Who Wins A Playoff Game First?

[Brownshoe]

(08-18-2015, 10:08 AM)djs7685 Wrote: There's a lot going on here. So let's start from Brownshoe's flawed logic. I couldn't care less about multiple Super Bowls since what the Steelers did 7 years ago has ZERO bearing on how good they are in 2015. Hell, even the Ravens have a vastly different team today than what they won the 2012 SB with. If anything, the multiple SBs hurts your argument because the Seahawks have been there twice in as many years with relatively the same exact team that they're taking into 2015. So, let's just throw out past Super Bowls in general becuase they have nothing to do with 2015, nor does the "more playoff teams than anyone else" over your cherry picked X amount of years that you didn't even mention. You just said "in recent years", uhh...okay? What does that have to do with right now? 2 years ago we only had 1 playoff team and the rest of the division didn't look so great. Last year we beat up the 2 weakest divisions in the entire NFL, if we didn't send 3 teams to the playoffs I'd be concerned. Isn't that more recent to talk about than SB wins 3 and 7 years ago?

So, let's just go with talking about 2014 and 2015, since we can use what happened in 2014 and then this offseason to project a bit.

If you're into DVOA and such, feel free to check out this chart... http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/teameff

Strength of Schedule 2014 (not using 2013 stats, but the actual 2014 statistics)
SEA - 13
SF - 8
ARI - 2

STL - 9

PIT - 29
BAL - 30
CIN - 15
CLE - 25

Every single team in the NFCW had a tougher schedule than any AFCN team in 2014. No wonder we sent 3 teams to the playoffs, not everybody gets to beat up on the historically terrible NFCS and the garbage can AFCS. Saying we're automatically better because we sent more teams to the playoffs is absolutely flawed.

I feel like you guys (and most others here) follow closely to what the Bengals do and not many other teams. Sometimes people seem to follow our division, but not much else past that, IF that.

We could get into more in depth if you'd like, but I promise that the Rams and Cardinals lost less and gained more this past offseason than either of the Ravens or Steelers. Just have an open mind and actually look at the players and coaches lost/gained on those 4 teams and then we can talk some more.

I do think the AFCN is good, but we got to beat up some awfully shitty teams last year, and the year before that the Bengals were the only team that looked good and went to the playoffs. There's nothing in recent memory that makes me believe we're in a "tougher" division than the NFCW unless we want to go back 3-4 years which has very little to do with the present. The Rams have probably had the best offseason out of any team in either division, the Bengals and Cardinals both remained about the same while sprinkling in small moves, the 49ers had a BAD offseason, the Browns are still going to be the Browns (no QB, questionable and poor coaching), and the Steelers lost quite a haul on defense and the Ravens have some question marks in key places (though I believe they'll be fine). The Seahawks are easily the best team in either division right now. I don't know how anybody can say that the AFCN is absolutely better than the NFCW without question. It's definitely homeristic.

The Cardinals lost their best defensive player, and they lost their DC. Who did they pick up? Gresham? LOL. Carson Palmer is coming off a bad injury last year, and their receiving core is getting weaker. Fitzgerald has been losing a step the last few years, they don't have that great of a run game, and their offensive line isn't good at all. With the loss of Todd Bowles, and Darnell Dockett they Cardinals defense will be a lot worse than what they were last year.

The Rams have got better from last year, but really it's not hard to improve off of a 6-10 record. They upgraded their QB, and they drafted a rookie RB that is coming off of a major injury. The Rams don't have any legit receiver on the team, and they have a HORRIBLE OL. Their defense is getting a little better, but they didn't have that great of a defense last year.

The 49ers are a train wreck. The Browns probably have a better team than them this year. Pretty much all their starters on defense retired or left. They lost their HC who BTW is the biggest reason why they even stopped sucking in the first place. They lost their #1 receiver, and Kaepernick isn't a very good QB anyways.

The Seahawks is losing depth in their secondary, but still have one of the best. They will have an even worse OL this year, and will probably be the worst OL in the league next year. Them losing their OL will affect their whole offense, because their offense is based around the run game. Jimmy Graham will help their passing game, but it's not even going to be close to make up the difference in losing a few key pieces in their OL. Lynch is a beast, and will probably still be very good next year. You just have to remember that he's getting up there in age, and he's not going to have any help with his OL this year.

The Steelers are going to have one of the best offenses in the game. Big Ben is an elite QB, Brown is an elite WR, and Bell is an elite RB. The Steelers OL has improved a lot over the last few years. In fact they have a good OL now. The Steelers also have a good TE, and #2 receiver. The biggest downfall with the Steelers is their defense. They will have one of the worst defenses in the league. The Steelers will still be a very good team just because they will have an insane offense.

The Ravens are going to be a good team next year too. They have a great OL, and they have a good RB. They have a solid WR in Smith sr, and Breshad Perriman has the ability to have a big impact on their team. They also have a good TE in Pitta. Their defense ranked in the top 10 last year, and they probably will again next season. Ngata was a big blow to their defense, but getting Jimmy Smith back from injury will help their secondary (what was lacking last year). They still have beasts on their team like Suggs, and Dumervil.

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/08/nfl-most-wins-per-division-afc-north-nfc-east-best-divisions-in-football-most-playoff-appearances

That shows the past 10 years the AFC north has been the best division. If you want to cut it down to the last 5 years then the AFCN still has had 11 playoff teams (the most out of any division), and two teams that went to the SB (one of which won one).