Which NFL team has the greatest home field advantage?
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
With four weeks left in the 2013 NFL regular season, there is more and more conversation about the playoffs and which teams will not only make the playoffs, but which teams might have home field advantage throughout the duration of the post-season.
You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to understand that having the home field is a benefit during the season and also in the playoffs. For the record, from the 2010 season through Week #13 of this year, home teams have won .572 of the games with road teams at .428, a difference of .144. (In the last three NFL playoffs, home teams have an 18-12 record, a .600 winning percentage.)
For some teams, however, the difference between their regular season home and road winning percentage is much greater than the league average of .144 since 2010. The Arizona Cardinals since 2010 are 19-11 (.633) at home and 6-24 (.200) on the road. That .433 difference is the largest of all NFL teams in that time period.
After looking at the records below, you will notice that:
* Only nine of the 32 NFL teams have a .500 or better record at home and on the road… Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Green Bay, New England, New Orleans, New York Giants, Pittsburgh, San Francisco.
* Two teams, Philadelphia and Washington, have actually played better on the road than at home since 2010. Only two teams, New England (.700) and Philadelphia (.600) have won 60 percent or more of their regular season road games since 2010.
Here’s a look at each NFL teams winning percentage at home and on the road since 2010.
Difference, Team (Home win pct/Road win pct)
+.433 Arizona (.633/.200)
+.400 Baltimore (.867/.467)
+.334 Seattle (.767/.433)
+.317 Green Bay (.850/.533)
+.250 Minnesota (.500/.250)
+.247 Cleveland (.419/.172)
+.245 Buffalo (.452/.207)
+.233 Indianapolis (.633/.400)
+.217 San Francisco (.750/.533)
+.200 New England (.900/.700)
+.200 New Orleans (.767/.567)
+.200 New York Jets (.600/.400)
+.166 Atlanta (.733/.567)
+.150 St. Louis (.433/.283)
+.142 Pittsburgh (.690/.548)
+.134 Oakland (.467/.333)
+.133 San Diego (.552/.419)
+ .102 Kansas City (.516/.414)
+.100 Chicago (.633/.533)
+.100 Dallas (.533/.433)
+.100 Denver (.633/.533)
+.100 Detroit (.500/.400)
+.100 New York Giants (.600/.500)
+.087 Jacksonville (.345/.258)
+.068 Cincinnati (.552/.484)
+.067 Tennessee (.467/.400)
+.066 Carolina (.433/.367)
+.033 Houston (.516/.483)
+.000 Miami (.433/.433)
+.000 Tampa Bay (.400/.400)
-.066 Washington (.367/.433)
-.233 Philadelphia (.367/.600)
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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.
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Who’s leading the weapons race in the NFL this season?
Randall Cobb is one of seven Packers with a 100-yard game this season (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Earlier this year we heard a lot about the Green Bay Packers going 44 games without a 100-yard rusher. In their second game of this season, James Starks rushed for 132 yards to break that streak. But the Packers weren’t done… in the following week Johnathan Franklin gained 103 yards on the ground for the Packers’ second 100-yard rusher of the season. But… there was more. A couple of weeks later, Eddie Lacy ran for 120 yards against the Ravens. From no 100-yard rushers in over two years to three different players rushing for 100-plus yards in a game in a matter of one month.
That, however, may not be the most amazing thing about the Packers this season. In addition to three different runners gaining 100-plus yards in a game, they also have had four different receivers amass 100 or more yards receiving in a game through the first six weeks of the season. Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb and James Jones each had 100-yard games prior to last week’s contest against the Browns. In last Sunday’s contest against Cleveland, another receiver, Jarrett Boykin had eight receptions for 103 yards, giving the Pack four different players who have had 100 or more yards receiving in a game this season.
Those seven different 100-yard players are the most of any team this year in the NFL. The San Diego Chargers and New England Patriots each have had five players with 100-yard rushing or receiving games this season (both teams have had one rusher and four receivers with 100-yard games).
Following are the number of different players for each team who have had either a 100-yard rushing or receiving game this year.
Number of 100-yard performers, team, (runners/receivers)
7: Green Bay Packers (3 runners-4 receivers)
5: New England (1-4), San Diego (1-4)
4: Dallas (1-3), Detroit (1-3), N.Y. Giants (1-3), N.Y. Jets (2-2), Philadelphia (1-3)
3: Atlanta (0-3), Denver (0-3), Houston (1-2), Jacksonville (0-3), Miami (0-3), Oakland (2-1), San Francisco (1-2), Washington (1-2)
2: Buffalo (1-1), Carolina (1-1), Chicago (0-2), Cleveland (0-2), Indianapolis (0-2), Kansas City (1-1), Minnesota (1-1), New Orleans (0-2), Pittsburgh (0-2), Seattle (2-0), St. Louis (0-2), Tampa Bay (1-1)
1: Arizona (0-1), Baltimore (0-1), Cincinnati (0-1), Tennessee (0-1)
Notes:
* The Packers have the most 100-yard runners with three and are tied with New England and San Diego for most 100-yard receivers.
* Seattle is the only team in the NFL this year that has not had a 100-yard receiver in a game.
* This is the first season since 1980 that the Packers have had seven players with 100-yard rushing or receiving games. In 1980 they had two 100-yard rushers and five 100-yard receivers. It is the first time since 2006 that three players had 100-plus yards rushing in a game in a season for the Pack.
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Pitching a shutout at halftime in the NFL
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
If you’re a defensive coordinator in the NFL, you’ve got to feel pretty good if your team heads into the locker room at halftime of a game and your opponents do not have any points on the scoreboard. But does pitching a shutout in the first half equate to ultimate success (read: victory) in that game?
Let’s put some numbers to that question. First, there have been nine games so far in 2013 where a team has held their opponents to zero points in the first half. In those games, those teams that pitched the first-half shutout won nine and lost two. Two teams, Green Bay and Seattle, have held their opponents to zero points at half in two games in 2013.
If we take a look back to 2004, teams that held the opposition scoreless in the first half have won 357 and lost 64, an .848 winning percentage. The Patriots and Steelers have each held their opponents scoreless in 22 games from 2004-2013, most in the NFL.
Here’s a look at the number of games each NFL team held opponents scoreless in the first half from 2004-2013. The win-loss record in those games is noted in parenthesis.
Games where opponents were scoreless at halftime (record in those games)
22: New England (21-1); Pittsburgh (20-2)
19: Cincinnati (17-2); New York Giants (18-1); Baltimore (18-1)
18: Green Bay (15-3); Tampa Bay (14-4)
17: New York Jets (15-2); Seattle (16-1)
15: Atlanta (14-1); San Diego (13-2)
14: Carolina (12-2); Chicago (11-3); Denver (14-0); Houston (12-2); San Francisco (13-1)
13: Jacksonville (11-2)
12: Cleveland (5-7); Miami (5-7); Washington (10-2)
11: Buffalo: (9-2); Kansas City (9-2); Tennessee (8-3)
10: Detroit (9-1); Minnesota (7-3)
9: Indianapolis (8-1); Arizona (7-2); Philadelphia (9-0)
7: Dallas (5-2)
5: Oakland (4-1); St. Louis (4-1)
4: New Orleans (4-0)
You probably noticed that three teams, Denver, Philadelphia and New Orleans, are undefeated in games since 2004 when they held opponents scoreless in the first half. The last time these teams lost a game when they held their foes scoreless at half were: Eagles (12/28/2002); Broncos (12/2/2001), Saints (10/17/1999).
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Packers on the wrong end of another 400-yard passer
Sports Stats ‘on Tapp’ is a sports statistics blog published with a focus on stats that go beyond the numbers.
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
For Green Bay Packers fans, this is getting to be all-too-common… an opposing quarterback having a big game and throwing for 300 or more yards.
Sunday’s game against the 49ers was no different. San Fran QB Colin Kaepernick passed for 412 yards in his team’s 34-28 win over the Pack. Not only was this Kaepernick’s first game with over 400 yards passing, it was also his first game with over 300 yards passing.
For the record, Kaepernick was one of three QBs with 400 or more yards passing in Week One. Peyton Manning had 462 passing yards in Denver’s win over Baltimore on Thursday; little brother Eli had 450 passing yards in his team’s Sunday night loss to the Cowboys.
But back to the Packers. What’s frustrating for the Packers and their fans is QB’s torching their defense has been a frequent occurrence. Consider this: In the last 10 seasons (2003-2012) and the first week of this season, there were 96 games where a quarterback passed for 400 or more yards in a game. Of those 96, the Packers were the defensive team that QB had the 400-yard game against 11 times. Next on the list is New Orleans which gave up 400 or more yards passing to a QB six times since 2003.
Here’s a look at the teams that have surrendered 400 or more yards passing to a QB three or more times since 2003.
11 times: Green Bay
6 times: New Orleans
5 times: Arizona, Denver, Houston, San Diego
4 times: Atlanta, Cleveland, Dallas, New York Giants, New York Jets, San Francisco
3 times: Detroit, Kansas City, Miami, Oakland, Seattle, Washington
Two more quick stats:
* In those 96 games where a QB amassed 400 or more yards passing, that QB’s team won 36 and lost 60.
* In the 11 games where the Packers have allowed a QB to throw for 400 or more yards since 2003, Green Bay won five of those games and lost six.
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