Winning in the NFL by the numbers.
Here is an interesting chart trying to illustrate the correlation between the overall winning percentages of teams in the past 5 seasons (2007 – 2011) and the number of free agents they sign. The coloured characters represent free agents as a general average in signings. General trend suggests that the more free agents a team signs, the lower the winning percentage. Extremities such as the New England Patriots and New Orleans Saints prove otherwise.
In case you missed them… PatsPropaganda’s Cardinals match-up articles from this week
A little Saturday reading to catch you up on anything you might’ve missed this week here on the Prop, including a great article from the New York Times giving the Pats D some love.
Will Patriots attack the Cardinals like they attack the Steelers?
5 keys for Patriots vs. Cardinals
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pvIcpnxmZo
Anyone feel like a 9-minute Wes Welker highlight video spanning his career from high school to the Pats? It’s Friiiii-day!
Wes Welker Chronology (by 11Prodigy)
(Source: http://www.youtube.com/)
Patriots Notebook: Chandler Jones gaining confidence – CBSSports.com
Patriots Notebook: Chandler Jones gaining confidence – CBSSports.com
As Jones fielded questions Friday, he stood at his locker without a shirt on. Sensing an opportunity to dig into the rookie, Tom Brady shot across the room and let him have it. “Jeez, Chandler. Put a shirt on,” Brady shouted. “Seriously, you’re going to get (strength coach) Harold (Nash) fired.” Brady was clearly joking, but Jones immediately became frantic and asked everyone around him if Brady was talking to him. When he finished taking inquiries, Jones, his tail between his legs, meandered over to Brady to apologize. “Tom, I’m sorry,” Jones said. “I didn’t have a chance to put a shirt on. They rushed me.”
Did we see enough from the Pat’s D to get this excited for the season?
I certainly did. After training camp, preseason and now one regular season game it’s safe to say that Chandler Jones and Dont’a Hightower are legit and will help the Patriots where they needed it most. I’m sure we’ll see some growing pains and moments of inconsistency, but top to bottom this is the best the defense has looked from a talent standpoint since probably 2007. They have experience at the right spots, and physicality at the right spots. I’m excited to see how they improve over the course of the year.
How big of an affect do you think the Ravens/Pats game will have on the AFC playoff picture? Whether the Pats win or lose.
You never want to make too much out of one game, especially in week three, but it would be hard to argue that after week one the Pats and Ravens look like the two best teams in the AFC. The Pats don’t have an exactly killer schedule this year so I wouldn’t say that homefield advantage hangs in the balance but neither team should lose more than four games so there could definitely be some implications down the road.
In simplest terms this game could determine where the rematch is.