SANTA CLARA, California (AP) – The concept from a year ago that the San Francisco 49ers would win the NFC West after 3 years of winning just 12 games combined was overstated.
Maybe you shouldn’t take into account how groups go from departmental championships to departmental championships in one year in the fashionable NFL.
The Niners overcame their 2016-18 win overall by winning thirteen regular season games and reaching the Super Bowl, where they lost to Kansas City. The team they defeated in the NFC naming game also bounced back after missing the playoffs in 2018, and Green Bay also won thirteen games last season.
It is the 16th time in more than 17 seasons that two department winners have missed the playoffs entirely the following season.
In 15 of the seasons, a team went from last to first in the department in the span of a year, a feat no one has accomplished in 2019. In all, 25 groups did so. since 2003, adding the Super Bowl champions New Orleans in 2009 and Philadelphia in 2017.
The contenders to accomplish that feat this season are Miami, Cincinnati, Jacksonville, Chargers, Washington, Detroit, Carolina and Arizona.
In all, five groups made the playoffs in 2019 after failing to do so last season, marking the 30th season in a row, at least 4 groups did. It will be even less difficult this season with an additional playoff spot at each and every conference.
INITIAL THOUGHTS: No franchise can fit in with the Cleveland Browns when it comes to starting the season on a bad note. The Browns are 0-14-1 in their last 15 opening games since defeating Baltimore 20-3 in 2004 with Jeff Garcia at quarterback. It’s been so long that only five players who got in shape that week are still on active rosters: Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Larry Fitzgerald, Jason Witten and Andy Lee.
While 332 other players played in Week 1 for the Browns during that span, Fitzgerald remained in Arizona the entire time. This week’s first game would be his 17th with the Cardinals, tied for fourth by a non-specialist with a franchise since the merger. Only Darrell Green (20) of Washington, Jackie Slater (18) of the Rams and Bruce Matthews (18) of the Houston-Tennessee franchise have more.
WEEK 1 RATINGS: Fitzgerald may also advance to top spot in Week 1 shots since the merger. He enters this season tied with Jerry Rice with 92 receptions at the start of the season. With a TD, Fitzgerald will sign for Tim Brown and Irving Fryar (11 each), and Randy Moss and Andre Reed (10 each) as the only players with at least 10 TD catches in Week 1.
Detroit’s Adrian Peterson wants criteria for listing Emmitt Smith (1,247), Walter Payton (1,067) and Edgerrin James (1,062) as the only players with at least 1,000 players.
Drew Brees is already the one in Week 1 with 5,406 passing yards and 39 touchdowns.
CASA DULCE CASA ?: Playing at home was rarely less commendable than last season in the NFL. Array524’s winning percentage for home groups was the worst in the entire league since the groups had a winning percentage of Array508 in 1972. Even groups that have massive cash merit like Seattle have had a hard time. . The Seahawks went 4-4, scoring just the third time in 18 seasons at their current stadium when they were better on the road.
Even the Patriots have lost twice at home after losing 8 regular season games at Gillette Stadium to Tom Brady at quarterback in the past 12 seasons.
GO FOR 2: Teams traded 54 2-point conversions last season, the third since the NFL followed the rule in 1994. After scoring 59 attempts in the rule’s first season, the league has returned to the 50 mark. in 2016. In fact, the league averaged just 26. 9 consistent with the 2005-14 season before a sudden spike. Four of the seven most sensible scores have come in the past five seasons, for a record 66 in 2018.
YOUNG GUNS: Led by the last two MVPs of Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson and Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes, the NFL set a record last season with 287 games through quarterbacks under the age of 27. Those quarterbacks combined for a record 144 wins.
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