Defining a Successful Season
Jan 23, 2023 21:10:19 GMT -6
Funkytown, Josey Wales, and 2 more like this
Post by whoskmoon on Jan 23, 2023 21:10:19 GMT -6
Recently the Dailynorseman did a poll asking readers if they felt 2022 was a successful season. The results, sadly, were that 69% of readers did in fact think winning 13 games and losing badly to a mediocre Giants team at home in the wildcard round was indeed a successful season. For a team like the Lions, one could certainly see why a season where the team ended up winning the division only to suck in the playoffs would lead to fans thinking the season was successful. Winning seasons for them are just so rare, and anything better than 0-16 feels like a win for them. For the 7th most winningest franchise in the NFL just five years removed from the NFC Championship game though? It makes one wonder what exactly people think success is
Obviously winning the Super Bowl means a team had a successful season. The goal of every franchise is to win it all, or should be anyway, and accomplishing that goal means the team was successful. Surely there has to be more to being successful than just winning the Super Bowl though, or there would be 31 teams every year who were complete failures. On top of that, there are teams who go into every season with no shot at winning it all. Did they fail before they even played one game?
No, there has to be a better definition of success than just winning it all and to me, a team can be successful in a season one of three ways. The first is the most obvious, they win the Super Bowl. The second only franchises like Cleveland and Detroit get to have, which is to just make the playoffs for once. After a decade of losing double digits almost every season, going to the playoffs is a win for those franchises. Other franchise can fall to that level eventually too, but it takes at least a decade of futility to get to be successful at such a low bar.
The third level of success in my opinion, is having a season that doesn't win a championship, but puts you in a better position to do so next season or the season after. This can be done by either bottoming out and adding assets that could potentially lead to a championship caliber team. The Bears in that respect had a successful season despite having the worst record in the NFL. They had no hope going into 2022 whether they spent all their cap and kept all their vets, and instead they sold off their aging vets to the highest bidder and got the #1 overall pick. They now have the assets to rebuild a hopeless team into a championship roster. Or maybe they whiff on their picks and miss spend their cap space. Regardless, they are moving in a better direction than they were, which is a success. The other team that arguably could be in the second category of success too, is the Jacksonville Jaguars. After a terrible season last year, they gave their young team valuable playoff experience and are building something that could turn into a championship team.
The Vikings don't fall into any of those categories, but it appears most Vikings fans believe they fall into that second one. At least they made the playoffs right? Won some games, had an entertaining season, and got whooped by the Giants in the most important game. The team is in cap hell, with aging vets at key positions and does not have the draft picks to really improve. It is awesome the new head coach improved on last season, but outside of the win total this team regressed in many key stats. Did this season push them towards building a championship team? Nope. So how can we call this season a success?
That is just my opinion though, what do you all think? What defines success in the NFL and did the Vikings achieve that success?
Obviously winning the Super Bowl means a team had a successful season. The goal of every franchise is to win it all, or should be anyway, and accomplishing that goal means the team was successful. Surely there has to be more to being successful than just winning the Super Bowl though, or there would be 31 teams every year who were complete failures. On top of that, there are teams who go into every season with no shot at winning it all. Did they fail before they even played one game?
No, there has to be a better definition of success than just winning it all and to me, a team can be successful in a season one of three ways. The first is the most obvious, they win the Super Bowl. The second only franchises like Cleveland and Detroit get to have, which is to just make the playoffs for once. After a decade of losing double digits almost every season, going to the playoffs is a win for those franchises. Other franchise can fall to that level eventually too, but it takes at least a decade of futility to get to be successful at such a low bar.
The third level of success in my opinion, is having a season that doesn't win a championship, but puts you in a better position to do so next season or the season after. This can be done by either bottoming out and adding assets that could potentially lead to a championship caliber team. The Bears in that respect had a successful season despite having the worst record in the NFL. They had no hope going into 2022 whether they spent all their cap and kept all their vets, and instead they sold off their aging vets to the highest bidder and got the #1 overall pick. They now have the assets to rebuild a hopeless team into a championship roster. Or maybe they whiff on their picks and miss spend their cap space. Regardless, they are moving in a better direction than they were, which is a success. The other team that arguably could be in the second category of success too, is the Jacksonville Jaguars. After a terrible season last year, they gave their young team valuable playoff experience and are building something that could turn into a championship team.
The Vikings don't fall into any of those categories, but it appears most Vikings fans believe they fall into that second one. At least they made the playoffs right? Won some games, had an entertaining season, and got whooped by the Giants in the most important game. The team is in cap hell, with aging vets at key positions and does not have the draft picks to really improve. It is awesome the new head coach improved on last season, but outside of the win total this team regressed in many key stats. Did this season push them towards building a championship team? Nope. So how can we call this season a success?
That is just my opinion though, what do you all think? What defines success in the NFL and did the Vikings achieve that success?
... and neither is this Chris guy.