Getty ImagesWe mentioned earlier Tuesday that teams enjoyed their bye in Week Seven. The larger question: Will they enjoy Week Eight after an extended break mandated by the new CBA?
Teams are 3-9 coming off byes this year, as pointed out by NFL.com. This stat is being used as ammunition that all the time off during the bye week isn’t productive. With the lockout already sapping practice time this year, the extended break is supposedly contributing to a lack of fundamentals.
Or perhaps it’s just random.
The 12 teams withbyes so far haven’t been good teams overall. They are 25-34 this year when they aren’t coming off a bye.
Looking deeper at the 12 games, not one team coming off a bye has suffered a significant upset. The Redskins lost to the Eagles and the Chargers lost to the Jets. Both of those games were toss ups. The Chiefs, on the other hand, pulled off an upset in Oakland this week coming off a bye.
The Falcons certainly aren’t worried about the trend: coach Mike Smith gave his team the entire bye week off.
We can reevaluate whether the reduced practice time has really made a difference in December when bye weeks end.
At this point, it just looks like statistical noise.
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Like the great Neil Young said, numbers add up to nothing.
It all depends on the quality of the teams that get the bye.
Until you know that, you know nothing.
well the Steelers losing to NE this weekend will make those numbers worse…..
“We mentioned earlier Tuesday that teams enjoyed their bye in Week Sven.”
Spending a week with a large Norseman has never been benefical to athletic performance.
Sven is svelte. Don’t you dare call Sven week.
They should do away with the bye altogether. Why rob football fans of seeing their favorite team for a week?
Oh, and check out your first sentence about “Week Sven.”
The Pats have won the last 8 years coming off the bye week and are 9-2 since 2000.
BB appears to have them prepared for that type of situation.
oh, sven? they got to spend a week with sven? sven is hilarious! that guy is awesome. the teams coming off a week with sven will be rested and ready to go.
Coming off the bye, the Giants play the Fins. If that stat goes to 3-10, I might stop watching football.
I think that any team that loses to the Phins should be relegated to the UFL.
If they’re still in business.
Jim Harbuagh mentioned this stat on his Tuesday KNBR show this morning and said his team will be hearing about it today.
The important question is, how was it last year? Or years past?
I think that at the end of the season we will see that the time-off does hurt the teams. But wait until the season is done. Then let’s see:
what the bye-week record is for all teams coming off the bye
what the bye-week record is for teams with winning records
what the bye-week record is for teams with losing records
You have to take all of those into account to spot a trend, I think.
Perhaps also…
what the post bye-week record is for teams based on how their opponent finishes (ie, winning-record teams coming off a bye against winning-record teams, winning-record teams coming of a bye against losing-record teams, losing-record teams against winning-record teams, and losing-record teams against losing record teams).
I know it means nothing but Andy Reid is 12-0 after the bye.
The Ratbirds losing to the Jags is not an upset?
As a life long Patriots fan I can say I ALMOST feel sorry for Dolphin/Colts fans….ALMOST….
NAHHH, I love it!!!!
Pats will help those numbers become more even…Brady & CO. will continue to own the Steelers at Heinz field…
Look at the awful teams that had byes already, it isn’t rocket science.
“Like the great Neil Young said, numbers add up to nothing.”
Way to take Powderfinger completely out of context. The verse is “Daddy’s rifle in my hand felt reassuring. He said ‘Red means run, son. Numbers add up to nothing’.” The “red” refers to the beacon on the boat and “numbers add up to nothing” to the fact that while your side may outnumber a patrol (like a single white boat with numbers on the side, a red beacon, a flag, and guns), you don’t outnumber the entity that sent it (probably the government) and it will likely send more if you defeat the patrol.
So, “is it great to have a bye week” or not. . . Make up your mind.
Redskins lost to the Panthers Gregg. Thank you, goodbye.
Jim Harbaugh gave the Niners players the whole week off. He promised them an extra day for every extra win,starting two weeks ago and they destroyed Tampa and then beat Detroit in Detroit (3 for 3 in road games this season !).so they didn’t come back to practice until today (tues. ) . It looks like the Niners won’t need to worry about the bye week jinx,since they are playing the hapless Cleveland Browns in SF this week ! 6-1 sounds great !
They should arrange it so bye teams play each other the following week.
twototoo says:
Oct 25, 2011 11:55 AM
“We mentioned earlier Tuesday that teams enjoyed their bye in Week Sven.”
Spending a week with a large Norseman has never been benefical to athletic performance.
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This is true. Just ask anyone on the Vikings…
Yea, gives the Pats more time to cheat!
howley1:
I know what the song means, what exactly is your point, or do you even have one?