Pittsburgh = Frauds

[Dave Gray]

I've been saying this for a while.  They are getting trounced tonight.  It's still early, but they can't do anything.  The fact that they're #1 on our Power Ten list is laughable.  They're lucky to be on the list at all.  They should have lost the last 4 (and will be 5 after tonight's spanking.)

[fyo]

It would help if they didn't fall for the same damned "trick" every time. The Pats are keeping a receiver (Welker, usually) or a running back in to block, then letting him run a short route with everyone else pulling the D deep... and there's NO coverage short. 10-15 yards EVERY time. Really, really bad coaching by the Steelers. Reminds me of something I've seen @ Sun Life recently...

[CF DolFan]

I don't think they are frauds at all. They got beat by a good team. It doesn't mean they are not a good team as well.  If we go by that reasoning then only one team in the league is not a fraud.

On another note I know people use it but I don't really understand the term "fraud" when used in this reference. If they were selling or marketing themselves as something they weren't then that would be fraud. They aren't selling themselves and as far as I know the team isn't "marketing" themselves as the best team out there. Maybe its just me but that term seems odd to me.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

  If we go by that reasoning then only one team in the league is not a fraud.

I agree with all except this line. Which one team?

By Dave's logic. All the teams are frauds. 

[Pappy13]

Actually what I think is that the AFC East is just a whole lot better than people give them credit for.  New England is an elite team.  The Jets are an elite team.  Miami is a step behind but definately in the top half of the league and maybe in the top 10 when healthy.  Buffalo isn't nearly as bad as their record indicates.  They have played one of the toughest schedules in the NFL.  If they played Kansas City's schedule, they would be at least 5-4.  If Miami played Kansas City's schedule they would be 7-2.

Team                  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10   SoS
Cleveland Browns     30 23  8 12  5  1  6     1  5 10.11
Miami Dolphins       31  6  6 10     8  1 22  2 11 10.78
Buffalo Bills        11  2  9  7 22     4 12 17 27 12.33
Washington Redskins   4  7 31 14  3  5 12 30     8 12.67
Dallas Cowboys       17 22  3    19 20 11 25  8  4 14.33
Cincinnati Bengals   10  3 28 30 23     7 16  3 10 14.44
Minnesota Vikings     2 15 29     4 19 15  3 24 19 14.44
Baltimore Ravens      9 17 30  1 21  6 32    15  3 14.89
Pittsburgh Steelers   7  9 21  8    29 16 14 26  6 15.11
Houston Texans        1 14 17 28 20 10     6 22 20 15.33
New England Patriots 12 11 32 11     2 24 19 26  2 15.44
Atlanta Falcons      18 19  1 25 27 14 20    14  1 15.44
Carolina Panthers    19 28 11  2 11    27 20 10 13 15.67
Philadelphia Eagles   3 29 25 21 28  4  8     5 18 15.67
Indianapolis Colts   14 16 22 26 10 11     8 12 25 16.00
Denver Broncos       25 21  4 13  6  3 28 31    14 16.11
New York Jets         6  4  7 32 15 23    10 27 23 16.33
Detroit Lions        21 18 18  4 24 15    13  4 32 16.56
Jacksonville Jaguars 22 12 16  3 32 12 13 26    15 16.78
Seattle Seahawks     13 25 13 27     7 18 23  7 25 17.56
Tennessee Titans     24 10 19 23 14 18 10 24    17 17.67
New York Giants      23  5 15  6  7 28 26    20 30 17.78
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 29 26  5    18  9 21 21  6 31 18.44
New Orleans Saints    5 20 10 29 25 16 30  1 31    18.56
Green Bay Packers    15 30 12 31 16 17 17  2 29    18.78
Oakland Raiders      16 31 24  9 12 30 22 17 11    19.11
San Francisco 49ers  26  1 20  5 17 25 31 27    21 19.22
San Diego Chargers   27 24 26 22 29 26  3  7 13    19.67
Arizona Cardinals    32 13 27 18  2    23 18 23 24 20.00
Chicago Bears        28  8  2 24 30 27 14    32 22 20.78
Kansas City Chiefs    8 32 23     9 13 25 32 16 29 20.78
St. Louis Rams       20 27 14 19 31 21 19 29    28 23.11

[Pappy13]

Oh and bye the way Cleveland is for real.  I fear them a lot more than I fear Chicago this week.

[Dave Gray]

By Dave's logic. All the teams are frauds. 

Which logic is that?  With Pitt, I see a team that should've lost their last 5 games in a row, yet are considered among the league's elite (and #1 by our collective ranking).

I think that a fraud is not necessarily a bad team, but one that has tricked others into thinking that they're considerably better than they are.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

I hate the SOS arguement.  You start with the premise that the W-L does not refect the how good the team actually is.  And then you assume that W-L does reflect how good all the other teams are.

Dolphins vs KC.  Both are 5-4.  Why do we say that Dolphins had a harder schedule...well the Dolphins played the Pats week 4 and the KC played the Colts.  And well the Pats are 7-2 and the Colts are only 6-3.  So the Pats game is the harder game.  But wait a second you started by saying W-L is not a good measure of whether to teams are better than each other.  Now you are claiming it means the Pats are better than the Colts.   

  If Miami played Kansas City's schedule they would be 7-2.

[Pappy13]

^^ I'm not basing my SoS on Wins and Losses.  I'm basing it on ESPN's Power Rankings.  Granted that their Power Rankings are based on Wins and Losses to an extent, but these are smart guys too, they're not just simply ranking them in order of Wins and Losses, they are ranking the teams based on what they know FOR THAT WEEK.

That last part I believe is the key.  Teams invariably go thru ups and downs during the course of the year.  ESPN's power rankings reflect that.  A team that looks good in week 1 doesn't necessarily stay there in Week 2 even if they win.  So in general they are not simply looking at a teams win-loss, but rather who they have been playing and how well they have been playing.

SoS may not mean a whole lot, but I do think it's interesting that I told several of my Dallas Cowboys friends that they were in for a tough year because of their schedule this year.  They laughed at me.  I also said that Houston would struggle because of their schedule.  They are 4-5 right now, but their next 5 games are against the Jets, Titans, Eagles, Ravens and Titans again.  It's possible they lose 4 or 5 of those games.  I think it's pretty obvious why St. Louis and Kansas City are having the year they are.

[Pappy13]

Still not convinced?  Well there's a couple more columns of my spreadsheet that I haven't shown up till now that may persuade you a bit.  I also have each teams 2009 strength of schedule rating and the difference between last year's and this year's.  Here's the same information sorted by the difference in strength of schedule from last year to this year.  Note that a negative difference means the schedule this year is tougher than last year's, while a positive difference means the schedule is easier.  Look at the top 5 teams whose schedule got considerably easier this year compared to last year's schedule.

Rams, Bears, Bucs, Chiefs, Raiders.

Now look at a few teams that schedule got considerably tougher this year as oposed to last year, Minnesota and Dallas.

Still think SoS means nothing?

Team                  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10   SoS  2009  Diff
Cleveland Browns     30 23  8 12  5  1  6     1  5 10.11 16.56 -6.45
Minnesota Vikings     2 15 29     4 19 15  3 24 19 14.44 18.75 -4.31
Washington Redskins   4  7 31 14  3  5 12 30     8 12.67 16.81 -4.15
Miami Dolphins       31  6  6 10     8  1 22  2 11 10.78 14.31 -3.53
Buffalo Bills        11  2  9  7 22     4 12 17 27 12.33 15.63 -3.29
Dallas Cowboys       17 22  3    19 20 11 25  8  4 14.33 17.13 -2.79
Cincinnati Bengals   10  3 28 30 23     7 16  3 10 14.44 16.63 -2.18
Indianapolis Colts   14 16 22 26 10 11     8 12 25 16.00 18.06 -2.06
Houston Texans        1 14 17 28 20 10     6 22 20 15.33 17.06 -1.73
Baltimore Ravens      9 17 30  1 21  6 32    15  3 14.89 16.44 -1.55
Pittsburgh Steelers   7  9 21  8    29 16 14 26  6 15.11 16.63 -1.51
New England Patriots 12 11 32 11     2 24 19 26  2 15.44 16.19 -0.74
Atlanta Falcons      18 19  1 25 27 14 20    14  1 15.44 16.19 -0.74
Philadelphia Eagles   3 29 25 21 28  4  8     5 18 15.67 16.38 -0.71
New York Jets         6  4  7 32 15 23    10 27 23 16.33 16.81 -0.48
New Orleans Saints    5 20 10 29 25 16 30  1 31    18.56 19.00 -0.44
Jacksonville Jaguars 22 12 16  3 32 12 13 26    15 16.78 17.00 -0.22
Green Bay Packers    15 30 12 31 16 17 17  2 29    18.78 18.38  0.40
San Diego Chargers   27 24 26 22 29 26  3  7 13    19.67 19.13  0.54
Denver Broncos       25 21  4 13  6  3 28 31    14 16.11 15.44  0.67
Seattle Seahawks     13 25 13 27     7 18 23  7 25 17.56 16.69  0.87
Arizona Cardinals    32 13 27 18  2    23 18 23 24 20.00 18.69  1.31
Tennessee Titans     24 10 19 23 14 18 10 24    17 17.67 16.06  1.60
San Francisco 49ers  26  1 20  5 17 25 31 27    21 19.22 17.56  1.66
Carolina Panthers    19 28 11  2 11    27 20 10 13 15.67 13.88  1.79
Detroit Lions        21 18 18  4 24 15    13  4 32 16.56 14.56  1.99
New York Giants      23  5 15  6  7 28 26    20 30 17.78 14.56  3.22
Oakland Raiders      16 31 24  9 12 30 22 17 11    19.11 15.63  3.49
Kansas City Chiefs    8 32 23     9 13 25 32 16 29 20.78 16.94  3.84
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 29 26  5    18  9 21 21  6 31 18.44 13.44  5.01
Chicago Bears        28  8  2 24 30 27 14    32 22 20.78 15.75  5.03
St. Louis Rams       20 27 14 19 31 21 19 29    28 23.11 15.50  7.61