Steelers Being Historically Disrespected by Latest FiveThirtyEight Ranking of All-Time Unbeaten NFL Teams

Following the unique Wednesday afternoon win in Week 12, the Pittsburgh Steelers moved to 11-0 on the season and remain as the lone undefeated team in the NFL. While they are nearly a lock to make the playoffs already, they are being dismissed by many as a true contender.

Recently, FiveThirtyEight used historical date to rank all 18 team to ever start the season 11-0. Following the results, Steelers fans should feel disrespected.

The last bit of my code includes an example of what you can do with the FiveThirtyEight data, which includes both versions of their elo ratings and starting QBs in each game from 1950 to present.

FiveThirtyEight ranks the 2020 Steelers as 17th out of 18 teams that started 11-0-0 pic.twitter.com/EicRgA6DEV
— Anthony Reinhard (@reinhurdler) December 4, 2020

Of the 18 teams to ever go 11-0, the Steelers rank 17th, ahead of the 1961 Chargers team. While the Steelers are 11-0, most games have been hard-fought wins, despite facing a number of easy opponents. Many have said Pittsburgh is barely winning. However, they have the largest point differential in the league, outscoring opponents by 129 points so far.

The top-ranked 11-0 team is the 2007 New England Patriots, which was the 16-0 squad. They were one of the most dominant teams in NFL history, before losing in the Super Bowl to the New York Giants.

The Steelers should absolutely feel disrespected by these rankings. However, at the end of the day, they have the best record in the NFL, despite getting multiple weeks shuffled around. One of the worst 11-0 teams in history is far better than being any team in the NFC East.

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