NFC West
Fact 1: The entire NFC West ranked in the top ten for toughest schedules in 2013. – http://www.theredzone.org/Features/NFLStrengthofSchedule.aspx
Fact 2: The NFC West is 42-22 this season. The best in the NFL for any division. The AFC West (contributing half of the AFC teams in the playoffs) posted a 37-27 record.
So what? This means not only did the NFC West put up the most wins, they did it against the toughest competition.
Other Stuff
Vincent Jackson and Torrey Smith are the only receivers among the top 40 to catch less than half of the passes thrown to them. – nfl.com
The New England Patriots are the only team in the AFC East with a positive point differential at +106. Miami, Buffalo, and New York finished at -18, -49, and -97 respectively. – nfl.com
Demaryius Thomas lead the top 40 receivers in YAC with 718. – http://www.sportingcharts.com/nfl/stats/yards-after-the-catch/2013/
Thirteen running backs ended the season with 1,000 rushing yards. This is the lowest total in at least the past 15 seasons, probably the lowest since the season was expanded to 16 games. The metric marks the rapidly shrinking value of the bellcow tailback, as offenses look to score primarily through the air more than ever.
Really important facts (not really)
The leading white-guy rusher (that’s racist!) was the unconquerable Alex Smith with 76 runs for 431 yards and a touchdown.
Jeff Fisher leads the league in facial hair superiority with the best mustache in the NFL.
Tony Romo will still somehow get blamed for Dallas’ loss to Philadelphia even though he didn’t play and finished 12th in the nation with a QBR of 59.5, ahead of the widely praised Cam Newton, Russell Wilson, and Andy Dalton.
Mike Wallace was the second leading receiver in Miami, behind Brian Hartline, and the leading mistake in the offseason. Wallace’s $60 million four year contract with $30 million guaranteed resulted in a 930 yard, five touchdown season. All things considered, not a terrible performance, but dramatically below what his contract suggests.
Nick Foles outplayed his peers this season as Vick remained on the sidelines after recovering from his injury. He scored a higher total QBR than Russell Wilson, Andrew Luck, Ryan Tannehill and the struggling Robert Griffin III. Foles was a second round pick from Arizona that caught flack for lack of mobility, inaccuracy on the deep ball, and attracted the undesirable title of “game manager” by some critics. Now Foles “manages” the second highest scoring offense in the league.
Gridiron Seasonal 