THEY DO THIS AND THAT
Best of the Best NFL Teams in 2022
The style controls here in Substack won’t allow italics in the heading, but the key word there is AND. While we researched the thousands of data points for the first three parts in this Best of the Best series, we started to see ways in which the six best NFL teams from the 2022 season were not just good in a particular area, but also in a related, or even a converse area.
In this chapter, we’re going to take a look at a few examples of how the best teams do “this” AND “that”.
Ruling the Red Zone on Both Sides -- The Best of the Best teams did not settle for Field Goals in the red zone; they punched it in for six. The Chiefs scored 50 TDs from within the opponent’s 20 yard line, leading the league easily (the next closest team was the Lions with 44). On the other side of the ball, every Best of the Best team except for the Chiefs was adept at preventing red zone touchdowns on defense.
Convert on 3rd & short and 3rd & long — The most interesting part of this one is how well the Best of the Best clubs convert on 3rd and long (defined here as 7+ yards to go situations). They’re good at converting on 3rd and short (3 or less yards to go) too. But notice the Chiefs hanging out in 29th place on 3rd and short. They converted 52 percent of their 3rd and short plays last season, which is far worse than the 60 percent league average. But they thrived in 3rd & long situations, converting 45 percent versus the 24 percent league average.
Scoring and Preventing the Big TD — The Best of the Best teams were quite capable of exploding for a 20+ yard touchdown. Four of the BoB group ranked in the Top seven in the league in this area. They were good at preventing those big-play TDs on the defensive side as well. The Bengals, Chiefs, and Cowboys allowed only 17 touchdowns of 20+ yards combined last season; that's the equivalent of what the 32nd ranked Chargers defense allowed.
Good Results Under Pressure — The Best of the Best defenses had a knack for forcing turnovers when they got pressure on the Quarterback. They were also pretty good at avoiding turnovers when their quarterback was pressured. The Eagles defense forced a turnover 9% of the time they got pressure on the quarterback — good for best in the league. The league average is less than half of that (4.3%).
Score with the Run and the Pass — The BoB group found the end zone with the run and the pass. All six of the Best of the Best teams ranked in the top 14 in Passing Touchdowns. All but the Bengals were above average in Rushing Touchdowns as well.
So there we have it. When this is good, AND that is also good, to quote Elaine Benes from Seinfeld: “Now we’re gettin’ somewhere.”
What about my team? Where do they rank in these categories?
To see the complete ranking lists for every ‘This and That’ metric, go here or click the image below.
The information in this post was powered by Remarkable, Inside Edge’s award-winning data insights application. Remarkable is used widely among broadcasters, teams, sports betting and media partners. For more information on Remarkable, please visit inside-edge.com/remarkable.