Packers Numbers Crunches
Here are 12 stats you may not know from the Packers 38-28 win over the Kansas City Chiefs (the stats all reflect regular season games unless otherwise noted).
- The victory on Monday Night Football brought the Packers record to a very mediocre 33-31-1 on Monday night games since 1960. (Note: The Packers were 3-0 on Monday night before Monday Night Football started in 1970). The Pack is only 6-11 on MNF since 2005, although they are now 9-4 at home on MNF since 2000. This was the 23rd straight year that the Packers played at least one game on MNF in a season. When the Broncos play on MNF on December 28, it will be their 24th straight year on MNF, longest active streak in the league. Green Bay is now 9-1 at home in non-Sunday games since 2006.
- Randall Cobb carried the ball once on a running play for 12 yards. In his career Cobb has gained 264 yards on 28 rushes, 9.43/yards per carry. Of all NFL players who have carried the ball 25 or more times in their careers, Cobb ranks fifth all-time in the league in that stat. Louis Lipps gained 388 yards on 29 carries for 13.38/yards per carry, tops in the history of the NFL.
- Rookie Ty Montgomery had a TD reception in last night’s contest. The Packers have now had a rookie score a TD each season for the last 12 years.
- Green Bay held the Chiefs scoreless in the first quarter. They are now 87-24 (.784) in games where they hold the opponents scoreless in the first quarter. They have now won 10 straight when they shutout the opponents in the first period, and have won 35 straight at home dating back to 2007 when the defense pitches a shutout in the first quarter.
- The Pack has now won 16 straight when they score 14 or more points in the first quarter. They are 28-4 (.875) in such games since 2000.
- The Packers scored 24 points in the first half last night and have now won 24 straight when they get 24 or more points in the first half. Since 1970, the Packers are 48-2 (.960) when they tally 24+ points in the first half.
- James Jones scored a TD in his third straight game. This is the fourth time in his career that he has scored a TD in three consecutive games in a season. The last time he accomplished this was in the last three regular season games of the 2012 season.
- Aaron Rodgers had five TD passes in the game with no interceptions. The Packers are 27-4 in games when Rodgers has at least three TD passes and no interceptions in a game.
- Cobb became the 12th Green Bay receiver since 1960 to have three TD receptions in a game. Sterling Sharpe tops the club with four games with three or more TD receptions. Antonio Freeman, James Lofton and Jordy Nelson each have two such games in their careers with the Pack.
- Last night was the 43rd time since 2000 that the Packers scored 35 or more points in a game. That ties the Packers with the Broncos for third in this category in the league. Indianapolis is second with 46 games and the Patriots are first with 61 games with 35+ points since 2000. The Packers are 42-1 in those games where they score 35+ points. NFL teams have won just over 93% of the games when a team scores 35 or more points.
- The Packers “D” had seven sacks in the game. It was the 14th time since 2000 that the team had six or more sacks in a game. The team is now 13-0-1 in those games.
- Kansas City’s Jamaal Charles rushed for three TDs. It was the 12th time since 1970 that an opposing player had three rushing TDs against the Pack, but it was only the third time the Packers have won a game when that happened.
- Bonus stat: The Packers defense allowed only 75 yards rushing on 18 carries in the win over the Chiefs. It was the 31st game since 2010 that they held the opposition under 100 yards rushing. They are 26-5 (.839) in such games; those 31 games ranks 24th in the league. Their .839 winning percentage when they hold opponents under 100 yards rushing, however, ranks fourth in the league. NFL teams have a .684 winning percentage since 2010 in games where they hold the opponents to under 100 yards rushing.
(Jerry Tapp is the author of the book, “250 Stats Every Packers Fan Needs to Know.”)
Making a one-year impact with the Bucks
Richard Jefferson
One of the complaints you hear about professional sports is that with free agency it’s hard to get excited when new players come to your team because they will eventually leave the team. It’s not like in the old days, fans say, when players stayed with their teams for their whole career.
The reality, however, is that in today’s MLB, NBA, NHL and NFL, players come and go. In some cases, their stay is a few years. In other cases, it might only be one year.
Let’s take a look at one of our local pro teams, the Bucks. Over the past several years they have had players who have had a successful season with the team and then they were gone the next season, either via trade or free agency. For them, the Bucks were a stopover in their career.
A good example of this was Richard Jefferson, who the Bucks obtained in a trade with the New Jersey Nets in June of 2008. Jefferson started all 82 games for the Bucks in 2008-09, averaged 19.6 points per game and scored the most points for the team that season. Almost to the day when he was traded to the Bucks, Jefferson was sent to the San Antonio Spurs a year later in a trade that brought the Bucks three players, Bruce Bowen, Fabricio Oberto and Kurt Thomas.
Here are the players who scored the most points with the Bucks in the only season they played in Milwaukee.
Player, season, points
Richard Jefferson, 2009, 1607
Ruben Patterson, 2007, 1194
Wayne Embry, 1969, 1023
Ken Norman, 1994, 979
Swen Nater, 1977, 938
Fred Hetzel, 1969, 843
Lindsey Hunter, 2001, 825
Corey Maggette, 2011, 805
George Thompson, 1975, 780
Jamaal Magloire, 2006, 752
Bob Boozer, 1971, 728
Let’s add a slight wrinkle to the above stat and look at the players who scored the most points in their career with the Bucks in less than 100 games with the team. Jefferson retains the top spot with 1607 points in 82 games, but Moses Malone takes the second spot in this list with 1329 points in 93 games with the Bucks. Patterson (1194 points in 81 games) and Embry (1023 points in 78 games) are third and fifth on the list. The other addition to the list is Terrell Brandon who is fourth on this list with 1044 points in 65 games with the Bucks.
Follow Jerry on Twitter @StatsonTapp
A lot of HRs… but not a lot of hits
With a little over a week remaining in the 2015 MLB season, there are 57 players who have hit 20 or more home runs this season. Of those 57, six have 20-plus homers but fewer than 100 hits, and half of them play for the Astros. The six: Chris Carter (Astros), Khris Davis (Brewers), Joc Pederson (Dodgers), Colby Rasmus (Astros), Giancarlo Stanton (Marlins) and Luis Valbuena (Astros).
Leading the way in this rare stat is Stanton. He has 27 homer runs and only 74 hits for the season. Of course he has not played since June 26 when he broke his hand and has played in only 74 games this season. He was well on his way to a possible 50-HR season.
Here’s a look at the six players with 20+ HRs this year with less than 100 hits.
Player, HRs/hits, batting average
Giancarlo Stanton, 27/74, .265
Joc Pederson, 25/99, .215
Khris Davis, 23/87, .244
Luis Valbuena, 22/88, .211
Colby Rasmus, 21/95, .233
Chris Carter, 20/69, .189
Considering that there is a about 10 games left in the season for most teams, Pederson and Rasmus could very well hit themselves out of this stat before the end of the season.
Looking at this stat over the course of MLB history, there are five players who hit 30 or more home runs in a season when they finished with less than 100 hits. Mark McGwire in 2000 with the Cardinals had 32 homers and only 72 hits. Five seasons prior to that, in 1995, McGwire had 39 homers and only 89 hits with the Oakland A’s.
Here are the players who in MLB history have hit 30-plus HRs in a season with less than 100 hits.
Player, year, team, HRs/hits
Rob Deer, 1992, Detroit, 32/97
Barry Bonds, 1995, San Francisco, 34/93
Mark McGwire, 1995, Oakland, 39/89
Mark McGwire, 2000, St. Louis, 32/72
Jose Valentin, 2004, Chicago White Sox, 30/97
Mark Reynolds, 2010, Arizona, 32/99
Note: Two players just missed being members of the above club; in fact, one of them missed this season. An injury has ended Yankee Mark Teixeira’s season. He finishes the year with 31 HRs and exactly 100 hits. Back in 1984 the White Sox Ron Kittle ended the year with 32 HRs and exactly 100 hits. It’s also interesting to note that Mark McGwire in his last MLB season, 2001, had 29 HRs and only 64 hits, just missing a third time on the above list by one home run.
Follow Jerry on Twitter @StatsonTapp
Packers Numbers Crunches
Here are 12 stats you may not know from the Packers 27-17 win over the Seahawks (the stats all reflect regular season games unless otherwise noted).
- The win over Seattle gives the Packers an 18-8 record versus NFC West opponents since 2002. They are 11-2 at Lambeau Field, 7-6 on the road against Arizona, San Francisco and Seattle.
- Green Bay is 10-6 in their home opener this century. They are, however, 8-1 in their last nine home openers; the last home opener loss was a defeat by the 49ers in 2012.
- The Packers scored first in yesterday’s game. They have won eight of the last nine when they scored first and have won eight straight when they score first in games at Lambeau Field.
- Green Bay put 10 points on the scoreboard in the first quarter. They are now 40-11 since 2000 in games when they score 10+ points in the first quarter and are 19-3 at home since 2009 when they score 10+ points in the first period.
- Mason Crosby made four field goals. The Pack is 25-6 in those games.
- The Packers have now won 11 straight when they hold opponents to three points or less in the first half.
- Green Bay had a 10-point lead at half in the game. They have a 29-1 record in games where they have a 10-point lead (or larger) dating back to the 2009 season. They have now won 28 straight at home when they have a 10-point lead at home; the last loss was on October 2, 2007.
- James Starks rushed for 95 yards on 20 carries. The Packers are 13-0 when Starks gets 60 or more yards rushing in a game and 6-0 when he gets 15 or more carries in a contest.
- This was the 24th game in Aaron Rodgers’ career where he completed 75% of his passes (he was 25-for-33, 75.8%). The Packers are 23-1 in those games.
- Green Bay got two fourth-quarter takeaways in the game. They are now 36-5 (.878 winning percentage) in games since 2010 when the defense get two or more takeaways.
- The Packers have now won 14 consecutive games when they allow their opponents to score 17 or fewer points in a game.
- The Packers “D” also held the Seahawks scoreless in the fourth quarter. The team is 18-2 since 2010 when the opponents score zero points in the fourth quarter.
Bonus stat: Seattle running back Marshawn Lynch gained only 41 yards on 15 carries. The Seahawks are 13-24 in games where Lynch is held to under 50 yards rushing. Green Bay held Lynch to only 2.7 yards per carry. It was only the 16th time in his career that he was held under 3.0 yards per carry in a game where he had 10 or more rushing attempts.
(Jerry Tapp is the author of the book, “250 Stats Every Packers Fan Needs to Know.”)
Players with zeros in their NBA box score
Derek Fisher: 34 minutes played, 0 points, 0 rebounds, 0 assists
One of the things I love about researching and writing about sports statistics is when you discover some bizarre, out-of-ordinary stat that just doesn’t make sense. Such is the case today.
Think about playing in an NBA game. Is it possible for an NBA player to spend 15, 20, 0r even more than 25 minutes on the floor playing in an NBA game and not have a single point, a rebound or an assist? Can you imagine an NBA box score where a player gets 15 or more minutes and has zeros on his box score… 0 points, 0 rebounds, 0 assists? You have to think to yourself, “What was this guy doing on the floor all that time?”
Going back to the 1985-86 NBA season, I researched on Basketball-Reference.com the players who had 0 points, 0 rebounds and 0 assists in a game when they played 25 or more minutes in a contest. The result? Six different players “accomplished” this feat a total of seven times. The most recent time was on March 2, 2014 when Philadelphia’s Hollis Thompson played 25 minutes in a game against Orlando and had 0 points (on 0-for-three shooting) and had no rebounds or assists in the game.
Here’s a look at those seven times when players had 25+ minutes played with 0 points, rebounds and assists.
3/2/2014: Hollis Thompson, Philadelphia… 25 minutes played
1/31/2011: Joel Anthony, Miami… 25 minutes played
1/9/2011: Joel Anthony, Miami… 29 minutes played
11/4/2009: Derek Fisher, L.A. Lakers… 34 minutes played
4/17/2006: Theo Ratliff, Portland… 26 minutes played
11/5/2005: Bruce Bowen, San Antonio… 25 minutes played
11/23/2003: Morris Peterson, Toronto… 25 minutes played
Here’s an interesting note about Fisher’s game in which he played 34 minutes without a point, rebound or assist. The Lakers defeated the Rockets 103-102 in that game and it was a Fisher steal that sealed the win for the Lakers. So even with zeros on his box score line, Fisher was able to make a major contribution to the team’s victory.
To generate a few more numbers about this rare stat, I changed the criteria to o points, rebounds and assists in games where a player played 15 or more minutes. Eleven players had three such games from 1985-86 to 2014-15 led by Shane Battier who played five games with that stat line. Here’s a look at these 11 players.
Games with 0 points, rebounds and assists and 15+ minutes played
5: Shane Battier
4: Greg Buckner, Michale Curry, Ryan Gomes, Joel Anthony
3: Duane Causwell, Calbert Cheaney, Earl Cureton, Kevin Ollie, Quincy Pondexter, Danny Vranes
Follow Jerry on Twitter @StatsonTapp
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