OFFENSIVE LINES 2004

Regular season totals, through Week 17

Revised as of 7/5/2009

Teams are ranked according to Adjusted Line Yards. Based on regression analysis, the Adjusted Line Yards formula takes all running back carries and assigns responsibility to the offensive line based on the following percentages:

Losses: 120% value
0-4 Yards: 100% value
5-10 Yards: 50% value
11+ Yards: 0% value

These numbers are then adjusted based on down, distance, situation, opponent, and the difference in rushing average between shotgun compared to standard formations. Finally, we normalize the numbers so that the league average for Adjusted Line Yards per carry is the same as the league average for RB yards per carry. These stats are explained further here [1].

The following stats are not adjusted for opponent:

RB Yards: Yards per carry by that team's running backs, according to standard NFL numbers.
10+ Yards: Percentage of a team's rushing yards more than 10 yards past the line of scrimmage. Represents yardage not reflected in Adjusted Line Yards stat.
Power Success: Percentage of runs on third or fourth down, two yards or less to go, that achieved a first down or touchdown. Also includes runs on first-and-goal or second-and-goal from the two-yard line or closer. This is the only statistic on this page that includes quarterbacks.
Stuffed: Percentage of runs where the running back is tackled at or behind the line of scrimmage. Since being stuffed is bad, teams are ranked from stuffed least often (#1) to most often (#32).

NFL averages for each stat given in red.

Why are these rankings different from the team offense [2] DVOA ratings for rushing? Among other reasons, they don't include quarterbacks or fumbles, long runs are truncated, and a different set of adjustments is used, attempting to isolate line play rather than total team offense.

A team with a high ranking in Adjusted Line Yards but a low ranking in 10+ Yards is heavily dependent on its offensive line to make the running game work. A team with a low ranking in Adjusted Line Yards but a high ranking in 10+ Yards is heavily dependent on its running back breaking long runs to make the running game work.

However, it is important to understand that these ratings only somewhat separate the offensive line from the running backs. A team with a very good running back will appear higher no matter how bad their line, and a team with a great line with appear lower if the running back is terrible.

Stats in blue represent pass blocking. Teams are ranked according to adjusted sack rate, which gives sacks (plus intentional grounding penalties) per pass attempt adjusted for down, distance, and opponent. Pass blocking stats are explained further here [3]. Our sack totals may differ slightly from official NFL totals depending on the league's retroactive statistical adjustments.

RUN BLOCKING										PASS PROTECTION
	TEAM	Adj. Line Yards	RB Yards	Power Success	Power Rank	10+ Yards	10+ Rank	Stuffed	Stuffed Rank	TEAM	Sack Rank	Sacks	Adj. Sack Rate
1	NYJ	4.89	4.70	84%	1	14%	30	14%	2	GB	1	14	3.0%
2	IND	4.81	4.65	46%	32	15%	27	16%	5	IND	2	14	3.6%
3	KC	4.64	4.60	70%	8	16%	23	15%	3	DEN	3	17	4.0%
4	PIT	4.60	4.22	69%	10	11%	32	15%	4	SD	4	19	4.2%
5	NE	4.54	4.42	69%	9	16%	21	18%	13	NE	5	26	4.8%
6	ATL	4.53	4.36	72%	5	16%	22	12%	1	OAK	6	30	5.5%
7	SEA	4.50	4.62	61%	17	20%	4	18%	12	CIN	7	31	5.7%
8	DEN	4.48	4.49	56%	27	17%	16	18%	9	CAR	8	33	6.1%
9	MIN	4.41	4.70	71%	6	18%	10	18%	10	KC	9	32	6.2%
10	STL	4.36	4.31	66%	12	17%	17	17%	7	JAC	10	32	6.4%
11	NYG	4.31	4.51	57%	23	22%	2	19%	16	SEA	11	34	6.5%
12	BAL	4.29	4.34	59%	19	18%	8	16%	6	BAL	12	35	6.5%
13	GB	4.27	4.41	74%	2	20%	5	17%	8	PHI	13	36	6.6%
14	TEN	4.18	4.42	51%	28	18%	12	21%	23	WAS	14	38	6.7%
15	PHI	4.15	4.47	65%	13	19%	7	22%	26	NYJ	15	31	6.7%
16	SD	4.14	4.25	71%	7	20%	6	19%	17	DET	16	37	7.0%
RUN BLOCKING										PASS PROTECTION
	TEAM	Adj. Line Yards	RB Yards	Power Success	Power Rank	10+ Yards	10+ Rank	Stuffed	Stuffed Rank	TEAM	Sack Rank	Sacks	Adj. Sack Rate
17	WAS	4.14	3.89	47%	31	14%	28	18%	14	ARI	17	39	7.0%
18	CIN	4.07	4.15	58%	20	18%	13	20%	20	DAL	18	37	7.0%
19	HOU	4.06	3.86	67%	11	13%	31	19%	18	NO	19	42	7.7%
20	TB	4.05	4.03	56%	24	18%	14	18%	11	BUF	20	39	7.8%
21	OAK	4.05	4.09	74%	3	18%	11	19%	15	STL	21	50	7.8%
22	DET	4.04	4.50	60%	18	23%	1	21%	25	MIN	22	45	8.1%
23	BUF	3.96	3.86	57%	22	17%	19	20%	22	TEN	23	44	8.4%
24	CAR	3.91	3.80	61%	16	15%	26	20%	21	SF	24	52	8.4%
25	JAC	3.90	4.13	51%	29	18%	9	20%	19	MIA	25	52	8.5%
26	DAL	3.90	3.99	56%	25	16%	20	22%	29	TB	26	44	8.7%
27	NO	3.84	4.04	58%	21	21%	3	21%	24	CLE	27	42	8.7%
28	CHI	3.76	3.72	64%	15	14%	29	22%	28	PIT	28	36	9.4%
29	ARI	3.72	3.62	47%	30	16%	25	23%	30	NYG	29	52	9.9%
30	CLE	3.62	3.79	64%	14	17%	15	24%	31	HOU	30	50	10.6%
31	SF	3.58	3.50	56%	26	16%	24	22%	27	ATL	31	49	11.8%
32	MIA	3.36	3.45	73%	4	17%	18	25%	32	CHI	32	66	12.1%
x	NFL	x	4.19	63%	x	17%	x	19%	x	NFL	x	37	7.2%

The second table lists each team's Adjusted Line Yards in each direction listed in official NFL play-by-play, along with rank among the 32 teams. Only five directions are listed because research so far shows no statistically significant difference between how well a team performs on runs listed middle, left guard, and right guard.

		LEFT END		LEFT TACKLE		MID/GUARD		RIGHT TACKLE		RIGHT END
	TEAM	ALY	Rank	ALY	Rank	ALY	Rank	ALY	Rank	ALY	Rank
1	NYJ	5.15	5	4.85	8	4.66	4	5.23	3	5.38	1
2	IND	5.58	1	4.89	7	4.76	2	4.16	15	4.52	9
3	KC	4.73	9	4.42	15	4.67	3	3.85	18	4.93	3
4	PIT	4.43	15	4.98	3	4.76	1	3.76	23	3.89	16
5	NE	4.71	10	4.84	9	4.25	16	5.27	2	4.61	5
6	ATL	4.80	8	4.90	6	4.57	6	4.52	11	3.59	20
7	SEA	4.81	7	5.46	1	4.35	11	3.97	17	3.95	15
8	DEN	5.49	2	4.03	24	4.53	9	4.28	13	4.48	10
9	MIN	3.93	21	4.97	4	4.46	10	4.81	7	3.82	17
10	STL	4.45	13	3.90	25	4.24	17	4.73	8	4.75	4
11	NYG	4.54	11	3.10	31	4.55	8	3.80	22	5.04	2
12	BAL	3.89	23	4.92	5	4.61	5	3.69	25	3.04	26
13	GB	3.52	25	4.41	16	4.30	13	5.02	5	4.19	11
14	TEN	3.31	26	4.25	20	4.29	14	4.59	10	3.59	21
15	PHI	4.18	18	4.58	12	4.56	7	3.71	24	3.50	23
16	SD	2.74	30	5.23	2	4.06	19	4.67	9	3.33	24
		LEFT END		LEFT TACKLE		MID/GUARD		RIGHT TACKLE		RIGHT END
	TEAM	ALY	Rank	ALY	Rank	ALY	Rank	ALY	Rank	ALY	Rank
17	WAS	3.91	22	4.11	22	4.00	20	4.41	12	4.57	6
18	CIN	4.30	16	4.40	18	4.12	18	3.82	20	3.69	19
19	HOU	5.07	6	3.72	28	4.25	15	3.84	19	2.74	30
20	TB	3.93	20	3.85	27	3.97	22	4.01	16	4.53	8
21	OAK	4.26	17	4.40	17	3.97	23	5.36	1	2.99	28
22	DET	2.80	29	4.51	13	4.30	12	3.81	21	4.13	12
23	BUF	5.20	4	4.62	11	3.86	24	2.98	32	3.69	18
24	CAR	4.44	14	3.86	26	3.82	25	4.85	6	3.03	27
25	JAC	2.81	28	4.09	23	3.99	21	3.58	29	4.53	7
26	DAL	5.28	3	4.72	10	3.52	31	3.63	27	2.89	29
27	NO	3.62	24	3.40	29	3.81	26	5.04	4	3.20	25
28	CHI	4.52	12	4.34	19	3.76	27	4.19	14	1.78	32
29	ARI	3.04	27	4.47	14	3.69	28	3.31	31	4.02	14
30	CLE	4.13	19	3.32	30	3.64	30	3.63	26	3.52	22
31	SF	2.59	31	4.14	21	3.68	29	3.62	28	2.66	31
32	MIA	2.42	32	3.03	32	3.39	32	3.45	30	4.05	13
x	NFL	4.26	x	4.40	x	4.16	x	4.16	x	3.95	x

The third table lists how often each team runs in each direction. Numbers may not add up to 100% due to carries listed without direction.

	Team	RB Carries	LEFT END	LEFT TACKLE	MID/ GUARD	RIGHT TACKLE	RIGHT END
1	PIT	534	12%	13%	59%	11%	4%
2	NE	474	15%	17%	50%	9%	9%
3	NYJ	471	10%	12%	48%	18%	12%
4	DEN	459	10%	19%	48%	19%	4%
5	KC	450	21%	10%	52%	6%	11%
6	SD	450	8%	14%	57%	14%	7%
7	BUF	440	10%	12%	56%	12%	10%
8	BAL	435	12%	15%	48%	18%	8%
9	WAS	435	20%	15%	37%	13%	16%
10	SEA	430	13%	16%	50%	14%	8%
11	DAL	418	9%	23%	47%	9%	11%
12	ARI	417	10%	20%	50%	15%	5%
13	GB	411	17%	12%	38%	15%	18%
14	NYG	398	18%	13%	46%	13%	10%
15	HOU	397	9%	13%	54%	16%	8%
16	JAC	393	8%	13%	57%	13%	9%
	Team	RB Carries	LEFT END	LEFT TACKLE	MID/ GUARD	RIGHT TACKLE	RIGHT END
17	CAR	392	13%	12%	60%	6%	8%
18	CIN	392	10%	11%	51%	18%	10%
19	IND	392	16%	14%	43%	10%	18%
20	SF	392	8%	13%	60%	13%	6%
21	ATL	388	4%	15%	50%	25%	5%
22	CLE	386	6%	12%	58%	16%	8%
23	TEN	381	8%	18%	42%	21%	11%
24	CHI	369	14%	14%	49%	12%	12%
25	DET	352	11%	9%	47%	20%	13%
26	STL	352	14%	15%	43%	14%	14%
27	MIA	347	4%	8%	74%	9%	5%
28	TB	344	12%	7%	54%	13%	15%
29	NO	342	13%	12%	54%	15%	6%
30	PHI	315	17%	11%	36%	18%	19%
31	OAK	303	10%	9%	68%	6%	7%
32	MIN	290	11%	10%	60%	8%	10%
x	NFL	x	12%	14%	51%	14%	10%