Yes, this league comes down to wins and losses. The scoreboard is the only true measure in the NFL. However, are there teams at the mid-point of this season that may actually be a little better than their record indicates? Are there some teams that may be worse? And how about teams that are a Vegas handicappers worst nightmare because no one can figure out what they are? All of these questions are now answered by your friendly NFL wizard, CaptainStubing: The 'they're not as good as we think' category: Bears: wins include browns, seahawks, and lions. In reality, this is probably a 6 or 7 win team and I'm not sure their defense was even going to be very good before the injuries. Giants: When playing playoff-caliber teams this season (teams with winning records), the Giants are an abysmal 1-4, including some losses where they didn't even belong on the same field. The Giants are average at best anymore. Packers: When playing teams of a decent caliber (teams .500 or better) they are 1-3. Coupled with the loss to the Bucs this week means we may be looking at another losing season for the Packers under McCarthy. Vikings: Has anyone mentioned the fact that the Vikings have no wins against anyone with a winning record? Their best win was probably against a solid Ravens team but they needed a miracle to pull it off after choking it away. Their 'quality' wins against the 49ers and Packers aren't looking very 'quality' right now, are they? Unfortunately for us, the 2nd half of their schedule isn't any harder so this team could rattle off 14 wins and we still couldn't really say they were worthy of a 14-2 record. The 'they're better than we think' category: Chargers: This team's only 3 losses includes the Ravens, when the Ravens were playing well, at the Steelers, and a Broncos rivalry game. This is likely a wild card team in my opinion and could be dangerous for someone again in the playoffs (watch out Peyton). Dolphins: Their 5 losses are against 5 teams that will very likely all be in the playoffs. Whenever they go up against someone average, they're playing competitively and often winning. This is the best 3-5 team in the league right now. Raiders: Amazingly, I have to put them into this category. Yes, they failed to show up for a couple of games and basically forfeited them. But 7 of their first 8 games have been against teams with .500 or better records. Let me repeat that in case you didn't know. 7 of the Raiders first 8 opponents have .500 or better records. It's no wonder they didn't show up for a couple of them. I probably would have taken a couple of weeks off with the brutal schedule they've had. How did a team that was so horrible last year get such a brutal schedule this year? They beat the only sub-.500 team they've played and they actually got a win against one of the winning teams they played. Unfortunately for the Raiders, only 3 of their remaining games are against teams with a sub-.500 record (brutal schedule with 12 of the 16 opponents currently sitting at .500 or better) but they may rack up a few wins in the 2nd half of the season. Ravens: All of their losses are against teams with excellent records (6 or 7 wins) and they have been competitive in every one of them. In addition, they beat winning teams in the Broncos and Chargers. They are still a very good team, although their defense isn't what it once was. Their 2nd half schedule gets easier. I look for them to still challenge for a wild card. The 'who the hell knows what they are' category: Cardinals: So let me get this straight…… you can beat teams like Giants, Bears, and Jaguars on the road but you can't beat below average teams like the 49ers and Panthers at home? Huh? Texans: You beat the Bengals and almost beat the Colts but lose to the Jaguars and Jets? They seem to be a little more consistent over the past few weeks but inconsistency has always been a problem with Kubiak-led teams. Jaguars: You almost pulled out a victory against the Colts. You beat the Texans. Yet you struggled to beat the Rams and got whipped by Seattle? Who are you?
yes, yes, i know and the chiefs o-line is atrocious ............................... :icon_cheesygrin:
i thought i would go back and look at this thread to see if i was right or wrong about these teams this season: I said these teams weren't as good as advertised on 11/9: Bears: They were 4-4 at the time. They've gone 1-3 since, but they did beat the rams....... i was right Giants: were 5-4 at the time. have gone 2-1 since. they may be getting their swagger back. don't know if i was right or wrong on this one yet. Packers: were 4-4 at the time. have gone 4-0 since. i whiffed on this one. they are gelling on both sides of the ball now and look very good. Vikings: they continue to beat up the patsies of the league (they have such an easy schedule) but lost their only contest they had against a winning team since i wrote this. i'm going to stick with my assessment that they're not as good as advertised. We'll see how they do against the bengals and giants and call this unknown until after the playoffs are over. i said these teams were better than advertised: Chargers: they were 5-3 at the time. they've gone 4-0 since and have looked very impressive. i nailed it. Dolphins: they were 3-5 at the time. they've gone 3-1 since and have climbed back into the playoff picture. i nailed it. Raiders: they were 2-6 at the time. they've gone 2-2 since, including wins against the steelers and bengals. because HH is sick, I won't point out that he questioned the captain's wisdom ........ but he did .......... and i was right.:icon_cheesygrin: Ravens: they were 4-4 and have gone 2-2. i could technically call this one 'up in the air' but I've had a chance to watch them the last couple of weeks and i don't think they're as good as I thought so I'm going to say i whiffed on this one. so, by my count: 4 right :icon_cool: 2 wrong :icon_cry: 2 unknown :huh:
hahaha. ok, now i see that's just your standard response about anything raiders-related ................. ok. :icon_cheesygrin:
oh, come on, the chiefs have had a REALLY hard schedule and have been playing better the last couple of months. they're 3-4 over their last 7 games and i'm not sure if you've noticed this but every single one of the chiefs losses this year are against teams with records of .500 or better other than the first raiders game. that's pretty stunning, isn't it? so, basically, the chiefs are 2-1 against teams with losing records, 1-1 against team with .500 records and 0-6 against teams with winning records. if they had the vikings schedule (3 games against winning teams, 2 games against .500 teams, and 7 against losing teams), the chiefs would be 5-7, which wouldn't be too bad for a rebuilding team and a first year coach, would it? with an easier schedule, i'm confident they would have won 6 or 7 games this year. p.s. your o-line isn't as bad as you think it is. :icon_cheesygrin:
Thanks for the confidence in our team, but we just have so many holes it's hard to feel positive about them. Enough Chiefs bashing though, I'm ready to beat some Buffalo butt this Sunday!
I enjoy your analysis but don't always agree with you (chiefs o-line). This would be good blog content.
Better title for the thread would be, "They Are Who I Think They Are -- Or Are They?". Just sayin'. Good stuff.
