Quote
max
Parcells saying, you are what you’re record says you are, isn’t flawless. But ending the year with 7 straight losses clearly shows you’re not a good team.
Parcells had to say that as a coach because like all coaches he wants his team focused on winning.
But we;re not coaches and as an analytic concept that's just incorrect. Several teams could all be 8-8 for completely different reasons. One could be over-achieving, one could be under-achieving, one could be young but turning the corner, one could be old and worn out, one could be taken down by several key injuries, one could be brilliantly coached, one could be poorly coached, one could have a young qb, another could have no qb. And so on.
We're not coaches...we don't have to motivate anyone, we just have to be more or less analytically sound (to the extent we can be as committed fans). So from our point of view, the record is not an answer, it's a question. The question being, okay what are the major factors determining this record.
If you are what your record says you are then you don't improve. You're just THAT. In 1987, for example, the 6-10 Giants were about to break through. They couldn't have broken through in 1988 if they didn't already have much of what they needed to take that step.
...
...
