When Weaker Teams Sweep Stronger Teams

by Chase Stuart on September 14, 2016

On Thursday, the Jets travel to Buffalo to face the Bills. Last year, New York went 10-6, but was swept by a Buffalo team that went 8-8. But that wasn’t even the oddest result of last year: 10-6 Seattle got swept by 7-9 St. Louis, and that wasn’t the oddest result last year, either.

The Ravens swept the Steelers last year, which wouldn’t ordinarily be notable. Except Baltimore went just 5-11 last year, while Pittsburgh went 10-6! Both games were very close: the first of those games was started by Mike Vick, involved two missed field goals by Josh Scobee in the final four minutes, and required kicks by Justin Tucker of 42 yards at the end of regulation and of 52 yards in overtime to secure the win.

The second one, though, was the true shocker: even though the game was in Baltimore, it was started by Ryan Mallett. For Pittsburgh, Ben Roethlisberger struggled mightily, completing just 24 of 34 passes for 220 yards with 0 TDs and 2 interceptions. The Steelers were 10-point road favorites, but lost, 20-17, when Roethlisberger’s 4th-and-15 pass fell incomplete.

Pittsburgh won 62.5% of its games last year, and Baltimore won just 31.3% of its games; that’s a difference of 31.3%, which ranks as the 5th weirdest result among division sweeps. The weirdest? That came in 1988, when the 11-5 Vikings were swept by the 4-12 Packers. The table below shows the top 100 or so weirdest division sweeps, and the Jets/Bills example from last year only ranks 51st:

Rk	Team	Opp	Year	Tm Rec	Opp Rec	Diff
1	MIN	GNB	1988	0.688	0.250	0.438
2	GNB	CHI	2007	0.813	0.438	0.375
2	DAL	WAS	1995	0.750	0.375	0.375
4	CHI	CRD	1951	0.583	0.250	0.333
5	PIT	BAL	2015	0.625	0.313	0.313
6	WAS	NYG	1977	0.643	0.357	0.286
7	WAS	PHI	1975	0.571	0.286	0.286
8	NYJ	SEA	1981	0.656	0.375	0.281
9	FRN	CLE	1925	0.650	0.393	0.257
10	NYG	WAS	2011	0.563	0.313	0.250
10	ARI	SFO	2004	0.375	0.125	0.250
10	DEN	KAN	2000	0.688	0.438	0.250
10	PIT	CIN	1998	0.438	0.188	0.250
10	BUF	NWE	1995	0.625	0.375	0.250
10	MIA	NYJ	1980	0.500	0.250	0.250
10	BUF	BAL	1980	0.688	0.438	0.250
17	BAL	SFO	1969	0.607	0.357	0.250
18	PRV	POT	1927	0.607	0.385	0.223
19	MIN	GNB	1980	0.563	0.344	0.219
20	NYG	PIT	1955	0.542	0.333	0.208
21	SEA	STL	2015	0.625	0.438	0.188
21	DAL	NYG	2009	0.688	0.500	0.188
21	ARI	SFO	2007	0.500	0.313	0.188
21	TAM	NOR	2002	0.750	0.563	0.188
21	WAS	DAL	2001	0.500	0.313	0.188
21	BAL	CLE	2001	0.625	0.438	0.188
21	WAS	DAL	2000	0.500	0.313	0.188
21	STL	CAR	2000	0.625	0.438	0.188
21	CAR	ATL	2000	0.438	0.250	0.188
21	TAM	DET	1998	0.500	0.313	0.188
21	NYJ	BUF	1997	0.563	0.375	0.188
21	MIA	BUF	1994	0.625	0.438	0.188
21	DEN	RAI	1991	0.750	0.563	0.188
21	IND	NWE	1989	0.500	0.313	0.188
21	PHI	WAS	1988	0.625	0.438	0.188
21	RAI	SEA	1983	0.750	0.563	0.188
21	PIT	CIN	1980	0.563	0.375	0.188
21	MIA	NYJ	1978	0.688	0.500	0.188
39	RAM	CRD	1938	0.364	0.182	0.182
40	CHI	RAM	1938	0.545	0.364	0.182
41	OAK	BOS	1963	0.714	0.536	0.179
41	BOS	NYT	1961	0.679	0.500	0.179
43	GNB	DET	1982	0.611	0.444	0.167
44	MIN	GNB	1987	0.533	0.367	0.167
45	DET	SFO	1952	0.750	0.583	0.167
45	PIT	WAS	1949	0.542	0.375	0.167
47	KAN	SDG	1989	0.531	0.375	0.156
48	CHI	DET	1968	0.500	0.357	0.143
48	NYT	BOS	1960	0.500	0.357	0.143
50	SFO	RAM	1972	0.607	0.464	0.143
51	NYJ	BUF	2015	0.625	0.500	0.125
51	ATL	TAM	2015	0.500	0.375	0.125
51	KAN	SDG	2013	0.688	0.563	0.125
51	MIA	BUF	2013	0.500	0.375	0.125
51	KAN	OAK	2010	0.625	0.500	0.125
51	ARI	SFO	2009	0.625	0.500	0.125
51	HOU	JAX	2009	0.563	0.438	0.125
51	NYJ	MIA	2009	0.563	0.438	0.125
51	NOR	CAR	2006	0.625	0.500	0.125
51	SFO	ARI	2006	0.438	0.313	0.125
51	SEA	SFO	2006	0.563	0.438	0.125
51	JAX	HOU	2006	0.500	0.375	0.125
51	STL	SFO	2005	0.375	0.250	0.125
51	JAX	HOU	2004	0.563	0.438	0.125
51	MIN	GNB	2000	0.688	0.563	0.125
51	MIA	NYJ	2000	0.688	0.563	0.125
51	OAK	DEN	1999	0.500	0.375	0.125
51	WAS	DAL	1999	0.625	0.500	0.125
51	BUF	MIA	1996	0.625	0.500	0.125
51	WAS	ARI	1996	0.563	0.438	0.125
51	CIN	CLE	1995	0.438	0.313	0.125
51	KAN	SEA	1990	0.688	0.563	0.125
51	RAM	NOR	1981	0.375	0.250	0.125
51	DET	CHI	1980	0.563	0.438	0.125
51	MIA	NYJ	1979	0.625	0.500	0.125
51	SEA	KAN	1979	0.563	0.438	0.125
51	OAK	KAN	1979	0.563	0.438	0.125
51	PIT	PHI	1956	0.417	0.292	0.125
51	WAS	NYG	1955	0.667	0.542	0.125
51	DET	RAM	1953	0.833	0.708	0.125
81	DAL	STL	1970	0.714	0.607	0.107
81	PIT	CLE	1962	0.643	0.536	0.107
83	BUF	HOU	1963	0.536	0.429	0.107
83	CLE	WAS	1962	0.536	0.429	0.107
85	DET	MIN	1972	0.607	0.500	0.107
86	PHI	WAS	2008	0.594	0.500	0.094
86	TEN	BAL	1997	0.500	0.406	0.094
86	CLE	CIN	1989	0.594	0.500	0.094
89	NYG	BKN	1941	0.727	0.636	0.091
90	GNB	CRD	1934	0.538	0.455	0.084
91	RAM	CHI	1957	0.500	0.417	0.083
91	WAS	PIT	1956	0.500	0.417	0.083
93	CLE	NYG	1952	0.667	0.583	0.083
93	GNB	CRD	1935	0.667	0.583	0.083
95	SFO	ATL	1975	0.357	0.286	0.071
95	NWE	NYJ	1973	0.357	0.286	0.071
97	CHI	GNB	1971	0.429	0.357	0.071
97	MIN	CHI	1968	0.571	0.500	0.071
97	RAM	CHI	1964	0.429	0.357	0.071
97	SDG	OAK	1963	0.786	0.714	0.071
97	DAL	STL	1962	0.393	0.321	0.071
97	DTX	NYT	1960	0.571	0.500	0.071

Do you remember any of these? Any fond memories worth sharing? And how about the 1953 Rams/Lions? In 1952, the Rams lost in Detroit in the division tiebreaker playoff game (both teams went 9-3 while playing in the same division) after being swept by the Lions in the regular season; after an 0-3 mark against the Lions (and then a victory over the Browns to capture the title), it was clear that Detroit had Los Angeles’ number, right? But in 1953, the Rams avenged those losses by sweeping the Lions. The problem? Detroit went 10-2 that year, with only those Rams blemishes on their schedule, allowing Detroit to again win the division, and again beat Cleveland for the NFL crown.

{ 15 comments }