Do these guys believe momentum exists in football?

If not, how do you explain the Bears season?

Cutler sucks.

Do these guys believe momentum exists in football?

If not, how do you explain the Bears season?

Guys like bernstein don't like to talk about it because it can't be measured. But I think anyone who has competed in anything at any level understands that confidence plays a part. And when bad shit starts happening, it isn't difficult to get into a bad frame of mind where you are just waiting for the next bad thing to happen.

That said, I don't believe it's worth discussing as a fan

Clearly.

I don't know why, but it makes me feel good when you consistently don't understand me!


We can discuss why it's not worth talking about. That's ok. I'm surprised you didn't know that since you always know what I'm REALLY thinking!

You started your post making a statement about momentum, and then said it wasn't worth discussing.

It's the holidays. Don't get so upset.

Wow. Another post.

Apology accepted. Thanks, Rick. You'll get 'em next time maybe.

I think it's probably more true that better teams are more confident than worse teams, and that matters more.

I think it's probably more true that better teams are more confident than worse teams, and that matters more.

I'm sure that's true, and for good reason. Ultimately, you're as good as your results say you are. We can call losing "choking" and call winning "momentum", but they're really just winning and losing. Good teams win. Bad teams lose.

Nothing personal Bucky. I wonder where this ranks on the FavreFan thought scale. Safe statement, or DB worthy?

That wasn't intended to be thought provoking on any level.

In reality, I think momentum is merely misunderstood, but it clearly exists. Momentum is not the idea that something that happened previously is continuing. It's that something happened which started the momentum and it will continue until another force stronger than it shuts it down. Imagine a rock on a hill. It will be stationary. If I go and push it, then it goes down until it meets resistance that stops it. The NFL, and sports in general, have the same thing. It could be great QB play that starts the momentum, or "inventing the Wildcat" or Adrian Peterson going crazy. Something happened that has started a positive movement of the team. It's different than a team that is good continuing to be good. There is a specific reason for the momentum. Now, it may be stopped, but that's kind of the point. When it's stopped, you either return to where you are, or you get into negative momentum, which is just a state in which whatever you are doing is not working.

A perfect example of momentum was the six game stretch that Grossman had where he was an MVP candidate. This clearly was not who Grossman was as he never got close to that again, but something happened that allowed him to do that. Eventually, it was stopped, and momentum was gone.

Momentum is often confused with "They won last week, so they'll win this week" when in reality it means "What they are doing is working now, so they'll likely see it work in the next game".

This is what happened with the Bears. The defense had momentum, but eventually teams did enough to counter them, and injuries also happened which made the things they were doing not work as well.

This is all just a way to say a team is playing well. Looking backwards, that's ok. But trying to use it to predict anything renders it useless.

At a very basic level, everything in sports can be explained by "playing well" or "playing bad" but as fans we look for higher level reasoning. So, while what you say may be technically correct, it is as useless as you seem to admit before.

The essence of Boilermaker Rick

I agree, but trying to find higher level reasoning in randomness can also be a big waste of time.

What do you mean randomness? I don't think the momentum the Vikings currently have, or the momentum the Bears defense lost is randomness.

What is your infatuation with "it's not worth discussing" while discussing things? If you feel this is a waste of time, then find a topic worth discussing.

Didn't the Bears defense get their mo mo back last week since they scored and won? If so, how did they get it back before that game since they lost so much in the weeks before? And why didn't the Bears get the big mo when they beat the Vikings a few weeks back? And why did the Vikings get momentum after losing to the Bears?

I do feel certain topics are a waste of time and I like discussing why I think they are a waste of time... specifically if other people are wasting their own time when it's useless. If that doesn't make sense to you, I can't help you.