We noted last week that teams coming off a bye this year were 3-9.
There was some hand-wringing about the effects of mandated days off this year, but thought that the trend was nothing more than “statistical noise” mostly based on bad teams having early byes.
Week Eight seemed to prove our point. Teams coming off a bye were 5-1 Sunday, with the Patriots the only team to lose. Teams are now 8-10 coming off a bye this year.
Al Michaels made a great point during Sunday’s telecast. Andy Reid always gives his team a full week off from work during the bye, and he’s 13-0 now after a bye in Philly. It doesn’t mean that’s the only approach that works, but it does mean you don’t need a lot of practice during the bye week to be effective.
Only eight more teams have a bye this year. Four teams are off this week, no teams have a bye in Week 10, and then four teams are off in Week 11.
The lockout created a funkier than usual schedule this year, resulting in the odd setup.