2010 Version - NFL Statistics are for Losers
January 5th 2010              

If stats are for losers, then put a big "L" on my forehead. Enjoy some of the interesting statistics from the 2010 regular season. Some of these statistics might catch you by complete surprise.

General

1. San Diego finished #1 in avg. total yards gained on offense and #1 in avg. total yards given up on defense - and failed to make the playoffs.

2. Only one team finished in the top ten in all four categories (offense: passing and rushing, and defense: passing and rushing). Can you name that team? I'll give you two big clues - it's not San Diego and this team also failed to make the playoffs also. See answer below.

3. 12 teams in the NFL had a positive turnover differential (more received than given up). 9 of those 12 teams made the playoffs.

4. The New England turnover differential was an amazing +28, double the amount of the team ranked third (Atlanta +14).

5. 9 teams averaged allowing less than 20 points a game. Eight of those teams made the playoffs. Tampa with a record of 10-6 was the only team that did not.

6. 10 teams averaged scoring over 24 points a game. Only 5 of those teams made the playoffs.


Answer to question #2: NY Giants

Offense

1. Carolina finished the year averaging 143 passing yards per game.

That dubious honor was:
- obviously last in the league
- a full 40 yards below the next worst team
- less than half what Indy (#1) averaged per week
- less than what 5 teams averaged rushing the ball

Carolina was so bad passing the ball that even though Arizona was #31 passing and #32 rushing - they still averaged more total yards per game than Carolina.

2. After 4 weeks, Pitt was #32 in avg passing yards. Ben returned and they finished the year #14.

3. Jamaal Charles finished the season averaging a whopping 6.38 yards per carry behind only Jim Brown's best year of 6.4. Six more yards would have put him at 6.41. Oh, and by the way, Charles was not even the leading ball carrier on his team finishing second (245 to 230) to Thomas Jones who averaged a paltry 3.7 yards.

4. This year only 7 of 12 playoff teams finished in the top half for avg. passing yards/game (last year it was 9 of 12 finished in the top 10) and 7 of 12 for avg. rushing/yards/game

5. Only one playoff team finished in the top 10 in both passing and rushing. Can you name that team? Answer below. Two teams that did not make the playoffs were in the top ten in both passing and rushing. You already know one of them, can you name the other one? Answers below.

6. After all the fanfare in New England about their passing game - they actually finished 11th in the league in passing and 9th in rushing.

7. New England ended the season with a total of only 10 turnovers. The previous record was 12, which was set in the strike shortened season of 1982.

Answers to question #5 are - playoff team: Philly, non playoff teams: Houston and NY Giants

Defense

1. New England pass defense avg. giving up 258 yards passing per game - #30 in the league and still finished with a 14-2 record.

2. Pittsburgh rush defense (63 yds) finished a full 27 yards better per game than the next best team - Chicago (90 yds)

3. Buffalo rush defense finished last (169 yds), more than 100 more yds per game than Pittsburgh

4. Five teams finished in the top ten in both pass defense and run defense - only one made the playoffs. How many can you name? Answers below.

5. This year only 6 of 12 playoff teams finished in the top half for avg. passing yards allowed/game

6. This year 10 of 12 playoff teams finished in the top half for avg. rushing yards allowed/game. Even though the league is becoming known as "a passing league", its the ability to stop the run that has the highest correlation with teams making the playoffs (a bit ironically, but not historically unusual).

7. Denver allowed 26 rushing touchdowns this year - a full 6 more than the next worst team, Carolina, and over 5 times more than Pittsburgh and Baltimore that only gave up 5.

8. This year defensively New Orleans had 9 interceptions, which ranked dead last in the league. Last year they had 26, which was third best in the league.

Answers to question #4 are playoff team: NY Jets, non playoff teams: Miami, Minnesota, NY Giants, San Diego