Bills' last-to-first hopes have precedent
September, 3, 2010
9/03/10
7:22
PM ET
A month ago, Buffalo Bills head coach Chan Gailey openly contemplated an AFC East title while a guest on Joe Rose's radio show on WQAM in Miami.
Some might snicker, but what else would you expect a competitor to do? The man is confident in his team.
I proposed the circumstances surrounding the Bills organization would make winning the AFC East this year more astonishing than the Miami Dolphins rebounding from 1-15 to win the title in 2008. They didn't draft a Jake Long with the first overall pick or have a Chad Pennington fall out of the sky in training camp.
Even so, there's a steady history of last-place teams winning their division a year later.
Fifteen teams have pulled off the feat since 2000. Twelve of them had records as bad or worse than Buffalo's 6-10 mark.
The New England Patriots did it in 2001, surging from 5-11 to a Super Bowl victory.
The only year a team hasn't gone from last to first in the past decade was 2002. Multiple teams did in 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2006.
Some might snicker, but what else would you expect a competitor to do? The man is confident in his team.
I proposed the circumstances surrounding the Bills organization would make winning the AFC East this year more astonishing than the Miami Dolphins rebounding from 1-15 to win the title in 2008. They didn't draft a Jake Long with the first overall pick or have a Chad Pennington fall out of the sky in training camp.
Even so, there's a steady history of last-place teams winning their division a year later.
Fifteen teams have pulled off the feat since 2000. Twelve of them had records as bad or worse than Buffalo's 6-10 mark.
The New England Patriots did it in 2001, surging from 5-11 to a Super Bowl victory.
The only year a team hasn't gone from last to first in the past decade was 2002. Multiple teams did in 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2006.
ABOUT THIS BLOG
James Walker
Walker joined ESPN.com in 2008 after four seasons covering the NFL and NBA for the Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch. He's a Temple graduate and Hyattsville, Md. native who lives in Miami.
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