No such thing as margin of victory

During the NFL season, we constantly remind ourselves of the following: just because a team is close on the scoreboard that does not mean a team is close in the standings.

Look no further than the opposing sideline this past Sunday (which, by the way, was not in the direct Florida sunshine like the visiting sideline, as the pencilneck sideline radio guy felt like a slow-roasted rotisserie chicken by the time the Cards mounted a comeback late in the fourth quarter in Tampa).

To date, the Buccaneers have lost three games by a grand total of a half-dozen points. Simply add the Cards’ 13-10 win to the fact that the Bucs lost their first two games by a combined three points. Ouch. #NoMath

In the NFL, the scoreboard might indicate that teams are on the verge of winning games, but objects in the rear view mirror are not closer than they appear.

“They’re all going to be tough. They’re all going to be tight,” Bruce Arians said during our postgame radio interview when I asked him what the Cardinals might’ve learned in Tampa. “The game is played for 60 minutes and it doesn’t matter really what goes on as long as you can maintain the chase that something good is going to happen. I thought the fourth quarter was some of the best football we’ve played all year. ”

And that’s how the Cardinals have overcome converting just two of 21 third down situations in their two wins to date. In some way, a team has to find a way. For example, Patrick Peterson paved with the way with a pair of picks.

(Note: Calvisi Consulting suggests that P-Twice needs to coin his own tongue-twister. “Patrick Peterson picked a peck of pickled pigskins. A peck of pickled pigskins Patrick Peterson picked…” Hmmm.)

Anyway, the point here in pointing out that points are not the point is that, unless you’re an absolute outlier on the data grid (Ex: Jacksonville), there is no such thing as margin of victory. It doesn’t exist. At the very least, it doesn’t matter.