HoosierCat Posted November 7, 2005 Report Share Posted November 7, 2005 This year, the NFL sucks.More precisely, this season has, to date, produced a bumper crop of bad teams. If current trends hold, 2005 will see twice the putridity of recent NFL seasons: an eye-popping 8 teams -- fully one-quarter of the league -- finishing with 4 or fewer victories.Halfway through the season, 8 teams are 2-6 or worse. These clubs (the Jets, Titans, Texans, Ravens, Saints, Packers, Cards, and 49ers) are currently a collective 14-52, or .212. By comparison, last year's bottom 8 teams finished a collective 36-92 (.281), and 5 of those 9 teams finished with 5 or 6 wins.Over the last 10 seasons, the number of teams finishing 4-12 or worse has ranged from 3 (in 3 different years) to 6 in (1998). The average number is about 4 (4.1). Now, it's certainly possible that one or more of this year's duds will manage to string together enough second-half wins to get to a total of 5 or 6, but even so we are still likely looking at a banner year for suck-ness.Some of this year's bad teams were expected. The Titans and 49ers were both entering year one of a rebuilding program. The Packers let an alarming amount of talent leave through FA, particularly on the o-line, and drafted a QB in a none-too-subtle season that Farve's days were nearing their end. And any hope the Saints had of a good season was blown away by Katrina just weeks before opening day.The Jets' season went down with their No. 1 and 2 QBs in one of the most unbelieveably bad injury breaks in recent football history. You never want use injuries as an excuse, the standard mantra being that they happen to everyone and must be overcome. But the reality is that when you go from your No. 1 to your No. 3 QB in the space of one game…you're pretty much screwed.The Houston Texans and Arizona Cardinals have been terrible, but both were only poor-to-average squads coming out of 2004, and both have faced brutal schedules. Again, you can't use that as an excuse, but at least their failures are comprehensible.Not so that of the Ravens. They did open against Indy, but then got the Titans, Jets, Lions, Browns, and Bears, five teams that currently have just 15 combined wins (5 by the Bears). But they managed to win just 2 of those games -- their only 2 victories to date. They have had some bad breaks on calls by the zebras, and took Pitt to the wire two weeks ago, but the bottom line is that their offense is simply nonfunctional (with or without Boller). Given the level and quality of FA additions in the offseason, IMHO the Ravens have to go down as the year's biggest disappointment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirkendall Posted November 7, 2005 Report Share Posted November 7, 2005 I'm not good at math JC, never claimed to be... but isn't the following statement: If current trends hold, 2005 will see twice the putridity of recent NFL seasons: an eye-popping 8 teams -- fully one-third of the league -- finishing with 4 or fewer victories.Wouldn't that be a quarter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoosierCat Posted November 7, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2005 Yup. My bad. Will fix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stripes Posted November 9, 2005 Report Share Posted November 9, 2005 Given the level and quality of FA additions in the offseason, IMHO the Ravens have to go down as the year's biggest disappointment. I think the Ravens are a close second behind the Vikings. Both of these teams were lauded as Superbowl contenders coming into this season. The Ravens have struggled on offense as excpected, and that is mostly due to poor quarterback play, as expected. While their overall record is surprising, I don't think the reasons for such are. The Vikings were expected to be solid on both sides of the ball. They revamped that bad defense with a lot of solid pickups in the offseason, and the offense was still expected to move the ball sin-Moss. Instead, the defense has been abysmal against both the run and pass and the offense has been terrible with a mightily struggling Culpepper.For the second half of the year, I expect the Vikings to climb back into contention in their terrible division sparked by Brad Johnson, but the Ravens should continue stinking it up. Then they will certainly take the title of the biggest disappointment in my mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BengalszoneBilly Posted November 13, 2005 Report Share Posted November 13, 2005 I think the Ravens are a close second behind the Vikings. Both of these teams were lauded as Superbowl contenders coming into this season. It makes you wonder how the hell they could ever think that! It's about as silly as who ever it was around here that was pimping the Cardinals to do the same! Now that was crazy! That was insane! Hah! That was... ...oh crap. That was me. For the second half of the year, I expect the Vikings to climb back into contention in their terrible division sparked by Brad Johnson, but the Ravens should continue stinking it up. Then they will certainly take the title of the biggest disappointment in my mind. Well you are looking pretty accurate on this call TDB, even though half of it was a no brainer. Minnesota steered their "Lust Boat Cruiseliner" into Giants Stadium to play New York, and ended up bending over Eli and the rest of the Giants and added them to the list of people the Vikings have snuck up on and "boarded from the stern" recently! I'm also impressed that the Ravens QB Kyle Boller can be out so many weeks with an injury, and not lose anything off his game! He picked up right where he left off from week 2 in Jacksonville today with a 19 for 33, 142 yards with 3 interception performance! Oh yeah. That "genuis" Billick is sooo right about Boller. He's a keeper. Believe you me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stripes Posted November 13, 2005 Report Share Posted November 13, 2005 I'm also impressed that the Ravens QB Kyle Boller can be out so many weeks with an injury, and not lose anything off his game! He picked up right where he left off from week 2 in Jacksonville today with a 19 for 33, 142 yards with 3 interception performance! Oh yeah. That "genuis" Billick is sooo right about Boller. He's a keeper. Believe you me! Better yet, his partner in crime, Joey Harrington had a great game today... 22 for 32 for 200+ yards and 3 touchdowns. All the more pressure on our buddy Boller to stop being such a terrible, terrible quarterback. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Who? Posted November 14, 2005 Report Share Posted November 14, 2005 I think the Ravens are a close second behind the Vikings. Both of these teams were lauded as Superbowl contenders coming into this season. It makes you wonder how the hell they could ever think that! It's about as silly as who ever it was around here that was pimping the Cardinals to do the same! Now that was crazy! That was insane! Hah! That was... ...oh crap. That was me. For the second half of the year, I expect the Vikings to climb back into contention in their terrible division sparked by Brad Johnson, but the Ravens should continue stinking it up. Then they will certainly take the title of the biggest disappointment in my mind. Well you are looking pretty accurate on this call TDB, even though half of it was a no brainer. Minnesota steered their "Lust Boat Cruiseliner" into Giants Stadium to play New York, and ended up bending over Eli and the rest of the Giants and added them to the list of people the Vikings have snuck up on and "boarded from the stern" recently! I'm also impressed that the Ravens QB Kyle Boller can be out so many weeks with an injury, and not lose anything off his game! He picked up right where he left off from week 2 in Jacksonville today with a 19 for 33, 142 yards with 3 interception performance! Oh yeah. That "genuis" Billick is sooo right about Boller. He's a keeper. Believe you me! Damn.. Boller is truly the worst quarterback in the league, even Dilfer's better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BengalNation1281 Posted November 15, 2005 Report Share Posted November 15, 2005 Sometimes it takes a QB a good 12-15 years to acclimate himself to the NFL. Brian Billick obviously understands this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShulaSteakhouse Posted November 15, 2005 Report Share Posted November 15, 2005 Gotta hate the effects of expansion, including the Browns, who have never really recovered yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CUbaseball11 Posted November 15, 2005 Report Share Posted November 15, 2005 damn, charlie batch is even better than boler .....hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoosierCat Posted November 15, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 15, 2005 Well, here's some good news for Kyle...Career QB Ratings:Kyle Boller: 66.3Akili Smith: 52.8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Next_Big_Thing Posted November 15, 2005 Report Share Posted November 15, 2005 Everyone outside this division pimped Baltimore, but how many inside this division (including myself) said Baltimore would suck this season because they had no quarterback and lost key ingredients of their defense, and had Ray Lewis on the downside of his career? Losing Ed Reed was the nail in their coffin.There lack of success is no surprise to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoosierCat Posted December 8, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 8, 2005 Well, here we are at the three-quarters mark and it's become apparent that pairity, at least for this year, is dead. You are pretty much either good...or you suck.With 12 games played, the bottom 16 teams in the NFL are an appaling 58-134 (.302) combined, an average of about 3.6 wins per. Yeesh. Only one of those teams, DC, is at .500. 3 have 5 wins. The remaining 12 have 4 or fewer wins. Ick, ick, and triple ick.The top 16 teams are a corresponding 134-58, or an average of 8.3 wins out of 12 tries.Only 8 teams reside in the .500 range (5-7, 6-6, or 7-5).The worst 8 teams are now 21-75 (.218), an improvement of just .006 since four weeks ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjakq27 Posted December 9, 2005 Report Share Posted December 9, 2005 Gotta hate the effects of expansion, including the Browns, who have never really recovered yet. Shoulda built Artie that stadium he wanted in 1995. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoosierCat Posted December 9, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2005 Bill Simmons on the sucky teams trend...great read:http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story...=simmons/051209 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bengalboomer7 Posted December 9, 2005 Report Share Posted December 9, 2005 Even though he talks too much about Boston sports, Simmons is probably my favorite columnist. He can always get an out loud laugh out of me. Like his graduating from Paul Maguire University Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoosierCat Posted December 16, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 16, 2005 Lenny chimes in on the sucky teams trend...http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/stor..._len&id=2260960 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PMThor Posted December 17, 2005 Report Share Posted December 17, 2005 I'm not so sure about the sucky teams angle. I really think you need to look at the interdivisional play and then define it, as in strong AFC divisions seem to be playing exceptionally weak NFC divisions this year. I have not looked into this statement, I am just spitballing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoosierCat Posted December 17, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2005 There is some skew there, certainly. All the AFC divisions are .500 or better -- some much better -- versus the NFC. But overall, the interdivisional record is even at 25-25. And more: there are only 5 teams with 4 or fewer wins in the NFC right now, versus 7 in the AFC. If it were a case of a strong AFC beating up on a weak NFC, you'd expect most of the sucky teams to reside in the NFC...but they don't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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