The S.M.A.R.T.A.S.S. is Back! 2022 Edition

not pictured: Kirk Cousins

Any questions?

The following graph correlates to the season averages (green/red number) on the offensive and defensive sides of the team charts (Vikings +22 and +49). (ghosted helmets = last years results):

Ooof, that S.M.A.R.T.A.S.S. defense though huh? Yeah if it walks like a fraud and quacks like a fraud ... *whistle*

2021 for comparison:

I wonder how much their S.M.A.R.T.A.S.S. would change if I took out the final 2 minutes xD.

Yep that Donatell defense definitely looks worse. Wow, anytime you rank 1769th out of 1805, you're definitely doing something special. The Les twins, Steckel and Frazier are out there blushing somewhere. Just about every purple bar exceeds the opponents bar, and blows past the league average. A mark of a truly bad defense. Same could be said of the Zimmer defense in 2021. Flores can't do worse than these 2 idiots right? To be fair, Zimmers 2017 defense ranked higher than the 2000 Ravens legendary defense in this system believe it or not. That tends to happen when you face the creampuff offenses the Ravens did that year xD.

Meanwhile KOC's offense wasn't any better than Baby Kubes, and it had to do a lot more passing just to pull even, leading to a historically bad pass to run ratio that would've made even John DeFlipper proud. See that Giants playoff game though? 4th and 8 aside, that's why we can't let the offense off the hook and just blame the defense. Jefferson and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Cousins only managed to generate 332 yards of offense against the Giants 27th ranked defense, which came in giving up an average of 358 yards per game. A well below average performance. Not quite as ugly as giving up 97 bonus yards to Danny Dimes, but still. Champions stack trophy cases, losers make excuses.

Speaking of champions, here's what a Super Bowl winning S.M.A.R.T.A.S.S. looks like:

Jelly! Man, the offense and defense were clicking in November and December huh? When your offense is that good, you only need an average defense ...

... unless you're the '98 Vikings ofc *whistle*

#MissingRings

2nd best S.M.A.R.T.A.S.S. in offensive points scored over your opponents defensive average since 1960 (1805 teams). *notworthy*

What a waste. Can you guess who was #1? Hint: they didn't win a Super Bowl either *thumb_up*

At 39th, not quite the impressive passing attack as you remember though huh? Bonus points if you can name all 38 teams that had a better passing attack than the '98 Vikings. Hint: One was another Vikings team

What other teams would be interesting to look at (any team since 1960)? There's a few historically good and bad teams I'd like to take a closer look at xD. Can you guess which Vikings team had the best S.M.A.R.T.A.S.S.? Or the worst? Unfortunately these take awhile to make so I can't do them all.

I've already done one for each of our division rival affiliates in the sidebar too, Bears (22 and 85), Lions (22 and 91), Packers (their board is DOA). And one for a Cardinals board I'm on (22 and 08). I'll post the links as soon as I make the posts xD.

Bears - chitown-bears.com/thread/7139/season-modified-reigns-average-system
Lions - lionsredzone.proboards.com/thread/792/season-modified-reigns-average-system
Cardinals - arizonacardinals.freeforums.net/thread/10603/season-modified-reigns-average-system
Packers - their board is DOA

Last Edit: Jul 11, 2023 18:29:20 GMT -6 by Reignman

if sitting and watching something versus actually doing it made a person great at it, Reignman would be the next Ron Jeremy.

diehardtwinsfan Moderator Posts: 11,967 Likes: 7,509	The S.M.A.R.T.A.S.S. is Back! 2022 Edition Jul 5, 2023 4:53:47 GMT -6 Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by diehardtwinsfan on Jul 5, 2023 4:53:47 GMT -6 It wasn't Brady's and Moss undefeated Patriots at #1 was it?

Danchat Content Creator Posts: 19,022 Likes: 16,602	The S.M.A.R.T.A.S.S. is Back! 2022 Edition Jul 5, 2023 9:18:43 GMT -6 Funkytown and Josey Wales like this Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by Danchat on Jul 5, 2023 9:18:43 GMT -6 Great stuff, Reignman! These are some sexy charts. And man, was our defense bad! Bottom 2% in passing yards allowed, all time!!
	Last Edit: Jul 5, 2023 9:18:53 GMT -6 by Danchat

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The S.M.A.R.T.A.S.S. is Back! 2022 Edition Jul 5, 2023 14:09:51 GMT -6 Josey Wales and 15sparks like this

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Post by Funkytown on Jul 5, 2023 14:09:51 GMT -6

Wow. A lot to digest here.

1) These are preeeeetty.
2) I forgot just how bad that Dallas game was. Thanks for the reminder! *thumb_down*

3) 98 is pain ... Purple Pain.

Jul 4, 2023 19:03:22 GMT -6 Reignman said:

Jelly! Man, the offense and defense were clicking in November and December huh? When your offense is that good, you only need an average defense ...

A reason for optimism? Maybe Flores can have things clicking by then?

Jul 4, 2023 19:03:22 GMT -6 Reignman said:

No hurry, but eventually all of the Super Bowl and NFCCG Vikings' teams
Les Steckel
~~Les Steckel 2.0~~ Leslie Frazier's 2011

Oh, and this gem of a season, because I was young then, and it was before my Vikings-related online activities, so, I want answers!

Your fave:

Last Edit: Jul 5, 2023 14:13:39 GMT -6 by Funkytown

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The S.M.A.R.T.A.S.S. is Back! 2022 Edition Jul 5, 2023 14:35:04 GMT -6 Funkytown and 15sparks like this

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Post by Reignman on Jul 5, 2023 14:35:04 GMT -6

Jul 5, 2023 4:53:47 GMT -6 diehardtwinsfan said:

It wasn't Brady's and Moss undefeated Patriots at #1 was it?

We have a winner! How'd you manage to crack the code xD? But yes they blew away the competition with a 16.17 points over average (15.74 adjusted for era). The '98 Vikings edged out the 2013 Broncos for 2nd based on an era technicality. They beat the Vikings head to head 14.69 to 13.74, but after normalization the Vikings leap ahead 13.67 to 13.29. That's how much passing has changed in just those 15 years.

Jul 5, 2023 9:18:43 GMT -6 Danchat said:

Great stuff, Reignman! These are some sexy charts. And man, was our defense bad! Bottom 2% in passing yards allowed, all time!!

Indeed, and that's adjusted for era, so you can't simply blame it on the pass happy era. If I went by straight average, it's 1784th/1805, or the worst pass defense since the 2015 Giants. Even Teddy beat that Giants team 49-17 xD. To be fair he was only 15/25 for 168 yards so he actually helped them. In fact, the Giants pass defense only had 2 negative performances that year, a -3.4 against the Dolphins, and the -35.2 against Teddy. Otherwise they averaged a +66.2, which would've been 6th worst all time. Throw in the Teddy game and they drop to 16th at +59.96 xD *goteddy*

But 2022 was the worst S.M.A.R.T.A.S.S. pass defense in Vikings history. 2021 was Zimmers worst year, but it barely cracked the top 20 worst in team history (19th). 2013 Frazier came in at 7th and 1984 Steckel surprisingly came in at 11th. I expected all those to be higher xD. Zimmer cracked the top 13 team pass defenses 3 times however (2016-2018).

if sitting and watching something versus actually doing it made a person great at it, Reignman would be the next Ron Jeremy.

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The S.M.A.R.T.A.S.S. is Back! 2022 Edition Jul 5, 2023 16:18:40 GMT -6 15sparks likes this

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Post by Danchat on Jul 5, 2023 16:18:40 GMT -6

Jul 5, 2023 14:35:04 GMT -6 Reignman said:

Indeed, and that's adjusted for era, so you can't simply blame it on the pass happy era. If I went by straight average, it's 1784th/1805

Wow, I didn't realize you adjusted by era. That's insanely bad.

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The S.M.A.R.T.A.S.S. is Back! 2022 Edition Jul 5, 2023 18:21:48 GMT -6 15sparks likes this

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Post by Reignman on Jul 5, 2023 18:21:48 GMT -6

Jul 5, 2023 16:18:40 GMT -6 Danchat said:

Jul 5, 2023 14:35:04 GMT -6 Reignman said:

Indeed, and that's adjusted for era, so you can't simply blame it on the pass happy era. If I went by straight average, it's 1784th/1805

Wow, I didn't realize you adjusted by era. That's insanely bad.

I only adjust by era for the historical ranks and percentiles. The rest of the data is season based or not adjusted. So if I were to do a 2013 Broncos chart, you'd see their +14.69 in points scored, but ranked 3rd behind the Vikings +13.74, which might seem confusing, but that's the reason why. The historical ranking would be based on the Vikings adjusted +13.67 to the Broncos adjusted +13.29. It's the only way to do it fairly, otherwise all the modern teams would dominate in passing. It's also why I created a QB Inflation Calculator lol. The game has changed too much, but I still want to be able to compare things head to head.

if sitting and watching something versus actually doing it made a person great at it, Reignman would be the next Ron Jeremy.

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The S.M.A.R.T.A.S.S. is Back! 2022 Edition Jul 5, 2023 21:14:10 GMT -6 Funkytown, Danchat, and 2 more like this

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Post by Reignman on Jul 5, 2023 21:14:10 GMT -6

To demonstrate the evolution of football, and to better explain the point of having to normalize the data when working with a time frame this long, I produced a few charts xD.

This one should be easy enough to understand. This is how the average yards per game has evolved from 1960 to 2022.

Oddly enough I was expecting rushing to decrease at the same rate passing has increased, but it has remained relatively steady. Passing has clearly increased however, and with rushing remaining steady, total yards per game has also increased. Check out the deadball era in the 1970's when rushing actually surpassed passing a couple of times xD. That was 1973 and 1977. That's why I always criticized Zimmer for having a 1972 run first philosophy

.

That spike in passing in the 60's was mostly due to the AFL. In an effort to compete with the more popular NFL, the AFL opened up passing a bit, and had a 2 point conversion. When they merged in 1970 it looks like the new No Fun League got hyper conservative, and eliminated the 2 point conversion.

1960-1969

    PASS/G  RUSH/G
NFL  179.2  124.9
AFL  191.4  118.0

Now the following chart might look like nothing but a bunch of chicken scratch at first, but you'll eventually see the pattern. I made a column for each year 1960-2022, and each black dot represents one of the 1805 teams, locked into their respective year/column, but ranked according to average passing yards per game (before normalization). Near the top of the chart you can see a larger collection of black dots toward the right (recent years), and as you scroll down, the dots start moving to the left (early years). It's not because they lacked a Pat Mahomes back then, the game was just different. Bonus points if you can guess who that lone black juggernaut is in the upper left, bucking all the trends in 1961.

(warning: large image) You're lucky I didn't post the full sized version.

Now the same idea, but with the data normalized. Now it's just a bunch of random dots. AKA a level playing field.

(warning: large image)

if sitting and watching something versus actually doing it made a person great at it, Reignman would be the next Ron Jeremy.

comet52 Hall of Fame Candidate Posts: 7,076 Likes: 8,706	The S.M.A.R.T.A.S.S. is Back! 2022 Edition Jul 6, 2023 0:36:46 GMT -6 via mobile Reignman and 15sparks like this Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by comet52 on Jul 6, 2023 0:36:46 GMT -6 Well no one can ever say that you don't have a lot of free time on your hands Reign. Can you run this for teams that played prior to 1960?
	I'm here for entertainment purposes only

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The S.M.A.R.T.A.S.S. is Back! 2022 Edition Jul 6, 2023 9:02:16 GMT -6 15sparks likes this

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Post by diehardtwinsfan on Jul 6, 2023 9:02:16 GMT -6

Jul 5, 2023 14:35:04 GMT -6 Reignman said:

I guessed actually... but you said they didn't win it... and well it was a good team.

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The S.M.A.R.T.A.S.S. is Back! 2022 Edition Jul 6, 2023 19:06:47 GMT -6 Reignman, Funkytown, and 1 more like this

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Post by OdinHammer on Jul 6, 2023 19:06:47 GMT -6

This is the single greatest thread I have ever seen. The 1987 Viking season might be interesting to see but if the strike-shortened aspect of that year makes it too time-consuming or anything that's ok too.

Jul 4, 2023 19:03:22 GMT -6 Reignman said:

Meanwhile KOC's offense wasn't any better than Baby Kubes

This is no doubt disappointing but I notice the '22 brain trust of Aaron Rodgers/Matt LaFleur was worse than both *lolpoint*

This time of year I figure I don't have much to add to Viking discussion but I sort of forgot all the great posts I miss out on. I think I might have to take a little break from the tender talks thread and start having some fun again! Thanks for the next-level thread Reignman!

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The S.M.A.R.T.A.S.S. is Back! 2022 Edition Jul 8, 2023 18:52:19 GMT -6 OdinHammer and 15sparks like this

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Post by Reignman on Jul 8, 2023 18:52:19 GMT -6

Jul 6, 2023 0:36:46 GMT -6 comet52 said:

Well no one can ever say that you don't have a lot of free time on your hands Reign.

Ohhhh ho ho ho you haven't seen nuthin yet.

Did Funkytown tell you guys how much time I wasted just creating my own monospace font for this project? *lol*

No wait, that ended up saving me time. *skeptic*

Jul 6, 2023 0:36:46 GMT -6 comet52 said:

Can you run this for teams that played prior to 1960?

Well I could, but that's like trying to divide by zero. *lol*

No, there were only like 4 teams prior to 1960, or whatever it was, so the "historic" numbers and rankings start to get a little wild. I was only going to go back to the merger in 1970, but I wanted to be able to cover the entire Vikings franchise (1961), but then settled on 1960 because that's when quite a few other teams began. By then there were 21 teams. Maybe later I'll go further back. Some of these 60's teams skew the numbers a bit too. Seriously that '61 Oilers team was on crack after it fired Rymkus. Had the Super Bowl era started back then, the trophy might be called the Wally Lemm trophy instead of Lombardi xD.

This is the single greatest thread I have ever seen.

Suck it haters, the Hammer has spoketh! *rock*

For some reason I can picture you saying, "Hammer Likey" *lol*

... where's the podcast anyway? Are you guys retooling? What's the A-Train up to?

This is no doubt disappointing but I notice the '22 brain trust of Aaron Rodgers/Matt LaFleur was worse than both

Well

since you brought it up. Yeah, the Vikings finished 3rd overall in passing, while A-ron Rodgers and co finished 18th, and the KOC has LaFleur in overall offense 8th to 20th, but the sunshine and rainbows end once we factor in rushing and defense lol. Donatell couldn't hold Joe Barry's jock strap. I mean the Packers only had the 15th best overall S.M.A.R.T.A.S.S. defense in 2022, but still finish 16 spots ahead of the Vikings xD. And that's enough to give the Packers a slight edge over the fraudulent Vikings in team S.M.A.R.T.A.S.S. (-4.08 to -26.93).

94 teams have won 13+ games since 1960 and only 6 finished with a negative team score. The 2022 Vikings weren't the worst however. The 2001 Bears (wait until I tell them *whistle*

) was 2nd worst with a -30.80, and the 13-3 '84 Broncos bringing home the gold at a fraud dropping -48.06. Teams that low typically have double digit losses, so it shouldn't surprise anyone that all 3 of these teams ended up 1-and-done in the playoffs lol. The Packers have twice finished in negative territory as a 13 win team (2011 and 2019).

Thanks for the next-level thread Reignman!

Well if I didn't enjoy it so much. *whistle*

The 1987 Viking season might be interesting to see

I'm actually working on a little project for that one xD. The '87 Vikings have come up in a lot of threads lately so yeah I want to look at that one too. I'm currently working on how much better the 2021 defense would've looked if you took out the final 2 minutes of each half.