Thursday, December 25, 2008

You Wouldn't Be Reading This If This Was Actually Enforced



New York Times, 12/4/1950

Grounded, NFL-Style

The Cincinnati Bengals attempted only 9 passes in last week's game against the Browns. This is only the 14th time since passing rules were liberalized in 1978 that an NFL team has attempted fewer than 10 passes in a game. Needless to say, most of these games were played in poor conditions and/or featured terrible quarterbacks.

At least two NFL teams did not attempt an official pass in a game - the Steelers against the Los Angeles Rams on November 13, 1949 (with the players "wallowing like water buffalos in mud as thick as paste" [New York Times]) and the Browns against the Eagles on December 3, 1950 (played in a hard rain). The Browns actually completed a pass, but it was nullified by an illegal motion penalty.

Fewest team pass attempts in a game, NFL, 1978-2008:

TeamDateCompAttYardsTDIntSacked-LostOpponentResultPossible reason
New Orleans10/15/19782431100-0San FranciscoW, 14-7
New England
12/12/19822513010-0MiamiW, 3-0"Snow Plow" game
San Diego12/19/20044685101-2ClevelandW, 21-030 mph wind, snow
Houston Oilers10/4/1981163001-7CincinnatiW, 17-10
Carolina12/24/20064732103-21AtlantaW, 10-3Chris Weinke
Chicago11/26/19784762011-12Tampa BayW, 14-3
Chicago10/7/19794822001-4BuffaloW, 7-0
Chicago10/19/198058172111-1DetroitW, 24-7
Dallas12/10/20005889003-17WashingtonW, 32-13Troy Aikman concussed
New England12/28/20086
8
78
0
0
1-5
Buffalo
W, 13-0
35-55 mph winds
Green Bay
9/3/19783931000-0DetroitW, 13-7
New York Giants10/25/19925994101-9SeattleW, 23-10Ray Handley
Cleveland11/24/198559102100-0CincinnatiW, 24-6
Buffalo10/29/198969123102-9MiamiW, 31-17
Houston Texans
10/23/20056948115-42IndianapolisL, 20-38David Carr
Cincinnati12/21/20085955100-0ClevelandW, 14-026 mph wind, Ryan Fitzpatrick

Monday, December 22, 2008

Simple NFC Tiebreaker Chart

Notes and assumptions:

  1. No possibility of ties. PHI is ignored in these tiebreakers for that reason.
  2. However, if PHI does tie again, their two ties on the season would equal one win and one loss. An 8-6-2 record is equivalent to 9-7.
  3. Tiebreakers that don't affect playoff berths or seeding are ignored.
  4. Divisional ties are broken first. To break a tie between DAL, TB, and ATL, first break the tie between TB and ATL.
  5. The NFC #6 seed will have at least a 9-6-1 record.
  6. Locked berths: NYG #1, ARI #4.
  7. Also clinched berths: CAR, ATL
  8. Key games next week: DAL at PHI, NYG at MIN, CHI at HOU, CAR at NO, STL at ATL, OAK at TB.
  9. The complete tiebreaker rules are here.

NFC Tiebreakers after Week 16:
Teams tiedRecordWho wins?Why?
Divisional:
MIN-CHI10-6MINConference record (8-4 vs. 7-5)
MIN-CHI9-7MINCommon games
CAR-ATL11-5ATLConference record (8-4 vs. 7-5)
TB-ATL10-6ATLCommon games
Conference:
NYG-CAR12-4NYGHead-to-head
DAL-CHI10-6DALConference record (8-4 vs. 7-5)
DAL-TBanyDALHead-to-head
DAL-ATL10-6DALConference record (8-4 vs. 7-5)
MIN-TB9-6-1TBHead-to-head
MIN-ARI9-7MINHead-to-head
CHI-TBanyTBHead-to-head
CHI-ATL10-6ATLHead-to-head
DAL-CHI-TB10-6DALCHI eliminated on conference record (8-4 vs. 8-4 vs. 7-5);

Head-to-head
DAL-CHI-ATL10-6DALConference record (8-4 vs. 7-5 vs. 7-5)

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Simple AFC Tiebreaker Chart

Notes and assumptions:

  1. No possibility of ties.
  2. Tiebreakers that don't affect playoff berths or seeding are ignored.
  3. Divisional ties are broken first. To break a tie between NYJ, MIA, and BAL, first break the tie between NYJ and MIA.
  4. The AFC #6 seed will have at least a 10-6 record.
  5. Locked berths: TEN #1, PIT #2, IND #5
  6. Key games next week: NE at BUF, MIA at NYJ, JAX at BAL, DEN at SD.
  7. The complete tiebreaker rules are here.

AFC Tiebreakers after Week 16:
Teams tiedRecordWho wins?Why?





Divisional:
NYJ-NE10-6NYJDivision record
NYJ-MIA10-6NYJHead-to-head sweep
NE-MIAanyMIAConference record (8-4/7-5 vs. 7-5/6-6)
NYJ-NE-MIA10-6NYJRound robin (3-1 vs. 2-2 vs. 1-3)
PIT-BAL11-5PITHead-to-head sweep
DEN-SD8-8SDDivision record (5-1 vs. 3-3)





Conference:
NYJ-BAL10-6NYJConference record (8-4 vs. 7-5)
NE-PIT11-5PITHead-to-head
NE-BALanyBALConference record
NE-IND11-5INDHead-to-head
MIA-PIT11-5PITConference record (9-3 vs. 8-4)
MIA-BAL10-6BALHead-to-head
BAL-IND11-5INDHead-to-head
NE-BAL-IND11-5INDHead-to-head sweep

Thursday, December 18, 2008

At Least This QB Played For The Vikings ...

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

At Least It Wasn't An MVP Vote ...