Post by Deleted on Sept 28, 2017 7:55:35 GMT
OK, folks, we finished week 4. I updated this thread as the games happened. Each week will add more clarity on which teams are winners, losers, or remain listed as "more evidence is needed." The original post was the one being updated, and each time I did it, I posted a reminder that new updates were in. Feel free to comment with agreement/disagreement, predictions, etc.
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Week 4
Losers:
Bears - looked miserable again - what was that??? What a horrible performance against the Packers, with all the turnovers! Almost beat Atlanta, beat the Steelers, looked like they'd be winners, but then they spoiled the whole thing in weeks 3 and 4 and they look like they are going nowhere.
Dolphins - they won the first game by a hair, almost lost. Then they got clobbered by... brace for it... the Jets!!! Then they laid another egg in London.
Ravens - Flacco has back injury problems, the offense is anemic, they got clobbered by the Jaguars in London, and lost badly in week 4 too. Things don't look good for them.
Titans - After being obliterated today and giving away 57 points, and on top of it, losing Mariota... well, sorry Titans, you had been good but now you're losers.
Jaguars - Wait a moment, they were among the winners last week thanks to doing everything right and putting dozens and dozens of points on the scoreboard against the Ravens, and they played well in week 1. But they lost badly against the same Titans who got obliterated today, and then... they lost to the Jets! This warrants a leap from winners to losers. You know, I'm funny this way: I consider anybody losing to the Jets to be losers. Hehe.
Jets - What to do with the Jets? They actually boast the same 2-2 record of New England!!! But they are still the Jets. I'll need very solid evidence to ever move them away from the losers' list. Sorry, Jets.
Browns - Losers. Enough said.
Bengals - Sorry, Bengals, but beating the Browns won't take you out of the losers list, yet.
Giants - How do you spell 0-4 losers? G-I-A-N-T-S.
Chargers - What's an alternative way to spell 0-4 losers? C-H-A-R-G-E-R-S.
49ers - A game with no TDs against the lowly Cardinals going to OT, regardless of which one of these two losers finally prevails, keeps them listed here.
Cardinals - A game with no TDs against the lowly 49ers going to OT, regardless of which one of these two losers finally prevails, keeps them listed here.
Colts - Continue to suck without Luck (pun intended), and when Luck comes back he'll be rusty and it will be too little too late.
Seahawks - Beating the putrid Colts is not enough to erase their previous 1-2 record. Sure, they got to 2-2 but still look worse than the Rams so they'll have to beat the Rams to move out of the losers list.
Patriots - Last week the Patriots moved from more evidence to winners due to having the GOAT who orchestrated a phenomenal comeback to win the week 3 game. Now they come back to "losers" because even having the GOAT wasn't sufficient; their defense performed poorly and they still lost to a team that hadn't been great. It's controversial if they should be moved to losers, because, see, Carolina actually played very well. If one hadn't seen Carolina's first three games and just watched today's game, nobody would call the Pats losers for losing in a hard-fought battle to a team that played so well. Maybe the Panthers are simply better than expected, if their QB starts to come back to form after his shoulder surgery. So I initially placed the Pats on the more evidence list after week 4, but then... looking again at their stats, they don't only have the league's current worst defense but if this continues they will actually qualify as the worst defense since the NFL merger. You can't avoid being called a loser when you are giving away 456.8 yards per game. They can always go back to the other lists if they turn this around but for now they deserve the losers list.
Winners:
Packers - with another good win, they moved from more evidence to winners
Steelers - while they haven't been exactly convincing, 3-1 is not bad and moves them back to winners, after a week spent on "more evidence is needed" after last week's loss to the Bears
Panthers - Certainly a win in NE is impressive, and their offense is clicking again. They played very well. But the fact that the lost so badly last week to the Saints raised lots of questions, especially because their first two wins were against sputtering teams. But then if you look at it more closely, week 4 did provide some evidence that they are better than they seemed in the first three weeks. See, the Bills, one of their sort of ugly victories, actually managed to beat the undefeated Falcons so it values a bit more Carolina's victory against the same Bills. And the Saints had a shutout today so that minimizes the fiasco of losing to them in week 3 (although the shutout was against the hapless Dolphins). Finally, the Panthers now are tied with the Falcons at 3-1 for the NFC South lead. But anyway, what decided me to move the Panthers to winners was the fact that they did play very well today, so, they earn the list by a hair, but one will want to see if they'll be able to hang on there.
Lions - Had not lost the winners list last week due to previous good games and a nail-bitter against the Falcons, and this week they won again so it's a no brainer, they remain winners.
Rams - This is a tough one to rank. Left a good impression in week 1, squandered it in week 2, beat by a hair the hapless 49ers in week 3 allowing 39 points by a team that hadn't scored a single TD in weeks 1 and 2 - all three games against weak teams, but then beat the Cowboys, and they've scored lots of points adding all four games, so they are 3-1 in a very weak division (neither the Seahawks nor the Cardinals look impressive) therefore their prospects are improving and now they get moved from more evidence to winners.
Eagles - They had already been moved to the winners list after some trepidation, but today they won again so their case became even more solid.
Broncos - They get moved from more evidence to winners, this week. After a tremendous game against the Cowboys they looked unimpressive against the Bills, which warrante more observation, but then they followed through with a good win against the good Raiders, which beefs up their case.
Falcons - It's hard to stay undefeated and all teams are allowed a bad day so I'm not ready to move the Falcons out of the winners list yet just because of one loss. They're still 3-1.
Bills - they do look much improved now, after a good week 1 win, a good defensive effort against the Panthers even if they lost, and a win against the Broncos, followed by a win against the undefeated Falcons. Some caution, though: we've seen this film before; the Bills do have a history of strong starts and weak second halves of the seasons.
Chiefs - nothing spells winners better than 4-0
Redskins - They disappointed in week 1 but then it turned out that it was to the Eagles who later proved to be very good, then they had impressive wins in weeks 2 and 3. They took it to the wire at Kansas City and still lost but it's no shame to lose to the best team in the league so far, while giving them a scare.
More evidence is needed:
Saints - after two disastrous performances in weeks 1 and 2 with bad defense and their vaunted power offense issuing duds, they did beat two other bad teams, the Panthers and the Dolphins. So in spite of having improved from 0-2 to 2-2, it's not convincing yet that they aren't losers (one wants to see more games against good teams), not to forget that they play in a division with two better teams, the Falcons and the Bucs, so it's hard to predict a lot of success for them. Still, they have Brees and they did win two in a row, so, we'll need to keep monitoring them (this said, I suspect that ultimately they'll be losers).
Texans - They came out of a good week 3 effort in Foxboro and clobbered the Titans. Their first two games, though, didn't inspire confidence and a 2-2 record is still tentative, so this is an easy call, placing them on the more evidence list.
Vikings - Looked good last week with a back-up QB but then just one week later scored only 7 points. At 2-2, where this team is going is still a mystery.
Cowboys - One great game in week 1, one terrible game in week 2, a win against the toothless Cardinals in week 3, a loss in week 4. 2-2, still not a disaster since apparently today Dak and Zeke played better for most of the game, and the Rams to whom they lost are actually seeming better than expected. I'll still keep them as more evidence but they are squandering it rapidly. If they don't improve decisively in week 5 it will be time to move them to losers.
Bucs - When you need a last second field goal to beat at home the horrible New York Football Midgets, I mean, Giants, questions remain about your viability, so at 2-1, we still need more evidence to place the Bucs.
Raiders - At 2-2 and after a good start, they fizzled, although losing at Mile High is no shame. Regardless, we need more evidence.
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Week 4
Losers:
Bears - looked miserable again - what was that??? What a horrible performance against the Packers, with all the turnovers! Almost beat Atlanta, beat the Steelers, looked like they'd be winners, but then they spoiled the whole thing in weeks 3 and 4 and they look like they are going nowhere.
Dolphins - they won the first game by a hair, almost lost. Then they got clobbered by... brace for it... the Jets!!! Then they laid another egg in London.
Ravens - Flacco has back injury problems, the offense is anemic, they got clobbered by the Jaguars in London, and lost badly in week 4 too. Things don't look good for them.
Titans - After being obliterated today and giving away 57 points, and on top of it, losing Mariota... well, sorry Titans, you had been good but now you're losers.
Jaguars - Wait a moment, they were among the winners last week thanks to doing everything right and putting dozens and dozens of points on the scoreboard against the Ravens, and they played well in week 1. But they lost badly against the same Titans who got obliterated today, and then... they lost to the Jets! This warrants a leap from winners to losers. You know, I'm funny this way: I consider anybody losing to the Jets to be losers. Hehe.
Jets - What to do with the Jets? They actually boast the same 2-2 record of New England!!! But they are still the Jets. I'll need very solid evidence to ever move them away from the losers' list. Sorry, Jets.
Browns - Losers. Enough said.
Bengals - Sorry, Bengals, but beating the Browns won't take you out of the losers list, yet.
Giants - How do you spell 0-4 losers? G-I-A-N-T-S.
Chargers - What's an alternative way to spell 0-4 losers? C-H-A-R-G-E-R-S.
49ers - A game with no TDs against the lowly Cardinals going to OT, regardless of which one of these two losers finally prevails, keeps them listed here.
Cardinals - A game with no TDs against the lowly 49ers going to OT, regardless of which one of these two losers finally prevails, keeps them listed here.
Colts - Continue to suck without Luck (pun intended), and when Luck comes back he'll be rusty and it will be too little too late.
Seahawks - Beating the putrid Colts is not enough to erase their previous 1-2 record. Sure, they got to 2-2 but still look worse than the Rams so they'll have to beat the Rams to move out of the losers list.
Patriots - Last week the Patriots moved from more evidence to winners due to having the GOAT who orchestrated a phenomenal comeback to win the week 3 game. Now they come back to "losers" because even having the GOAT wasn't sufficient; their defense performed poorly and they still lost to a team that hadn't been great. It's controversial if they should be moved to losers, because, see, Carolina actually played very well. If one hadn't seen Carolina's first three games and just watched today's game, nobody would call the Pats losers for losing in a hard-fought battle to a team that played so well. Maybe the Panthers are simply better than expected, if their QB starts to come back to form after his shoulder surgery. So I initially placed the Pats on the more evidence list after week 4, but then... looking again at their stats, they don't only have the league's current worst defense but if this continues they will actually qualify as the worst defense since the NFL merger. You can't avoid being called a loser when you are giving away 456.8 yards per game. They can always go back to the other lists if they turn this around but for now they deserve the losers list.
Winners:
Packers - with another good win, they moved from more evidence to winners
Steelers - while they haven't been exactly convincing, 3-1 is not bad and moves them back to winners, after a week spent on "more evidence is needed" after last week's loss to the Bears
Panthers - Certainly a win in NE is impressive, and their offense is clicking again. They played very well. But the fact that the lost so badly last week to the Saints raised lots of questions, especially because their first two wins were against sputtering teams. But then if you look at it more closely, week 4 did provide some evidence that they are better than they seemed in the first three weeks. See, the Bills, one of their sort of ugly victories, actually managed to beat the undefeated Falcons so it values a bit more Carolina's victory against the same Bills. And the Saints had a shutout today so that minimizes the fiasco of losing to them in week 3 (although the shutout was against the hapless Dolphins). Finally, the Panthers now are tied with the Falcons at 3-1 for the NFC South lead. But anyway, what decided me to move the Panthers to winners was the fact that they did play very well today, so, they earn the list by a hair, but one will want to see if they'll be able to hang on there.
Lions - Had not lost the winners list last week due to previous good games and a nail-bitter against the Falcons, and this week they won again so it's a no brainer, they remain winners.
Rams - This is a tough one to rank. Left a good impression in week 1, squandered it in week 2, beat by a hair the hapless 49ers in week 3 allowing 39 points by a team that hadn't scored a single TD in weeks 1 and 2 - all three games against weak teams, but then beat the Cowboys, and they've scored lots of points adding all four games, so they are 3-1 in a very weak division (neither the Seahawks nor the Cardinals look impressive) therefore their prospects are improving and now they get moved from more evidence to winners.
Eagles - They had already been moved to the winners list after some trepidation, but today they won again so their case became even more solid.
Broncos - They get moved from more evidence to winners, this week. After a tremendous game against the Cowboys they looked unimpressive against the Bills, which warrante more observation, but then they followed through with a good win against the good Raiders, which beefs up their case.
Falcons - It's hard to stay undefeated and all teams are allowed a bad day so I'm not ready to move the Falcons out of the winners list yet just because of one loss. They're still 3-1.
Bills - they do look much improved now, after a good week 1 win, a good defensive effort against the Panthers even if they lost, and a win against the Broncos, followed by a win against the undefeated Falcons. Some caution, though: we've seen this film before; the Bills do have a history of strong starts and weak second halves of the seasons.
Chiefs - nothing spells winners better than 4-0
Redskins - They disappointed in week 1 but then it turned out that it was to the Eagles who later proved to be very good, then they had impressive wins in weeks 2 and 3. They took it to the wire at Kansas City and still lost but it's no shame to lose to the best team in the league so far, while giving them a scare.
More evidence is needed:
Saints - after two disastrous performances in weeks 1 and 2 with bad defense and their vaunted power offense issuing duds, they did beat two other bad teams, the Panthers and the Dolphins. So in spite of having improved from 0-2 to 2-2, it's not convincing yet that they aren't losers (one wants to see more games against good teams), not to forget that they play in a division with two better teams, the Falcons and the Bucs, so it's hard to predict a lot of success for them. Still, they have Brees and they did win two in a row, so, we'll need to keep monitoring them (this said, I suspect that ultimately they'll be losers).
Texans - They came out of a good week 3 effort in Foxboro and clobbered the Titans. Their first two games, though, didn't inspire confidence and a 2-2 record is still tentative, so this is an easy call, placing them on the more evidence list.
Vikings - Looked good last week with a back-up QB but then just one week later scored only 7 points. At 2-2, where this team is going is still a mystery.
Cowboys - One great game in week 1, one terrible game in week 2, a win against the toothless Cardinals in week 3, a loss in week 4. 2-2, still not a disaster since apparently today Dak and Zeke played better for most of the game, and the Rams to whom they lost are actually seeming better than expected. I'll still keep them as more evidence but they are squandering it rapidly. If they don't improve decisively in week 5 it will be time to move them to losers.
Bucs - When you need a last second field goal to beat at home the horrible New York Football Midgets, I mean, Giants, questions remain about your viability, so at 2-1, we still need more evidence to place the Bucs.
Raiders - At 2-2 and after a good start, they fizzled, although losing at Mile High is no shame. Regardless, we need more evidence.
