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

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Following is a look at this week’s NFL schedule and some historical stats on the head-to-head matchups.

Atlanta vs. Detroit (Saturday): Detroit leads the series 23-11. The Falcons have won five of the last eight. The two teams have split the last six games played in Detroit.

New York Giants vs. Baltimore: This is the fifth meeting between the two franchises. Baltimore has won three of the four games. The Ravens won the only game played in Baltimore, 37-14 on Dec. 12, 2004. The Giants won the last meeting between the two teams, 30-10 on Nov. 16, 2008.

Oakland vs. Carolina: The series is tied at 2-2. The teams are each 1-1 on their home field. Carolina won the last game played in the series, 17-6 on Nov. 9, 2008.

New Orleans vs. Dallas: The Cowboys have a 15-7 advantage over the Saints. New Orleans has won six of the last seven. The Saints have won the last three games played in Dallas.

Tennessee vs. Green Bay: The Titans lead the series 6-4. Tennessee has won the last three contests. Green Bay is 1-4 at home in the series. Four of the last five games have been decided by eight points or less.

Minnesota vs. Houston: This is only the third time the two teams have played each other. Minnesota has won both previous games. Both of those games were decided by seven points or less.

New England vs. Jacksonville: The Patriots have won eight of the nine games in the series. New England has won five straight. The Patriots have scored 24 or more points in seven of the nine games. The only Jacksonville win was Jan. 3, 1999.

Indianapolis vs. Kansas City: The Colts have a 13-8 advantage over the Chiefs in this series. Indianapolis has won 10 of the last 12 games. Kansas City is 1-5 in the last six games played on their home field. The Chiefs have scored more than 10 points only once in the last four games against the Colts.

Buffalo vs. Miami: This is the 98th game in the series. The Dolphins lead the series 56-40-1. Buffalo won 19-14 in a game in November at Buffalo. Miami has won six of the last nine. The Dolphins have won three of the last four games played in Miami. Four of the last five games have been decided by seven points or less.

Washington vs. Philadelphia: The Redskins lead the series 80-71-6. Washington won this season’s earlier matchup 31-6. The Eagles have won five of the last seven. The two teams have split the last eight games played in Philadelphia.

Cincinnati vs. Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh has won 53 of the 85 games played in the series. The Steelers have won five straight. The Steelers have won four of the last five games played in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh has scored 23-plus points in the last five games; the Bengals have scored under 22 points in the last five contests.

St. Louis vs. Tampa Bay: The Rams lead the series 11-8. Tampa Bay has won five of the last six and have won the last five games played on their home field. Seven of the last nine games in the series have been decided by 10 points or less.

Cleveland vs. Denver: Denver has a big advantage in this series having won 21 of the 26 games played against the Browns. The Broncos have won nine straight versus Cleveland. Denver has won the last four at home. The Broncos have only lost two games out of 22 in the series dating back to 1975.

Chicago vs. Arizona: This will be the 91st meeting between the two teams. The Bears are up in the series 57-27-6. Chicago has won five of the last seven and have won three of the last four played in Arizona. The last Arizona win at home in the series against the Bears was a 20-7 win on Oct. 11, 1998.

San Francisco vs. Seattle: San Francisco holds a one-game lead in the series having won 14 of the 27 games played. The 49ers won earlier this year at home 13-6. The 49ers have won the last four games in the series. The two teams have split the last six games played in Seattle.

San Diego vs. New York Jets: The Chargers have a 19-14-1 lead in the series. The Jets have won five of the last seven against San Diego. The two teams have each won three games in the last six played on the Jets home field. Five of the last six games have been decided by six points or less.

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

The New York Giants have had an up-and-down season this year and the last two games were a perfect example of that.

On December 9 the Giants put up 52 points in a 52-27 win over the New Orleans Saints. Just seven days later, the Giants were shutout 34-0 by the Falcons. It was the third time since 1966 (start of the Super Bowl era) that a team has scored 50-plus points one week and then was shutout the following week.

Here’s a quick look at those three cases.

Score 50-plus one game, shutout the next (since 1966)

2012: New York Giants… scored 52 points on Dec. 9; shutout on Dec. 16.
2005: Washington Redskins… scored 52 points on Oct. 23; shutout on Oct. 30
1973: Atlanta Falcons… scored 62 points on Sept. 16; shutout on Sept. 23.

In 1987 we had the reverse of the above scenarios. On November 22 the Indianapolis Colts were scoreless in a 24-0 loss to the New England Patriots. The following week they topped the 50-point mark with a 51-27 win over the Houston Oilers. This has been the only time since 1966 that a team has been shutout one week and then scored 50-plus points the following game.

In addition to the four cases noted above, there have been 10 additional times since 1966 that a team has been shutout in a game and scored 50-plus points in a game in the same season. Those teams include: 2008 Buffalo Bills, 2002 Carolina Panthers, 1996 St. Louis Rams, 1989 Cleveland Browns, 1985 New York Jets, 1979 Buffalo Bills, 1977 Seattle Seahawks, 1976 L.A. Rams, 1970 Dallas Cowboys, 1966 New York Jets.

Speaking of scoring 50 or more points in a game, there has been a lot mentioned about how the Seattle Seahawks last weekend became the first team since 1950 to score 50-plus points in consecutive games. Using the 1966 season as the starting point, the Seahawks became the ninth team since the ’66 season to score 50 or more points in a game two or more times in a season. (Note: The New England Patriots actually joined this club earlier in the season when they scored 50-plus in two games.) Here’s a look at those nine teams:

Games with 50-plus points in a season, teams

3: Dallas (1966); Minnesota (1969)
2: Oakland (1967); New England (1979); Dallas (1980)Cincinnati (1989); New England (2007); New England (2012); Seattle (2012)

Here’s one more interesting stat: The Patriots have scored 50-plus points in nine games since 1966. Four times they did it on November 18 (in 1979, 1984, 2007 and 2012).

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

The New England Patriots last Sunday night had an uncharacteristic offensive performance throughout most of their game against the San Francisco 49ers. The Pats scored only once in their first nine possessions against the 49ers, digging themselves a 31-3 hole before a late-game surge that eventually tied the contest.

This one-for-nine stretch was clearly different from the past offensive numbers compiled by Tom Brady and the offense as they had scored on over 50 percent of their offensive possessions for most of the season. New England did score on five of their last seven possessions in the game, giving them six scores in 16 possessions in the contest, still below their season average.

Even with this misstep, the Patriots retained their lead in the weekly NFL POP Score rankings, with a 2.59 ranking, followed by Atlanta’s offense at 2.2.

With only two weeks left in the regular season, there are two teams that have made significant moves up the list: Seattle and Washington. The Seahawks after their first eight games of the season were ranked in a tie for 23rd in these rankings with a 1.48 mark; this week they are tied for seventh with a POP Score ranking of 1.99. After scoring on 27 of their first 80 possessions in those first eight games, the Seattle offense in their last six games has scored in 31 of their last 61 possessions (a 50.8 percent).

The Redskins have been equally as impressive. The Redskins were ranked 15th in these rankings after Week 10. Since then they have climbed to fourth on the list. In their last five games, the Washington offense has scored on 26 of 54 possessions. Their POP Score ranking in the last five games has been 2.5, on par with what the Patriots have done offensively most of 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 15.

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

1. New England 2.59 (80 scores in 155 possessions)

2. Atlanta 2.2 (69 scores in 146 possessions)

3. New York Giants 2.16 (69 scores in 146 possessions)

4. Washington 2.05 (62 scores in 149 possessions)

5. New Orleans 2.03 (60 scores in 155 possessions)

6. San Francisco 2.01 (60 scores in 148 possessions)

7tie. Denver 1.99 (63 scores in 155 possessions)

7tie. Seattle 1.99 (58 scores in 141 possessions)

9. Cincinnati 1.94 (63 scores in 156 possessions)

10tie. Houston 1.87 (66 scores in 170 possessions)

10tie. Tampa Bay 1.87 (60 scores in 156 possessions)

12. Green Bay 1.86 (55 scores in 150 possessions)

13. Dallas 1.85 (58 scores in 144 possessions)

14. Baltimore 1.79 (59 scores in 156 possessions)

15. Detroit 1.76 (62 scores in 164 possessions)

16tie. Minnesota 1.71 (57 scores in 151 possessions)

16tie. Pittsburgh 1.71 (56 scores in 153 possessions)

18tie. Carolina 1.68 (46 scores in 143 possessions)

18tie. Indianapolis 1.68 (54 scores in 150 possessions)

20. Buffalo 1.62 (52 scores in 156 possessions)

21. Chicago 1.56 (51 scores in 151 possessions)

22. Oakland 1.5 (54 scores in 158 possessions)

23. San Diego 1.48 (48 scores in 150 possessions)

24. Miami 1.45 (47 scores in 149 possessions)

25. Cleveland 1.44 (52 scores in 163 possessions)

26. Philadelphia 1.43 (50 scores in 157 possessions)

27. Tennessee 1.41 (49 scores in 157 possessions)

28. St. Louis 1.3 (43 scores in 150 possessions)

29. New York Jets 1.23 (41 scores in 158 possessions)

30. Jacksonville 1.16 (44 scores in 162 possessions)

31. Kansas City 1.09 (41 scores in 157 possessions)

32. Arizona 1.04 (41 scores in 176 possessions)

Biggest gainer this week: Seattle (up seven spots this week); Miami (up three spots this week); New Orleans (up three spots this week).

Biggest loser this week: Tampa Bay (down six spots this week); Detroit (down four spots this week); Baltimore (down three spots this week); Denver (down three spots this week).

NFL POP Score league average through Week 15: 1.7

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