As promised

[frash.exe]

I understand what influences a game and it's outcome but this was just "Food for thought" as the OP mentions. Those stats don't exactly help your case because if those two teams are the most efficient, shouldn't they give up the least amount of points? Unless you want to go into ST and offensive play.

food for thought

the packers and steelers are playing great defense

wow, i had no idea

It's just a simple stat for a simple point. You think offense is more important so you are trying to find holes in it. It's pretty simple.

you know if the one guy throws the ball and the other guy runs a unique pattern towards the goal line and catches it, that's a good play. it's simple

[mav1234]

Originally Posted by SorthNarolina

It's about execution. Stats don't mean anything, especially if it's PPG. Points per game is a team stat it's not reflective of how each unit is performing own it's own. I'm sure their is a general trend but not enough for PPG to be reliable. I think yards per play is a far better measure.

Do you have any info to back this up?

the only example I can think of this year would be the number of points the Chargers gave up this year (so the Chargers PPG), due to how many of them were due to the special teams directly or from the special teams giving up crazy field position, so PPG reflects poorly on the defense when they weren't that bad.

[SorthNarolina]

I understand what influences a game and it's outcome but this was just "Food for thought" as the OP mentions. Those stats don't exactly help your case because if those two teams are the most efficient, shouldn't they give up the least amount of points? Unless you want to go into ST and offensive play.

It's just a simple stat for a simple point. You think offense is more important so you are trying to find holes in it. It's pretty simple.

I wouldn't make any assumptions about how I feel. You can win the Superbowl any way you please as long as the game plan is executed well.

[SorthNarolina]

Do you have any info to back this up? I don't think there is any real correlation because there are plenty examples each way. Texans, Eagles, Chargers, Bears are all over the place in terms of offense and defense.

I'd just like to see why you think that, unless it's hypothetical again.

512 games each year where each one is it's own unique situation. If every single team in the league became defensive minded then having a good offense would become the new trend. Trying to find trends in the various numbers is fun but it's fruitless. You won't be able to bring order from it no matter how hard you try. It can show general trends but you win championships by executing out on the field.

The team that executes the best wins the game. That will always remain consistent.

[Carolinator]

Wait a second isn't spushul tiems the reason the nfl is uhmayzing?

[Brandon]

Why not strive to be good, but not necessarily great, at both? Both teams in the Super Bowl are extremely capable on defense and their offenses have the ability to strike quickly.

[Stumpy]

The team that executes the best wins the game. That will always remain consistent.

Nope. No way that's right. I'll have to go check the stats on that... :sosp:

[TheRealDeal]

512 games each year where each one is it's own unique situation. If every single team in the league became defensive minded then having a good offense would become the new trend. Trying to find trends in the various numbers is fun but it's fruitless. You won't be able to bring order from it no matter how hard you try. It can show general trends but you win championships by executing out on the field.

The team that executes the best wins the game. That will always remain consistent.

That's definitely true but it's a cop out to this thread. The numbers don't lie. You can say there are no trends or whatever but when 7 of 8 are in the final 8 that's not coincidence, nor is it coincidence when only 2 of 8 are playing.

It's also not a coincidence that any respectable analyst or coach always talks about defense being the way to win a championship.

Again, I'm not arguing against improving the offense but the stats don't lie and they say you have to be dominant in at least one area of the game. Being average on both sides of the ball has you sitting home. You fix what you can fix the fastest first, then build the other. Fans may not like winning games 16-12 because they want excitement and explosiveness but it's not what wins championships.

Meh

[Galvatron]

Why not strive to be good, but not necessarily great, at both? Both teams in the Super Bowl are extremely capable on defense and their offenses have the ability to strike quickly.

That's a brilliant way to describe the Panthers in '03. Capable defense and a running game that set up a quick strike offense.

Could never reproduce it for one reason or another...

[SorthNarolina]

That's definitely true but it's a cop out to this thread. The numbers don't lie. You can say there are no trends or whatever but when 7 of 8 are in the final 8 that's not coincidence, nor is it coincidence when only 2 of 8 are playing.

It's not a cop out to this thread and regardless of how you feel I'm not a fan of either squad because it doesn't matter and you fail to appreciate that. I've messed around with stats plenty of times just for fun but it's not going to prove anything. The harder you dig the more you will just go in circles.

Eventually you will come to the shocking conclusion that good teams make the playoffs and the best ones win the Superbowl.

And even though I'm not a huge fan of stats much further than for discussion or fun, I'll try to look at some stats that are a lot more specific to each squad.

The Steelers have a great defense.

But they also have a 1st round QB as do many of the teams in the top 8 or 12, I would choose 12 for my pool since 12 teams make the playoffs.

Their yards per pass play is 2nd in the leauge, but they pass the 6th least times in the league.

This is most likely because they run the ball the 8th most times in the league which most likely sets up play action very well. This makes sense because they have the 2nd most passing plays of 20 yards or more.

So is Big Ben ranked so high because of the consistent run game or is the run game consistent because of Big Ben?

Is the defense good because they aren't on the field long or is the offense good because the defense keeps getting the ball to them?

On top of this Green Bay has one of the best passing games in the league. It's not all about defense.

It's a fruitless pursuit to try and prove anything this omnipotent with stats. But you could at least use something more telling than points per game.

It becomes exponentially more fruitless to try and prove it with points per game because it is all the variables smushed together with no telling what actually happened. It's the vaguest insight to a teams success besides their win percentage.

It's also not a coincidence that any respectable analyst or coach always talks about defense being the way to win a championship.

They also mention that the QB position is the most important position on the team. Yah know the whole balance thing? It'd probably be a difficult task but I doubt many analysts who say defense wins championships would say the MLB or CB is more important than the QB.

Again, I'm not arguing against improving the offense but the stats don't lie and they say you have to be dominant in at least one area of the game. Being average on both sides of the ball has you sitting home.

Who says this? I'm guessing everybody.

read this a few times to really appreciate the obviousness. I mentioned going in circles and this is what you're doing. Most teams that are average all around usually do sit at home.

I'm actually for going defensively heavy this off season because Rivera is a defensive minded coach and the draft has some great DT and CB prospects. Going offensively heavy in FA would be a better choice IMO.

You fix what you can fix the fastest first, then build the other. Fans may not like winning games 16-12 because they want excitement and explosiveness but it's not what wins championships.

Meh

I can't remember the last time 11 men won a championship all by themselves. And we barely scored over 12 points a game this season at 12.2 PPG which matters a good bit to you I'm sure. And I think the Steelers and Packers have very explosive offenses. Meh Indeed.