Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

I’m guessing Peyton’s Broncos, who won their last 11, will be everyone’s #1. Yes, they lost to the also-13-win Falcons; but of course that was early in the midst of their 2-3 start. Texans start 11-1 this very season, but that walloping at hands of Pats along with the 1-3 finish ought to drop ’em a bit. SF a modest follow-up to their 13-3 mark from a year before, but still looked very much like a contender for the most part. They beat the Pats late at Foxboro but get clobbered at up-and-comer Seattle the following week. Hawks real ’84 Bears/’91 Cowboys-like. A ‘good’ team the year before a lopsided SB-victory. Your two non-playoff winners are the 10-6 Bears and 9-7 defending-Champ, G-men. Steelers and Dallas the two 8-8s.

Okay, time to shuffle-up!

Where does that 10-6 Champ-to-be rank in this, not knowing what actually happens in the playoffs? In regards to a current thread that just started, I guess they can qualify as a ‘reverse’ paper tiger end-of-day.

1. Broncos... 11 game winning streak to close out the year. Can’t not put them 1st.
2. Patriots... Just another 12+ win season in New England. *yawn*
3. Seahawks.... Were ON FIRE to close out the year. 150 points over a span of 3 games. I was overjoyed the Falcons “upset” them in the playoffs. I didn’t want my 49ers to have anything to do with them, even in a home NFCCG at the Stick.
4. 49ers... If only Aldon Smith’s career would have panned out.
5. Falcons... Definitely felt like a “one and done” playoff team. I was sort of shocked they beat the Seahawks.
6. Packers
7. Redskins... Won 7 of last 8. Griffin looked like the real deal.
8. Vikings.... Won last 4 including a “win and in” final game vs. Green Bay. Also an early win vs. the 49ers.
9. Texans... Looked like the Falcons of the AFC. (paper tiger) Wasn’t surprised at all they collapsed in December.
10. Bengals... Won 7 of last 8.
11. Colts... Won 5 of last 6.
12. Ravens... Definitely weird having the champs-to-be this low. Only 10-6, dropped 4 of their last 5, and certainly wasn’t one of the more dominant Ravense defenses they’ve been known for over the years.

ChrisBabcock wrote:If only Aldon Smith’s career would have panned out.

Well, it did flame out...

Such a sad story, all too common in today's NFL.
Next up for our beloved 49ers, Reuben Foster!

1. Broncos
2. 49ers
3. Seahawks
4. Patriots
5. Packers
6. Texans
7. Falcons
8. Ravens
9. Redskins
10. Bengals
11. Colts
12. Vikings

1) Broncos
2) Forty Niners
3a) Seahawks
3b) Patriots
5) Falcons
6) Packers
7) Texans
8) Redskins
9) Vikings
10 - tie) Ravens & Bengals
12) Colts

Denver lost to the three best teams they faced - @Atl, Hou, @NE - but they were all early. Feel safe enough to assume they beat each had those games been later on. Beating both Cincy and Baltimore each on the road and by more than a TD adds enough beef to that 11-0 finish to assure the top-spot with me.

Was going to tie the next four up, leaving Seattle at '2d' due to their newness to the playoffs compared with the others. SF was in the NFCC the year before, bringing it into OT. The Pats were their yearly-contender selves, making it to the SB last year and almost winning it. Falcons post their 4th-straight winning season under Smith, second top-seed in the past three years.

Hawks did beat NE, however, and that 5-0 finish! First they beat 10-6-to-be Bears in OT at Soldier, then 3-straight by a combined 150-30 (42-13 over SF!) and tacking on another 'W' in the finale. I still placed SF at #2. They did beat Seattle the previous game, beat Pats at Foxborough the week before that lopsided rematch to them; I felt they could win in a possible rubberband match. They looked SB-bound to me.

I didn't see Atl as a paper tiger going into playoffs, but Smith still ISO his first playoff win, and that 2010 divisional-round trouncing at hands of GB still being fresh just barely keeps them out of the loop. I wasn't surprised Atl beat Sea in the divisional. I knew Hawks were on the rise and it would simply be a growing pain en route to the title which I felt would likely be theirs the following year. The rally and the way Russell and teammates handled themselves in defeat. As I said before, they wreaked of '84 Bears/'91 Cowboys.

Texans weren't as paper tiger-like to me during that 11-1 start but I knew they weren't elite. The way they stumbled down the stretch, especially that lopsided loss to Pats, and also getting beat handily at GB early on in that very lone loss at the time places the Pack ahead of them. Redskins and Vikings' 7-0 and 4-0 respective finishes keeps them well away from #12.

Cincy finished 7-1 but will still tie Ravens with them. Balt convincingly beating the G-men penultimate week takes just enough edge off that 3-game skid leading up. Their loss to Cincy in the finale (they destroyed Bengals in the opener) shouldn't count because they already had division wrapped.

Colts #12? Yes, 11-5 but with a...minus-30 pt diff!! And in the only game between them that really mattered (finale don't count), Colts lost to stumbling Texans. Bears and Giants (who I feel were better regular-season-wise than the year before when they actually won-it-all) didn't have enough with me to break either one in.

Colts #12? Yes, 11-5 but with a...minus-30 pt diff!!

Yeah... I noticed that too when I was refreshing my memory of this season over at p-f-r! Their offense was very "unColt-like" this year but then again, the new kid under center was still learning the ropes a bit. We'll see if he gets his career back on track after his long injury layoff.

ChrisBabcock wrote:

Colts #12? Yes, 11-5 but with a...minus-30 pt diff!!

Yeah... I noticed that too when I was refreshing my memory of this season over at p-f-r! Their offense was very "unColt-like" this year but then again, the new kid under center was still learning the ropes a bit. We'll see if he gets his career back on track after his long injury layoff.

I hope so! I want to see him do great. Very intelligent; a football-'nerd’ just like the very Legend he replaced. Peyton not playing at all in ’11, and Colts suddenly going from contender to 2-14, is one of the greatest statements of his career; and a nice choice of artillery in the he-vs-Brady debate. But rookie Andrew Luck helping to bring Colts right on back to a double-digit winner, with a new cast of coaches, is quite the opening statement for him.

I actually do remember, at the time, thinking the Colts would win that 1st-Rd affair at Ravens. But it was a case of me not looking more closely at both teams down the stretch. I wasn’t even aware of that -30 until now. And those three straight defeats Balt suffered...(home vs rival Steelers who ended up 8-8 but still quite respectable, @Wash, and vs hot-Denver)...nothing to be ridiculously ashamed of. Beating G-men convincingly scores pts with me, and losing finale...as I already said.