NFL Week 9 by the Numbers

Officially eclipsing the halfway point of the 2021 NFL season – Week 9 ended with a couple of terrific primetime games.

Tennessee went on the road and defeated one of the strongest teams in the NFL without their beloved Derrick Henry. On Monday night, the Steelers won by the second-slimmest of margins – needing some help from the refs to avoid a home upset.

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Now in the home stretch of the regular season – we need to start doling out respect where it’s due. The Patriots are winners of 3 straight and just ½ game out of the AFC East lead following Buffalo’s Jacksonville debacle.

The AFC West is a 4-sided coin flip – with the Chargers, Raiders, Chiefs, and Broncos all separated by ½ game.

The Arizona Cardinals have remained the best team in football at 8-1 while the Packers are making a mockery of the NFC North at 7-2. The closest team to catching Green Bay for the division is 3-5 Minnesota.

The New Orleans Saints are hanging around – a solid 5-3 with victories over Green Bay and Tampa.

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A lot happened in the NFL this week and only the retired have enough time to keep tabs on everything pigskin. For those of us who can’t afford 30-40 hours of NFL viewing time per week – Wagerbop releases By the Numbers – providing a snapshot of the interesting, quirky, and noteworthy events from the week prior.

1

The number of times in NFL history a game has finished 45-30. The Colts beat New York 45-30 on Thursday night – achieving Scorigami.

The Colts absolutely thumped the Jets in a game that was more lopsided than the score indicated. Indy was up 28-10 at half and 42-16 after 3 quarters.

This was the largest lead the Colts have taken into the 4th quarter since a 2018 beatdown of the Titans in which Indy took a 38-10 lead into the final frame.

Thursday night games typically generate some wild results and unique scores. This matchup did not let us down. 3 of the Colts’ last 4 games in which they’ve taken a 4-touchdown lead into the 4th quarter were in non-Sunday games.

By driving their score into the 40s, the Colts greatly increased the chances of Scorigami as not many NFL teams manage to score 40+ points in a single contest. 30 is not a very common score as the Jets needed 3 field goals to reach that mark.

It is very unusual that Scorigami occurs in games with no 2-point conversions and no safeties.

9

The number of points scored by the winning team – Jacksonville – in Sunday’s Jags-Bills game. Jacksonville topped Buffalo 3 field goals to 2 in a 9-6 nailbiter which gave Urban Meyer and Trevor Lawrence their 2nd NFL wins.

The last time there was a game in which the winning team scored 9 points or less was October of 2019 when the 49ers beat Washington 9-0 in a sloppy rain game.

This 2019 Niners-Redskins game was also the last time, either in the regular season or playoffs, in which there were 0 touchdowns scored in a game.

0 touchdown games have occurred just 33 times in the NFL since the turn of the century.

4

The number of times the Chiefs have been held to 13 points or under since Mahomes’ rookie year. It happened 3 times in his rookie year (2017).

This is the first time since 2015 in which Kansas City has scored 13 points or less and won the game.

Earlier this season the Chiefs were demolished by the Titans 27-3 – their lowest point total since 2012.

Patrick Mahomes is having a pedestrian year – a horrible season for his standards. The 5th-year vet is completing just 65.2% of his passes and owns a passer rating of 92.5 – each the lowest mark since his rookie season.

Through 9 games, Mahomes is dangerously close to eclipsing his single-season high for interceptions thrown. The Texas Tech-product has thrown 10 picks in 9 games and is just 2 shy of his 2018 interception total.

Only 2 quarterbacks – Sam Darnold and Joe Burrow – have thrown more picks than Patrick Mahomes this season. Mahomes’ QBR of 54.4 this season ranks 15th among all NFL starting QBs.

25

The point differential by which Cleveland defeated the Bengals on Sunday. This 41-16 drubbing of Cincy was the largest victory for Cleveland against an interdivisional opponent in team history.

Not since November of 2014 when the Browns beat the 5-3-1 Bengals 24-3 has Cleveland experienced a 3-touchdown win against a familiar foe.

That same 2014 season, Cleveland also beat Pittsburgh 31-10 in Week 6. The lone holdout in avoiding Browns stompings is Baltimore. Cleveland’s largest victory over Baltimore came back in 2004 when the Browns opened the season at home versus the Ravens and delivered a 20-3 defensive masterpiece.

0

The amount of points scored by the Dallas Cowboys over the 1st three quarters of their home game versus Denver on Sunday. The last time Dallas was shut out through 3 quarters was a 28-6 loss to the Chargers on Thanksgiving Day in 2017.

Not since 2009 has Dallas failed to score at least once over the 1st three quarters of a traditional Sunday home game. America’s Team actually won this game versus the Washington Redskins 7-6.

Looking at the box score gives a false indication of how terrible Cowboys QB Dak Prescott played on Sunday. When the score was 27-0 Denver, Dak Prescott was 6-19 for 79 passing yards.

As the score reached 30-0 Broncos, Dak was 8 of 23 passing for 120 yards and a pick – no touchdowns. In true garbage time late in the 4th, Dak threw for 130 yds and 2 touchdowns to salvage his stats and get Dallas into the double-digits.

This horrible loss by the Cowboys and an absolute clunker from their franchise quarterback calls into question whether Dallas is legit this year. Can they contend with the class of a stacked NFC conference?

Sure, Dallas hung with Tampa in the opener. Dallas went on the road in Week 2 and beat a good Chargers team.

After Week 2, the Cowboys have beaten the 3-6 Eagles, 4-5 Panthers, 3-6 Giants, 5-4 Patriots, and 3-5 Vikings before getting exposed by 5-4 Denver. Not exactly a who’s who of the NFL elite.

The Cowboys host Atlanta this Sunday – one year removed from the infamous botched onside kick that gifted Dallas the win in Week 2 last season.