Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 10:53 pm Posts: 20537 Location: The City Of Trees
#2: Indianapolis Colts Record: 115-45 (.719) (1st) Playoff Appearances: 9 (1st) Playoff Wins: 9 (4th) Super Bowl Appearances: 2 Super Bowl Wins: 1 Consistency Rank: 3rd
Consistent NFL success has resided in both the Hoosier Dome and Lucas Oil Field. The Broncos and Eagles may edge the Colts in the consistency ranking, but no team has a better regular season record, and no team has qualified for the playoffs more frequently. What turned the Colts from a perennial laughingstock to the powerhouse they are today? There are some debatable ancillary answers (Jim Irsay, Tony Dungy, Bill Polian), but the one defining factor is the only quarterback to have started every game in the decade for the same team. Peyton Manning has a sure ticket to Canton, and he will receive serious debate for years as quite possibly the greatest quarterback to ever play the game.
There is still one imperfection that keeps the Colts from the ultimate position. Like the Eagles, the team has earned a reputation of choking when it counts the most. Painful playoff losses have dotted this franchise (the infamous 41-0 Jets game, back to back losses to both the Patriots and Chargers, and most recently feeling the wrath of Tracy Porter). Though Manning does have one Super Bowl win, comparisons to Dan Marino in both the positives and negatives may never go away.
Still, as long as Manning is in charge there’s no reason why the Colts won’t stay competitive. Though Brett Favre may be forever ingrained as the guy who just wouldn’t quit, Manning is an iron man in his own right, and he will certainly threaten the records of Favre and other greats before him.
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 10:53 pm Posts: 20537 Location: The City Of Trees
#1: New England Patriots Record: 112-48 (.700) (2nd) Playoff Appearances: 7 (4th) Playoff Wins: 14 (1st) Super Bowl Appearances: 4 Super Bowl Wins: 3 Consistency Rank: 11th
There simply isn’t any other answer for numero uno than the dynasty that Bill Belichick built. When the Patriots won their first Super Bowl with a heavy upset over the Rams led by a little known quarterback from Michigan, even then few considered what they were seeing was just the beginning—a gold standard in both playoff wins and Super Bowl wins.
A 2-2 start in 2003 led to 21 straight wins and two more Lombardi trophies, and while Tom Brady was a certified elite player at that time, he won those games with unheralded weapons at his side. The defense also had plenty of bona fide stars hanging around, particularly with the fierce front of Richard Seymour, Vince Wilfork, and Ty Warren, as well as reliable backers in Mike Vrabel and Tedy Bruschi.
Things haven’t been perfect for the Patriots in the second half of the decade. The Broncos always found a way to get in their way, they lost their dominance over the Colts at the worst possible time in 2006, and Brady was lost for all of 2008 with a serious knee injury. Still, could anything else hurt as much as saying “David Tyree” or “18-1”? There may be a bit of transition going into the next decade, with key parts from the past traded away, but as long as Belichick is around, the road to the Super Bowl should still have Foxboro on its itinerary somewhere.
The colors I thought were a pretty good demarcation of the five tiers of teams that there were in the decade: --Green: the truly elite. Always winning and winning the lion's share of playoff games and Super Bowls. --Light Green: the solid teams. Consistent winners with few bad seasons, even if there's a general lack of Super Bowls in the group. --Yellow: the mediocre. Teams that either had only one or two outstanding years or teams that hovered around 8-8 most of the time. --Orange: the below average. Might have had a rare year or two of decency, but the norm was disappointment. --Red: the horrible teams. Simply had little, if anything, to cheer about over the past ten years.
Although there's no way I'm going to write up any more synopses, I want to put my same factors on other decades, and see what the rankings might look like. Keep an eye out for those spreadsheets some time soon.
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 10:53 pm Posts: 20537 Location: The City Of Trees
So I just compiled the numbers for the 1990s, and I found/rediscovered some interesting things from that decade: --Every team but the Ravens (only four seasons) made the playoffs once, and only four teams failed to win a playoff game. --No wonder my dad hated the Cowboys' guts so much. The 49ers were fucking dominant and they got only one Super Bowl out of it. --The Lions were only one win away from .500, and they made the playoffs six times. Seriously. What a shame they couldn't get Barry enough help. --There's no serious question as to who was the worst team. Man, Paul Brown's idiot son just ruined a franchise. --The Rams should thank their lucky stars that they won the Super Bowl in 1999, because otherwise they could have challenged Paul Brown's idiot son for futility. I have no idea how I'm going to rank them. --The Pats and Colts are real enigmas as well. They had some truly awful years but also a couple flashes of glory.
What I find the most interesting, however, was who came out in the top of the consistency rankings. #4 was the Bills, the team that has become the walking cliche for mastering the choke job. However, give them credit, at least they made it to Super Bowls. Shit, goddamn, Dolphins (#1), Chiefs (#2), and Vikings (#7)!! All three of you should be embarrassed at yourselves. The Dolphins never had a losing season, the Chiefs won over 100 games, the Vikings had the only 15-1 season, and they all promptly folded like lawn chairs in the playoffs. I can vividly remember some of the choke jobs (especially January 4, 1998 ), but I didn't remember how chronically bad it was.
If anyone ever wonders why I'm always convinced that my team (no matter how great, IE, Gators of the last couple years) is going to lose, here you go. They really did a number on me, setting me up to miserable watching a game that I love.
_________________ "Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires." -- John Steinbeck
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 10:53 pm Posts: 20537 Location: The City Of Trees
aprilfifth wrote:
Green Habit wrote:
Shit, goddamn, Dolphins (#1)
If anyone ever wonders why I'm always convinced that my team (no matter how great, IE, Gators of the last couple years) is going to lose, here you go. They really did a number on me, setting me up to miserable watching a game that I love.
I'm not sure why you mention the Gators here. Two national championships in both of the major college sports in the past five years is very impressive.
If anyone ever wonders why I'm always convinced that my team (no matter how great, IE, Gators of the last couple years) is going to lose, here you go. They really did a number on me, setting me up to miserable watching a game that I love.
I'm not sure why you mention the Gators here. Two national championships in both of the major college sports in the past five years is very impressive.
No, I meant that being a Dolphins fan has ruined me, in that even when my team is great (like the Gators have been for the last 4 years) I'm still convinced we're going to lose pretty much whenever a game is at all possibly loseable. Even if we ultimately win a game we should win I'm in a state of relief afterwards from them (whichever team it might be) not losing a game they should win, rather than being like "yeah, there was no doubt we'd win that one." In short, I'm always uber pessimistic with my teams, and I can thank the 90's Dolphins for that.
_________________ "Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires." -- John Steinbeck
Joined: Fri Oct 22, 2004 12:47 pm Posts: 9282 Location: Atlanta Gender: Male
aprilfifth wrote:
Green Habit wrote:
aprilfifth wrote:
Green Habit wrote:
Shit, goddamn, Dolphins (#1)
If anyone ever wonders why I'm always convinced that my team (no matter how great, IE, Gators of the last couple years) is going to lose, here you go. They really did a number on me, setting me up to miserable watching a game that I love.
I'm not sure why you mention the Gators here. Two national championships in both of the major college sports in the past five years is very impressive.
No, I meant that being a Dolphins fan has ruined me, in that even when my team is great (like the Gators have been for the last 4 years) I'm still convinced we're going to lose pretty much whenever a game is at all possibly loseable. Even if we ultimately win a game we should win I'm in a state of relief afterwards from them (whichever team it might be) not losing a game they should win, rather than being like "yeah, there was no doubt we'd win that one." In short, I'm always uber pessimistic with my teams, and I can thank the 90's Dolphins for that.
So what you're saying is.... around Halloween every year...you're pretty confident The Gators are coming home from Jacksonville with a win?
_________________ "Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires." -- John Steinbeck
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 1:14 am Posts: 37778 Location: OmaGOD!!! Gender: Male
Nick, looking at your spreadsheet, why did you rank the Giants above the Ravens? The Ravens had a better record by 4 games, 2 more playoff wins, and the Giants only had one additional SB appearance to their credit.
_________________ Unfortunately, at the Dawning of the Age of Aquarius, the Flower Children jerked off and went back to sleep.
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 10:53 pm Posts: 20537 Location: The City Of Trees
punkdavid wrote:
Nick, looking at your spreadsheet, why did you rank the Giants above the Ravens? The Ravens had a better record by 4 games, 2 more playoff wins, and the Giants only had one additional SB appearance to their credit.
I think I remember agonizing over the two, and giving the Giants the edge for that extra SB appearance.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 12:35 am Posts: 5981 Location: Bel-Air Gender: Male
Green Habit wrote:
#2: Indianapolis Colts Record: 115-45 (.719) (1st) Playoff Appearances: 9 (1st) Playoff Wins: 9 (4th) Super Bowl Appearances: 2 Super Bowl Wins: 1 Consistency Rank: 3rd
Consistent NFL success has resided in both the Hoosier Dome and Lucas Oil Field. The Broncos and Eagles may edge the Colts in the consistency ranking, but no team has a better regular season record, and no team has qualified for the playoffs more frequently. What turned the Colts from a perennial laughingstock to the powerhouse they are today? There are some debatable ancillary answers (Jim Irsay, Tony Dungy, Bill Polian), but the one defining factor is the only quarterback to have started every game in the decade for the same team. Peyton Manning has a sure ticket to Canton, and he will receive serious debate for years as quite possibly the greatest quarterback to ever play the game.
There is still one imperfection that keeps the Colts from the ultimate position. Like the Eagles, the team has earned a reputation of choking when it counts the most. Painful playoff losses have dotted this franchise (the infamous 41-0 Jets game, back to back losses to both the Patriots and Chargers, and most recently feeling the wrath of Tracy Porter). Though Manning does have one Super Bowl win, comparisons to Dan Marino in both the positives and negatives may never go away.
Still, as long as Manning is in charge there’s no reason why the Colts won’t stay competitive. Though Brett Favre may be forever ingrained as the guy who just wouldn’t quit, Manning is an iron man in his own right, and he will certainly threaten the records of Favre and other greats before him.
The Colts only had 1 Super Bowl appearance in the last decade.
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