Hey Patriots Haters, you scared?
2023-24 NFL Computer Predictions and Rankings
Beating the NFL Pointspread with AI and ML
In sports, choking under pressure is a negative athletic experience that may have psychologically damaging effects. The media recognizes that choking is a dramatic drop in performance, whereas researchers have labeled choking as any decrease in performance under pressure.
Brandon Graham’s strip sack of Tom Brady and Derek Barnett’s recovery of the ball proved to be a deciding play of this year’s Super Bowl. 13 different broadcasts of the play are compiled here:
Source: https://screengrabber.deadspin.com/the-tom-brady-strip-sack-as-called-by-announcers-from-1822718984
For all intents and purposes, we all know that Sunday afternoon’s game between the New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers will determine which team will clinch the #1 seed in the AFC playoffs, and secure home field advantage throughout the postseason.
Interestingly enough, the Steelers enter this game as the underdog (the latest lines have the Patriots as three-point favorites in the football odds for Patriots game), despite the fact that Pittsburgh is not only riding an NFL-high eight-game winning streak and has the best record in the conference, but also has generally played a bit better in the friendly confines of Heinz Field, versus on the road (they’re 11-2 at home, compared to 11-3 on the road, since the start of 2016).
But then again, we’re talking about the Patriots. Even with the ugly loss against the Miami Dolphins last Sunday evening, New England is still the highest scoring team in the AFC (averaging 28.3 points per game), but also has the second-highest point scoring differential in the conference as well (+118). With the season-ending injury to Carson Wentz last Sunday, Tom Brady may have found himself in the proverbial driver’s seat for the NFL’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) award, which would move him into a tie with Jim Brown, Earl Campbell, and Kurt Warner as the only individuals to win the award three times over the course of their career.
New England’s famous modus operandi of attacking opponents is described as “making their opponents play left-handed.” In other words, they identify what the opposing team does best, devotes their top resources towards eliminating the opponent from relying on that, and forcing them to have to rely on “Plan B.”
But in terms of the Steelers, which “poison” is the Patriots comfortable with picking? Do they focus on stopping wide receiver Antonio Brown, who is in the midst of an MVP campaign of his own? Or do they worry about stopping running back Le’Veon Bell, who leads the NFL in both rushing yards and total yards from scrimmage?
That’s the challenge the Steelers present. Bell’s patience, vision, and ability to rip off chunks of yards time and time again is absolutely demoralizing to opposing defenders, and he could make life very miserable for a Patriots rushing defense that’s ranked 23rd in the NFL in rushing yards allowed per game, and dead last in the league in average yards per carry allowed by opposing runners.
And then there’s Brown, who is not only on pace for his 5th consecutive season with at least 100 receptions, 1,200 yards receiving, and nine touchdowns, but has averaged almost 10 catches for over 130 yards and more than one touchdown over the last four games. Brown has easily distanced himself from all other peers at his position, and sits alone atop the “best wide receiver in the NFL” discussion.
Of course, it’s not like the Patriots’ defense will be the only unit with the totally unenviable task of stopping the opposing offense; the Steelers offense will spend all week answering the nearly-unanswerable question of “how do we slow down Brady?” Pittsburgh’s pass defense was already something of a question mark, and with the loss of speedy linebacker Ryan Shazier (to a very scary spine injury on December 4th), that could open up spots on the middle of the field, which Brady is lethally effective at exploiting.
Plain and simple: in this battle among the AFC’s top heavyweights, expect an old-fashioned shootout between two of the best offenses the conference – and the league in general – has to offer.
The debate is far from settled, but we can make a case for why Saints quarterback Drew Brees deserves G.O.A.T. status over Brady, Manning, and Montana. Maybe Brady and Brees will meet
in the Super Bowl this year…
Source: http://www.complex.com/sports/2017/10/drew-brees-not-tom-brady-really-is-the-goat
Clutch and dependable are words that I associate with Danny Amendola. I never thought I’d say this but I guess I can now add uncoverable to that list.
Source: http://offthemonstersports.com/2017/10/tom-brady-calls-danny-amendola-uncoverable/
Deflated football or deflated opponents? LOL.
Watch Here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEKKlV5ojIQ&feature=player_embedded
Tom doesn’t like to lose. The Patriots lost to the Chiefs on opening Thursday night
Source: http://leadnewsindia.com/2017/09/08/angry-tom-brady-is-the-first-meme-of-the-nfl-season/
The New England Patriots acquired two planes to shuttle the team and staff to games.
Source: http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/20285127/new-england-patriots-first-nfl-team-own-planes
Quarterbacks are the powerhouses of each NFL team and play a large part in how the team does in the upcoming season. With the 2017/2018 NFL season looming on the horizon, knowing how the rankings stand will go a long way to helping you to place your bets for the upcoming season.
A great example is how the Dallas Cowboys fared at the bookmakers in the 2015 season. Their star quarterback Tony Romo ended up being out for most of the season due to injury. Before his accident, the Cowboys were 3 – 1, but without him, they quickly fell to 1 – 11, seriously disappointing some punters who had placed futures bets. NFL betting is popular across the globe and even betting NZ sites offer a selection of markets. Thus, the more information available about the players, their performance and the teams, the better,
A Season Predictor
Choosing the 2017 power quarterbacks is just an idea of what may happen throughout the season. Of course, there is the potential for injury, surprises and more to upset the apple cart. That being said, most experts tend to agree on the ranked order which does give us some idea of how the season may play out.
Interestingly, some of the quarterbacks for 2017 are brand new to the NFL. Los Angeles Rams quarterback Jared Goff, for example, is only a tender 22, which may either place him at an advantage over his older opponents, or a disadvantage due to his youth. For this reason, he is last on our list at number 32. Speed and agility may be his, but experience and sheer strength are usually some of the bonuses of age and practice. These newbies on the block are relatively untried, and although we can look back on their play records, how they fare against the big boys is a giant question mark until the season actually begins.
Ranking Considerations
The quarterback rankings have been chosen with care, taking into account both their current career stats, win-loss records, general performances, winning percentages and playoff victories.
Our top five ranked quarterbacks will probably come as no surprise to anyone. They are the pinnacle of the sport currently, with great career stats and a handful of Super Bowl wins between them. Anything can happen on the field, but the fact remains that these super athletes are most likely to take their teams to victory over their younger, less experienced counterparts.
And so, without further ado, we bring you a list of the 32 ranked power quarterbacks for the start of the 2017 season.
32. Jared Goff — Los Angeles Rams
31. Cody Kessler — Cleveland Browns (Projected Starter)
30. Josh McCown — New York Jets (Projected Starter)
29. Blake Bortles — Jacksonville Jaguars
28. Trevor Siemian — Denver Broncos
27. Sam Bradford — Minnesota Vikings
26. Mike Glennon — Chicago Bears
25. Deshaun Watson — Houston Texans (Projected Starter)
24. Brian Hoyer — San Francisco 49ers
23. Tyrod Taylor — Buffalo Bills
22. Alex Smith — Kansas City Chiefs
21. Eli Manning — New York Giants
20. Andy Dalton — Cincinnati Bengals
19. Carson Wentz — Philadelphia Eagles
18. Joe Flacco — Baltimore Ravens
17. Philip Rivers — Los Angeles Chargers
16. Carson Palmer — Arizona Cardinals
15. Jay Cutler — Miami Dolphins
14. Marcus Mariota — Tennessee Titans
13. Matthew Stafford — Detroit Lions
12. Cam Newton — Carolina Panthers
11. Kirk Cousins — Washington Redskins
10. Jameis Winston — Tampa Bay Buccaneers
9. Andrew Luck — Indianapolis Colts
8. Russell Wilson — Seattle Seahawks
7. Dak Prescott — Dallas Cowboys
6. Ben Roethlisberger — Pittsburgh Steelers
5. Drew Brees — New Orleans Saints
4. Derek Carr — Oakland Raiders
3. Aaron Rodgers — Green Bay Packers
2. Matt Ryan — Atlanta Falcons
1. Tom Brady — New England Patriots
The story of the AFC East in 2017 remains the same as it has for 14 of the past 16 NFL seasons: this division belongs to the New England Patriots, and everyone else is just competing for second place.
To use a line made famous by legendary professional wrestler Ric Flair: “to be the man, you gotta beat the man.” And right now, there’s simply no two ways about it: there doesn’t appear to be a single team in the NFL that can go toe-to-toe with the New England Patriots, and beat them on a neutral field. Let’s start off with the fact that the Patriots are returning 17 of their 22 starters from the team that won the Super Bowl. Now, add in the fact that they might have actually gotten better at four of those five positions that will feature new players, like wide receiver Brandin Cooks, running back Mike Gillislee, cornerback Stephon Gillmore, and defensive end Kony Ealy. This was already a team that lost a grand total of one game after Tom Brady returned from suspension last year. What team, across the entire NFL, is capable of beating these guys?
You can make an argument that no team has been ravaged by injury before the preseason even started than the Miami Dolphins. Pretty much every single NFL fan is well aware of the season-ending knee injury to Ryan Tannehill, which led head coach to call up old friend Jay Cutler and convince him to take over as the starting quarterback of the Dolphins (after Cutler had decided to retire this past offseason). But that was far from the only blow the team was dealt by the injury bug. Linebacker Raekwon McMillan, the team’s second round pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, looked like he was set to take over the starting middle linebacker spot for the Dolphins, but then suffered a season-ending ACL injury. Cornerback Tony Lippett, who started in 13 games for Miami last season, was lost for the year after tearing his Achilles tendon. Offensive guard Ted Larsen, who was both an opening-day starter and their insurance policy at center in case Mike Pouncey got hurt, tore his biceps muscle in training camp, and will miss a significant portion of this season. It’s going to take a borderline miraculous coaching job for Gase to help Miami move out from underneath the dark cloud they’re currently under.
No head coach will ever admit that they’re willing to lose more games in the short run if it means the team will improve in the long run. That’s why you’ll never hear head coach Sean McDermott of the Buffalo Bills say anything other than the fact that he’s positioning his team to compete in the AFC East immediately. But after spending much of the offseason waffling on whether to bring back quarterback Tyrod Taylor (whom they brought back on a deal that allows them to easily part ways after just one year), and then opening training camp by trading players like wide receiver Sammy Watkins, cornerback Ronald Darby, and quarterback Cardale Jones, the message is clear: they’re willing to take one step back with the roster, if it means they can take two steps forward in their rebuild. McDermott is going to try and win games the same way the Carolina Panthers — his former employer — have in recent years: run the ball down the throats of the opponents, and use their stout defensive line to keep opponents from scoring.
As far as the New York Jets, you may have heard many NFL analysts around the league say the same thing over-and-over again, because it’s the truth: there isn’t a NFL roster with less talent across the entire league than the one the Jets have currently constructed. Frankly, it’s a miracle that head coach Todd Bowles and General Manager Mike Maccagnan weren’t fired by the notoriously fickle owner of the Jets, Woody Johnson. Bowles and Maccagnan are gambling on Christian Hackenberg as the starting quarterback of the Jets this season, and so far, the early word out of New York is that Hackenberg still looks as broken and as hopeless as many people believed he was after his star-crossed career at Penn State. But even aside from Hackenberg, the Jets starting offensive line, wide receivers, and cornerbacks are all easily among the three worst units in the entire league, and two of the team’s former building blocks — defensive linemen Sheldon Richardson and Muhammad Wilkerson — have been malcontents that have spent time on the team’s trade block. Things are looking very, very bleak in Gotham, with Bowles and Maccagnan likely to be the first ones without jobs by Black Monday of 2018.
Tom Brady is having fun with this “Madden curse.”
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