bills over the second half of the 2016, and they crested with Monday’s brutal trainwreck of a press conference with GM Doug Whaley at the mic.
We watched as head coach Rex Ryan and his bro were canned (which Whaley said he didn’t know about) and quarterback Tyrod Taylor benched to prevent the team from shelling out massive money in 2017 (which Whaley said he didn’t have a say in) the Tuesday prior to the season finale.
And we know look at their vacant head-coaching job and ask, who actually wants this thing?
But there was one thing the Bills absolutely can salute from this season as one of the all-time NFL achievements not involving LeSean McCoy: They were the greatest coin flip team of all time.
Well, tied for greatest. But let’s not dismiss their achievement any; they deserve this mantle and should celebrate it with the same vigor that, say, the Indianapolis Colts love their banners.
According to Pro Football Reference, long favorites of the old SDC, the Bills won 14 of their 16 regular-season coin flips this season, which ties them for the greatest win percentage in that category all time. The team they’re tied with? The 2005 Detroit Lions. (Granted, their data on this only goes back to 1999, but please … stay with us for a bit.)
Now, to honor the Bills on their terrific achievement, check out this really cool and trippy Coin Cam photo:
And yes, that Seattle game was one of the 14 the Bills won. They deferred in the game, blocked the Seattle Seahawks’ opening-series punt and scored a touchdown on their first offensive play. Life was simpler back then, Of course, Tyrod Taylor was picked on the Bills’ first possession of the second half, so it kind of evened out.
OK, back to the scorching-hot historical coin-flip data: What do this season’s Bills and those Lions have in common? They didn’t cash in on their lucky streaks. The Bills finished 7-9 after a 4-2 start that included beating the New England Patriots. In fact, their record in games winning the toss (6-8) was worse than those in which they lost it (1-1). In 2015, Ryan’s team only won six of its 16 tosses but were 5-1 in those games, so clearly there’s a randomness that can’t be quantified.
In fact, remember this when your favorite team takes the ball/defers/does something you don’t like following the opening toss. It likely doesn’t matter. In fact, of the top 100 teams on PFF’s list, it seems that winning was actually losing: Their combined record for those games was 536-546-4 (.495 win percentage). Or sometimes, talent is the biggest factor. The Cleveland Browns, after all, won 11 of their 16 coin flips this season, but they did win their one game after winning the opening toss. Not to say that it doesn’t matter, but perhaps that teams aren’t taking advantage of it.
We will miss Ryan, his penchant for sending out captains at the start of games that were meant to piss off the opponent and, of course, his unreal hot streak this season. We’re sad this notable chapter in NFL annals has come to a sad end.
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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at edholm@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!
