Numbers Time: Yes, THAT Sam Darnold

THINGS WE KNOW FOR SURE:

1) The Chiefs, Bills, and Texans will be the 1, 2, and 4 seeds respectively 2) The winner of the AFC North will be the 3 seed. 3) One of Broncos, Dolphins, or Bengals will be #7, the other two will be eliminated

4) The winner of Lions/Vikings will be the 1 seed 5) The loser of Lions/Vikings will be the first ever 14-3 team at #5 6) Eagles will be the 2 seed.

With that said...

THESE GAMES DON'T MATTER:

THE A.F.C. SHUFFLE

The NFL decided to settle the AFC North on Saturday. Baltimore and Pittsburgh have been here many times before, neck-and-neck with a division rival. Steelers win AND Ravens lose and Steelers win the division, otherwise Baltimore takes it. Both teams are in, though. Ravens have the tie breaker with the Chargers, so the lowest they could go is #5, but Steelers could drop to #6.

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Numbers Time: TV Scheduling At Its Finest

GAMES THAT DON'T MATTER

You'll notice all of these are AFC games. The AFC is pretty clearly set for the most part. Three of seven slots are firmly locked in place, and four teams are guaranteed a spot. The rest is housekeeping. On the NFC side, every game matters, and every division has some intrigue.

SATURDAY

Baltimore clinched the #1 slot and the bye, so the Steelers are hoping they sit their starters. Pittsburgh NEEDS to win to even have a chance at making the playoffs.

Great choice for a Saturday prime time game. The winner of this game definitely makes the playoffs, and the loser is definitely eliminated. But, the winner will have to tune in the next morning for...

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Sixty Plus

Ever wanted a list of every time an NFL team has scored more than 60 points in a game, organized by decade, but not specific to which teams played? Me too!


1920s
1920 - 66
1922 - 60
1922 - 62
1923 - 60
1930s
1934 - 64
1940s
1940 - 73
1945 - 61
1946 - 62
1946 - 66
1948 - 63
1948 - 63
1949 - 65Keep Reading >>

Numbers Time: Parity 2: Back in the Habit

This may be the most even playoff field in recent years. Five NFC teams are in a tight pack at the top, but the Wild Card teams could easily play spoilers. The AFC is so even, it’s possible only two games could separate the #1 seed and a team that gets eliminated. Only the Packers have locked in a bye, but that’s not because they’re overly dominant, they just have tie breakers over the rest of the pack. In a year this even, it’s not surprising so few games just don’t matter.


NFC: Go Forth From Fourth

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Numbers Time: Threeway Ties 2020!!!

When the new expanded playoff format was announced, people worried the #7 seed would be a team with a record so bad, they wouldn’t deserve to make the playoffs. Turns out, people were looking in the wrong place for a team that doesn’t deserve to make the playoffs. But first, the games that don’t matter.

AFC’s Wild Wild Card Race

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Numbers Time: Election Results 2020

In 2016, I was quick to post something because there was a reason. The results were confusing, and I wanted to address a false narrative. This election was a lot more straight forward. One candidate clearly won, and there weren’t any serious third party candidates. Don’t let the numbers fool you, though. Looking forward to 2024, I want to look backwards to 2016. We have a President doing things I would consider unambiguously unpresidential, and he lost re-election big time. But it’s a lot more complicated than that.

State by state, the president actually made some serious gains. If you’re a Democrat, even this landslide election isn't great news. If you think Americans will fight against the rise of a dictator, this isn’t great news. If you’re like me, the moment they called Pennsylvania, a massive weight lifted from your shoulders. I don’t want to take that away from anyone, but the fight is far from over. Step one is admitting the problem. Here are a few things you may not know:

Blue States are Getting More Red

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Unexplained Numbers Time in Brief: Lists

 The following is just simply everything I love all rolled into one: presidents, numbers, and lists.

1) Eisenhower: 899
2) Clinton: 749
3) Wilson: 712
4) Obama: 697
5) HW Bush: 594
6) McKinley: 563
7) W Bush: 557

1) Reagan (1984) 525
2) FDR (1936) 523
3) Nixon (1972) 520
4) Reagan (1980) 489
5) LBJ (1964) 486
6) FDR (1932) 449
7) Eisenhower (1956) 457
8) FDR (1940) 449
9) Hoover (1928) 444
10) Eisenhower (1952) 442
11) Wilson (1912) 435
12) FDR (1944) 432
13) HW Bush (1988) 426
14) Harding (1920) 404
15) Coolidge (1924) 382
16) Clinton (1996) 379
17) Clinton (1992) 365
18) Obama (2008) 365
19) TR (1904) 336
20) Obama (2012) 332
21) Taft (1908) 321
22) Biden (2020) 306

Numbers Time: A Glimmer is Still Hope

Here we are again. Around this time four years ago, I decided to stop focusing on the insane partisan divide, even within my own party, and focus solely on math. We are now faced with two questions going into the back half of this way-too-long primary season:

1) Will Joe Biden earn 1,991 pledged delegates to win on the first ballot? (superdelegates are a completely different topic, and i won't be getting into them again)

2) Does Bernie Sanders have a chance to win?

In most years, the first question wouldn't even come up. When two candidates are winning delegates, all they need is more than half. This year, though, five other candidates won 168 delegates. That's a lot more than the normal handful, and definitely enough to result in neither the top two candidates breaking the barrier.

Currently standing at 1,180 delegates, Biden needs 811 delegates to cross the threshold. As of the time I'm writing this, 2,233 delegates have been apportioned, meaning 1,749 are still in play, and Biden needs only 46% of them. For reference, Biden has been averaging 46% of delegates per race, 50% if you exclude states where he won no delegates, 52% since Super Tuesday.

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2020 Super Tuesday in Brief

In 2016, the entire election was completely messed up by California being last. Super Tuesday used to mean something. It was an all or nothing day that put an end to a primary cycle that could go on way too long. There's an argument to be made that it cheapens all the other primaries, but big picture, that kind of chaos hurt the race. It makes a two-candidate race a bad thing. It makes the fractured time longer and the healing time shorter.

In 2020, it's a completely different story. With this many candidates, Super Tuesday could end the race in one day, or blow the thing wide open. For those not happy with either of the current front runners, Super Tuesday is a point of hope. There are 1,357 delegates up for grabs in one day. That means the less than 20 delegate lead the front runners currently hold could be wiped out completely. For all intents and purposes, the race begins or ends on March 3. Any candidate could win California, Texas, and North Carolina; lose all the others; and still win the day. Or the current front runners could continue to win big, and everyone else drops out.

California	415		Massachusetts	91		Alabama	52		Maine	24
Texas	228		Minnesota	75		Oklahoma	37		Vermont	16
North Carolina	110		Colorado	67		Arkansas	31		Dems. Abroad	13
Virginia	99		Tennessee	64		Utah	29		Am. Samoa	8

This means everyone is still in it, even Tulsi. It's going to get contentious for a while. Everyone believes their candidate is the best hope, and a lot of people believe the other candidates are total betrayals of Democratic values. The thing is, we can't all decide what Democratic values are. That's what it means to be Democrats. We don't get in lock step. We don't all just blindly agree. We are a coalition of ideas. As such, I refuse to call any of these candidates evil. I refuse to call any of them dangerous. I refuse to call any of them secret Republicans. That is just partisan nonsense. This is a pros and cons of every candidate, trying very hard to be neutral, but knowing I'm not going to be.

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Numbers Time: Clusterfuck and/or Circle Jerk

So long Giants. It’s been nice dragging you for the last few weeks, but you have graduated from being abject losers to just plain sucking. Two wins in a row. Enjoy it while you can. Seasons like this are why I don’t swear Giants fans always bringing up those two Super Bowls (you know which two). They’re all Giants fans have. Let them have it.

My transitive property model no longer holds up. It’s now more like an irrational number of sports hierarchy. Having defeated the Cardinals, who apparently also play football, the Raiders climb to the top of the 2-8 pile. But they also lost to the Niners, making them also the bottom of the pile. So what? Now it’s Raiders > Cardinals > Niners > Raiders > Cardinals... and so on, to infinity.

Man, this series is a lot less fun without the Browns to shit on. Now, it’s like, great, the 2-8 Raiders, Cardinals, Niners, and Raiders, and Cardinals, and Niners are still in playoff contention. But of course they are. They’re only 3 games behind the #6 seeds. This is a season where the Bears, the Texans, and Washington are leading their divisions. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Florida Tuskers blinked back into existence to win a playoff seed.

Numbers Time: Giant Win, Titanic Loss

You have to give credit where credit is due. As much as I’m going to miss being able to use this space to rip on the Giants, I congratulate them on their win. Maybe the NFL should do this every year, purposefully schedule the crappy teams to play each other as sort of a minor league kind of thing. To update last week’s hierarchy of mediocrity Cardinals/Giants > Niners > Raiders.

Before the main event, let’s take a moment of silence for the Patriots worst loss since 2010. It’s karmically fitting that it be the Titans who embarrass the Pats so completely. Let us never forget the worst beating in the super bowl era, the 59-0 utter destruction the Pats laid on the Titans in 2009. Brian Hoyer also finished out that game, but for completely different reasons. The Patriots are, relatively, weak this season, and the Titans are swimming with former Patriots — Malcolm Butler, Dion Lewis, and coach Mike Vrabel — cast aside by Belichick like lame oxen. I cry every time the Patriots lose, and this weekend was particularly hard for me for personal reasons. But this was a very important game for the Titans, and I have to give credit where credit is due.

On the other hand, if you’ve ever seen the Patriots down in the first half of a game, you know no one makes adjustments like Belichick. You think a half time adjustment is something. Just wait to see what happens during a bye week after such an embarrassing loss.

And yes, this is your weekly reminder that being only 4 games behind 6th place with 7 week’s left to go, the 1-8 Oakland Raiders are still, mathematically, in playoff contention.

Numbers Time: Transitive Property

Well, gee, if the NFL keeps scheduling the worst teams to play each other, these awful squads might be in playoff contention into December. With the Rams falling for the first time, this is starting to look like one of the most even seasons in a long time. No one is invincible, so everyone is safe, for now.

Thanks to the unfortunate scheduling, we have a clear idea of the hierarchy of crap. The Cardinals beat the Niners, and the Niners beat the Raiders. Cardinals > Niners > Raiders. Official.

So for one more week, the 1-7 Raiders and Giants are still in playoff contention. Since they’re not playing each other, they may never win again. I can only hope.

Numbers Time: What a Day It Has Been

The Dodgers lost their second World Series in two years, the Rams held off the Packers to remain undefeated, Los Angeles hosted five Home games in one day (Dodgers, Rams, Galaxy, Kings, and Clippers — poor Staples Center staff), Adam Vinatieri has scored more points than any other single football player, Rapey McWinston got benched, and I finally finished putting up all the Halloween decorations.

Also today, a football game for the ages. As is want to happen when two of the four worst teams in football play each other, yet another team in the bottom four ticked a second win. Scoring a combined 33 points, the Cardinals and 49ers put on a display that can only be described as football? In the end, the Cardinals managed a win, knocking them from this club of mediocrity. And yet in this world of hope and clickbait, the 1-6 Raiders and the 1-7 Giants and 49ers are still in playoff contention. Parity?

Numbers Time: Yay, Colts

Indianapolis won their second game. Good for them. With an explosive offense like they have, you’d think they could win more than two, but sure. Yay. Go Indy. You’re only a half game worse than the Browns.

This is your weekly reminder the 1-5 Raiders and 1-6 Cardinals, 49ers, and Giants are still technically in playoff contention.

Not surprisingly, these four teams are in the bottom five in point differential. But none of them are as bad as the -94 net points put up by Buffalo. Let’s be clear. The Bills are, by all accounts, the worst team ever put together in the NFL. They have allowed 94 more points than they’ve scored, worse than the above four teams. They have scored a total of 81 points, less than half of points they’ve allowed. Yet, they’ve managed to win two games.

Look guys, winning two games is apparently not that hard. The Bills did it. You should be able to do it.

Numbers Time: Oopsies

Seriously, why does the NFL keep track of playoff picture so early in the season? Yes, I’m aware I’m answering that question by writing this. It’s still absurd.

Good news, the Atlanta Falcons won a second game! Bad news, I missed the Raiders last week, so there are still five one-win teams. So it is my duty to inform you the 1-5 Colts, Raiders, 49ers, Cardinals, and Giants are still in playoff contention.

If the season continues in this week-to-week fashion, they might be in contention for a while.

Numbers Time: Bottom of the Barrel

NFL.com is already pushing the Playoff Picture. Come on, guys. It’s barely October. But if they insist on this insanity, I must play along.

This is the first of your weekly reminders that the 1-4 Colts, Giants, 49ers, Cardinals, and Falcons are still in playoff contention. And the Browns are 2-2-1, just a half game out of the top 6.

Fun with Ranking Presidents

Boise State has released their latest ranking of the Presidents. As I’ve said many times before, this is an absurd undertaking. It’s impossible to fairly compare Presidents who faced different challenges, different worlds, different expectations, different jobs. I do find them fascinating. It’s worth it to see how modern politics affects how experts view history. Before reading further, I suggest you click the link above and look at their methodology and breakdowns. Don’t comment on bias in this list. It’s addressed in the breakdown.

On the breakdown, they mention that they asked the experts about which presidents were the most polarizing. More fascinating than the answer to that question is the actual breakdown on ideological lines in the study itself. They broke down how the experts voted based on their political affiliation. The differences and similarities among Republicans, Democrats, Conservatives, and Liberals is worth a look. First, where all four groups agree:

Within the Top 10: Lincoln Washington FDR T Roosevelt Jefferson Truman Eisenhower

Firmly in the middle: Cleveland Grant Ford

Within the Bottom 10: Taylor Tyler Harding Fillmore Trump Pierce A Johnson WH Harrison Buchanan

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Numbers Time: The Glorious Clusterfuck

This has been a season of two vastly different conferences. The NFC has three teams escaping the doldrums to become NFL powerhouses, and four dominant teams slipping, but only a little. In all but one scenario, it will take 10 wins to make it to the NFC playoffs. On the other side, you’ve got 2 dynasties, and a bunch of bumbling idiots. The AFC byes are locked in because the only thing close to a third competitor just lost to the 49ers. Best case scenario, the #6 seed won’t be held by an 8-8 team. But we’ll get there. First, the games that don’t matter, either because both teams are out, or the one team that’s in is locked into their playoff slot.



AFC

The vastly inferior AFC has made for an interesting run to the playoffs, with four teams fighting for two wild card spots. All four divisions have been won, with the Jaguars locked into #3 and Chiefs into #4.



The last time an 0-4 made the playoffs was the ‘92 Chargers. The complicated NFL tie-breaking procedures are standing in the way of the ‘17 Chargers repeating that feat. Right now, the Ravens sit at #5 with 9-6 and the Titans hold #6 in a three-way 8-7 tie breaker with the #7 Chargers and #8 Bills. So the Ravens and Titans are in with wins, or if all four teams lose.

This is where it get complicated.

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Numbers Time: Mercy Rule

Almost a year to the day they were eliminated last year, the 0-11 Browns have finally, mercifully been eliminated from playoff contention. The 1-10 Niners and 2-9 Giants are also out, and with a dominant top half to the NFC, we can expect the Bears and probably Buccaneers to be out very soon. A lackluster AFC, though, prolongs the agony for the Broncos and Colts, whose net points are back below -100. But Jimmy G had a great game today, right?

UPDATE 12/3/17 - After handing the Niners their second win of the season, the 3-9 Bears are out.  But Jimmy G got his first win as San Francisco’s starter, so good for him. In the AFC, the 3-9 Colts and Broncos are still in contention. These are two VERY different conferences.

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Numbers Time: Is the AFC West Still Playing?

This is your weekly reminder the 0-10 Cleveland Browns are still, technically, in playoff contention. A Bills win would have knocked them out, but the AFC is terrible this year. I mean, the previously on-fire Kansas City Chiefs just lost to the damn Giants a week after the Giants lost to the worst NFC team. And the Chargers are the only AFC West team to win this week. They beat the Bills, keeping the Browns playoff hopes alive, but like in that way Buffalo Bill makes you think putting on the lotion will stop him from murdering you and stealing your skin.