Today’s Sports Stat: March 17, 2018
Now that the Philadelphia Eagles have won their first Super Bowl, when will they win their second one? Could they go back-to-back? Or, will they sit on one Super Bowl victory for many years?
Let’s take a look with a little historical perspective to try to explore the above questions. First, the Eagles, by winning Super Bowl #52, became the 20th NFL franchise (of the 32) to win a Super Bowl. Of those 20, 12 have won two or more Super Bowls and eight have won just one. That means that 12 of the current franchises have never won a Super Bowl; of those 12, four have never even made it to the Super Bowl… Cleveland, Detroit, Houston and Jacksonville.
Of the 12 franchises that have won two or more Super Bowls, let’s focus on when they won their first Super Bowl and when they won their second:
- Four teams won their first and second Super Bowls in back-to-back years… Pittsburgh, Green Bay, Denver and Miami.
- Five teams won their first and second Super Bowls within six years of each other… New England (two years), San Francisco (three years), New York Giants (four years), the Raiders (four years), Washington (five years), Dallas (six years).
- Two teams won their first and second Super Bowls more than 10 years from each other… Colts (36 years), Ravens (12 years).
It was mentioned above that the Eagles are now one of eight franchises that has won one Super Bowl. Here’s a look at when the other seven franchises won their one and only Super Bowl.
New York Jets (won Super Bowl #3)
Kansas City Chiefs (won Super Bowl #4)
Chicago (won Super Bowl #20)
Rams (won Super Bowl #34)
Tampa Bay (won Super Bowl #37)
New Orleans (won Super Bowl #44)
Seattle (won Super Bowl #48)
What does all this mean? The 12 teams that have won multiple Super Bowls won their first and second Super Bowls within an average of about six years. Take away the Rams 36-year wait for their second Super Bowl title and the average wait for Super Bowl win #2 averages just over three years.
The Eagles could, however, go the route of the Jets and Chiefs and spend nearly a half-century waiting for their second Super Bowl crown.
When will the Eagles win (or will they ever win) their second Super Bowl? There is no secret formula we can plug in. As someone once said, “That’s why they play the games.”
Follow Jerry on Twitter @StatsonTapp
Six Stats you might not know about… Ryan Tannehill’s record-tying game
Miami Dolphins’ QB Ryan Tannehill is typically not included in the list of today’s top quarterbacks. Last Sunday, however, Tannehill wrote his name in the record book with some elite QB’s with a performance that led the Dolphins to a 44-26 win over Houston.
Here’s a few stats from that game that you may not know about Tannehill’s eye-opening numbers. He was 18-for-19 for 282 yards, four TD passes, and a perfect 158.3 Quarterback Rating (QBR).
- For QBs with a minimum of 15 passes attempted (going back to 1960), Tannehill joined current Kansas City Chiefs QB Alex Smith with a pass completion percentage of 94.7, the best in NFL history. Kurt Warner is the only QB since 1960 to have a 100% completion rate in a game with the minimum of 10 pass attempts. He did it in December, 2005 as a member of the Arizona Cardinals in a 30-19 loss to Houston.
- Tannehill became the 13th QB since 1960 to have a 90% completion rate in a game (min. 15 pass attempts). The last QB was Tony Romo in 2014 when he was 18-for-20 (90%) in a game. Steve Young is the only QB to complete 90% of his passes in a game twice in his career (since 1960 with 15 pass attempts).
- Tannehill became only the second QB in history to have four TD passes, over 250 yards passing, and a pass completion rate of 90% or better in a game. Craig Morton did it in 1981 as a member of the Denver Broncos. He was 17-for-18 with 308 yards passing and four TD passes.
- Tannehill became the 35th QB since 1960 to have a perfect 158. 3 QBR in a game. Peyton Manning and Kurt Warner each did it three times in their careers; Tom Brady, Craig Morton and Ben Roethlisberger did it twice. Teams with quarterbacks who had a 158.3 QBR in a game (since 1960 with a minimum of 15 pass attempts) are 41-1 in those games.
- Tannehill became the first Miami QB to have a perfect 158.3 QBR in a game. Jay Fielder did have the highest QBR in Dolphins history at 156; he did it in a game in November 2003.
- Of all QBs who have completed 90% of their passes in a game, Tannehill has the second most yards passing with 282.
Follow Jerry on Twitter @StatsonTapp.
Jerry Tapp is the author of the recently-published book, “250 Stats Every Packers Fan Needs to Know”
40-point blowout in the NFL: What happens the following week?
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Let’s go back a couple of weeks in the NFL season… October 27 to be exact. The Cincinnati Bengals put a major beat-down on the New York Jets, 49-9. It was the first game with a 40-point margin in the 2013 NFL campaign.
You would assume that after winning a game by 40 points one week that victory would be almost a certainty the following week for the Bengals. You might also think that after losing by 40 points one week that the next game played by the Jets would more than likely be another defeat.
Fast forward to last weekend. The Bengals, hot off their blowout win over the Jets, stumble to a 22-20 loss at the hands of the Miami Dolphins. The Jets, on the other hand, host the New Orleans Saints and come away with a surprise 26-20 win.
Since the 2000 NFL season, there have now been 32 games where the final margin of victory was 40 points or more. It was only the fourth time since that season that the team that won a 40-point blowout lost the following week and the team that lost the 40-point blowout won the next week.
Here’s a quick look back at those four games.
2013: Cincinnati over NY Jets, 49-9. Cincinnati lost the following week; the Jets won the following week.
2012; Green Bay over Tennessee, 55-7. Green Bay lost the following week; Tennessee won the following week.
2012: San Francisco over Buffalo, 45-3. San Francisco lost the following week; Buffalo won the following week.
2009: Seattle over Jacksonville, 41-0. Seattle lost the following week; Jacksonville won the following week.
Of the 28 times when the two teams involved in a blowout played the following week, both teams won the next week on nine occasions, while 12 times the team that won the blowout won the following week and the team that lost the blowout also lost the next week. Both teams lost the week following a 40-point blowout three times.
Here’s a look at how well the two teams involved in a 40-point (or more) blowout did the following week
40-point blowout winner the following week (since 2000 season)
Won the following week: 22 times
Lost the following week: 7 times
Had a bye the following week: 2 times
The 40-point blowout game was the end of the season: 1 time
40-point blowout loser the following week (since 2000 season)
Won the following week: 14
Lost the following week: 16
Had a bye the following week: 1 time
The 40-point blowout game was the end of the season: 1 time
So which team have won the most 40-point blowout games in the NFL since 2000? Which team has lost the most 40-point blowout games this century? The New England Patriots have won five blowout games since 2000 to top that list; the Arizona Cardinals have been on the receiving end of a 40-point blowout four times, most in the league since 2000.
Most 40-point blowout wins since 2000
5: New England
3: Kansas City, San Francisco, Seattle
2: Baltimore, Green Bay, Jacksonville, New Orleans
1: Atlanta, Cincinnati, Dallas, Detroit, NY Jets, Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay, Tennessee
Most 40-point blowout losses since 2000
4: Arizona
3: NY Jets
2: Buffalo, Carolina, Chicago, Cleveland, St. Louis, Tampa Bay, Tennessee
1: Atlanta, Denver, Detroit, Green Bay, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Kansas City, New Orleans, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Washington
Seattle Seahawks: No offense, no problem!
Pete Carroll (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
If you would have told Seattle head coach Pete Carroll that his Seahawks would only collect 135 yards in total offense in their October 28 game against the St. Louis Rams, he might have responded, “How bad did we get beat?”
Fortunately for Carroll and the Seahawks, Seattle was still able to come away with a 14-9 win despite the dismal offensive display. Consider this: Detroit Lions receiver Calvin Johnson had almost two-and-half-times more yards in his record-setting game on Sunday than the Seattle offense had on Monday night. Johnson, in his 329-yards receiving game against the Cowboys had more yards last Sunday than 16 NFL teams in Week 8! But let’s get back to Seattle.
You would think that having less than 135 yards in total offense would not be a good omen. The Seahawks’ win was only the 28th time since 1970 (AFL-NFL merger) that a team with 135 or fewer total yards of offense won a game. The last time it happened was in 2010 when the Miami Dolphins amassed only 131 total yards of offense in a 10-6 win over the New York Jets. Since 2000, teams with 135 or fewer yards of offense in a game have won 13 and lost 60 (a .178 winning percentage).
Let’s expand the parameters a little. Let’s take a look at how well teams have done when they have gained less than 200 total yards in a game since 2000. There have been 468 times since 2000 that an NFL team had less than 200 yards of offense in a contest; in those games, that team won only 67 times, a .143 winning percentage. The Cleveland Browns had the most games with less than 200 yards of offense since 2000 with 37. They won only one of those games.
Here are the number of games each team had less than 200 yards of total offense in a game since 2000. Their record in those games is listed in parenthesis.
Cleveland: 37 games with less than 200 yards of offense (1-36 record in those games)
San Francisco: 28 games (4-24)
Buffalo: 25 games (3-22)
Chicago: 24 games (5-19)
Arizona: 22 games (5-17)
Oakland: 21 games (2-19)
Carolina: 19 games (2-17)
Cincinnati: 19 games (1-18)
Seattle: 19 games (4-15)
Baltimore: 18 games (7-11)
New York Jets: 17 games (1-16)
St. Louis: 17 games (2-15)
Detroit: 15 games (2-13)
Houston: 15 games (3-12)
Miami: 15 games (5-10)
Tennessee: 15 games (6-9)
Washington: 15 games (1-14)
Tampa Bay: 14 games (3-11)
Dallas: 13 games (1-12)
Kansas City: 12 games (1-11)
Philadelphia: 12 games (1-11)
Atlanta: 11 games (0-11)
Jacksonville: 10 games (1-9)
Minnesota: 9 games (2-7)
San Diego: 9 games (1-8)
New York Giants: 8 games (0-8)
Pittsburgh: 8 games (2-6)
New England: 7 games (1-6)
Indianapolis: 6 games (0-6)
Denver: 3 games (0-3)
Green Bay: 3 games (0-3)
New Orleans: 2 games (0-2)
There have been five games since 1970 where a team gained less than 100 yards of offense and still won the game. The five games:
* Tennessee over Jacksonville, 24-17 in 2006. Titans had 98 offensive yards.
* Oakland over Pittsburgh, 20-13 in 2006. Raiders had 98 offensive yards.
* Houston over Pittsburgh, 24-6 in 2002. Texans had 47 offensive yards.
* San Francisco over Atlanta, 10-3 in 1977. Forty-Niners had 97 offensive yards.
* Minnesota over Green Bay, 3-0 in 1971. Vikings had 87 offensive yards.
Follow Jerry on Twitter @StatsonTapp
Who will beat the Kansas City Chiefs? Ten stats you might not know about the teams that beat the unbeatens
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
With their 23-17 win over the Cleveland Browns, the Kansas City Chiefs became the 21st team since the start of the Super Bowl era (1966 NFL season) to start the season 8-0. The Atlanta Falcons in 2012 started the season 8-0, but eventually lost in their ninth game of the year, a 31-27 defeat at the hands of the New Orleans Saints. Two teams, the 1972 Miami Dolphins and the 2007 New England Patriots, went through their seasons undefeated.
So, will the Chiefs join the Dolphins and Patriots with an undefeated season? If not, who will be the first to defeat them in 2013?
The other 18 teams lost one or more games in their journey to try to finish the season with a perfect record. Here’s a look at 10 stats you might not know about the teams that eventually defeated the teams that started 8-0 (or better). We’ll call these teams the “Unbeaten Busters” or UB for short.
Just for the sake of clarity, the 18 teams that started the season 8-0 (or better) and then lost a game (or more) before the regular season ended were: 1969 L.A. Rams, 1973 Minnesota, 1975 Minnesota, 1977 Dallas, 1984 Miami, 1985 Chicago, 1990 N.Y. Giants, 1990 San Francisco, 1991 Washington, 1998 Denver, 2003 Kansas City, 2005 Indianapolis, 2006 Indianapolis, 2008 Tennessee, 2009 Indianapolis, 2009 New Orleans, 2011 Green Bay, 2012 Atlanta.
1. Divisional games: In only five of the 18 cases did the undefeated team lose to a team from within their division. The five: The 1977 Cowboys lost to division rival St. Louis Cardinals; the 1990 San Francisco 49ers lost to the L.A. Rams; the ’90 N.Y. Giants lost to the Philadelphia Eagles; the 1991 Redskins lost to the Cowboys; and, the 2012 Falcons lost to the division-rival Saints.
2. Outside their conference: In only four of the 18 cases did the undefeated team lose to a team in the other conference. In 2011 the NFC Green Bay Packers lost to the AFC Kansas City Chiefs. In 2006, the AFC Indianapolis Colts fell to the NFC Cowboys; in 1998, the AFC Denver Broncos lost to the NFC Giants; in 1985, the NFC’s Chicago Bears lost their only game of the season to the Miami Dolphins of the AFC.
3. Day of the game: Fourteen of the 18 games where the undefeated team finally lost were played on Sunday. Three were played on Monday Night Football, and one game was played on Saturday.
4. The next game after the loss: After being beaten for the first time that season, seven teams also lost their next game.
5. At home or on the road? Ten of the 18 teams had their undefeated season end on the road; eight lost their first game of the year at home.
6. Points scored by the UBs: Seventeen of the 18 UBs scored 20 or more points in their win over the undefeated team. The only exception was in 2011 when the Chiefs defeated the unbeaten Packers by a score of 19-14.
7. Points scored by the undefeated teams: Thirteen of the 18 undefeated teams scored under 20 points in the game they lost to break their unbeaten streak. One team, the 1975 Minnesota Vikings, scored 30 points in their first loss of the season to the Redskins.
8. Point differential: Twelve of the 18 games were decided by one score (eight points or less). The biggest blowout was in 2008 when the undefeated Tennessee Titans lost 34-13 to the New York Jets. Only one of the 18 games went into overtime; that occurred in 1984 when the Dolphins lost their first game of the season to the San Diego Chargers, 34-28.
9. The multiple UB franchises: The Dallas Cowboys franchise could be called the ultimate “Unbeaten Busters.” The Cowboys have beaten a team that started 8-0 on three occasions: 1991, defeating the Redskins; 2006, defeating the Colts; and 2009, defeating the Saints.
10. UBs with losing records: You would expect that a UB would be a team with a solid record, most likely above .500. That hasn’t always been the case. In fact, six of the UBs had a record under .500 when they defeated their unbeaten opponent. They were:
* 1984: The Chargers were 5-6 when they beat the 11-0 Dolphins.
* 1990: The Rams were 3-7 when they beat the 10-0 49ers.
* 1998: The Giants were 5-8 when they beat the 13-0 Broncos.
* 2003: The Bengals were 4-5 when they beat the 9-0 Chiefs.
* 2011: The Chiefs were 5-8 when they beat the 13-0 Packers.
* 2012: The Saints were 3-5 when they beat the 8-0 Falcons.
The Chiefs next game is at Buffalo on Sunday, November 3. They then have their bye week and get back on the field November 17 in an AFC West battle at Denver.
Follow Jerry on Twitter @StatsonTapp
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