General Sports Thread

[Nick M]

I'll get a 2016 NCAA football thread going soon. There is too much extra-curricular activity going on. Baylor and Ole Miss had the clock strike midnight. And no glass shoe was left behind.

 

[The Berean]

Town Heretic inspired this topic. How great were the 2007 New England Patriots? According to FiveThirtyEight's ELO rating system the 2007 Patriots were the "best" team in NFL history. Agree? Disagree? Discuss! :think:

The Best NFL Teams Of All Time, According To Elo

How the ELO rating system works.

Introducing NFL Elo Ratings

 

[The Berean]

TH, You stated several times that the Patriots played a soft schedule. But my research doesn't really show that. Granted the AFC East was lousy that season but that's only six division games for the Patriots.

2007 AFC East
16-0 New England Patriots
7-9 New York Jets
4-12 Buffalo Bills
1-15 Miami Dolphins

So within the AFC East the Pats had to play one average team and two lousy teams. But the Patriots non division opponents are another matter. Here are the records of their 10 non-division opponents.

13-3
13-3
11-5
10-6
10-6
10-6
9-7
8-8
7-9
5-11

Not counting the loss each team received from the Patriots their combined record was 96-54 W-L.

 

[Town Heretic]

TH, You stated several times that the Patriots played a soft schedule. But my research doesn't really show that. Granted the AFC East was lousy that season but that's only six division games for the Patriots.

Six wins is a pretty big stocking stuffer.

2007 AFC East

16-0 New England Patriots
7-9 New York Jets
4-12 Buffalo Bills
1-15 Miami Dolphins

So within the AFC East the Pats had to play one average team and two lousy teams. But the Patriots non division opponents are another matter. Here are the records of their 10 non-division opponents.

13-3
13-3
11-5
10-6
10-6
10-6
9-7
8-8
7-9
5-11

Not counting the loss each team received from the Patriots their combined record was 96-54 W-L.

Okay, let's really look at the schedule.

4 of the in conference games were cake walks.
2 were against a sub .500 Jets team.
1 against a struggling 5-11 Ravens.
1 against a sub .500 Bengals.

So at that point we're just emerging from the mediocre to bad and it's half their season. Meaning they had to compete against decent to excellent half the time. That's a light schedule. But continuing...

1 game against a .500 Eagles squad.
1 win against a one game over .500 Skins. That's not exactly a war. What was the score on that one? 52 - 7

The remaining five were good teams, though Cleveland's 10 - 6 was a bit of a schedule creation too.

 

[Town Heretic]

double post... :mmph:

 

[steko]

double post... :mmph:

Watch it there, Bub!

 

[Town Heretic]

Watch it there, Bub!

Oh yeah??? :Clete:

Wait...

What are we talking about again?

 

[The Berean]

Six wins is a pretty big stocking stuffer.


Okay, let's really look at the schedule.

4 of the in conference games were cake walks.
2 were against a sub .500 Jets team.
1 against a struggling 5-11 Ravens.
1 against a sub .500 Bengals.

So at that point we're just emerging from the mediocre to bad and it's half their season. Meaning they had to compete against decent to excellent half the time. That's a light schedule. But continuing...

1 game against a .500 Eagles squad.
1 win against a one game over .500 Skins. That's not exactly a war. What was the score on that one? 52 - 7

The remaining five were good teams, though Cleveland's 10 - 6 was a bit of a schedule creation too.

Looking at the Patriots schedule without any context doesn't really tell us anything. Before we can label a schedule "soft" we would need to study the schedules of the greatest teams and compare them.

I took a look at the 1984-85 49ers, a team generally considered one of the greatest teams ever. They, too, played in a four team division.

1984 NFC West
15-1 San Francisco 49er
10-6 Los Angeles Rams
7-9 New Orlean Saints
4-12 Atlanta Falcons

Ok, so that's a stronger division than what the Pats faced. But the 49ers non-division oppenents were far worse.

11-5
9-7
9-7
8-8
6-10
5-11
4-11-1
3-13
3-13

That's pretty lousy competition. Yet no one says the 1984 49ers are overrated. But again unless we look at a large number of teams we really have no idea whether the 2007 Pats had a soft schedule compared to other great teams of the past.

 

[Nick M]

I'd say Randy Moss would be my first pick at WR,. And that includes Rice and Brown. This ignores the problems he has with civilized society. That is also when Brady started deflating footballs.

18-1 is hard to argue against. Any way it is spun.

 

[Town Heretic]

Looking at the Patriots schedule without any context doesn't really tell us anything.

Before we can label a schedule "soft" we would need to study the schedules of the greatest teams and compare them.

I took a look at the 1984-85 49ers, a team generally considered one of the greatest teams ever. They, too, played in a four team division.

Ok, so that's a strong division than what the Pats faced. But the 49ers non-division oppenents were far worse.

That's pretty lousy competition. Yet no one says the 1984 49ers are overrated. Butt again unless we look at a large number of teams we really have no idea whether the 2007 Pats had a soft schedule compared to other great teams of the past.

I don't think they were anointed within the year. But hindsight gives us insight into the why. First, they won the Superbowl. Won it convincingly. Second, it was Montana's second MVP in that arena. And one of the greatest offensive minds ever was calling plays...

That said, give me the 89 Crew. Craig, Rathman, Jones, Taylor, Rice and Montana on the offensive side of the ball. Lott, Holt and Haley on the other side. Man...

Also, that 89 team went 14 - 2 and the hardest part of the schedule was impressive. Much harder than the 84 squad.

11-5 Rams twice
12-4 Giants
11-5 Philly
10-6 GB
9-7 Saints twice
9-7 Bills
8-8 Colts

The rest?
6-10 Bears
5-11 Pats
5-11 Tampa
4-12 Jets
3-13 Atl (twice)
1-15 Dallas

 

[Nick M]

Pitt up 2-0 against San Jose.