The NFL Thread 2017: Philadelphia Eagles Win Super Bowl LII

[theRepublic]

MTZehvor said:

2016 took a little longer than usual for things to start getting really weird, but they did. Here's how things looked in the NFL through Week 4 of last season...and some comparison's as to how the season really ended up.

-Through four games, the Vikings and Broncos were the last remaining undefeated teams in the league. As Denver had won the Super Bowl and the Vikings had taken a huge step forward to win the NFC North in the previous year, both were considered to be legitimate Super Bowl threats. Both would go on to miss the playoffs.

-The Steelers had just blown out the eventual AFC West champs Chiefs (43-14) a week after being blown out by the Eagles (34-3).

-Speaking of those Eagles, they were 3-1 and were riding a fantastic start from then rookie QB Carson Wentz and were a trendy playoff pick. They would go on to lose 8 of their final 12 (including 5 in a row) and finish last in the NFC East.

-To put in perspective how crazy things seemed at the time, both of 2015's NFC conference championship game participants were 1-3. By comparison's sake, the Patriots currently have the worst record of any 2016 conference game participant, at 2-2. Every other team is 3-1.

-Going back to the second point, Kansas City was sitting at 2-2 after Week 4. Many people didn't even think they were a .500 quality team, as their wins had come over the Jets and Chargers. They would go on to finish 12-4 and claim the 2nd seed in the AFC.

-The Dolphins were 1-3, only holding that one win thanks to a home overtime win over the Browns. They would go on to win 9 of their final 12 and secure their first playoff berth since 2008.

Point in bringing all of this up is that the NFL is a wacky, unpredictable league. There's almost always a lot of turnover from year to year, and that applies to team performance as well. If it seems like a year is progressing without much change from last season to the current one, it's probably because the shakeup just hasn't happened yet.

Cool post.  It is always interesting to look back on how the season played out.