To quickly review: Victory Weighting assigns up to four points per game to each team, depending on whether
- the team won, lost or tied and
- the game required overtime (indeed, it's overtime that the system weights.)
Teams are then ranked by total Strength over the season, with winning percentage providing the first tiebreaker. A full explanation of the system appears on the Victory Weighting page.
Who's being affected the most?
Denver (Strength 29, 8-6) and San Diego (Strength 30, 7-7)
By contrast, San Diego stands at 7-7, officially second in the AFC West. Two Charger losses, including one to Denver, also came in overtime, so the Chargers's Strength score has increased from 28 to 30.
Since Victory Weighting ranks teams by Strength, the Broncos would actually be trailing the Chargers. Maybe Tebow wouldn't be getting so much worship over on ESPN. This may seem wrong, but remember: it's the four overtime games involved here that are being "weighted." Tebow-Fascist Zombie Brigade™ protests notwithstanding, Victory Weighting is working as I intended it.
Arizona (Strength 25, 7-7)
Like the Broncos, the Cardinals are 3-0 in overtime games. That reduces their Strength from 28 (the standard for 7-win teams) to 25. Unfortunately, it also means that the Cardinals can end the season with (at best) Strength 33, two less than current sixth-seed Detroit. Victory Weighting would thus eliminate the Cardinals, who are still officially in contention for a wild-card bid, from the playoffs.
Atlanta (Strength 37, 9-5)
Officially, the Falcons haven't secured a playoff bid. Victory Weighting wouldn't qualify them right now, but it would make their life much easier. Right now, Chicago, Seattle, the New York Giants and Arizona -- all 7-7 -- all threaten the Falcons' playoff position. Under Victory Weighting, Arizona is eliminated, and neither Seattle nor the Giants (both Strength 28) can overtake the Falcons. That would leave the fading Bears (Strength 29) as the only team that can still eliminate the Falcons. Even another overtime result in New Orleans this weekend would clinch a playoff bid. Merry Christmas, Atlanta.Introducing the All-Gigli Team! Believe it or not, there are fantasy-football leagues where the object is to create the worst team possible. Unfortunately, I didn't play in such a league, so where could I put players who absolutely, positively failed my teams at critical times? Why, in a team named after one of the worst box-office flops ever. My tight ends and defenses all did a great job when called to duty, so two extra spots opened for more players who hurt the Fluttering Horde and/or the Ghost-Grey Cats. The more detailed excuses appear in the newly added All-Gigli page (click on the tab at the top of this page), but here's the quick list. Decide for yourself which of these suspects requires as much maintenance as Jennifer Lopez.
- Quarterbacks: Curtis Painter (Ind)
- Wide receivers: Pierre Garçon (Ind), Greg Little (Cle), James Jones (GB)
- Running backs: Marion Barber (Chi), Ryan Grant (GB)
- Tight ends: None; WR Julio Jones (Atl) awarded empty spot
- Kicker: Shaun Suisham (Pit).
- Defense/special teams: None; QB Mark Sanchez (NYJ) awarded empty spot
2 comments:
The Broncos? Talk about doing it with mirrors. They're on their way down after New England proved Tebow wasn't the second coming.
@dguzman: The Broncos have definitely been using public-relations SFX, but the sports media -- especially ESPN -- bought into it. Somehow, the TV folks missed the parts about (a) the Broncos' incredibly favorable schedule off their bye week and (b) their remarkable luck in facing a Bears team that had just been reduced to about one-third its original strength.
If the Broncos are eliminated by the Chiefs on New Year's Day, it would be at home... and probably at the hands of Kyle Orton, whom they dumped for Tim Tebow. That would be some amusing justice.
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