So What Does It All Mean?

The Quotient is the result of an algorithm which attempts to measure performance on the line of scrimmage from a statistical analysis of the game performance. It is kind of like an ERA in baseball in that it puts things like rushing and stopping the run ahead of broken plays and turnovers which are interpreted partially as sort of an unearned run in baseball.
Specifically it looks at power stats such as rushing first downs and touchdowns as well as defensive pressure from sacks, hurries, and the ability to control the opponents run game as well as the ability to mount and sustain drives.
Football is a wacky game that doesnt necessarily produce a winner from the team that controls the game although both sides attempt to do just that. Wierd bounces of the ball, turnovers, and open field plays resulting from broken plays and missed tackles play an important role in determining the winner. Moreover, the team that controls the line of scrimmage usually slows down the game--lowering the score and their margin of victory---leaving them a big play or two of putting the game in jeopardy. This leaves a back door open for a loss, and many close games are still up for grabs eventhough one team or another is usually treading water or playing bend but dont break defense. The dominant team may not always win.
The media focus, on the otherhand, is clearly focused primarily on the resulting score of the game and a team's record. It assumes that a team is only as good as its record--for lack of deeper analysis--which helps to simplify and break down the contenders from the pretenders from the media. But today's NFL is in far greater flux than 20 years ago. Teams' performances change from week to week and the League is in a tremendous flux based on injuries, how hard teams practice, talent, stability, and coaching among many other factors.
Last season, it is widely believed that the Indianapolis Colts emerged from nowhere to put together a Super Bowl run at the last minute in the playoffs. But did they show any signs of steady improvement in their performance on the field from week to week before this apparent burst?
Even the perception surrounding the New England Patriots during their first Super Bowl run over the St. Louis Rams was one of a flukey, no-name performance, bolstered largely by luck and a "tuck rule" break in the playoffs to put Adam Vinateri in position to win it. But were there signs before that --that they were turning it around in the weeks of a long season that these days are full of a week to week constant flux of teams rising and falling?
The analysis and formulas suggest that any team's chance of winning on "Any Given Sunday" is much more complex than the perception the media loudly parlays from the final scores and the win-loss records that make up the weekly standings.