Buffalo Bills eliminated from playoffs for 15 straight seasons

The Buffalo Bills have officially been eliminated from the 2014 NFL playoffs with their 26-24 loss to the Oakland Raiders on Sunday afternoon. Unlike previous seasons, when the team was eliminated from the postseason far earlier than Week 16, the Bills will only have one meaningless regular season game to play.

How many of these games have we seen over the years, where the Bills are just playing out the string? Let's look deeper.

2000 (8-8)

• High water mark: Winning four straight games to get to 7-4.
• Low water mark: Losing their next four to fall to 7-8.
• Division elimination: Week 14, 12/3/00; Miami moves to 10-3 after beating the Bills, who fall to 7-6.
• Wild Card elimination: Week 16, 12/17/00; Indianapolis is 9-6, while the Bills lose and drop to 7-8.

2001 (3-13)

• High water mark: Drafting Nate Clements, Aaron Schobel, and Travis Henry?
• Low water mark: Six straight losses and a 1-10 record.
• Division elimination: Week 12, 12/2/01; the Bills fall to 1-10, while Miami moved to 8-3.
• Wild Card elimination: Week 12, 12/2/01; Baltimore, New York, and New England win their seventh games.

2002 (8-8)

• High water mark: 5-3 and a half-game back of Miami for division lead.
• Low water mark: Three straight losses to fall to 5-6.
• Division elimination: Week 16, 12/22/02; the Bills fall to 7-8, and 9-6 Miami has a tie-breaker.
• Wild Card elimination: Week 16, 12/22/02; New England and New York go to 8-7 with tie-breakers.

2003 (6-10)

• High water mark: 2-0, with a 31-0 opening win against New England.
• Low water mark: Four straight losses to fall to 4-7.
• Division elimination: Week 13, 11/30/03; Buffalo falls to 5-7, while New England ascends to 10-2.
• Wild Card elimination: Week 14, 12/14/03; Buffalo falls to 6-8 as Denver improves to 9-5.

2004 (9-7)

• High water mark: Six straight wins to get to 9-6.
• Low water mark: Losing to Pittsburgh in Week 17, who were resting their starters.
• Division elimination: Week 13, 12/5/04; New England improves to 11-1 with the Bills at 6-6.
• Wild Card elimination: Week 17, 1/2/05; loss (9-7) to Pittsburgh allows New York and Denver in at 10-6.

2005 (5-11)

• High water mark: 3-3 after consecutive divisional wins.
• Low water mark: Five-game losing streak to fall to 4-10.
• Division elimination: Week 14, 12/11/05; New England (8-5) beats Buffalo (4-9).
• Wild Card elimination: Week 14, 12/11/05; Jacksonville, Pittsburgh, and Kansas City go four games up.

2006 (7-9)

• High water mark: 7-7 after consecutive divisional wins.
• Low water mark: 2-5 heading into the bye after 28-6 loss to New England.
• Division elimination: Week 14, 12/10/06; 9-4 New England owns tie-breaker over 6-7 Buffalo.
• Wild Card elimination: Week 16, 12/24/06; the Bills fall to 7-8 with Denver and New York at 9-6.

2007 (7-9)

• High water mark: 5-4 after four straight wins.
• Low water mark: 1-4 heading into the bye week.
• Division elimination: Week 12, 11/25/07; New England hits 11-0 while the Bills sit at 5-6.
• Wild Card elimination: Week 15, 12/16/07; Buffalo loses to Cleveland to fall two games plus a tie-breaker behind.

2008 (7-9)

• High water mark: 5-1 after beating San Diego.
• Low water mark: Losing seven of eight to fall to 6-8 overall.
• Division elimination: Week 15, 12/14/08; the Bills fall to 6-8 with New England and Miami at 9-5.
• Wild Card elimination: Week 15, 12/14/08; the Bills fall to 6-8, with AFC East and South three games ahead.

2009 (6-10)

• High water mark: 3-4 after back-to-back wins.
• Low water mark: Falling to 1-4 after a brutal 6-3 loss to Cleveland.
• Division elimination: Week 15, 12/20/09; the Bills lose to 9-5 New England to fall to 5-9.
• Wild Card elimination: Week 15, 12/20/09; Baltimore and Denver are 8-6.

2010 (4-12)

• High water mark: 4-2 record in games 9-14, including overtime loss to Pittsburgh.
• Low water mark: 0-8 in first eight games.
• Division elimination: Week 12, 11/25/10; New England hits 9-2 with idle Bills 2-8.
• Wild Card elimination: Week 12, 11/28/10; Baltimore, Pittsburgh, and New York eliminate the now 2-9 Bills.

2011 (6-10)

• High water mark: 5-2 after a 23-0 drubbing of Washington.
• Low water mark: Seven consecutive losses to fall to 5-9.
• Division elimination: Week 14, 12/11/11; the Bills fall to 5-8 while New England climbs to 10-3.
• Wild Card elimination: Week 15, 12/18/11; Cincinnati and Tennessee eliminate the 5-9 Bills.

2012 (6-10)

• High water mark: 2-1 after consecutive victories.
• Low water mark: Four losses by 20 or more points.
• Division elimination: Week 13, 12/2/12; the Bills win, but New England wins to move to 9-3 with a tie-breaker.
• Wild Card elimination: Week 15, 12/16/12; the Bills fall to 5-9 behind 9-5 Indianapolis and 8-6 Cincinnati.

2013 (6-10)

• High water mark: 2-2 after beating the reigning Super Bowl champs.
• Low water mark: Three straight double-digit losses to fall from 3-4 to 3-7.
• Division elimination: Week 13, 12/1/13; the Bills fall in Toronto in overtime for their eighth loss, while New England improves to 9-3.
• Wild Card elimination: Week 15, 12/15/13; the Bills win to go to 5-9, but Miami's eighth win makes insurmountable deficit.

2014 (8-7)

• High water mark: 5-3 entering the bye with winnable games against AFC opponents to come.
• Low water mark: Playoff-crushing loss to the previously two-win Raiders in Week 16.
• Division elimination: Week 15, 12/14/14; New England moves to 10-3, three games up on Buffalo with a tie-breaker.
• Wild Card elimination: Week 16, 12/21/14; loss to Oakland drops them to 8-7.