Looking at some Patriots' and Vikings' statistics prior to this weekend's matchup, I ran into some amazing statistics. The NFL's latest darling, the Kansas City Chiefs, is guilty of both an amazing offensive stat and a pathetic defensive stat.
METHODOLOGY FOR OFFENSIVE SUCCESS RATE- Wondering about how often teams are successful with either their first or second downs, I looked at the teams' statistics for how many 1st down attempts they had and how many 3rd down attempts they had. Subtracting the two numbers leaves us with a first down which was either converted, turned over, or at the end of a half. I then removed interceptions thrown on 1st or 2nd down from a team's success rate before dividing by the original number of 1st down attempts.
OFFENSIVE STUDS-
Kansas City- Is 4th in the league with 267 1st down attempts. Somehow, they have the least amount of 3rd down attempts with 116. Therefore, the Chiefs have avoided third downs 151 times (56.6%). If we pull out their 7 early interceptions, they were likely successful 144 times (53.9%).
Tampa Bay- The 4-7 Bucs are clearly better than their record shows. They have had 289 first downs and 127 3rd downs. Unfortunately 21 interceptions during 1st and 2nd down combined is not a great way to secure victories. With that in mind, they have still been successful 50.2% of the time.
OFFENSIVE DUDS-
Miami- 177 1st downs - 137 3rd downs - 6 early interceptions - success rate of 19.2%
Jacksonville- 213 first downs - 164 3rd downs - 9 early interceptions - success rate of 18.8%
Buffalo- 178 first downs - 153 3rd downs - 8 early interceptions - success rate of 9.6%
New York Jets- 172 first downs - 146 3rd downs - 12 early interceptions - success rate of 8.1%
Arizona- 154 first downs - 129 3rd downs - 9 early interceptions - success rate of 10.3%
OFFENSIVE STUDS-
Kansas City- Is 4th in the league with 267 1st down attempts. Somehow, they have the least amount of 3rd down attempts with 116. Therefore, the Chiefs have avoided third downs 151 times (56.6%). If we pull out their 7 early interceptions, they were likely successful 144 times (53.9%).
Tampa Bay- The 4-7 Bucs are clearly better than their record shows. They have had 289 first downs and 127 3rd downs. Unfortunately 21 interceptions during 1st and 2nd down combined is not a great way to secure victories. With that in mind, they have still been successful 50.2% of the time.
OFFENSIVE DUDS-
Miami- 177 1st downs - 137 3rd downs - 6 early interceptions - success rate of 19.2%
Jacksonville- 213 first downs - 164 3rd downs - 9 early interceptions - success rate of 18.8%
Buffalo- 178 first downs - 153 3rd downs - 8 early interceptions - success rate of 9.6%
New York Jets- 172 first downs - 146 3rd downs - 12 early interceptions - success rate of 8.1%
Arizona- 154 first downs - 129 3rd downs - 9 early interceptions - success rate of 10.3%
METHODOLOGY FOR DEFENSIVE SUCCESS RATE- Determining if a defense was successful on first and 2nd down was much easier, as I only had to diving third down attempts by first down attempts.
DEFENSIVE STUDS-
At least when it comes to forcing a third down. Here are the top teams for forcing a 3rd down.
Houston- 79.7%
Jacksonville- 71.7%
New York Jets- 70%
Chicago- 75.5%
Baltimore- 77.6%
DEFENSIVE DUDS-
Kansas City- 47.2%
DEFENSIVE STUDS-
At least when it comes to forcing a third down. Here are the top teams for forcing a 3rd down.
Houston- 79.7%
Jacksonville- 71.7%
New York Jets- 70%
Chicago- 75.5%
Baltimore- 77.6%
DEFENSIVE DUDS-
Kansas City- 47.2%
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