Ranking Remaining Schedule

[windjc]

I had @Pittsburgh the toughest matchup in the 2nd half of Dallas' schedule. Big Ben played out of his mind in all-pro fashion and we still came away from Steelerland with a W. Now, lets look at the rest of the schedule. For fun, I ranked them by the eye test and then went back and found 3 stats to compare - Passing O (probably our defense's biggest achilles heel), Overall O (powerful offenses have a chance to compete against us in a shootout) and Overall D (not as big of a concern, simply because I don't think we can be stopped unless we stop ourselves).

This is the way I see it - toughest to easiest.

Team Record Passing O Total O Total D
@Eagles 5-4 26 17 6
Commanders 5-3-1 3 4 21
@Giants 6-3 9 21 16
@Vikings 5-4 23 32 3
Ravens 5-4 20 25 1
Lions 5-4 18 23 23
Bucs 4-5 16 14 27

Strength of schedule is still impressive with all winning records except 4-5 Bucs.

Stats say that maybe Commanders are biggest threat, with Vikings, Ravens and Lions not really offering much of an offensive threat.

Again, I don't think the Ravens and Vikings can stop our O unless we stop ourselves.

 

[Macnalty]

I had @Pittsburgh the toughest matchup in the 2nd half of Dallas' schedule. Big Ben played out of his mind in all-pro fashion and we still came away from Steelerland with a W. Now, lets look at the rest of the schedule. For fun, I ranked them by the eye test and then went back and found 3 stats to compare - Passing O (probably our defense's biggest achilles heel), Overall O (powerful offenses have a chance to compete against us in a shootout) and Overall D (not as big of a concern, simply because I don't think we can be stopped unless we stop ourselves).

This is the way I see it - toughest to easiest.

Team Record Passing O Total O Total D
@Eagles 5-4 26 17 6
Commanders 5-3-1 3 4 21
@Giants 6-3 9 21 16
@Vikings 5-4 23 32 3
Ravens 5-4 20 25 1
Lions 5-4 18 23 23
Bucs 4-5 16 14 27

Strength of schedule is still impressive with all winning records except 4-5 Bucs.

Stats say that maybe Commanders are biggest threat, with Vikings, Ravens and Lions not really offering much of an offensive threat.

Again, I don't think the Ravens and Vikings can stop our O unless we stop ourselves.

Here is our opponents Aikman Power Rankings as of last week, I am sure some have moved up or down since the weekend and the Ranking come out later today

11 Ravens 32th offense 2nd defense : off 10 days till they play the boys
12 Skins 14th offense 26th defense : Short week we play at home
13 Vikes 28th offense 4th defense : Lions play Vikes on Thanksgiving we play them one week later on TNFootball
14 Giants 29th offense 8th defense : Steelers play Giants week before and we have 10 days off till this game
15 Bucs 17th offense 27th defense : Chargers playing Bucs week before our game
16 Lions 9th offense 28th defense : Playing Bears week before our game
17 Eagles 20th offense 3rd defense : Playing Giants week before our game

 

[rwalters31]

I had @Pittsburgh the toughest matchup in the 2nd half of Dallas' schedule. Big Ben played out of his mind in all-pro fashion and we still came away from Steelerland with a W. Now, lets look at the rest of the schedule. For fun, I ranked them by the eye test and then went back and found 3 stats to compare - Passing O (probably our defense's biggest achilles heel), Overall O (powerful offenses have a chance to compete against us in a shootout) and Overall D (not as big of a concern, simply because I don't think we can be stopped unless we stop ourselves).

This is the way I see it - toughest to easiest.

Team Record Passing O Total O Total D
@Eagles 5-4 26 17 6
Commanders 5-3-1 3 4 21
@Giants 6-3 9 21 16
@Vikings 5-4 23 32 3
Ravens 5-4 20 25 1
Lions 5-4 18 23 23
Bucs 4-5 16 14 27

Strength of schedule is still impressive with all winning records except 4-5 Bucs.

Stats say that maybe Commanders are biggest threat, with Vikings, Ravens and Lions not really offering much of an offensive threat.

Again, I don't think the Ravens and Vikings can stop our O unless we stop ourselves.

Good analysis and agree with most but I would put Lions at the Vikings position because Vikings offense stinks.

 

[Bullflop]

Here is our opponents Aikman Power Rankings as of last week, I am sure some have moved up or down since the weekend and the Ranking come out later today

11 Ravens 32th offense 2nd defense : off 10 days till they play the boys
12 Skins 14th offense 26th defense : Short week we play at home
13 Vikes 28th offense 4th defense : Lions play Vikes on Thanksgiving we play them one week later on TNFootball
14 Giants 29th offense 8th defense : Steelers play Giants week before and we have 10 days off till this game
15 Bucs 17th offense 27th defense : Chargers playing Bucs week before our game
16 Lions 9th offense 28th defense : Playing Bears week before our game
17 Eagles 20th offense 3rd defense : Playing Giants week before our game

Thanks for that rundown -- strange how what looked like intimidating teams in the past now appear easier prey than before. I guess that's what happens when your team steps up their scoring power drastically from one year to the next. It's a feeling that is relatively unfamiliar but also one that isn't altogether hard to get used to. As a matter of fact, it's an absolute relief!

Now, then, if we can just fortify our defense a little bit, we'll be ready to take on the best of 'em . . . not at all too sure we aren't already, though. Thumbs up -- bring 'em on! Nobody on that list looks like any team we can't handle. Here's hoping we keep our injuries to a minimum and get back some of the players now missing. Just a little good fortune and we're on our way.

 

[1972COWBOY]

Yep but Pittsburgh just reveled some weakspots in our secondary and were able to score at will at the end of the game.

 

[JohnsKey19]

Yep but Pittsburgh just reveled some weakspots in our secondary and were able to score at will at the end of the game.

Pittsburgh on their home field is probably the toughest offense in the league. On paper, we wont face another challenge close to that.

 

[robjay04]

Hopefully the Eagles are last on that list because everything is settled by that game.

 

[robjay04]

Yep but Pittsburgh just reveled some weakspots in our secondary and were able to score at will at the end of the game.

Yeah Pittsburgh is the best passing offense in the league with their big 3 healthy. I believe our game was only the first or second time all 3 have been on the field healthy.

 

[canters]

Philly did the same thing the Steelers did,,,throw short to medium range passes on timing and let the receiver run. We will see this again.

 

[big dog cowboy]

5-2 at worst.

 

[Macnalty]

Thanks for that rundown -- strange how what looked like intimidating teams in the past now appear easier prey than before. I guess that's what happens when your team steps up their scoring power drastically from one year to the next. It's a feeling that is relatively unfamiliar but also one that isn't altogether hard to get used to. As a matter of fact, it's an absolute relief!

Now, then, if we can just fortify our defense a little bit, we'll be ready to take on the best of 'em . . . not at all too sure we aren't already, though. Thumbs up -- bring 'em on! Nobody on that list looks like any team we can't handle. Here's hoping we keep our injuries to a minimum and get back some of the players now missing. Just a little good fortune and we're on our way.

Lions seem like a trap game for us especially with our weaknesses on defense. You are so right about no one we cannot handle if we keep the turnovers minimal and the run game rolling we might have home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

 

[Bullflop]

Lions seem like a trap game for us especially with our weaknesses on defense. You are so right about no one we cannot handle if we keep the turnovers minimal and the run game rolling we might have home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

The Lions have that scary DL that's capable of making things tough for any defense. Thankfully, our OL is good enough to make it hard for them to dominate us the way they do most teams. Dak will get rid of the ball quickly enough in most instances to cause any team trouble. They are tougher at home than at our place, so perhaps we'll make our fans proud one more time with them. I'm cautiously optimistic. I think our team is, too.

 

[Macnalty]

The Lions have that scary DL that's capable of making things tough for any defense. Thankfully, our OL is good enough to make it hard for them to dominate us the way they do most teams. Dak will get rid of the ball quickly enough in most instances to cause any team trouble. They are tougher at home than at our place, though, so perhaps we'll make our fans proud one more time with them. I'm cautiously optimistic and I think our guys are too.

I agree the matchups are not optimum with the Lions. Great QB and WR's are playing better without Calvin Johnson in the lineup. I promise no one is happy to see the cowboys on their schedule after what that offense did to the Steelers with a rookie QB.

 

[Bullflop]

I agree the matchups are not optimum with the Lions. Great QB and WR's are playing better without Calvin Johnson in the lineup. I promise no one is happy to see the cowboys on their schedule after what that offense did to the Steelers with a rookie QB.

Totally agree -- whereas other teams used to look at us as a flawed team that was reasonably capable on offense, they now see us as a serious threat to make them appear inadequate defensively. They also realize that our defense is over-achieving, which makes it even tougher for them to outscore us. Things are just going our way in 2016.

 

[DFWJC]

I had @Pittsburgh the toughest matchup in the 2nd half of Dallas' schedule. Big Ben played out of his mind in all-pro fashion and we still came away from Steelerland with a W. Now, lets look at the rest of the schedule. For fun, I ranked them by the eye test and then went back and found 3 stats to compare - Passing O (probably our defense's biggest achilles heel), Overall O (powerful offenses have a chance to compete against us in a shootout) and Overall D (not as big of a concern, simply because I don't think we can be stopped unless we stop ourselves).

This is the way I see it - toughest to easiest.

Team Record Passing O Total O Total D
@Eagles 5-4 26 17 6
Commanders 5-3-1 3 4 21
@Giants 6-3 9 21 16
@Vikings 5-4 23 32 3
Ravens 5-4 20 25 1
Lions 5-4 18 23 23
Bucs 4-5 16 14 27

Strength of schedule is still impressive with all winning records except 4-5 Bucs.

Stats say that maybe Commanders are biggest threat, with Vikings, Ravens and Lions not really offering much of an offensive threat.

Again, I don't think the Ravens and Vikings can stop our O unless we stop ourselves.

Good ranking

I had Pittsburgh as 4th or 5th toughest game in the 2nd half of the schedule with all NFC East games ahead of them, and the Ravens (who had just shut them out).
By the way Pittsburgh played last week, I'd put them ahead of the Ravens.

Of what's left:

1. at Eagles
2. at Giants
3. Commanders
4. at Vikings (because of the "at")
5. Ravens
6. Lions
7. Bucs

really though--to me the NFC East games are interchangeable and so are the Vikings, Lions, and Ravens.

 

[Macnalty]

Totally agree -- whereas other teams used to look at us as a flawed team that was reasonably capable on offense, they now see us as a serious threat to make them appear inadequate defensively. They also realize that our defense is over-achieving, which makes it even tougher for them.

That is well said about making them appear inadequate defensively the boys can downright embarrass a defense at the level they are currently playing.

 

[jazzcat22]

Lions seem like a trap game for us especially with our weaknesses on defense. You are so right about no one we cannot handle if we keep the turnovers minimal and the run game rolling we might have home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

Yes, and I have posted several times in the last few weeks. Watch out for the Lions, they can move the ball and score. Their D is ranked low, but they seem to come up with some plays and stops in their wins lately.

 

[Elusive6thRing]

Facing the 2nd, 3rd and 4th best defense, the offense will be tested. But only one top 10 offense so that's good for our defense.

 

[Pessimist_cowboy]

Well we see things different here's mine !

@NYG
Skins
Lions(Lions will need game for playoffs)
@ Vikings
Ravens
Bucs
@philly (game will be meaningless)

 

[DFWJC]

Well we see things different here's mine !

@NYG
Skins
Lions(Lions will need game for playoffs)
@ Vikings
Ravens
Bucs
@philly (game will be meaningless)

wow. I think you may be right.
So maybe the toughest remaining game may very well have no meaning, as Dallas could have it wrapped up.
This is a charmed season