NFL News: Early Bye Insignificant To A Team’s Success
Six teams do not play in Week 4. Four of those teams are legitimate contenders.
More from Seattle Seahawks News
- 4 prospects Seahawks could reach for at No. 20 in 2023 NFL Draft
- Seattle Seahawks Mock Draft: Post-first wave of free agency
- Seahawks podcast: A review of the first week of free agency
- 4 experiments the Seattle Seahawks could cut short in 2023
- 3 pros and cons of Seattle Seahawks drafting Anthony Richardson
Seattle, who’s coming off a big win. Denver, who needed to get back to playing after a tough loss. Arizona, unbeaten and confident, sitting at the top of the NFC West. And a focused Cincinnati team, also unbeaten after three games.
A bye week this early may not be too beneficial.
Since the early 1990s, the NFL has included a week off for each team in its schedule. As the season winds down, few players are not playing injured. It’s logical to believe the same cannot be said after just three weeks. So, does a team with a later bye week hold an advantage over a team with an early bye?
Surprisingly, they don’t.
Bill Barnwell of Grantland did the research in 2012. Included in his findings were byes from the third week of the season to Week 10 (the NFL no longer schedules byes in the 3rd week). Winning percentages for the year are listed after each bye week.
For example, a team with a Week 4 bye had a winning percentage of 0.521. After a Week 10 bye, the percentage drops to 0.505. The article and table clearly show there is no advantage.
For each team with a bye this week, that’s great news. Of course they are just statistics and have zero influence on how a team will play. It would be hard to imagine Russell Wilson, Peyton Manning, Carson Palmer and Andy Dalton preparing for the next game with that information on their mind. More than likely, the next opponent takes up enough time as it is.
Seahawks faithful: Don’t be concerned about Seattle having time off after just three games. Aside from the opening week victory, they have had to expend a high amount of early-season energy. Add the drama and emotions from last week and they may be ready for a break.
QUICK FACTS
– The NFL really dropped the ball last week. Anytime there’s a matchup between two great teams, that game needs to be seen in prime time.
Last week Seattle hosted Denver, while San Francisco played Arizona in Glendale. NBC set up shop in Carolina. ABC/ESPN stayed local in New York. Even the mediocre Giants at the terrible Snyders had a prime time audience. Time to discuss East Coast bias?
– The faithful fans of the Denver Broncos started a petition to keep Phil Simms from doing Bronco games. He has not been kind to Denver or Peyton Manning. It was clear Sunday that CBS asked Simms to play nice.
The result? A gross display of favoritism. He praised the Bronco offense after failing to get a first down. Praised the coverage of Aqib Talib after giving up a TD to Doug Baldwin. Plus many more examples. Fan reaction out of Denver? The petition lives on. Gotta love intelligent fans.
– Week 5, as well as Week 6, have the potential of being extra fun to watch. Seattle travels to play Washington, which isn’t much better than Jacksonville. Then they go home the next week to host Dallas. The only question in that game will be whether Tony Romo throws more than three picks.
See? Fun.
GO HAWKS!