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ShareThisThe NFC West is bad
Pacifist Viking points out (and I'm sure he's not the only one; he's just the one I happened to read) that the Cardinals are 5-0 in the division and 3-5 outside the division.
Only two teams since the merger have had a greater discrepancy between their divisional and non-divisional winning percentage. The 1998 Tennessee Oilers were 7-1 in the division and 1-7 outside the division. The 1998 Cowboys were 8-0 in the division and 2-6 in interdivisional games. Somehow, they managed to lose in the playoffs to a divisional opponent, the Arizona Cardinals.
The Cards obviously play in a weak division. It looks at this point like the weakest division in post-merger NFL history. And look who's second-weakest:
+------------+----------+------+------------------+--------------+ | conference | division | year | Inter_div_record | inter_div_wp | +------------+----------+------+------------------+--------------+ | NFC | West | 2008 | 8-26-0 | 0.235 | | AFC | West | 2008 | 8-24-0 | 0.250 | | NFC | Central | 1984 | 11-28-1 | 0.288 | | NFC | West | 1982 | 7-15-0 | 0.318 | | NFC | West | 1999 | 13-27-0 | 0.325 | | NFC | West | 2004 | 13-27-0 | 0.325 | | NFC | West | 1979 | 13-27-0 | 0.325 | | AFC | Central | 1984 | 13-27-0 | 0.325 | | NFC | North | 2002 | 13-27-0 | 0.325 | | NFC | West | 1976 | 12-25-1 | 0.329 | | NFC | North | 2008 | 11-22-0 | 0.333 | | NFC | West | 1975 | 11-21-0 | 0.344 | | AFC | East | 1989 | 14-26-0 | 0.350 | | NFC | Central | 1979 | 14-26-0 | 0.350 | | AFC | West | 2007 | 14-26-0 | 0.350 | | AFC | Central | 1995 | 14-26-0 | 0.350 | | NFC | Central | 1986 | 14-26-0 | 0.350 | | NFC | West | 2007 | 14-26-0 | 0.350 | | AFC | Central | 1971 | 11-20-1 | 0.359 | | AFC | Central | 1970 | 11-20-1 | 0.359 | +------------+----------+------+------------------+--------------+
Meanwhile, the NFC South has a chance to match the best interdivisional record since the merger:
+------------+----------+------+------------------+--------------+ | conference | division | year | Inter_div_record | inter_div_wp | +------------+----------+------+------------------+--------------+ | AFC | West | 1984 | 31-9-0 | 0.775 | | AFC | Central | 1975 | 24-8-0 | 0.750 | | AFC | South | 2007 | 30-10-0 | 0.750 | | NFC | South | 2008 | 24-9-0 | 0.727 | | AFC | East | 1999 | 29-11-0 | 0.725 | | NFC | East | 2008 | 24-9-1 | 0.721 | | NFC | East | 2007 | 28-12-0 | 0.700 | | AFC | Central | 1976 | 22-10-0 | 0.688 | | NFC | Central | 1970 | 22-10-0 | 0.688 | | NFC | East | 1982 | 13-6-0 | 0.684 | | AFC | West | 1979 | 27-13-0 | 0.675 | | NFC | East | 1991 | 27-13-0 | 0.675 | | AFC | West | 1995 | 26-14-0 | 0.650 | | NFC | West | 1992 | 26-14-0 | 0.650 | | NFC | East | 1981 | 26-14-0 | 0.650 | | AFC | South | 2008 | 22-12-0 | 0.647 | | NFC | South | 2002 | 25-14-1 | 0.638 | | NFC | Central | 1997 | 25-15-0 | 0.625 | | AFC | West | 1985 | 25-15-0 | 0.625 | | AFC | Central | 1988 | 25-15-0 | 0.625 | +------------+----------+------+------------------+--------------+
This entry was posted on Saturday, December 13th, 2008 at 8:54 am and is filed under General, History. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
The Bills accounted for 2 of the division's 8 wins
The Jets beat the Titans, but went 1-3 against the AFC West only because they beat the Chiefs in the final minute.
What happens when you adjust for strength of schedule (like you did here with the SRS)? The weak NFC West played the tough NFC East, which helps pad the one division's losses and the other's wins, and the same with the AFC West & the NFC South. (The AFC East, which gets both the NFC West & AFC West, nearly makes the "best" list at 21-13, despite being nothing special.)
And now, the NFC West is 8-28 in inter-division games and the AFC West is 8-26.
Can someone give me a link to the contest we did at the beginning of the season? I want to see how I'm doing.
Update:
After week 16, the NFC West has clinched one of the two all-time worst spots at 9-29. At 10-28, the AFC West can finish anywhere from first to third, so there's plenty at stake the final week.
Meanwhile, root for SD to beat Denver and Seattle over Arizona next week, so both these divisions can send 8-8 teams to the playoffs.
A rough week 16 (NYG over Carolina, SD over Tampa) dropped the AFC South to 27-11 and nothing better than a shot at a tie for fifth best all-time.
I was just thinking that there might be a dynamic where a bad conference appears worse than it fundamentally is. The current NFC West was locked up by Arizona a few weeks ago mostly because the other 3 teams were so bad. Now the Cardinals have nothing to play for and haven't won in a while. With no second place team trying to keep pace, none of the other teams have anything to play for either. I doubt it makes too much of a difference--maybe a game or two for a division.