Sports Stats ‘on Tapp’ is a sports statistics blog published with a focus on stats that go beyond the numbers.

The New England Patriots’ offense last week scored on six of their nine possessions against the Indianapolis Colts. That comes on the heels of scoring on seven of nine possessions in each of their previous games against Buffalo and St. Louis. So the obvious question is: What’s wrong with the Pats offense?

Seriously, scoring on 20 of their last 27 possessions puts New England’s offense in the upper echelon of NFL offenses. In fact, the Patriots remain in the top spot in the weekly NFL POP Score rankings with a 2.69 mark. To make matters worse for NFL opponents, the Patriots last week added two touchdowns via their defense and another on special teams. A dynamic offense and TDs from the defense and special teams could give the Patriots a big advantage as we head to the playoffs.

The New Orleans Saints’ offense is the new number two in these rankings with a 2.2 POP Score. The Saints offense has scored on 10 of their last 20 possessions and their second place ranking is the highest the team has been in the rankings this season.

(POP Score is based on the simple premise that it is the offensive team’s objective to score a touchdown (or at the least, kick a field goal) in each possession. POP Score stands for Points per Offensive Possession. Here’s how it works: The Falcons in Week One had nine possessions in their game. On four of the possessions, they scored a touchdown. On four of their possessions they kicked a field goal. They punted once. They scored 24 points on their four TDs (extra points are not included in Pop Score); 12 points on their four field goals. The Atlanta offense scored 36 points on nine possessions. By dividing the 36 points by the nine possessions, you get a POP Score of 4.0. Maximum POP Score is 6.0, which would indicate that a team scored a touchdown every time they had an offensive possession.)

Here’s a look at the POP Score rankings through Week 11.

Team, POP Score, (Season Offensive Scores/Possessions)

1. New England 2.69 (58 scores in 106 possessions)

2. New Orleans 2.2 (43 scores in 105 possessions)

3. New York Giants 2.15 (52 scores in 106 possessions)

4. Atlanta 2.12 (51 scores in 109 possessions)

5. San Francisco 2.08 (44 scores in 101 possessions)

6. Tampa Bay 2.06 (47 scores in 112 possessions)

7. Denver 2.03 (45 scores in 111 possessions)

8tie. Green Bay 1.97 (41 scores in 108 possessions)

8tie. Houston 1.97 (48 scores in 119 possessions)

10. Baltimore 1.93 (44 scores in 107 possessions)

11tie. Cincinnati 1.9 (43 scores in 112 possessions)

11tie. Pittsburgh 1.9 (42 scores in 101 possessions)

13. Washington 1.87 (41 scores in 106 possessions)

14. Detroit 1.85 (44 scores in 110 possessions)

15. Minnesota 1.83 (44 scores in 108 possessions)

16tie. Indianapolis 1.69 (39 scores in 105 possessions)

16tie. Seattle 1.69 (36 scores in 100 possessions)

18tie Buffalo 1.66 (37 scores in 110 possessions)

18tie. Dallas 1.66 (38 scores in 103 possessions)

20. San Diego 1.63 (37 scores in 107 possessions)

21. Oakland 1.6 (42 scores in 116 possessions)

22. Chicago 1.59 (38 scores in 109 possessions)

23. Tennessee 1.56 (36 scores in 108 possessions)

24. St. Louis 1.4 (33 scores in 103 possessions)

25. New York Jets 1.39 (32 scores in 108 possessions)

26. Cleveland 1.37 (36 scores in 116 possessions)

27. Philadelphia 1.32 (33 scores in 111 possessions)

28tie. Carolina 1.31 (27 scores in 108 possessions)

28tie. Miami 1.31 (31 scores in 112 possessions)

30. Jacksonville 1.2 (34 scores in 117 possessions)

31. Arizona 1.16 (32 scores in 122 possessions)

32. Kansas City 1.13 (32 scores in 117 possessions)

Biggest gainers this week: San Francisco (up five spots this week); Indianapolis (up four spots this week); New York Jets (up four spots this week); Dallas (up three spots this week); Houston (up three spots this week).

Biggest losers this week: Baltimore (down five spots this week); Chicago (down four posts this week); Pittsburgh (down four spots this week); San Diego (down four spots this week).

NFL POP Score league average through Week 11: 1.72

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