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Can you bust out your stat machine, JM, and tell me when and how often it's happened. I can recall the times teams *****ed about have 3 out of 4 on the road, but NEVER 5 of 6. If this has happened twice before in the last 2 decades I'd be shocked.
If this isn't "getting even" I'm not sure what is. The more I think about it, the more steamed I get.
I am wondering now if Belichick requested the Broncos and Raiders games to be back-to-back. If I recall he did something similar in 2008 with the idea of having the team stay out west, and therefore avoid two long flights west. If he did do so though, I doubt he envisioned the team playing five out of six on the road (especially with a short week leading up to Pittsburgh).
Regarding five games out of six on the road I was surprised to find it has not been historically as bad as I thought it would be. The data below is for all AFC teams going back through 2005 (I'll add the NFC when I get around to it).
Five out of six games on the road (AFC, 2005-2016)
How often: four instances.
Cumulative record: 9-15 (.375)
- Dolphins, 2011: 1-5 in those six games (5-5 in all others).
- Bills, 2015: 2-4 in those six games (6-4 in all others).
- Ravens, 2008: 4-2 in those six games (7-3 in all others).
- Texans, 2006: 2-4 in those six games (4-6 in all others).
Of course the caveat is that this is a very small sample size and really needs to be further scrutinized by the quality of the opponents. Bottom line is that five out of six on the road is highly unusual.
In regards to three consecutive road games, here is the data for the same time frame (AFC from 2005-2016). I was surprised it happens as often as it does.
How often: 22 instances.
Cumulative record: 22-44 (.333)
- (2) times teams went 3-0
- (4) times teams went 2-1
- (8) times teams went 1-2
- (8) times teams went 0-3
In case you are wondering who the two teams were that swept, it was the 2014 Bengals and 2005 Jaguars. Both teams lost in the wild card round of the playoffs.