Scaly Lizard
2013-01-01 18:47:10 UTC
1. We have a playoff berth.
2. BOTH the Cows and Steelers dropped out.
3. The Barelys dropped out, and got so pouty that they
fired a good coach, HaHaHa suckers!
The Vikings, with two wins against two of the league's
top teams in the final two weeks, moved up in one of
the most important measures of franchise success.
And, we lost a little ground in another, but only a little.
Since the 1967 Merger, only eight teams have had playoff
caliber seasons more than 20 times in those 46 years.
We moved past Pittsburgh and closed in on Dallas:
29 - Cowboys
27 - Vikings
26 - Steelers
23 - 49ers
22 - Dolphins
21 - Colts
21 - Raiders
21 - Rams
Only 3 of the top eight advanced. The rest of the field:
19 - Broncos
19 - Eagles
18 - Patriots
18 - Oilers/Titans
18 - Jackers
17 - Redskins
15 - Giants
14 - Browns
14 - Chiefs
14 - Jets
14 - Bearlys
13 - Bills
12 - Seahawks
12 - Falcons
12 - Chargers
11 - Bengals
10 - Buccaneers
10 - Lyins
9 - Ravens
9 - Saints
6 - Cardinals
6 - Jaguars
4 - Panthers
2 - Texans
The bottom 3 obviously get a hall pass, because they missed
most of the last 46 seasons, and the Seahawks and Bucs
also have 10 fewer seasons than the rest. Today, 12 of 32
teams advance. Before, it was 10 of 30 teams, 8 of 28, etc,
an overall average of 33.1% advancing.
Seattle is at 32.4% (12 playoff years out of 37), and Tampa
is 27.0%. For the rest, 15-16 playoff berths in 46 years is the
expected median. Less than that, and your team has done
a whole lot of sucking, historically speaking.
20 berths would mean your team is beating the odds once
a decade, and that's good enough to maintain a nationwide
fan base.... unless you sucked for decades at a stretch, like
the Colts, Dolphins and Raiders.
23 berths is the .500 level, and that's killer success if there
are competition checks in place, like a salary cap and rotating
scheduling and a reverse-order draft, which there are. The
Vikes are at 27 playoff runs (58.7%), which translates to a
playoff-worthy team fielded about 6 times per decade.
Simply Outstanding. With some luck, and some continued
Tony Romo magic, we can overtake the Cows in 2015
as the NFL's most successful franchise in seasonal play.
The other long-term measure of franchise success is the
number of Divisional Crowns. Snot Bay took ours this year
by one game, so we stayed put while the 49ers moved up
one by winning the NFC West. The current totals, since the
Merger:
21 - Steelers
20 - Cowboys
19 - 49ers
18 - Vikings
16 - Raiders
14 - Colts
14 - Dolphins
14 - Patriots
12 - Broncos
12 - Rams
12 - Jackers
10 - Chargers
10 - Bearlys
9 - Browns
9 - Giants
8 - Seahawks
8 - Redskins
8 - Bengals
7 - Eagles
7 - Bills
6 - Buccaneers
6 - Oilers/Titans
6 - Chiefs
6 - Falcons
5 - Saints
4 - Jets, Ravens
3 - Panthers, Cardinals, Lyins
2 - Jaguars, Texans
The good news is that neither Pittsburgh nor Dallas were able
to move up. To me, that's friggin great news. Last 4 seasons,
Pit-Min-Dal have brought home one Division Crown each, and
SF has grabbed two. Over that period, 8 teams added two crowns
each, 12 teams gained one each, and 11 teams got none. Only
the Patriots have steamed up the rankings like a freight train,
winning all of the last four AFC East titles.
Another way to finger the data is to subtract crowns from berths
by division, which tells you which divisions are the competitive
ones, where it should be statistically more difficult to be
successful.
Each division sends one winner to the playoffs every year.
More than four berths in the last four years, for example, means
better teams in that division. Why the last four years? Because
that's the average career length for a starter. Go beyond four,
and you're looking at wildly different teams leaguewide.
Here are the divisional margins over the past 4 years:
AFC East +2
AFC North +5
AFC South +1
AFC West +0
NFC East +1
NFC North +4
NFC South +2
NFC West +1
It's glaring: the most competitive divisions today are both Norths.
Over that timeframe, The Vikes have a .500 playoff berthing rate,
and one Division Crown. We're in the 1/4 of the league which
fields over half of the playoff-caliber teams, year in and year out.
All this stuff is why, no matter what happens in Lamb-blow Swamp
next Saturday night, i'm proud to be a Vikings fan. It's a long road,
and we've been kicking a lotta ass, decade after decade. Skol.
SL
2. BOTH the Cows and Steelers dropped out.
3. The Barelys dropped out, and got so pouty that they
fired a good coach, HaHaHa suckers!
The Vikings, with two wins against two of the league's
top teams in the final two weeks, moved up in one of
the most important measures of franchise success.
And, we lost a little ground in another, but only a little.
Since the 1967 Merger, only eight teams have had playoff
caliber seasons more than 20 times in those 46 years.
We moved past Pittsburgh and closed in on Dallas:
29 - Cowboys
27 - Vikings
26 - Steelers
23 - 49ers
22 - Dolphins
21 - Colts
21 - Raiders
21 - Rams
Only 3 of the top eight advanced. The rest of the field:
19 - Broncos
19 - Eagles
18 - Patriots
18 - Oilers/Titans
18 - Jackers
17 - Redskins
15 - Giants
14 - Browns
14 - Chiefs
14 - Jets
14 - Bearlys
13 - Bills
12 - Seahawks
12 - Falcons
12 - Chargers
11 - Bengals
10 - Buccaneers
10 - Lyins
9 - Ravens
9 - Saints
6 - Cardinals
6 - Jaguars
4 - Panthers
2 - Texans
The bottom 3 obviously get a hall pass, because they missed
most of the last 46 seasons, and the Seahawks and Bucs
also have 10 fewer seasons than the rest. Today, 12 of 32
teams advance. Before, it was 10 of 30 teams, 8 of 28, etc,
an overall average of 33.1% advancing.
Seattle is at 32.4% (12 playoff years out of 37), and Tampa
is 27.0%. For the rest, 15-16 playoff berths in 46 years is the
expected median. Less than that, and your team has done
a whole lot of sucking, historically speaking.
20 berths would mean your team is beating the odds once
a decade, and that's good enough to maintain a nationwide
fan base.... unless you sucked for decades at a stretch, like
the Colts, Dolphins and Raiders.
23 berths is the .500 level, and that's killer success if there
are competition checks in place, like a salary cap and rotating
scheduling and a reverse-order draft, which there are. The
Vikes are at 27 playoff runs (58.7%), which translates to a
playoff-worthy team fielded about 6 times per decade.
Simply Outstanding. With some luck, and some continued
Tony Romo magic, we can overtake the Cows in 2015
as the NFL's most successful franchise in seasonal play.
The other long-term measure of franchise success is the
number of Divisional Crowns. Snot Bay took ours this year
by one game, so we stayed put while the 49ers moved up
one by winning the NFC West. The current totals, since the
Merger:
21 - Steelers
20 - Cowboys
19 - 49ers
18 - Vikings
16 - Raiders
14 - Colts
14 - Dolphins
14 - Patriots
12 - Broncos
12 - Rams
12 - Jackers
10 - Chargers
10 - Bearlys
9 - Browns
9 - Giants
8 - Seahawks
8 - Redskins
8 - Bengals
7 - Eagles
7 - Bills
6 - Buccaneers
6 - Oilers/Titans
6 - Chiefs
6 - Falcons
5 - Saints
4 - Jets, Ravens
3 - Panthers, Cardinals, Lyins
2 - Jaguars, Texans
The good news is that neither Pittsburgh nor Dallas were able
to move up. To me, that's friggin great news. Last 4 seasons,
Pit-Min-Dal have brought home one Division Crown each, and
SF has grabbed two. Over that period, 8 teams added two crowns
each, 12 teams gained one each, and 11 teams got none. Only
the Patriots have steamed up the rankings like a freight train,
winning all of the last four AFC East titles.
Another way to finger the data is to subtract crowns from berths
by division, which tells you which divisions are the competitive
ones, where it should be statistically more difficult to be
successful.
Each division sends one winner to the playoffs every year.
More than four berths in the last four years, for example, means
better teams in that division. Why the last four years? Because
that's the average career length for a starter. Go beyond four,
and you're looking at wildly different teams leaguewide.
Here are the divisional margins over the past 4 years:
AFC East +2
AFC North +5
AFC South +1
AFC West +0
NFC East +1
NFC North +4
NFC South +2
NFC West +1
It's glaring: the most competitive divisions today are both Norths.
Over that timeframe, The Vikes have a .500 playoff berthing rate,
and one Division Crown. We're in the 1/4 of the league which
fields over half of the playoff-caliber teams, year in and year out.
All this stuff is why, no matter what happens in Lamb-blow Swamp
next Saturday night, i'm proud to be a Vikings fan. It's a long road,
and we've been kicking a lotta ass, decade after decade. Skol.
SL