Recent Forum Topics › Forums › The Rams Huddle › do Fisher teams start slow?
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August 21, 2014 at 9:15 am #4492znModerator
Saguaro
…how [have] Jeff Fisher teams started their regular seasons?
I decided to do a little research. Wasn’t too lengthy.
I took his career before he came to the Rams. In other words, as head coach of the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans.
I then compared his overall record to his record in the 1st 4 games every season, the middle 8 games every season, and the last 4 games every season. Then I calculated winning percentages. Those were arbitrary choices. I could have done 5-6-5 or 3-10-3. It was not an attempt to manipulate the data. In fact, I don’t know if doing it another way would paint a different picture, because I only did it once.
Here are the results.
Overall Record —————– 141-115 .551
First 4 games each season — 28-36 – .438
Middle 8 games each season – 74-54 – .578
Last 4 games each season —- 39-25 – .609For what it’s worth, divided that way, it looks like the general pattern is to start slow, then get better as the season goes along, in terms of wins and losses.
August 21, 2014 at 9:48 am #4493znModeratorI found out some more things.
1. Fisher Oiler/Titans teams won their opener 10 out of 16 seasons.
2. Oddly, winning the opener is no guarantee they keep winning. Using the 4-8-4 game division from the first post in this thread, if you look, only 4 times out of 10 does winning the opener mean those teams then go above .500 in the next 3 games. It’s exactly like 2013. Winning the opener does not guarantee they then win more than 1 of the next 3.
3. To me this suggests something slightly different than the normal idea that he underprepares teams. This is completely subjective and based on a hunch I have and not on “data” per se. I don’t think Fisher under-prepares teams, I think he overestimates them…but THEN fixes things during the season. So he has a team ready for the opener, but not always ready for what then follows. Why not? If 2013 is any clue, it’s because he overestimates the personnel plus any formula he is using that won game 1. Then there’s a hard awakening, and the fixing (if it can be fixed.) Just thinking out loud on this one. “Hunching.”
4. In doing this I also glanced at the overall record. You know, this is not the record of a career .500 coach. Not exactly. It’s something different. I mean, yes, in terms of just averaging out the seasons into totals, it’s around .500, but if you look instead at the actual season by season topography, something different shows up. It looks to me like the record of a team that rises, then falls, rises, then falls. If I had to guess one reason for that, it’s personnel/injuries far more than any other factor. He develops his team then loses players. (That’s based on a vague memory of the history without real research.)
To color code this, redbold = losing or .500 seasons, bluebold = winning seasons.
There’s a pattern of rise, fall, rise, fall. That’s not the same as being .500 year in and year out.
2010 NFL Tennessee Titans 6 10
2009 NFL Tennessee Titans 8 82008 NFL Tennessee Titans* 13 3
2007 NFL Tennessee Titans* 10 62006 NFL Tennessee Titans 8 8
2005 NFL Tennessee Titans 4 12
2004 NFL Tennessee Titans 5 112002 NFL Tennessee Titans* 11 5
2001 NFL Tennessee Titans 7 9
2000 NFL Tennessee Titans* 13 3
1999 NFL Tennessee Titans* 13 31998 NFL Tennessee Oilers 8 8
1997 NFL Tennessee Oilers 8 8
1996 NFL Houston Oilers 8 8
1995 NFL Houston Oilers 7 9August 21, 2014 at 10:17 am #4494wvParticipantWell, Fisher has an owner that has
given him everything he wants;
he has a bunch of handpicked allstar coaches;
he’s had the benefit of RG3 trade;
he’s built this team with his players —
so wv-ram does not wanna see anymore .500-ish seasons.And I wanna see a Lombardi Trophy in year
3, 4, or 5.And i want Cake
for everyone
on the internet.w
vAugust 21, 2014 at 11:03 am #4495znModeratorWell, Fisher has an owner that has given him everything he wants;
he has a bunch of handpicked allstar coaches; he’s had the benefit of RG3 trade; he’s built this team with his players – so wv-ram does not wanna see anymore .500-ish seasons.And I wanna see a Lombardi Trophy in year 3, 4, or 5.
And i want Cake for everyone on the internet.
w
vWell, to me, perhaps more importantly, he has an organization that will hopefully avoid the situation he got in 2004/5 where he not only lost players because of injury, but had to face a dire cap and let key players go.
More planning and continuity.
Injuries happen, especially to Rams offensive linemen (that is actually a fully substantiated law of physics), BUT, you don’t have to combine that with cap-driven massacres.
Cake? We can’t let them eat cake. As history shows us, letting them eat cake leads to social collapse and reigns of terror.
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August 21, 2014 at 11:17 am #4496Eternal RamnationParticipantGive me Lombardi or give me cake.
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