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You would think if someone told you that a particular NFL team had a top 10 wide receiver, running back and pass rusher, the team would be at least pretty good, right? As Lee Corso might say, "Not so fast my friend". There are currently just two teams in the NFL that can say they have a player that fits in each of these categories. Can you guess which two they are? Hint - The Kansas City Chiefs are one of those teams.
Dwayne Bowe is currently ranked 10th in the NFL among wide receivers with 342 receiving yards through the first four games of the season. He's also tied for 2nd in the NFL with nine other receivers with three touchdowns. Jamaal Charles is currently second in the NFL with 415 rushing yards and finally, Justin Houston is tied for eighth in the NFL right now with 4.0 sacks on the season.
That's three players on the Chiefs team that are in the top 10 of some pretty important categories among NFL standards. Although not the most important category but we'll leave that for later.
Denny Medley-US PRESSWIRE
What does it mean for a team that's 1-3 and looked very bad at times to have players finding success in these important statistics? Let's take a look at the other team in the NFL that fits in this particular category and see if there is any conclusion that we can draw.
When I posed this question Wednesday night on twitter I got a lot of Houston Texans as the answer. JJ. .Watt leads the NFL in sacks with 7.5 and is currently the best defensive player in the NFL in my opinion, Arian Foster is fourth in the league in rushing with 380 yards but Andre Johnson sits at 26th in the NFL in receiving yards.
The answer is the Miami Dolphins. Seriously, the 1-3 Dolphins.
Reggie Bush is currently sixth in the NFL in rushing with 369 yards, Brian Hartine (part in thanks to one HUGE game) is leading the league in receiving yards from a wide receiver with 455, and Cameron Wake is tied for sixth in the NFL with 4.5 sacks.
John Rieger-US PRESSWIRE
That's two teams with a lousy combined record of 2-6 that are each fielding three players that sit among the best 10 in the NFL at their respective positions through the first four games of the season. We want players to have individual success because it means they are doing something right and helping the team. But the big difference on these stats and team success is probably pretty obvious. Ryan Tannehill is 31st in the NFL in QB rating at 66.4, and Matt Cassel is 29th at 70.4. It's not this statistic specifically as much as it is this position, specifically.
There's your gasoline people, but what statistical categories (besides QB) are the most important to a teams success, and how do you rank them?