Why the Chargers had No Chance in 2020

[DragonIce]

What do these 2020 NFL Teams have in common in 2020?
49ers
Patriots
Eagles
Jets
Cowboys
Chargers
Broncos
Giants

All of them had losing records, true. What else?

This is the list of the top 8 teams in AGL. What is AGL you ask? Adjusted Games Lost. It's not a list you want to be high on! It's a ranking of how many games your key players lost to injuries and Covid.

It's pretty simple: if you can't put your talented players on the field...you can't win.

Who graded lowest in AGL? The Tampa Bay Bucs, of course.

What say you? I'll be following up with more thoughts in subsequent posts.

[Velo]

Assuming this was just for the regular season and not the post-season: the Bucs won only 11 games in the regular season, tied with 4 other teams for 7th best. A third of the league won as many games or more games than the Bucs.

[DragonIce]

Assuming this was just for the regular season and not the post-season: the Bucs won only 11 games in the regular season, tied with 4 other teams for 7th best. A third of the league won as many games or more games than the Bucs.

AGL only factors regular season.

Not one of the 8, er, make it 9 teams most afflicted with high AGL scores could manage a winning season. WFT was #9. In the stat world we'd call that high correlation. Quite high... almost to the point of ironclad.

Not one team in the "top" nine were winners. You miss'n your dawgs a lot...you lose.

You have to get to 11 to find a high AGL team that made the playoffs (Cleveland).

[Formula 21]

Talking about injuries, I’m hoping the Bolts upgrade their training staffs/training techniques along with the new coaching staff.

[Parcells]

Bolts have been one of the most injury plagued teams year in and year out. 2018 was a nice exception. And we went 12-4.

[DragonIce]

Talking about injuries, I’m hoping the Bolts upgrade their training staffs/training techniques along with the new coaching staff.

Something to look at for sure.

But even more so, it's something that needs to be driven into the minds of management during player acquisition. Availability is attribute #1 when assessing ability.
-Older players miss far more games than young players (that's why free agency can be trouble)
-Previously injured players have higher risk

[DragonIce]

Bolts have been one of the most injury plagued teams year in and year out. 2018 was a nice exception. And we went 12-4.

No accident.

[DragonIce]

This is the kind of thing an analytics department comes up with. I was disappointed to learn that the Chargers have a very small analytics group.

"Next man up" is a nice slogan... for coach's speeches and media interviews.

There simply isn't going to be a good replacement when a guy like Derwin James goes down.

[DragonIce]

Might I now direct your attention to some hopeful thoughts?

-We have the best rookie QB in the league. Never had a major injury.
-We have nine draft picks--youth
-We are seeded above most
-TT might have once been unaware, but now understands (all too well) metrics like AGL. TT is an amazing talent evaluator, now the wiser.

...and Staley a superior teacher and coach.

[powderblueboy]

The Bucs seemed to have everyone available for the Super Bowl.
KC the year before also had everyone, save Thornhill, available for the Super Bowl.

Its hard to believe as a Chargers fan that some teams don't have season ending injuries to starters.
Chargers get hit early and often.
:smh:

[DragonIce]

The Bucs seemed to have everyone available for the Super Bowl.
KC the year before also had everyone, save Thornhill, available for the Super Bowl.

Its hard to believe as a Chargers fan that some teams don't have season ending injuries to starters.
Chargers get hit early and often.
:smh:

Aptly said.

Some of it, for sure, is the football gods. (May they be blessed and find favor here) Injuries can happen to any player any time.

Last season I was a Cowboys fan. When Dak went down my immediate thought was: "how can we tank hard?" I knew the 2020 season was over. There is simply no recovery when vital players vanish.

I will say that as a fan I've "won" many championships. I'll hope to add to the collective mojo. Chargers...Bolt up. Is that how to say it? (Still getting my Chargers sea legs)

[gzubeck]

Where does stupidity come in? With the coaching staff I mean...We had a genius rookie QB with the worst oline in NFL drag us to 7-9!

:coffee: