How much should we care when a team goes winless in the preseason? Or when it goes undefeated? Does it matter at all? Or are we just watching a bunch of backups who won’t even be in the league? Certainly that’s the vibe in those first and last preseason games.
Since the league moved to 32 teams, 25 teams have finished preseasons undefeated. Of that group, 9 finished with top-10 offenses. Eight finished with bottom-10 offenses (in scoring).
Not particularly meaningful.
In this chart, I’ve got the top-10 offenses in bold, and the bottom-10 groups tagged with the dreaded black dot.
UNDEFEATED PRESEASON TEAMS | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Team | W | L | T | Points | Rnk |
2002 | Atlanta | 9 | 6 | 1 | 25.1 | 5 |
2002 | NY Jets | 9 | 7 | 0 | 22.4 | 15 |
2003 | • Arizona | 4 | 12 | 0 | 14.1 | 32 |
2003 | Tennessee | 12 | 4 | 0 | 27.2 | 5 |
2003 | Carolina | 11 | 5 | 0 | 20.3 | 15 |
2003 | New England | 14 | 2 | 0 | 21.8 | 12 |
2004 | Carolina | 7 | 9 | 0 | 22.2 | 13 |
2005 | Denver | 13 | 3 | 0 | 24.7 | 7 |
2006 | • Carolina | 8 | 8 | 0 | 16.9 | 27 |
2006 | Cincinnati | 8 | 8 | 0 | 23.3 | 8 |
2006 | NY Giants | 8 | 8 | 0 | 22.2 | 11 |
2008 | • Detroit | 0 | 16 | 0 | 16.8 | 27 |
2009 | • Seattle | 5 | 11 | 0 | 17.5 | 25 |
2009 | Baltimore | 9 | 7 | 0 | 24.4 | 9 |
2009 | Miami | 7 | 9 | 0 | 22.5 | 15 |
2010 | • San Francisco | 6 | 10 | 0 | 19.1 | 24 |
2011 | • St. Louis | 2 | 14 | 0 | 12.1 | 32 |
2011 | Detroit | 10 | 6 | 0 | 29.6 | 4 |
2012 | • Philadelphia | 4 | 12 | 0 | 17.5 | 29 |
2012 | Seattle | 11 | 5 | 0 | 25.8 | 9 |
2013 | • Washington | 3 | 13 | 0 | 20.9 | 23 |
2013 | Seattle | 13 | 3 | 0 | 26.1 | 8T |
2014 | Baltimore | 10 | 6 | 0 | 25.6 | 8 |
2014 | Minnesota | 7 | 9 | 0 | 20.3 | 20 |
2014 | NY Giants | 6 | 10 | 0 | 23.8 | 13 |
During the same time period, 28 teams have gone winless in the preseason. For that group, nine have had bottom-10 offenses, and eight have had top-10 offenses. (Again, in scoring.)
Best, it seems, to not worry too much about preseason records.
WINLESS PRESEASON TEAMS | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Team | W | L | T | Points | Rnk |
2002 | • St. Louis | 7 | 9 | 0 | 19.8 | 23 |
2002 | Buffalo | 8 | 8 | 0 | 23.7 | 11 |
2003 | • Houston | 5 | 11 | 0 | 15.9 | 28 |
2003 | Atlanta | 5 | 11 | 0 | 18.7 | 20 |
2004 | • San Francisco | 2 | 14 | 0 | 16.2 | 30 |
2005 | Indianapolis | 14 | 2 | 0 | 27.4 | 2 |
2005 | Kansas City | 10 | 6 | 0 | 25.2 | 6 |
2006 | Pittsburgh | 8 | 8 | 0 | 22.1 | 13 |
2006 | Washington | 5 | 11 | 0 | 19.2 | 20 |
2007 | • Kansas City | 4 | 12 | 0 | 14.1 | 31 |
2007 | Arizona | 8 | 8 | 0 | 25.3 | 7 |
2008 | • Cleveland | 4 | 12 | 0 | 14.5 | 30 |
2008 | New England | 11 | 5 | 0 | 25.6 | 8 |
2009 | • Kansas City | 4 | 12 | 0 | 18.4 | 23 |
2009 | Arizona | 10 | 6 | 0 | 23.4 | 11 |
2009 | Carolina | 8 | 8 | 0 | 19.7 | 21 |
2010 | Indianapolis | 10 | 6 | 0 | 27.2 | 4 |
2010 | Chicago | 11 | 5 | 0 | 20.9 | 21 |
2011 | • Kansas City | 7 | 9 | 0 | 13.3 | 31 |
2011 | Atlanta | 10 | 6 | 0 | 25.1 | 7 |
2011 | Oakland | 8 | 8 | 0 | 22.4 | 16 |
2012 | • Miami | 7 | 9 | 0 | 18.0 | 27 |
2012 | • NY Jets | 8 | 8 | 0 | 17.6 | 28 |
2012 | Buffalo | 6 | 10 | 0 | 21.5 | 21 |
2013 | Atlanta | 4 | 12 | 0 | 22.1 | 20 |
2013 | Pittsburgh | 8 | 8 | 0 | 23.7 | 16T |
2014 | Dallas | 12 | 4 | 0 | 29.2 | 5 |
2014 | Indianapolis | 11 | 5 | 0 | 28.6 | 6 |
—Ian Allan