99 Stats Until Kickoff (#98) When was the last time your team had a winning season, and when they had their last losing season
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.)
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
A couple of streaks were extended this past season in the NFL. On the positive side, the New England Patriots in 2012 had their 12th consecutive winning season. The last time the Patriots had a losing season was when they went 5-11 in 2000.
On the not-so-positive side, the Oakland Raiders in 2012 had a 4-12 record, extending their streak of non-winning seasons to 10. The last time the Raiders had a winning season was in 2002 when they went 11-5.
Following is the last time each of the NFL teams had a winning season and when they had their last losing season. (For the record, an 8-8 season is a non-winning season.)
Team, Last winning season Last losing season
Arizona 2009 2012
Atlanta 2012 2007
Baltimore 2012 2007
Buffalo 2004 2012
Carolina 2008 2012
Chicago 2012 2009
Cincinnati 2012 2010
Cleveland 2007 2012
Dallas 2009 2010
Denver 2012 2010
Detroit 2011 2012
Green Bay 2012 2008
Houston 2012 2010
Indianapolis 2012 2011
Jacksonville 2007 2012
Kansas City 2010 2012
Miami 2008 2012
Minnesota 2012 2011
New England 2012 2000
New Orleans 2011 2012
New York Giants 2012 2004
New York Jets 2010 2012
Oakland 2002 2012
Philadelphia 2010 2012
Pittsburgh 2011 2003
San Diego 2010 2012
San Francisco 2012 2010
Seattle 2012 2011
St. Louis 2003 2012
Tampa Bay 2010 2012
Tennessee 2011 2012
Washington 2012 2011
Getting back to the streaks mentioned at the beginning, here are the teams that have the longest streaks with a winning record and those teams with the longest streak of non-winning seasons.
Active streak of consecutive winning seasons: New England, 12; Atlanta, 5; Baltimore, 5; Green Bay, 4; New York Giants, 3.
Active streak of consecutive non-losing seasons: Oakland, 10; St. Louis, 9; Buffalo, 8; Cleveland, 5; Jacksonville, 5; Carolina, 4; Arizona, 3; Dallas, 3.
“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.
99 Stats Until Kickoff (#95) When was the last time your team returned a kick for a TD?
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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.)
Returning a kick for a touchdown (either a kick-off or a punt) can be a rare event in the typical NFL season. Just last year, there were 14 kick-offs returned for TD (regular-season and playoffs) and 18 punts returned for scores.
In 2012, the Baltimore Ravens and Denver Broncos each had a pair of TDs via kick-off return, and the Broncos, Buffalo and Tennessee each had two punt returns for touchdowns.
For some teams, however, getting a score via special teams (specifically, a kick-off or punt return) has not come that often. For example, with regards to kick-offs returned for TD, the St. Louis Rams have not had one since October 9, 2005, the longest current drought for a kick-off return for touchdown in the league.
On punts, the Detroit Lions’ punt return team has not returned a punt for TD since November 14, 2004, the longest current wait for a punt return score in the NFL.
Following is a by-team list of the last time each team returned a kick-off and punt for a touchdown.
Team, last kick-off return for TD, last punt return for TD
Arizona KO: 11-7-2010; P: 11-27-2011
Atlanta KO: 1-15-2011; P: 1-2-2011
Baltimore KO: 11-11-2012; P: 11-18-2012
Buffalo KO: 10-21-2012; P: 11-15-2012
Carolina KO: 11-20-2011; P: -22-2006
Chicago KO: 10-16-2011; P: 1-13-2011
Cincinnati KO: 11-15-2009; P: 9-16-2012
Cleveland KO: 12-20-2009; P: 12-9-2012
Dallas KO: 9-15-2008; P: 11-11-2012
Denver KO: 1-12-2013; P: 1-12-2013
Detroit KO: 10-10-2012; P: 11-14-2004
Green Bay KO: 9-8-2011; P: 9-9-2012
Houston KO: 10-4-2009; P: 9-11-2011
Indianapolis KO: 12-30-2012; P: 11-25-2012
Jacksonville KO: 11-4-2007; P: 12-19-2010
Kansas City KO: 11-22-2009; P: 9-13-2010
Miami KO: 11-15-2012; P: 9-9-2012
Minnesota KO: 9-30-2012; P: 9-30-2012
New England KO: 10-21-2012; P: 11-18-2012
New Orleans KO: 11-15-2009; P: 9-8-2011
New York Giants KO: 12-9-2012; P: 12-6-2009
New York Jets KO: 10-8-2012; P: 9-9-2012
Oakland KO: 10-16-2011; P: 12-21-2008
Philadelphia KO: 11-23-2008; P: 12-2-2012
Pittsburgh KO: 9-19-2010; P: 12-4-2011
San Diego KO: 12-30-2012; 12-23-2012
San Francisco KO: 9-11-2011; P: 9-11-2011
Seattle KO: 11-25-2012; P: 11-4-2007
St. Louis KO: 10-9-2005; P: 11-27-2011
Tampa Bay KO: 11-7-2010; P: 12-27-2009
Tennessee KO: 9-23-2012; P: 12-30-2012
Washington KO: 10-31-2010; P: 11-21-2010
“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.
99 Stats Until Kickoff (#59) Do NFL teams have better records when they play in their own time zone?
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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.)
Periodically you will hear football commentators talk about a team on the east coast taking a road trip to the west coast to play a foe and how the travel may affect their performance (or vice versa).
To see if there is any significant difference between teams playing in their own time zone versus traveling to other time zones to play, I looked at the last five seasons in the NFL and tracked how well teams played within their own time zone and how well they played outside their time zone.
The findings? There is a difference. Case in point: Look below at the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers, who play in an eastern time zone city, were 49-17 (a .742 winning percentage) in games they played in the eastern time zone. But when the Steelers had to travel out of their time zone, they were only 4-10 in those five years, a .286 winning percentage. That’s a difference of .456 percentage points. That difference was the largest of any team in this five-year analysis.
All total, of the 32 NFL teams, 26 played better in their own time zones versus playing outside their time zone. To quantify it, NFL teams in the last five season were 951-832-3 (.533 winning percentage) when they played in their own time zone and 327-446-1 (.423 winning percentage) when they played outside their time zone, a difference of .110 percentage points.
Following is a look at each NFL team and their win-loss record when they played games in their own time zone and their record outside their time zone in the last five seasons (2008-12).
EASTERN TIME ZONE In time zone Outside time zone Difference
Atlanta 45-17 .726 11-7 .611 + .115
Baltimore 46-20 .697 8-6 .571 + .126
Buffalo 23-42 .354 6-9 .400 – .046
Carolina 27-34 .443 8-11 .421 + .022
Cincinnati 31-36-1 .463 6-6 .500 – .037
Cleveland 20-48 .294 3-9 .250 + .044
Detroit 18-34 .346 4-24 .143 + .203
Indianapolis 37-23 .617 12-8 .600 + .017
Jacksonville 23-37 .383 4-16 .200 + .183
Miami 31-33 .484 7-9 .438 + .046
New England 50-15 .769 10-5 .667 + .102
New York Giants 37-24 .607 11-8 .579 + .028
New York Jets 38-27 .585 5-10 .333 + .252
Philadelphia 35-26-1 .573 7-11 .389 + .184
Pittsburgh 49-17 .742 4-10 .286 + .456
Tampa Bay 23-36 .390 10-11 .476 + .086
Washington 24-40 .375 9-7 .563 – .188
CENTRAL TIME ZONE In time zone Outside time zone Difference
Chicago 31-24 .564 14-11 .560 + .004
Dallas 27-21 .563 15-17 .469 + .094
Green Bay 40-16 .714 13-11 .542 + .172
Houston 31-19 .620 14-16 .467 + .153
Kansas City 16-28 .364 9-27 .250 + .114
Minnesota 31-24 .564 10-15 .400 + .164
New Orleans 34-15 .694 18-13 .581 + .113
St. Louis 11-35 .239 8-25-1 .250 – .011
Tennessee 29-22 .569 13-16 .448 + .121
MOUNTAIN TIME ZONE In time zone Outside time zone Difference
Arizona 24-16 .600 13-27 .325 + .275
Denver 21-20 .512 20-19 .513 – .001
PACIFIC TIME ZONE In time zone Outside time zone Difference
Oakland 17-29 .370 13-21 .382 – .012
San Diego 29-17 .630 16-18 .471 + .159
San Francisco 29-15-1 .656 16-19 .457 + .199
Seattle 24-22 .522 10-24 .294 + .228
“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
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