A lot of flukey things can happen in only 16 games, so I like to look at the last 10 years to see how each of the NFL franchises are doing. Also, it's an interesting coincidence that 10 seasons worth of football equals 160 games, which is almost identical to the 162 games in a baseball season. So in preparation for the 2014 season, here are the regular-season standings in the American and National Conferences for 2004 through 2013. Teams that have won the Super Bowl in the last 10 years are in bold.
Notice that the Patriots are thirteen games better than any other team over this period, but have not won the Super Bowl since 2004. On the other hand, the Chargers have won 102 regular season games in 10 years, but did not reach the Super Bowl in that period). By contrast, the Giants have won 90 regular season games in the last 10 years, but they have two Super Bowl crowns.
Finally, note that Tampa Bay, Kansas City, Miami, and Washington all have the exact same record over this period:
AMERICAN:
New England: 124-36 (1 Super Bowl Title, 3 AFC Titles)
Indianapolis: 111-49 (1 Super Bowl Title, 2 AFC Titles)
Pittsburgh: 105-55 (2 Super Bowl Titles, 3 AFC Titles)
San Diego: 102-58
Baltimore: 95-65 (1 Super Bowl Title, 1 AFC Title)
Denver: 93-67 (1 AFC Title)
Cincinnati: 82-77-1
New York: 79-81
Tennessee: 76-84
Jacksonville: 71-89
Houston: 70-90
Kansas City: 66-94
Miami: 66-94
Buffalo: 63-97
Cleveland: 51-109
Oakland: 49-111
NATIONAL:
Green Bay: 96-63-1 (1 Super Bowl Title, 1 NFC Title)
New Orleans: 91-69 (1 Super Bowl Title, 1 NFC Title)
Atlanta: 90-70
New York: 90-70 (2 Super Bowl Titles, 2 NFC Titles)
Philadelphia: 89-70-1 (1 NFC Title)
Chicago: 89-71 (1 NFC Title)
Seattle: 88-72 (1 Super Bowl Title, 2 NFC Titles)
Dallas: 87-73
Carolina: 80-80
Minnesota: 77-82-1
San Francisco: 75-84-1 (1 NFC Title)
Arizona: 71-89 (1 NFC Title)
Tampa Bay: 66-94
Washington: 66-94
St. Louis: 51-108-1
Detroit: 50-110
1974 me would've totally bought the notion of a 2014 NFL playoff field of Raiders, Browns, Bills and wild-card Dolphins from the AFC and Lions, Rams, Redskins and wild-card Cardinals from the NFC. I would've assumed that the Chuck Noll experiment never worked out in Pittsburgh, that Dallas and Minnesota probably never figured out their post-Tom Landry and -Bud Grant second acts and that "Tampa Bay" might one day be big enough for a minor-league baseball team.
ReplyDeleteIf the Patriots don't win it all this year, they will have averaged roughly 12 wins a year for 10 years without winning the Super Bowl. I don't imagine that has ever happened before.
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