Media Bias: Colts vs Seattle

[LotsOfLuck]

You guys played a winless team at home.

The Colts played a division rival on the road.

Apples and oranges.

In both cases, the teams had to come back from huge deficits against teams they were supposed to beat easily....and Houston is not known for it's home field advantage.

I will grant the two situations aren't exact, but they are a lot more similiar than you want to admit.

When I did my weekly picks on ESPN last week, Colts were 2.5 pt favorites and Seahawks were 16.5 point favorites. That's a pretty significant difference from people who talk with their money. In fact, the Colts actually covered that spread.

 

[LotsOfLuck]

You guys played a winless team at home.

The Colts played a division rival on the road.

Apples and oranges.

EAST COAST BIAS!

Seriously? Look at a map.

 

[JaiSeaSea]

It is different. Seahawks could have put that game in Indy away... Early. And a couple mistake LET them back in it. That should have never happened.

...but then later Hawks got screwed.

Hawks are better, they just didn't 100% prove it on that day. People are going to stand up and take notice of a team that beats the best.... So far, Indy has. It's not all refs and media reporters.

 

[JaiSeaSea]

That doesn't mean I like them. I want them crushed. KC too lol

 

[IcedHawk]

You guys played a winless team at home.

The Colts played a division rival on the road.

Apples and oranges.

EAST COAST BIAS!

Seriously? Look at a map.

By east coast, I mean east of us.

 

[Polaris]

You guys played a winless team at home.

The Colts played a division rival on the road.

Apples and oranges.

In both cases, the teams had to come back from huge deficits against teams they were supposed to beat easily....and Houston is not known for it's home field advantage.

I will grant the two situations aren't exact, but they are a lot more similiar than you want to admit.

When I did my weekly picks on ESPN last week, Colts were 2.5 pt favorites and Seahawks were 16.5 point favorites. That's a pretty significant difference from people who talk with their money. In fact, the Colts actually covered that spread.

The line isn't about who's better or worse but on what is needed to balance the books in Vegas. You do realize that the chance for ANY team to come back from down 21 (no matter how good) to any other team (no matter how bad) is less than 4%? What Seattle did was remarkable, and it's annoying that the Colts are being praised for a great comeback and Seattle is being dogged for it.

 

[SeaTown81]

You guys played a winless team at home.

The Colts played a division rival on the road.

Apples and oranges.

I agree that the two aren't exactly similar scenarios. But that's not the point of this thread. This thread doesn't stem from simply this week's games. If you're a Seattle fan, you've been noticing this since last season.

Luck and Wilson's rookie and sophomore seasons have mirrored each other to a crazy level. Both turned their teams around. Both have put up numbers that put them up there in terms of best starts of a young qb's career. Both are great leaders and insanely clutch. Both have led a bunch of 4th qtr comebacks. Both made the playoffs (Wilson won a playoff game, btw).

And yet time in and out it's Luck getting the accolades and hype of the next best ever. Wilson gets his due, don't get me wrong. But it's not close to the same. It falls into an entirely different category. There have been multiple instances of Wilson and Luck having great comeback wins in the same week. It's almost uncanny the # of times it's happened. The amount of times I watch RW do it, then see Luck did the same thing only to think, "Well that's going to overshadow Russ" is comical at this point.

None of it matters. What the National media thinks doesn't matter. Who they anoint as their next Favre or Manning doesn't matter. But as fans we can still be annoyed and roll our eyes at it. Colts and Niner fans, you guys don't don't really have any business telling us how to think on this one. Leave us be with this, and you guys can continue to root for the next generation's Brett Favre and Michael Vick, respectively.

And to the Hawks fans, we should know by now how this works. The national media picks their guys to hype and obsess over and never shut up about. Brett Favre, Peyton Manning, Tim Tebow. It's not about fairness, it's about image and ratings. DrDiags pointed out how and why they would gravitate toward Luck in this regard. He's been the next big thing for half a decade. He's the sure thing. He replaced a legend. He comes from NFL blood. He plays in a city that's much close to the East coast. It's all too easy to get it. Like I said, we can still roll our eyes. But getting upset or shocked about it is silly.

 

[ivotuk]

Part of the Colts being able to come back was Gary Kubiak collapsing on the field and how it effected the team's emotions. They probably thought Kubiak was at risk for dying, which he still might be.

 

[Comeinpeace]

You guys played a winless team at home.

The Colts played a division rival on the road.

Apples and oranges.

I agree that the two aren't exactly similar scenarios. But that's not the point of this thread. This thread doesn't stem from simply this week's games. If you're a Seattle fan, you've been noticing this since last season.

Luck and Wilson's rookie and sophomore seasons have mirrored each other to a crazy level. Both turned their teams around. Both have put up numbers that put them up there in terms of best starts of a young qb's career. Both are great leaders and insanely clutch. Both have led a bunch of 4th qtr comebacks. Both made the playoffs (Wilson won a playoff game, btw).

And yet time in and out it's Luck getting the accolades and hype of the next best ever. Wilson gets his due, don't get me wrong. But it's not close to the same. It falls into an entirely different category. There have been multiple instances of Wilson and Luck having great comeback wins in the same week. It's almost uncanny the # of times it's happened. The amount of times I watch RW do it, then see Luck did the same thing only to think, "Well that's going to overshadow Russ" is comical at this point.

None of it matters. What the National media thinks doesn't matter. Who they anoint as their next Favre or Manning doesn't matter. But as fans we can still be annoyed and roll our eyes at it. Colts and Niner fans, you guys don't don't really have any business telling us how to think on this one. Leave us be with this, and you guys can continue to root for the next generation's Brett Favre and Michael Vick, respectively.

And to the Hawks fans, we should know by now how this works. The national media picks their guys to hype and obsess over and never shut up about. Brett Favre, Peyton Manning, Tim Tebow. It's not about fairness, it's about image and ratings. DrDiags pointed out how and why they would gravitate toward Luck in this regard. He's been the next big thing for half a decade. He's the sure thing. He replaced a legend. He comes from NFL blood. He plays in a city that's much close to the East coast. It's all too easy to get it. Like I said, we can still roll our eyes. But getting upset or shocked about it is silly.

Before I reply, fantastic post.

I'm not telling you guys how to think at all, I was just giving an opinion. I know that Wilson gets the short end of the stick (no pun intended) most of the time when it comes to talking about the future QBs such as RG3, Luck, and many others, and I can fully support that. I even feel he did not get enough credit for his performance during the playoffs, and especially in Atlanta. I live in the Seattle area and I watch all your games, and Wilson is damn good. Without him, you guys are a .500 team or worse. It's not a knock against your team, but more of a credit to Wilson's playmaking ability. You guys not having your tackles is really hurting him big time and I hope they can get back soon. I hate injuries and I personally want all teams at full strength, but it's a part of the game.

For this weeks games I stand by my original point, but I can agree that the Seahawks have been neglected by the media for forever. I was up here during your Super Bowl run and nobody talked about you guys... at all, unless it was the local stations. Speaking of which, I want to slap Aaron Levine, that dude just gets under my skin. I don't mean that literally before anyone takes it that way. Anyway, it was all about that other team whose name I won't mention.

Long story short, I get what you're saying. This week isn't the best week to make a case for it though, because you guys seemed to be only a shell of the team that I saw earlier this season and should have never been in that position against Tampa Bay at home.

 

[LotsOfLuck]

You guys played a winless team at home.

The Colts played a division rival on the road.

Apples and oranges.

In both cases, the teams had to come back from huge deficits against teams they were supposed to beat easily....and Houston is not known for it's home field advantage.

I will grant the two situations aren't exact, but they are a lot more similiar than you want to admit.

When I did my weekly picks on ESPN last week, Colts were 2.5 pt favorites and Seahawks were 16.5 point favorites. That's a pretty significant difference from people who talk with their money. In fact, the Colts actually covered that spread.

The line isn't about who's better or worse but on what is needed to balance the books in Vegas. You do realize that the chance for ANY team to come back from down 21 (no matter how good) to any other team (no matter how bad) is less than 4%? What Seattle did was remarkable, and it's annoying that the Colts are being praised for a great comeback and Seattle is being dogged for it.

The line reflects expectations based on where people are placing their money. The Seahawks were expected to dominate their game according to people who were betting on it. The Colts were slight favorites. To say that both were expected to trounce their opponents is inaccurate. Seahawks were favored by about 2 TDs more than the Colts were.

 

[Subzero717]

You guys played a winless team at home.

The Colts played a division rival on the road.

Apples and oranges.

In both cases, the teams had to come back from huge deficits against teams they were supposed to beat easily....and Houston is not known for it's home field advantage.

I will grant the two situations aren't exact, but they are a lot more similiar than you want to admit.

When I did my weekly picks on ESPN last week, Colts were 2.5 pt favorites and Seahawks were 16.5 point favorites. That's a pretty significant difference from people who talk with their money. In fact, the Colts actually covered that spread.

The line isn't about who's better or worse but on what is needed to balance the books in Vegas. You do realize that the chance for ANY team to come back from down 21 (no matter how good) to any other team (no matter how bad) is less than 4%? What Seattle did was remarkable, and it's annoying that the Colts are being praised for a great comeback and Seattle is being dogged for it.

The line reflects expectations based on where people are placing their money. The Seahawks were expected to dominate their game according to people who were betting on it. The Colts were slight favorites. To say that both were expected to trounce their opponents is inaccurate. Seahawks were favored by about 2 TDs more than the Colts were.

You obviously don't understand lines.

 

[LotsOfLuck]

Part of the Colts being able to come back was Gary Kubiak collapsing on the field and how it effected the team's emotions. They probably thought Kubiak was at risk for dying, which he still might be.

Like I said earlier, you can provide countless examples of teams rallying around an injured player or fallen coach. You weren't in the locker room. You aren't qualified to say how it effected the team. For all you know, they went out with more resolve to win the game for the coach and it made the comeback all that more impressive.

 

[Smelly McUgly]

The Colts are garbage, though. True talk. They're just a 3-5 team without referee assistance. It will catch up to them in the playoffs; the refs can't fix every damn game. Well, not without getting too obvious.

 

[LotsOfLuck]

You obviously don't understand lines.

I understand lines just fine. I don't think you do. You are trying to pretend as if the line for each game is created out of thin air. It's not. It's based off a projection of how people expect the game to go and then tweaked to try to get equal money on both sides.

If you don't understand that the Seahawks were far more heavily favored than the Colts last weekend and what that means in terms of what people thought would happen, I don't know what to tell you. You're determined to be a bitter hater in spite of logic. Good luck living life like that.

 

[hawk45]

Yeah, I'm with LotsOfLuck re: how lines are generated and what they signify.

As I said, I think the referee assistance Luck gets goes beyond the normal "refs are screwing us" noise that is always present, and enters the territory of materially affecting the outcome. I certainly believe they do not beat the Hawks without the officiating help.

But I can't find reason to complain about the media perception of last weekend's games *this time*.

 

[twisted_steel2]

Great stuff SeaTown81

 

[loafoftatupu]

I had it all figured out after the Colts beat SF in The Stick and JJ's recovery of the TD in Indy was turned into a safety. I hate inconsistent officials, I don't mind getting called for PI if it works both ways. The Indy game had all of that. Taking it to SF in the Stick? There had to be the drive saving penalties we have seen all along for the Colts. I could see them winning in SF, but by 20? You know the Colts got bailed out on something.

Maybe I am just imagining things, but I can't remember a team getting so many gimme calls on 3rd down to keep drives alive. Not just in our game, but every game that wasn't SD.

 

[loafoftatupu]

And as far as Luck goes? Everyone knew he would be a solid player, he was very hyped coming out and the media finally looks like they knew for once what they were talking about. How many times have we seen QBs picked high in the draft get hyped only to make them look like idiots?

They are going to ride this Luck deal until the day he retires. Just like Favre and Manning. Remember how much love Romo got year after year? Even Eli.. When they have their guy they have their guy.

 

[kearly]

I'm totally fine with the Colts being in the top 3 of most power polls. This isn't last year's Colts team. They are one spot behind Seattle in DVOA right now.

I do think it's pretty silly that Seattle is 4th or 5th place with an 8-1 record, despite playing some very tough opponents, many of them on the road at 10am.

Now, not to sound too much like Dr. Diags, but the underselling of the Seahawks makes sense right now. They just barely won two games in which they were favored to win by multiple scores against wounded football teams. Power rankings are reactionary in nature, so a blowout win moves the needle more than it should, a statement win moves the needle more than it should, a loss moves the needle more than it should, and a close win against a bad team moves the needle more than it should. Part of the reason Seattle topped the power rankings during the offseason was because the back half of 2012 was loaded with "wow" inducing blowout wins. Once Seattle gets back to blowing teams out, the hype will return.

 

[Cartire]

I'm totally fine with the Colts being in the top 3 of most power polls. This isn't last year's Colts team. They are one spot behind Seattle in DVOA right now.

I do think it's pretty silly that Seattle is 4th or 5th place with an 8-1 record, despite playing some very tough opponents, many of them on the road at 10am.

Now, not to sound too much like Dr. Diags, but the underselling of the Seahawks makes sense right now. They just barely won two games in which they were favored to win by multiple scores against wounded football teams. Power rankings are reactionary in nature, so a blowout win moves the needle more than it should, a statement win moves the needle more than it should, a loss moves the needle more than it should, and a close win against a bad team moves the needle more than it should. Part of the reason Seattle topped the power rankings during the offseason was because the back half of 2012 was loaded with "wow" inducing blowout wins. Once Seattle gets back to blowing teams out, the hype will return.

I agree with everything you said and am fine with our current power rankings. I just think the "luck can do no wrong" when their first half was just as abysmal as ours is what gets annoying. If the excuse had to be away vs home or divisional opponent, then fine. But I don't have to like it. Coming back from 21 down is an amazing feat in the parity era NFL, regardless of the team. And zero respect was given to that by the media.