From May 30 and every day until September 5… the start of the 2013 NFL season… Sports Stats ‘on Tapp’ will publish “99 Stats Until Kickoff” a daily dose of NFL stats that will get you ready for the 2013 NFL season.)
Since 2000, there have been 105 shutouts in the NFL. Last season there were six, with Miami, Kansas City, the New York Giants, Tampa Bay, Arizona and the New York Jets being held scoreless in a game in 2012.
For the Giants, their shutout on December 16 by the score of 34-0 to the Atlanta Falcons was their first shutout since December 1, 1996, a stretch of over 16 years. Prior to last season, it was the third longest timeframe without being shutout in the league.
The Denver Broncos are the NFL franchise that has the longest time span since their last shutout. The last time the Broncos were shutout was November 22, 1992, when they lost 24-0 to the Raiders. With the addition of Peyton Manning at QB last season, you have to wonder if that streak will continue to grow as long as Manning is at the helm. Manning’s Colts were never shutout in a regular-season game during his career in Indianapolis. They did lose one playoff game in January 2003 to the New York Jets, 41-0.
The fewest shutouts since 2000 was four in 2004, while the most shutouts in a season since 2000 were 15 in the 2006 regular season.
Following is the last time each of the NFL teams was shutout in a regular season game.
Year, team (date of shutout)
1992: Denver Broncos (11/22)
1993: Indianapolis Colts (12/2)
1999: San Diego Chargers (10/31)
2002: New Orleans Saints (1/6); Baltimore Ravens (9/15); Carolina Panthers (11/24); Chicago Bears (12/29)
2003: Dallas Cowboys (11/16); Houston Texans (12/7)
2004: Atlanta Falcons (12/5)
2006: Green Bay Packers (11/19); Pittsburgh Steelers (11/26); New England Patriots (12/10)
2007: Minnesota Vikings (11/11)
2008: Buffalo Bills (12/28)
2009: Cincinnati Bengals (1/3); Jacksonville Jaguars (10/11); Detroit Lions (10/18); Cleveland Browns (11/16)
2010: Philadelphia Eagles (1/3); San Francisco 49ers (11/21); Tennessee Titans (11/28)
2011: Seattle Seahawks (9/18); Oakland Raiders (10/23); Washington Redskins (10/30); St. Louis Rams (12/24)
2012: New York Jets (9/30); Arizona (12/9); Tampa Bay (12/16); N.Y. Giants (12/16); Kansas City (12/16); Miami Dolphins (12/30)
Following are the number of times since 2000 that each team has been shutout.
11: Cleveland
8: Miami
7: Cincinnati
6: Oakland
5: Buffalo, N.Y. Jets, St. Louis, Washington
4: Dallas, Kansas City, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Tampa Bay
3: Arizona, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, Seattle, Tennessee
2: Atlanta, Carolina, Green Bay, Jacksonville, New England
1: Baltimore, Houston, Minnesota, New Orleans, N.Y. Giants
0: Denver, Indianapolis, San Diego
Just in case you were wondering, the defensive team with the most shutouts since 2000 are the Baltimore Ravens with nine. The Seahawks, Steelers and Patriots have each won with eight shutouts since 2000, and Tampa Bay have seven shutouts. Five different teams have not had a defensive shutout in this century: Arizona, Detroit, Minnesota, Philadelphia and Washington. (Note: the New Orleans Saints got their first shutout of this century when they shutout Tampa Bay 41-0 on December 16.)
When you look at playoff games, there have been only 21 shutouts in playoff games since 1966 when the Super Bowl was first introduced. The last playoff shutout was in 2005 when the Carolina Panthers defeated the New York Giants 23-0 in an NFC first-round contest. The most shutouts in a playoff season were in 1985 when there were three. Two of those shutouts were wins by the Chicago Bears, who shutout the Giants and L.A. Rams on their way to winning the 1986 Super Bowl.
“99 Stats Before Kickoff” (Stats you need to know before the start of the 2013 NFL season) is available from e-book publisher Smashwords. Go to www.smashwords.com to download a copy, including a pdf version which can be viewed on your home computer. Cost is $2.99.