EPA Leaders By Down

Ravens runaway, Chargers defensive dominance, Commanders consistency

It Week 11 and it is time to take another look at EPA, this time down-by-down.

• Baltimore’s offensive production on early downs is unmatched, with the Ravens ranking 2nd in 1st down EPA and 1st in 2nd down EPA.

• The Commanders offense has been very consistent across all downs, ranking top 6 in EPA across all 4 downs.

• Detroit leads NFL offenses in EPA on 1st down, which isn’t very surprising when considering the prowess of their run game.

• Kansas City has not been overly productive on early downs, but the Chiefs have made up for it on 3rd down, where they lead the NFL in offensive EPA.

Any surprises on the offensive side? Let’s take a look at the defensive side of the ball.

• The Los Angeles Chargers are the current leaders in total defensive EPA, and they’ve been very consistent across 1st through 3rd down, ranking top 6 in each category.

• The Broncos have been very stout on early downs, especially on 2nd down where they lead the league in defensive EPA, but they’ve merely been an average unit on 3rd down to this point.

• Chicago, Detroit, and Pittsburgh are examples of defensive units that haven’t been elite on 1st down, but their strong performance on 2nd and 3rd down have put them in the top 6 of total defensive EPA.

• Philadelphia leads the league in defensive EPA on 1st down by a wide margin, but the Eagles haven’t been able to maintain that performance on other downs, otherwise they’d rank higher than 7th in total EPA.

• Green Bay leads the league in 3rd down EPA on defense, but the Packers rank below league average across the other 3 downs, which is why they only rank 9th in total defensive EPA.

Which team performance on what down has been the most impressive to you this season?