by Professor » Mon Feb 03, 2014 3:40 pm
How many players are the Hawks projected to lose? IIRC, when the Saints won the SB, they lost several players in the first few months following. Jeremy Shockey comes to mind. He was stellar with the Saints. Left and went to . . . someone. And never heard from again. But, the Saints weren't nearly as dominant the year after.
Considering the parity, I'd be willing to bet that at least 1/3 of the teams that made the playoffs this year won't make it next year. Heck, it'll probably be closer to 50%. Or, put another way, at least 30% of the playoff teams won't have winning seasons next year.
Take this for example. Last night, I saw a replay of some Denver receiver who fumbled. He fumbled because the Seattle player punched the ball. If that punch had been 1/2 second later, or 2" off the mark, there would have been no fumble. Not saying that one play made the game. But, add up a few 2" differences in 4 games, and suddenly you go from 13-3 to 9-7.
Again, not saying that Seattle was in any way a bad team. They had more of those "2-inch opportunities" than other teams, so they capitalized on them more. But, if a few of them go the other way, suddenly a dominant team becomes just another "good" team.