Daily Blog - Tuesday, July 28th

PHIL STEELE’S MOST IMPROVED NFL TEAMS

Thank you for all the comments and the positive feedback on my NFL blogs. While you know I spend the majority of my time on College Football, most of you are also NFL fans and it shows by the number of reply’s I’ve received.

I’ve written blogs on most of the categories I use to determine if a team will be improved or not and today I will share my results of my most improved NFL team. As you read on let me clarify that the most improved team does not mean the most wins or the most wins compared to last year but instead it represents the NFL team that will play better than last year. Below I list my most improved teams heading into the 2008 season. It was a historic rise for the Miami Dolphins and I was proud to have them pegged as Phil Steele’s 2008 Most Improved NFL team as they went from 1 win in 2007 to 11 wins in 2008. This year my most improved team is the Detroit Lions and while I don’t think they will come close to Miami’s success, they will play at the most improved level. Last season they lost 13 of their 16 games by a TD or more and lost 7 games by 18 points or more. They were also outscored by 15.6 ppg and outgained by 136 ypg.

Let me refresh you on the top and bottom from each of the individual blogs and compare that to my final list of the NFL’s most improved teams. YOU CAN READ EACH OF THESE ARCHIVED BLOGS BY GOING TO THE BOTTOM OF ANY DAILY BLOG.

Fri July 24th – Starts Lost To Injuries

Most starts lost            Fewest starts lost

1. Cincinnati                  1. NY Jets

2. Seattle                        2. Atlanta

3. Denver                      3. Carolina

4. New England            4. Arizona

5. Baltimore                  5. Tennessee

Wed July 22nd – The NFL’s Toughest Schedule  

Easiest                                    Toughest

1. Pittsburgh                        1. Tampa Bay

2. Green Bay                       2. Miami

3. San Diego                       3. Atlanta

4. Minnesota                       4. Carolina

5. Cincinnati                       5. NY Jets

Fri July 3rd – The YPP Factor

Going UP                                                                        Going DOWN

Poor def ypp LY            Poor off ypp LY                        Good def ypp LY            Good off ypp LY

1. Arizona                      1. Cincinnati                                  1. Cleveland                   1. Chicago

2. Detroit                        2. Washington                                2. Miami                        2. San Diego

3. St Louis                      3. St Louis                                    3. Indianapolis                 3. NY Jets

Wed July 1st – Analyzing the Yards Per Game (YPG)

GOING UP                    GOING DOWN

1. New Orleans            1. Tennessee

2. Green Bay                2. Carolina

3. Jacksonville              3. Chicago

Mon June 29th – Slipping And Sliding

GOING UP                  GOING DOWN

1. Green Bay                 1. Miami

2. Detroit                       2. Atlanta

3. Seattle                       3. Baltimore

4. Cleveland                 4. Carolina

5. Jacksonville              5. NY Jets

Hopefully you’ve now gone back and read all of the previous blogs. As you know I am a numbers guy and I input all of the above categories as well as my talent for each player and each position and let my computer analyze the data. I adjust my grades for injuries and trades and have my own personal Most Improved Team. Just using the computer and the categories that were listed on the blogs here was the computers list from last year. Not only was Miami #1 but 10 of the top 12 teams improved while EACH of my bottom 7 had a worse record.

PHIL STEELE'S 2008 PRESEASON MOST IMPROVED TEAMS

Now using the same criteria as above and pulling the information from each of the previous blogs here is my computers  2009 NFL Most Improved List!

PHIL STEELE'S 2009 PRESEASON MOST IMPROVED TEAMS