Post by movieliker on Dec 15, 2020 19:29:33 GMT
Allow me to step in. I already broke this down last year, remember?
Here we go. The link one more time, but I'm going to go deeper. People are suggesting the Patriots have it easy because of their weak division. I have not argued their division was great, I've pointed out that they beat every other division on the league at the same rate they beat their own division. What that really means folks, is that the Patriots lose to their division foes at the same rate they lose to everyone else. The division does them no favors. They play 6 division games and 10 non division games, yet still manage to lose to their divisional foes at the same rate. Nobody is arguing that the AFC East is a dogfight for supremacy; but the Patriots don't gain any advantage playing here.
In 2003, the Patriots went 14-2. One of those losses was to divisional opponent Buffalo. In 2004, the Patriots again went 14-2. One of those losses was to divisional opponent Miami. In 2006 they went 12-4, and still lost to the Jets and Dolphins. In 2008 11-5 and they again lost to both NYJ and Miami. 2009, 10-6 with 2 division losses. 2010 14-2 with one loss to the Jets and guess who knocked them out of the playoffs, in Gillette Stadium: The fucking Jets. I'll keep going. 2011 they went 13-3 with a loss to Buffalo. 2013 12-4, losing again to the Jets and Dolphins. 2014 12-4, losing to Miami and Buffalo. 2015 12-4, losing again to the Jets and Dolphins. 2016 14-2 with a loss to Buffalo. That's eight times where half of their season's losses came to divisional foes, two seasons where 1/3 of their losses was to a division foe, and one season was 2 out of 5. 2017 13-3 with a loss to the Dolphins. 2018 11-5 with a loss to the Dolphins. Wow, the Patriots sure have whooped up on that weak division of theirs over the years, just feasting on them and "gaining confidence." In fact since 2003, the only times they've swept their division were 2012, and of course 2007 when they beat everyone on their schedule until the Super Bowl (lol, it's still funny!).
One more thing I found. This is a great resource. I looked at the Pats record against every team in the NFL during the Brady era, and not only did it confirm what the overall numbers already tell us (that the Pats win against every division at the same rate they win in their own); it also showed me every division seems to have one team that the Pats have difficulty with. Much like Miami in their own division. Baltimore in the AFC North, Carolina in the NFC South, Seattle in the NFC West, Denver in the AFC West. (Sorry sdm3 , the Pats troubles in Denver pre-date Manning's arrival. In fact, the Patriots actually had a winning record against Manning's Broncos-- but he won the two most important ones, so it isn't all bad news for you.) Again, like Miami for whatever reason, there are random teams throughout the NFL that seem to trouble the Pats. But divisionally speaking, the Patriots do just as well wherever they go. If only the haters could hand pick random teams to put them in the Patriots division so it would be more fair.
In 2003, the Patriots went 14-2. One of those losses was to divisional opponent Buffalo. In 2004, the Patriots again went 14-2. One of those losses was to divisional opponent Miami. In 2006 they went 12-4, and still lost to the Jets and Dolphins. In 2008 11-5 and they again lost to both NYJ and Miami. 2009, 10-6 with 2 division losses. 2010 14-2 with one loss to the Jets and guess who knocked them out of the playoffs, in Gillette Stadium: The fucking Jets. I'll keep going. 2011 they went 13-3 with a loss to Buffalo. 2013 12-4, losing again to the Jets and Dolphins. 2014 12-4, losing to Miami and Buffalo. 2015 12-4, losing again to the Jets and Dolphins. 2016 14-2 with a loss to Buffalo. That's eight times where half of their season's losses came to divisional foes, two seasons where 1/3 of their losses was to a division foe, and one season was 2 out of 5. 2017 13-3 with a loss to the Dolphins. 2018 11-5 with a loss to the Dolphins. Wow, the Patriots sure have whooped up on that weak division of theirs over the years, just feasting on them and "gaining confidence." In fact since 2003, the only times they've swept their division were 2012, and of course 2007 when they beat everyone on their schedule until the Super Bowl (lol, it's still funny!).
One more thing I found. This is a great resource. I looked at the Pats record against every team in the NFL during the Brady era, and not only did it confirm what the overall numbers already tell us (that the Pats win against every division at the same rate they win in their own); it also showed me every division seems to have one team that the Pats have difficulty with. Much like Miami in their own division. Baltimore in the AFC North, Carolina in the NFC South, Seattle in the NFC West, Denver in the AFC West. (Sorry sdm3 , the Pats troubles in Denver pre-date Manning's arrival. In fact, the Patriots actually had a winning record against Manning's Broncos-- but he won the two most important ones, so it isn't all bad news for you.) Again, like Miami for whatever reason, there are random teams throughout the NFL that seem to trouble the Pats. But divisionally speaking, the Patriots do just as well wherever they go. If only the haters could hand pick random teams to put them in the Patriots division so it would be more fair.
In 2018-19 the Patriots were the only team in the AFC East that had a winning record.