Winning an NFL game with 14 or fewer points
In today’s high-scoring, pass-on-every-down version of the NFL, it’s rare to have a game where teams score less than 15 points. Sure, there might be a game where one team scores less than 15, but to have both teams fail to reach 15 points in a game is rare.
This past weekend two such games were played. Arizona defeated the Lions 14-6 in one contest, while the San Diego Chargers only needed 13 points to beat the Raiders, 13-6. It was the first week since Week #2 last year where two games were won by teams that scored less than 15 points. This season there has been four games where both teams scored under 15 points.
For the Cardinals, they won a low-scoring contest last year when they beat Tampa Bay 13-10. San Diego, however, hadn’t won a game with fewer than 15 points in a game since 2007 when they won 14-3 over the Bears.
Let’s go back to the 2010 NFL season. Since then teams that scored under 15 points in a game have a record of 51-526, a .088 winning percentage. Only two teams, Baltimore and Seattle, have winning percentages over .300 in games where they scored under 15 points in a game since 2010.
Here’s a look at the records of each NFL team since 2010 in games when they scored fewer than 15 points (through games of November 17, 2014).
Baltimore 5-8 .385; Seattle 5-11 .313
Pittsburgh 4-13 .235
Green Bay 2-9 .182; New England 1-5 .167; Kansas City 4-24 .143; New Orleans 1-6 .143; Cleveland 4-27 .129; Cincinnati 2-14 .125; San Francisco 2-15 .118; Dallas 1-8 .111; Miami 2-17.105
Arizona 2-19 .095; Buffalo 2-22 .083; San Diego 1-11 .083; Denver 1-12 .077; Detroit 1-12 .077; Houston 1-14 .067; Jacksonville 2-31 .061; St. Louis 2-31 .061; Washington 1-17 .056; Chicago 1-18 .053; Tennessee 1-19 .050; N.Y. Jets 1-21 .045; Minnesota 1-22 .043; Carolina 1-24 .040
Oakland 0-22 .000; Tampa Bay 0-19 .000; N.Y Giants 0-16 .000; Atlanta 0-14 .000; Indianapolis 0-13 .000; Philadelphia 0-12 .000
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99 Stats Until Kickoff (#50) NFL one-score losses
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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.)
Just over half of the 256 regular season games played in the NFL last season were decided by eight points or less. In addition to the one tie game in 2012, 129 of the other 255 games were decided by one score (eight points or less), or 50.8 percent of the games played in 2012.
Leading the way were the Detroit Lions who lost eight of their 12 defeats by eight points or less. Here’s a look at the number of one-score losses (eight points or less) for each team last season.
One-score losses, team (total losses)
8: Detroit (12)
7: Carolina (9); Tampa Bay (9)
6: Pittsburgh (8)
5: Cleveland (11); Dallas (8); Jacksonville (14); Miami (9); New Orleans (9); Philadelphia (12)’ San Diego (9); Seattle (5); Washington (6)
4: Buffalo (10); Chicago (6); Cincinnati (6); Arizona (11); Green Bay (5); Kansas City (14); New England (4); N.Y. Giants (7); Oakland (12); Baltimore (6)
3: N.Y. Jets (10); Tennessee (10); St. Louis (8)
2: Atlanta (3); Denver (3)
1: Indianapolis (5); Minnesota (6); San Francisco (4)
0: Houston (4)
Seven teams lost 75 percent of more of their losses by eight points or less. The Seattle Seahawks lost each of their five losses by one score, while the New England Patriots also lost each of their four defeats by one score. In their four losses, the Patriots lost by a total of 11 points (a seven-point loss, a two-point loss and a pair of one-point defeats).
The other five teams that lost 75 percent or more of their defeats by eight points or less: Washington Redskins (83.3%); Green Bay Packers (80%); Carolina (77.8%); Tampa Bay (77.8%) and Pittsburgh (75%).
The Houston Texans lost four games in the regular season, all of them by 10 points or more. The Texans were the only team last year not to lose a game by eight points or less. The Texans four losses came by 18, 28, 17 and 10 points.
“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
Blue Jays have second double-digit win streak in MLB in 2013
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Sports Stats ‘on Tapp’ is a sports statistics blog published with a focus on stats that go beyond the numbers.
Tampa Bay defeated the Toronto Blue Jays last night 4-1, ending the Blue Jays 11-game winning streak. The 11-game streak tied the franchise record.
It was also the second double-digit winning streak of the 2013 season. Earlier this year the Atlanta Braves ran off 10 straight wins.
For some MLB teams, a win streak of 10 or more games has been a rarity. For the Miami Marlins franchise, they have never had a win streak of 10 or more games in their history. Two teams, Kansas City and Baltimore, both have not had a winning streak of 10 or more games this century. The Royals last had a double-digit win streak in 1994 when they won 14 straight. The Orioles last won 10-plus in 1999 when they had a 13-game wining streak.
Following are the last years that each MLB team had a winning streak of 10 or more games (the number in parenthesis is the number of games won in a row that season)
Year, team (win streak)
Never: Miami
1994: Kansas City (14)
1999: Baltimore (13)
2001: Chicago Cubs (12); St. Louis (11)
2002: Anaheim (10); Seattle (10)
2003: Arizona (12); Milwaukee (10)
2004: Houston (12); Pittsburgh (10); San Francisco (10); Tampa Bay (12)
2005: Washington (10)
2006: L.A. Dodgers (11); Oakland (10)
2008: Cleveland (10); Minnesota (10); N.Y. Mets (10)
2009: Boston (11); San Diego (10)
2010: Chicago White Sox (11); Colorado (10); Philadelphia (11)
2011: Detroit (12); Texas (12)
2012: Cincinnati (10); N.Y. Yankees (10)
2013: Atlanta (10); Toronto (11)
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Los Angeles Dodgers: MLB’s best record since August 1, 2011
Sports Stats ‘on Tapp’ is a sports statistics blog published daily focusing on stats that go beyond the numbers.
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The Los Angeles Dodgers not only have the best record in the majors this season at 29-13 and a seven-game lead in the National League West, but when you add in the last two months of last season, they also have the best record in the majors since August 1, 2011. The Dodgers have won 63 of their last 96 games for a .656 winning percentage. The two-time A.L. World Series representative Texas Rangers have the second-best record (26-17) in the A.L. this season (behind Baltimore’s 27-16). They have the best record in the A.L. since August 1 last year with a 61-35 mark.
Eight teams last season played .600 or better ball the last two months of the season: In the A.L., it was Detroit (.704), Texas (.660) and Tampa Bay (.636). Each of those teams played in the postseason last year. This season Tampa Bay and Texas have winning records; the Tigers are a game under .500 at 20-21. In the N.L., five teams played the last two months of the season abover.600: Milwaukee (.679), Arizona (.648), Los Angeles (.630), Philadelphia (.618) and St. Louis (.611). All but Dodgers made the N.L. playoffs in 2011. Of these five teams, the Dodgers and Cardinals are the only two with a winning record this season.
Here’s a look at the records of each team since August 1, 2011 through May 21, 2012.
American League East: Tampa Bay 60-38 (612); Baltimore 54-46 (.540); New York 54-46 (.540); Toronto 50-47 (.515); Boston 45-53 (.459).
American League Central: Detroit 58-37 (.611); Cleveland 50-48 (.510); Chicago 48-50 (.490); Kansas City 42-53 (.442); Minnesota 27-68 (.284).
American League West: Texas 61-35 (.635); Oakland 47-50 (.485); Los Angeles 45-51 (.469); Seattle 42-57 (.424).
National League East: Washington 54-42 (.563); Philadelphia 55-43 (.561); Atlanta 52-44 (.542); New York 44-52 (.458); Miami 42-54 (.438).
National League Central: St. Louis 56-40 (.583); Milwaukee 53-42 (.558); Cincinnati 48-47 (.505); Chicago 43-53 (.448); Houston 40-56 (.417); Pittsburgh 38-60 (.388).
National League West: Los Angeles 63-33 (.656); Arizona 54-43 (.557); San Francisco 47-49 (.490); San Diego 40-56 (.417); Colorado 37-60 (.381).
In looking at the last 12 World Series champions (since 2000) 11 of the 12 played .500 or better from August 1 until the end of the season. The 2006 St. Louis Cardinals are the only champion since 2000 to play under .500 in their title season; they had a winning percentage of .439 (25-32) after August 1.
The 2004 Boston Red Sox had the best winning percentage after August 1 of the 12 teams. They were 42-18 (.700).
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Patriots take lead in ‘NFL Team of the Century’ race!
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Sports Stats ‘on Tapp’ is a biweekly blog published every Wednesday and Sunday with a bonus “SIX STATS…” posting every Friday.
We are about 11-and-a-half NFL seasons in to the 21st century and the New England Patriots have opened up a 6 1/2 game lead in the race for the team of the century. Prior to the start of this season, the Pats had a slim one-game lead over Indianapolis for the best team since 2000, but the Colts 0-8 start this year has put some room between the Pats and Indy. On the NFC side, the Philadelphia Eagles have a four-game lead over the Green Bay Packers for the best record this century. Following are the records of the NFL teams since 2000.
New England 131-52
Indianapolis 125-59
Philadelphia 116-67
Green Bay 112-71
Baltimore 109-74
New York Giants 103-80
Tennessee 101-82
Denver 99-84
New Orleans 99-85
San Diego 98-85
Chicago 96-87
New York Jets 95-88
Tampa Bay 93-90
Atlanta 92-90-1
Minnesota 92-92
Dallas 91-92
Seattle 91-92
Miami 86-97
Jacksonville 86-98
Kansas City 84-99
Carolina 83-101
San Francisco 80-103
St. Louis 79-104
Washington 79-104
Cincinnati 77-106
Buffalo 75-108
Oakland 74-109
Houston 60-92
Arizona 68-115
Cleveland 67-116
Detroit 54-130
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