True we are 5-6, but really how bad is the division?
Honestly if you look across the whole league it's pretty much the same. My brother and I were chatting about this the other night and commented on the parity across the league. As of last night only 7 teams have a record better than 6-5
The Panthers (11-0) the Patriots (10-1) the Bengals, Cardinals and Broncos (9-2) the Vikings (8-3) and the Packers (7-4)
And honestly do we really find all those teams scary like in years past?
The Packers have not looked scary at all lately. Their record was built early in the season. The Vikings have looked good lately but I don’t feel like they’ve beaten anyone really impressive. I’m not sure what the Broncos are without Manning to be honest. The Cards and Bengals have quietly built nice records. They faced each other this week and the Cards came out on top. But neither of their records when you consider who they’ve beaten and how looks that impressive. (The cards got 6 of their wins by beating Saints, Lions, Ravens, Browns and the 49ers twice).
Which leaves the Pats and the Panthers. Of the two it’s the Panthers that have really trampled everyone so far.
Upshot of this is that the average win/loss record across the league is 5.47 wins to 5.47 losses. And if you take out the 7 teams mentioned about it becomes 4.48 wins to 6.44 losses. Most of the league seems to be either 6-5 or 5-6.
All we can do as a team is try to take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves and so far we've mostly done just that. What’s more we’ve don’t it against the toughest part of our schedule. From here on out we’re playing the easier part, with games against slumping Dallas and Philly and then the Bears and the Bills. We’re in pretty good shape right now.
Dallas without Romo is beatable both home and away I feel. There’s 2 potential wins.
The Eagles look a mess. It’s an away game. Flip a coin on that one.
The Bears at Soldier Field I think is a loss. They’re a tough out, it’ll be cold. Loss there I think.
And the Bills. We’re at home and they’re beatable. I’m saying win.
We could finish this season with possibly 3 or 4 more wins to finish either 9-6 or 8-8. A winning season would be huge.
Of course… it now begs the question…
We weren’t supposed to be winning the division or going to the playoffs this year, that was not the expectation pre-season. I really think at the start of the season if you’d have told Scott McLoughan that the team would get 5 or 6 wins hey’d be happy with this as a growth year.
Have the goalposts now moved?
Just like us, Scott and co KNOW that these remaining games against opposition who are really floundering are VERY VERY winnable. With the trouble the Eagles and Cowboys are in we SHOULD win those games. The Bills are slumping and we SHOULD win that one at home too. The playoffs are in our grasp and the road ahead is pretty easy and clear.
So what’s in store for Gruden if the Skins mess this up and lose all or most of the next 5 and miss out?
If anything this win this week might be putting even more pressure on Gruden now. There is an opportunity presenting itself that we SHOULD be able to seize. If we let it slip through our fingers will heads roll even if our record is better than a year ago and the team looks better?
Honestly if you look across the whole league it's pretty much the same. My brother and I were chatting about this the other night and commented on the parity across the league. As of last night only 7 teams have a record better than 6-5
The Panthers (11-0) the Patriots (10-1) the Bengals, Cardinals and Broncos (9-2) the Vikings (8-3) and the Packers (7-4)
And honestly do we really find all those teams scary like in years past?
The Packers have not looked scary at all lately. Their record was built early in the season. The Vikings have looked good lately but I don’t feel like they’ve beaten anyone really impressive. I’m not sure what the Broncos are without Manning to be honest. The Cards and Bengals have quietly built nice records. They faced each other this week and the Cards came out on top. But neither of their records when you consider who they’ve beaten and how looks that impressive. (The cards got 6 of their wins by beating Saints, Lions, Ravens, Browns and the 49ers twice).
Which leaves the Pats and the Panthers. Of the two it’s the Panthers that have really trampled everyone so far.
Upshot of this is that the average win/loss record across the league is 5.47 wins to 5.47 losses. And if you take out the 7 teams mentioned about it becomes 4.48 wins to 6.44 losses. Most of the league seems to be either 6-5 or 5-6.
All we can do as a team is try to take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves and so far we've mostly done just that. What’s more we’ve don’t it against the toughest part of our schedule. From here on out we’re playing the easier part, with games against slumping Dallas and Philly and then the Bears and the Bills. We’re in pretty good shape right now.
Dallas without Romo is beatable both home and away I feel. There’s 2 potential wins.
The Eagles look a mess. It’s an away game. Flip a coin on that one.
The Bears at Soldier Field I think is a loss. They’re a tough out, it’ll be cold. Loss there I think.
And the Bills. We’re at home and they’re beatable. I’m saying win.
We could finish this season with possibly 3 or 4 more wins to finish either 9-6 or 8-8. A winning season would be huge.
Of course… it now begs the question…
We weren’t supposed to be winning the division or going to the playoffs this year, that was not the expectation pre-season. I really think at the start of the season if you’d have told Scott McLoughan that the team would get 5 or 6 wins hey’d be happy with this as a growth year.
Have the goalposts now moved?
Just like us, Scott and co KNOW that these remaining games against opposition who are really floundering are VERY VERY winnable. With the trouble the Eagles and Cowboys are in we SHOULD win those games. The Bills are slumping and we SHOULD win that one at home too. The playoffs are in our grasp and the road ahead is pretty easy and clear.
So what’s in store for Gruden if the Skins mess this up and lose all or most of the next 5 and miss out?
If anything this win this week might be putting even more pressure on Gruden now. There is an opportunity presenting itself that we SHOULD be able to seize. If we let it slip through our fingers will heads roll even if our record is better than a year ago and the team looks better?