NFL Week 10 thread

Would be awesome if Vick broke both his legs and Smith came in to beat the Steelers.

 

Taking a deeper look at the schedule, the AFC North is playing the NFC South (Tampa Bay, New Orleans, Carolina, Atlanta) for its interconference games and the AFC South (Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Tennessee, Houston) for its intraconference games. As of right now, just one team (Indianapolis) in those two divisions is above .500.

Cleveland's other two games are vs. Oakland and @ Buffalo. Cincinnati's other two games are @ New England and vs. Denver. Pittsburgh's other two games are against the @Jets and vs. Chiefs. Baltimore's other two are against the Chargers at home and at Dolphins.

Outside their division games, they've had it terribly easy.

 

No one thought Seneca Wallace would be the Packers quarterback for most of that game, either.

 

Cleveland had the makings of an OK team last year, and it is reaping the benefits of the last place schedule just as the Chiefs did last year.

 

I love when people say it the schedule makes almost no difference, which is a load of shit.

"It's only two games."

Uh, it's only a 16-game season. Having two favorable matchups can be the difference between making the playoffs and not.

 

Actually, since teams play one entire division in their conference and one from the other conference, that means a full 25 percent of a last place team's schedule is other last place teams. If you had some talent, but because of injuries or, most often, lack of a quarterback, had a poor season, you can improve to a playoff contender quickly.

 

It doesn't always mean a lot, but this year it means the Browns' schedule includes the Raiders (already won) and the Bills, while the Bengals get to play the Patriots (already lost) and the Broncos. That'd be a pretty good explainer for a two-game gap in the standings.

 

On the other hand, taking a "deeper look at the schedule" as tony did above presents a similar problem. With so few games on the schedule and so many of these teams playing one another, it becomes more difficult to sort out how difficult these schedules are based on this season's results.

Yes, the records of the AFC North's opponents in the NFC South and AFC South look unimpressive. At least part of that, however, is due to losses to the AFC North teams.

 

Maybe. But it sure makes Tampa Bay's only victory being on the road against the Steelers stick out .

 

Mike Tomlin's Steelers have a special talent for stinkers like that one. I think we will find out Sunday if the Steelers have put the team that stunk up the field in losses to Baltimore, Cleveland and Tampa behind them or if they are still as inconsistent as ever.

 

Hope the Jets win.

 

Keep hope alive.