BUCKLE UP BROWNS FANS!!! This is the season we've been waiting for

May I answer your question with a question?

Isnt the said team measured by ultimately what happens (weak or strong sched) when all is said and done... i.e. the Playoffs and SB?

Anyway. The Patriots schedule from here on out isn't all 'cake walks'. Things may just balance out. They have some tough games coming up against teams with winning records.

 

If a team gets to their goal of the playoffs and/or SB win is determined by how many wins they accumulate during the regular season. The level of competition during the regular season is a major factor.

FYI: The remaining opponents combined record on the Patriots schedule is under 0.500. (0.479 to be precise.)

 

But, it still includes games against, Cleveland, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Dallas, Houston, Kansa City and Buffalo. Philly and Dallas are the 'doctor Jeckyl - Mr Hyde' games... you never know which team will show up, the others are legit, imo.

Anyway, I do admit the schedule strength does play a role in a teams objective of reaching the post season, but, i have no answer for why the Pats dominate the other AFC and NFC teams when it really matters outside of the fact they are really good in spite of a weak schedule.

I blame Miami and New York for the Patriots success.

 

Excellent post Lym.

 

Brady and Belichick don’t believe in Newton’s laws.
Let’s just start with the perception that NE and SF are the best teams.
Absolute Bullshit.
The Pats are defending champs that haven’t lost a game in a long time and have quite frankly owned this league for nearly a generation. SF is a team with 0 playoff credibility and a nice record to date that is expected to fall back and doesn’t scare anyone. Same with Buffalo, but the Pats are the only team to beat them so far. Patriots and those two are not the same at all. Eye test counts in addition to analytics and the perception that theyre on the same plane is something that i disagree with.
Flip side, Dolphins are brutal and it’s easy to see just watching them “compete”.
NE plays the division winning schedule every year. NFCE blows this year and it isn’t the Pats fault. Pitt hasn’t been great, Mahomes got hurt...........who should they play? Who else is good this year?

largely due to the crappy AFCN teams not named Baltimore still on the docket. Combined 2-11. After that they're all good I guess? really not sure who is still good.

reminder, no one, outside of Tim, on the NFL forums prediction page took the Pats to even play in the AFC title game. lol.

 

AFCE does better in the Brady era vs NE than the field also. the generality of the Pats having an easy ride is a tired and ignorant narrative.
For this season the Pats have obviously had a soft start but you can only beat kick the shit out of the 7 games presented in front of you.


from the NE forum-

Patriots vs.

Division W-L-T Win%
AFC South 41 - 10 0.804
NFC South 17 - 5 0.773
AFC North 33 - 11 0.750
NFC West 15 - 5 0.750
AFC East 87 - 30 0.744
NFC North 17 - 6 0.739
NFC East 14 - 6 0.700
AFC West 33 - 16 0.673


take the Patriots and the division winner of everyone else out of the equation and then you have-

Division W-L-T Win%
AFC East 428 - 516 - 0 0.453
NFC East 421 - 521 - 2 0.446
AFC North 352 - 459 - 5 0.431
NFC South 377 - 502 - 1 0.428
AFC West 400 - 544 - 0 0.424
AFC South 340 - 476 - 0 0.417
NFC North 339 - 474 - 3 0.415
NFC West 356 - 522 - 2 0.405

* these stats are all from 2000- the end of 2018 season,
i took the defunct AFC & NFC Centrals out

https://patriotsdynasty.info/blog/2019/01-02/myth-easy-afc-east-definitive-guide

 

Does it bother anyone else that we got word of Robinson's benching from Robinson, not the coaching staff, or is this an incredibly subtle disinformation from the Freddie camp designed to convince NE that Robinson isn't going to play, but he is?

Freddie looks cornered, and tentative in the interviews this week in particular. The "deer in the headlights" look is scary. I'm hoping his terse and flat answers are an example for his players to keep quiet, and do your job, but I doubt it.

 

Watched some talking heads show today where the discussion was about the Browns disfunction, and where to place the blame.

One of the heads brought up the idea that the team is reflecting the "emotional/erratic" behavior of their QB. ????? Interesting.

Last season he and Freddie made a good team, but Williams was the HC. Could the hard line, jaw jutting Williams been responsible for keeping Baker focused and aware of how hard the climb would be, thus keeping him in check to some degree.

Was naming Freddie a concession to Baker, thus turning over the entire operation to a rookie QB, removing the restraint of a HC who kept his head it's current size, vs inflating it by gifting him his favorite buddy as HC, thus removing any restraints?

It has a certain ring of truth. Not to say it cannot work, but Freddie clearly needs to learn how to enforce his will on this team, not his friendship.

 

Whoa . . . Pump the brakes for a second there, big fella !!

I wasn't trying to discredit your precious Patriots. I used them and the 49ers in my example because most of the knuckle draggers in here truly believe if team "A" is undefeated, then they are better than team "B" who has 1 loss. You and I both know it goes a lot wider and deeper than that. Not only do I look at what is their record and who did they play but, I also look at how did they win (or lose). Two easy numbers to get are Turnover Differential and Scoring Differential (per game). It just so happens that the Patriots are ranked #1 for both of these numbers with +14 and +25.0 respectively. Did the quality of the opponents help those two numbers? Of course it did - but, like you said, you can only play the teams that are on your schedule.

I personally believe the Patriots are, in fact, the best team in the AFC. I do not believe the 49ers are the best team in the NFC. I have two, maybe three teams in the NFC ranked ahead of the 49ers.

 

Fair enough Lyman, I must have misinterpreted.

 

Anybody remember this?



Then they went on to finish 5th in AL East. That's how this Browns team feels right now. Over-hyped before the season and still the same old beat up rusting clunker sitting up on blocks out in the front yard. Still need a slew of parts and pieces before they truly can compete. Last year was great but I believe they over-achieved and this year they've come back to earth and playing exceptionally sloppy. The record should be better but sloppy is as sloppy does. (Sigh)

 

At least they got the Mighty Hoosiers part right.

 

Without a doubt, this is thee most undisciplined team I have ever seen. Week in and week out they keep shooting themselves in the foot with penalties. And week in and week out Goober keeps telling us that he and his coaching staff take those "adversities" and use them to improve. I'm calling BULLSHIT !!!

It hasn't improved one iota. You even got a delay of game penalty on a fucking kickoff !

Shun me if you wish, but Kitchens was the absolute wrong choice. Thank God for the Bengals or we would be back in the basement of the AFC North - and could still end up there anyway.

 

Lym I agree and take his challenge flag away . the Moron hasn't got one right yet . Undisciplined train wreck .

Who might go before Tuesday deadline ? Im betting on Randall being traded and hoping they send OBJ somewhere .

 

Guys - there are those on this board who very clearly and with plenty of subjective data made the case why Kitchens should be promoted from RB coach to HC of a ton of divisive, gregarious personalities in the span of a year.

Experience matters. Kitchens got beat by the best, today. Let's see how he handles the back half of the season. But he's gonna have to pull up on the reigns in short order.

 

Anyone wondering how important Greg Williams was to last year's run?

If I'm Slam, I am. Then I'm looking at Freddie briefly, only to look above him to Dorsey. One could, and many have argued that Freddie wasn't ready, and that judgement is on the Dorse.

Freddie's failure has to fall on Dorsey, and that may spell disaster, where they both are dismissed. Dorsey has to do whatever he can to help Freddie turn this around, or they both go, and we step on the Merry-go-round yet again.

This may be the most disappointing season ever, with so much anticipation leading to so much disfunction.

 

The goal of making Kitchens the head coach should have always been to maintain the growth of Baker.

When that priority got pushed aside in favor of playoff hype the greater goal was sacrificed.

No matter how the rest of the season plays out the original reason for keeping Freddie over Gregggg needs to be the focus.

This didn’t need to be a year completely sacrificed for Baker’s learning curve but they never should have put the cart ahead of the horse.

There’s still time to get things back in the right order to run out the rest of the season.

 

Chubb! The one guy no one could criticize, has to take this loss. I feel bad for him, but that's the truth of it.

His fumbles account for a minimum of 10 points, and quite feasably as many as 21 points difference, against The Evil Empire.

It spoiled what could have been a very tight and entertaining game. Baker's "interception" and Chubb's fumble due to Bitonio's feet, are freak plays that lead to worst possible outcomes.

Two fumbles, OK, but why is it we never are the team to recover the loose ball, and what are the chances a D lineman with two guys engaging him "catches" the ball?

Karma is a bitch, and we've got one mean bitch riding our backs.

Where do we go from here? Dorsey, I'm looking at you, not for personnel moves, for coaching assistance. Freddie needs your support. Firing him is like submitting your resignation, so what's your next move.

 

Tim, an excellent point, but the chair is getting "very very hot", and it will take some serious willpower to stay the course.

Still, I agree, its' the "expectations" that were out of line, and part of that is the organization accepting the praise and spotlight, without pushing back hard, for Freddie's sake, for Baker's sake, and for the team's sake. Now it feels like an excuse, and the psychological damage to the team may make the progress they should be able to make, impossible.

Now it's all down to can Freddie be the "leader of men" he likes to talk about so much.