Is the AFC South really the worst division in the league?

I think they beat NE with Brady, Garapallo and Gronk out. At Denver and Minnesota are tough....but I doubt they get HAMMERED by both like we did.

 

That's a very good point, the Cowboys have had an absolute cakewalk of a schedule thus far and the Texans have had it pretty tough all things considered. A healthy Texans team rolls right over that Cowboys schedule. Anyway you know how it is, death, taxes, the Cowboys being overrated if they manage even 2 consecutive wins in a season.

 

The problem is, we narrowly win, while blowout lose.

Texans don't elude much confidence in guaranteeing victories.

The NFC East has owned throughout our existence also.


I'm not saying we can't win, but ASSUME we would.... Beat OAK in 2 weeks.

 

That's why the BCS computers hate the Texans so much.

 

Yes it's weak. The more reason why we should win the division until it becomes competitive again.

 

Is there a matchup less interesting or less watched than Titans v Jags? They even had a high scoring game last thursday they faced and most would rather watch or say they enjoyed the Cardinals Seahawks tie.

Records say one thing, but 3/4 of the coaches are on the hot seat and BOB's one more nationally televised swirly away from it himself.

 

Since 2011, the AFC South has a combined point differential of -1259 (through week 7 of 2016).

• The next worst division over that timespan is the NFC East, with only a -255 point differential: AFC East +395, AFC North +336, AFC South -1259, AFC West -72, NFC East -255, NFC North +290, NFC South -37, NFC West +602
• The Jaguars have the worst overall differential in the NFL since that time
  
• During that time, the AFC South has lost been outscored by an average of 5.72 points per game when playing non-AFC South teams
• Between 2011 and 2014 each team in the AFC South has had a 2-14 season: Colts(2011), Jags(2012), Texans(2013), and Titans(2014)
  
• The Titans lost to every the 2-14 Colts in 2011, the 2-14 Jags in 2012 and the 2-14 Texans in 2013

 

Dude, nice going out and getting the numbers, especially the 2-14 bit with the titans being one of every other teams win.. That is just comically bad lol.

 

I stand fully corrected.
It is ssssoooooooo much worse than I thought

Rocket River

 

Yes you can actually, the proof is in svpernauts post. Just cause one team beat one other team does not mean the division of said winner is more competitive. Please make an argument that proves another division is even close to being as bad as the AFC south has been.

 

3/4 of your examples are the AFC South champs beating the wild card team. You're purposely not telling the whole story.

 

Yes, it is absolutely the worst. The only way to fairly compare divisions is with overall win ratios, and point differential. In those two metrics, it is easily the worst.

It isn't cherry-picking stats. It is literally using the only two stats viable for comparison. In a league where there are 32-teams, how does one measure how good teams are compared to the rest of the league? With win-loss record, and point differential. The AFC has overwhelmingly (as in by multiples of the next closest) the worst win-loss record against the rest of the league, and the largest point differential (by a factor of five).

Feel free to provide me with another metric to show that the AFC south isn't inferior. Your example of the AFC South Winner winning a playoff game is a terrible metric because A) the sample size is tiny and B) it only takes into account 25% of the AFC South teams (the conference winner). That's not how data science works.

Win/Loss and Point Differential takes the ENTIRE conference's performance into account. In your example, the AFC South winner could go 14-2, and the other three teams could go 2-14 for an overall Win/Loss record of 6-42. Even if the AFC South won the Super Bowl that year, it wouldn't be the best division in football, and likely not even close.

The worst division in football, also has an effect across the entire league - because there is a divisional and conference rotation that plays a huge role in each team's strength of schedule for the season. From the NFL Schedule Creation Site:

• Every team plays one game against each of the four teams from a division within its conference — two games at home and two on the road. Which division a team plays is determined by a rotation system ensuring that the teams in one division will play the teams in every other division in its conference once every three years.
• Every team plays one game against each of the four teams from a division in the other conference once per season — two games at home and two on the road. These matchups are also determined by a rotation, which ensures that all teams play every team from every division in the other conference once every four years.

This means, that over the past five seasons, the in-conference and out-of-conference opponents that played the AFC South based upon the rotation system, had a clear strength of schedule advantage over the in-conference and out-of-conference opponents who didn't play the AFC South.

 

And the lions have also lost to the titans and Texans.

The NFC north is now deceptively bad.