Deadskins wrote:DarthMonk wrote:People who understand probability calculate these odds.
You are counting on us winning out. I hope you are right but it is unlikely.
Tampa Bay just beat Kansas City, Seattle, and San Diego and they are ahead of us now.
We will be fortunate to get in.
We just need the vaGiants to lose another game besides our matchup. I'm feeling like that is pretty likely, but you never know. Also, do you agree that these "People who understand probability" are considering each game as a 50/50 proposition? Or do you think they are creating odds for each matchup, and then figuring that into the overall picture?
I think the latter.
Typical probabilities might look like this for us down the stretch:
46% to win at Philly, 57% to win hosting Carolina, 62% to win at Chicago, 60% to win hosting NYG.
Typical probabilities might look like this for Tampa Bay:
66% to win hosting New Orleans, 25% to win at Dallas, 48% to win at New Orleans, 57% to win hosting Carolina.
Meanwhile similar calcs are done for all relevant teams.
Then 100,000 sims are run that reflect the probabilities playing out with each other and in 39% of those sims we make the playoffs.
For example, there is a (.54)(.66) = 36% chance that we will lose to Philly AND Tampa Bay will beat New Orleans.
Converseley, there is a (.46)(.34) = 16% chance that we win AND they lose.
One can quibble with the weekly probabilities and everything changes from week to week but this is where we stand now with unemotional analysis.