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Teams have compiled impressive records, but against weak opponents
By Kerry Byrne
Coldhardfootballfacts.com
Updated: 2:13 p.m. CT Dec 7, 2006
Dashing hopes and dreams is something of a Cold, Hard Football Facts specialty.

In fact, it’s kinda the way we celebrate the holidays.

Take, for example, the hopes and dreams of fans in New Orleans and Dallas, who will watch their teams battle Sunday night in the marquee matchup of Week 14.

The Saints’ season so far has been a giddy gridiron Mardi Gras parade passing down booze-soaked Bourbon Street, with the “pundits� on the catwalks, tossing beads of praise at New Orleans newcomers Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and Sean Payton.

Dallas, meanwhile, has fallen in love with the NFL’s newest “It Boy,� quarterback Tony Romo. He has the athleticism, the dimples and the 5-1 record as a starter that make fans and “pundits� swoon.

Both teams are 8-4 and boast two-game leads in their respective divisions. Barring a major collapse, both teams will cruise into the playoffs. The winner of Sunday night’s game will also have a very good shot at a first-round bye. It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement in both cities.

But the sad, spirit-crushing Cold, Hard Football Fact is that neither team will win the Super Bowl.

In fact, the Saints and Cowboys are so fraudulent that the IRS should come in and do an audit. Both teams stand as textbook examples of decent clubs who have fattened themselves on cupcake schedules. Both teams have failed to show any sign that they have what it takes to win three or four straight games against solid competition in the playoffs.

The Cold, Hard Football Facts put a lot of stock in what we call the “Quality Wins Quotient.� We don’t just look at a team’s record. We look at who they played and track their record against “Quality Opponents� (which we define as any team with a winning record).

The theory is quite simple, and has a lot of historical merit: Some teams have great records thanks, in large part, to an easy schedule. These teams are pretenders. Other teams have great records despite playing a difficult schedule. These teams are contenders.

This year, Dallas and New Orleans are the NFL’s biggest pretenders:

Each team has played just two games against Quality Opponents.
Every other team in football has played three or more games against Quality Opponents.
Twenty-eight NFL teams have faced four or more Quality Opponents.
Nine NFL teams have played at least six games against Quality Opponents.
Here’s how New Orleans and Dallas stack up when we look at them through the pigskin prism of the Cold, Hard Football Facts Quality Wins Quotient:

The Saints are 0-2 against Quality Teams. They got smoked in both games, losing 35-22 to Baltimore and 31-16 to Cincinnati.

The Cowboys are 1-1 against Quality Teams. They lost Jacksonville, 24-17, back in the first week of the season. They pulled off one of the biggest wins of the season, with a 21-14 victory over the Colts three weeks ago.

The Saints have gone 8-2 in their other 10 games, beating up opponents with a combined record of 48-72 (.400).

The Cowboys have gone 7-3 in their other 10 games, beating up opponents with a combined record of 47-73 (.392).

The Saints are one of just five teams in the NFL this season without a single victory against a Quality Team. The others are Oakland, Detroit, Green Bay and Arizona. That’s not the company kept by Super Bowl contenders.

The Cowboys can claim one victory over a Quality Team, but so can almost every team over in the AFC (every team but the inept Raiders). AFC also-rans like Cleveland and Houston can each claim two victories over Quality Teams. Again, that’s not the company kept by Super bowl contenders.

At its core, the Quality Wins Quotient tells us that it’s easy to look good when you don’t play anybody. And, this season, no teams have played more nobodies than Dallas and New Orleans.