This is the Patriots time of the season
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
With Chicago’s win over Green Bay last night, Week #9 is in the books for the 2013 season. For some teams, they have already started playing games in the second half of the season. For others, the ninth game of the year (and the start of their second half of the ’13 season) will begin this week.
The New England Patriots, led by Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, have been the NFL’s best team this century. One of the reasons for this has been how well the team has played in the second half of the season. Consider this: The Patriots were 27-5 in the second half of the season over the past four years, a .844 winning percentage, also tops in the league.
Following is a look at how well each of the teams have played in the second half of the season in the last four years (2009-2012, 32 games).
New England 27-5 .844
Green Bay 25-7 .781
New Orleans 23-9 .719
Atlanta 21-11 .656
Baltimore 21-11 .656
San Diego 21-11 .656
San Francisco 20-11-1 .641
Indianapolis 19-13 .594
Dallas 19-13 .594
Pittsburgh 18-14 .563
Denver 17-15 .531
Philadelphia 17-15 .531
Seattle 17-15 .531
Cincinnati 16-16 .500
Houston 16-16 .500
New York Jets 6-16 .500
Carolina 15-17 .469
Chicago 15-17 .469
Miami 15-17 .469
Tennessee 15-17 .469
Arizona 14-18 .438
Minnesota 14-18 .438
New York Giants 13-19 .406
Washington 13-19 .406
Kansas City 12-20 .375
Oakland 12-20 .375
Buffalo 11-21 .344
Jacksonville 11-21 .344
Cleveland 10-22 .313
Tampa Bay 10-22 .313
Detroit 9-23 .281
St. Louis 8-23-1 .266
Follow Jerry on Twitter @StatsonTapp
14 or more points in the first quarter: Victory in the book?
Head coach Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick had to be feeling pretty good. Logan Ryan had just intercepted a pass and returned it 79 yards for a touchdown putting the Pats ahead 14-7 in the first quarter of their game last Sunday against the Jets. Considering that in the past 22 games where the Patriots had scored 14 or more points in the first quarter they had eventually won 21 of those games, you would assume Belichick and his team were well on their way to their sixth victory against one loss for the season.
Unfortunately, the end result was not a win. The Jets got back in the game, it went into overtime and the Patriots lost on a field goal.
Scoring 14 or more points in the first quarter of an NFL game has for the most part been a good omen for teams. Since 2000, there have been 491 times when a team has scored 14-plus points in the first quarter. Those teams have won 400, lost 90 and there was one tie. That’s a winning percentage of .816. Do that in every game of a 16-game season and that will get you 13 or 14 wins, enough probably to host all of your playoff games.
The Green Bay Packers have had the most games since 2000 where they scored 14 or more points in the first quarter with 27. The Baltimore Ravens are the only team since 2000 to not lose a game when they scored 14-plus in the first quarter. They are 9-0.
Following is a look at each NFL team and how many games they played since 2000 where they scored 14 or more points in the first quarter. Their record in those games is also noted.
Teams, games, record
Green Bay, 27… 23-4 .852
Pittsburgh, 25… 21-4 .840
New England, 23… 21-2 .913
Philadelphia, 23… 21-2 .913
San Diego, 23… 21-2 .913
St. Louis, 22… 17-4-1 .795
Atlanta, 21… 15-6 .714
Seattle, 21… 18-3 .857
Denver, 20… 17-3 .850
New Orleans, 19… 15-4 .789
Indianapolis, 17… 14-3 .824
Tennessee, 17… 13-4 .765
New York Giants, 16… 14-2 .875
Buffalo, 15… 10-5 .667
Cincinnati, 15… 14-1 .933
Kansas City, 15… 14-1 .933
Minnesota, 15… 14-1 .933
New York Jets, 15… 12-3 .800
Oakland, 14… 13-1 .929
Carolina, 12… 9-3 .750
Detroit, 12… 3-9 .250
San Francisco, 12… 7-5 .583
Chicago, 11… 10-1 .909
Arizona, 11… 9-2 .818
Houston, 10… 9-1 .900
Tampa Bay, 10… 8-2 .800
Dallas, 9… 8-1 .889
Miami, 9… 5-4 .556
Baltimore, 9… 9-0 1.000
Cleveland, 8… 6-2 .750
Washington, 8… 6-2 .750
Jacksonville, 7… 4-3 .571
Teams this year are 12-3 (.800 winning percentage) if they scored 14-plus points in the first quarter. Dallas, New England and Oakland are the three teams that have lost games this season after scoring 14 or more points in the first quarter.
Follow Jerry on Twitter @StatsonTapp
Which coach(es) will make his first Super Bowl appearance this year?
Sports Stats ‘on Tapp’ is a sports statistics blog published with a focus on stats that go beyond the numbers.
Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick is the only coach of the four whose teams are still left in the NFL playoffs that has gone to the Super Bowl. Belichick’s Patriots have made five Super Bowl appearances.
That means that we will have at least one coach making his Super Bowl debut (either Atlanta’s Mike Smith or San Francisco’s Jim Harbaugh), and if John Harbaugh’s Ravens should defeat the Patriots, we will have two coaches making their Super Bowl debuts on February 3.
In the Super Bowl era (since 1966) we have several coaches who have won 70 or more games but have never made it to the Super Bowl. Topping that list is Marty Schottenheimer who has 200 wins but never coached in the Super Bowl.
Following are the coaches with 70 or more wins who have never coached in the Super Bowl. (Note: Only coaches who coached a majority of their games in the Super Bowl era are included. George Halas (318), Curly Lambeau (226) and Paul Brown (213) are just some of the coaches who never won a Super Bowl because there was not a Super Bowl during their coaching careers.)
Coach, wins
Marty Schottenheimer, 200
Chuck Knox, 186
Jim Mora, 125
Norv Turner, 114
Dennis Green, 113
Don Coryell, 111
Ted Marchibroda, 87
Jack Pardee, 87
Bum Phillips, 82
Wade Phillips, 82
Dave Wannstedt, 82
Marvin Lewis, 79
John Robinson, 75
Jack Del Rio, 73
Steve Mariucci, 72
There have also been a handful of coaches who have made it to the Super Bowl but never won the big game. In fact, there are six coaches who have won 100 or more games, have coached in the Super Bowl, but have never won a Super Bowl. They are: Dan Reeves (190 wins), Bud Grant (158 wins), Jeff Fisher (149 wins), Marv Levy (143), Andy Reid (130) and George Allen (116).
Denver Broncos coach John Fox could join the above list as he has 94 career wins, has coached in the Super Bowl, but has never won the Super Bowl.
Follow Jerry on Twitter @StatsonTapp
“B4” Sports Trivia: The Super Bowl
Bill Belichick... Image via Wikipedia
“B4” Sports Trivia is a bonus feature of Sports Stats ‘on Tapp’ (Answers for the four “B4” questions are listed at the end of the blog.)
1. The New England Patriots won back-to-back Super Bowls in Super Bowls 38 and 39. Name the last team to win back-to-back Super Bowls “B4” the Patriots.
2. Bill Belichick has been the New England coach since the 2000 NFL season. Who was the Patriots coach “B4” Belichick?
3. Eli Manning took over as starting QB of the New York Giants in November of 2004. Who was the Giants starting QB “B4” Eli?
4. Tom Coughlin has been the Giants coach since 2004. For what NFL team was Coughlin head coach “B4” the Giants?
ANSWERS:
1. Denver won Super Bowl 32 and 33.
2. Pete Carroll.
3. Kurt Warner
4. Jacksonville Jaguars
Sports Stats 'on Tapp' 