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

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Among the surprises from yesterday’s NFL games was the Minnesota Vikings win over the Houston Texans in Houston. But an even bigger surprise from that contest was that the Texans could muster only a pair of field goals in the 23-6 loss.

This was the first game since September 13, 2009 that the Texans scored less than 10 points in an NFL regular-season game, a streak of 61 games.  This was the second longest current streak in the NFL prior to yesterday’s games. The New Orleans Saints hold the active streak with 72 games straight where they have scored 10 or more points in a game.

Following are the teams that have the longest active streak of games where they have scored 10 or more points in a game.

Active streak of scoring 10-plus points in a game, Team

72 games: New Orleans Saints
61 games: New England Patriots
46 games: Atlanta Falcons
34 games: Green Bay Packers
22 games: Minnesota Vikings; Washington Redskins
19 games: Cincinnati Bengals
17 games: Pittsburgh Steelers
15 games: Denver Broncos

There have been 43 times this season where a team scored less than 10 points. The Kansas City Chiefs top that list with five games. Here are the number of times this season each team has scored less than 10 points in a game:

5: Kansas City
4: Arizona, New York Jets
3: Jacksonville, San Diego
2: Buffalo, Chicago, Oakland, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Tennessee
1: Baltimore, Carolina, Cleveland, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Miami, New York Giants, San Francisco, Seattle, Tampa Bay
0: Atlanta, Cincinnati, Denver, Green Bay, Minnesota, New England, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, Washington

Notice the nine teams above which have not been held to less than 10 points this season? Of those nine, five have already qualified for the playoffs, two may still make it in the playoffs, and two teams will not make the 2-12 playoffs.

Here’s a few more interesting notes:

* The last time a playoff team scored less that 10 points in a playoff game was last season when the New York Giants defeated the Atlanta Falcons 24-2 in an NFC first-round game last year.

* The last time a Super Bowl team scored less than 10 points in the big game was Super Bowl XXXV when the Baltimore Ravens beat the Giants, 34-7 on January 28, 2001.

* Should the Redskins score 10 or more points next week in their finale versus the Dallas Cowboys, it would be the first season since 1999 that the Redskins have gone the whole season without scoring under 10 points in a game.

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