OFFENSIVE LINES 2006

Regular season totals, through Week 17

Revised as of 7/3/2009

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	SD	4.74	5.38	73%	4	29%	1	13%	1	IND	1	15	3.4%
2	JAC	4.57	5.13	65%	14	23%	5	16%	5	BAL	2	17	3.7%
3	PHI	4.54	4.68	62%	21	16%	17	16%	4	GB	3	24	3.8%
4	NYG	4.49	4.99	71%	6	19%	9	19%	25	NO	4	23	4.3%
5	IND	4.48	4.13	60%	22	10%	28	18%	13	WAS	5	19	4.4%
6	SF	4.42	4.99	55%	28	26%	2	17%	6	CHI	6	25	4.8%
7	CHI	4.42	4.07	71%	7	12%	27	15%	2	NYG	7	25	5.4%
8	STL	4.41	4.36	63%	20	16%	15	18%	19	NE	8	29	5.7%
9	CIN	4.38	3.97	72%	5	9%	29	19%	23	DEN	9	31	5.8%
10	DAL	4.36	4.21	63%	17	15%	20	19%	22	TB	10	33	5.9%
11	NO	4.29	3.99	54%	30	13%	25	18%	14	TEN	11	29	6.0%
12	NE	4.29	4.22	82%	1	16%	13	17%	8	PHI	12	28	6.0%
13	MIN	4.25	4.20	68%	12	16%	14	18%	18	CIN	13	36	6.1%
14	WAS	4.22	4.41	55%	29	16%	16	19%	21	ARI	14	36	6.3%
15	KC	4.17	4.34	74%	2	21%	8	18%	17	SD	15	28	6.4%
16	GB	4.16	4.11	63%	18	15%	19	18%	12	CAR	16	32	6.5%
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	ATL	4.15	4.64	59%	23	23%	4	18%	11	NYJ	17	34	6.7%
18	DEN	4.14	4.44	63%	16	21%	7	17%	10	SF	18	35	6.8%
19	HOU	4.13	4.00	71%	8	14%	22	16%	3	JAC	19	30	7.0%
20	BAL	4.13	3.78	59%	24	14%	24	17%	7	MIA	20	41	7.1%
21	MIA	4.11	4.18	70%	9	19%	10	18%	20	KC	21	41	7.6%
22	PIT	4.04	4.38	63%	19	24%	3	18%	15	MIN	22	43	7.7%
23	ARI	3.95	3.34	56%	26	4%	32	21%	28	DAL	23	37	7.9%
24	CAR	3.95	3.98	50%	31	17%	12	18%	16	STL	24	49	7.9%
25	NYJ	3.88	3.40	56%	27	8%	30	21%	27	PIT	25	49	8.0%
26	BUF	3.88	3.74	69%	11	13%	26	19%	24	SEA	26	49	8.8%
27	TB	3.83	3.67	64%	15	14%	21	22%	30	CLE	27	54	9.2%
28	TEN	3.83	4.29	67%	13	22%	6	17%	9	HOU	28	43	9.3%
29	OAK	3.81	3.74	58%	25	15%	18	22%	29	BUF	29	47	9.5%
30	SEA	3.75	3.70	70%	10	14%	23	20%	26	DET	30	63	9.9%
31	CLE	3.69	3.29	74%	3	7%	31	22%	31	ATL	31	47	10.5%
32	DET	3.59	3.62	37%	32	18%	11	25%	32	OAK	32	72	12.3%
x	NFL	x	4.19	64%	x	17%	x	18%	x	NFL	x	36	6.9%

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	SD	5.75	2	5.03	4	4.29	18	4.40	7	5.59	1
2	JAC	4.51	8	5.13	3	4.62	3	3.85	27	4.43	10
3	PHI	4.43	11	4.23	17	4.61	4	4.17	12	5.21	3
4	NYG	5.18	3	3.60	29	4.32	13	4.56	4	5.23	2
5	IND	4.53	7	5.37	2	4.59	5	4.44	6	3.62	20
6	SF	5.90	1	4.17	19	4.36	12	3.99	23	4.29	12
7	CHI	3.61	21	4.66	8	4.76	1	4.03	20	4.26	13
8	STL	2.43	31	4.27	14	4.67	2	4.03	21	5.20	4
9	CIN	4.11	15	4.39	13	4.29	17	5.23	1	3.85	18
10	DAL	3.51	22	5.46	1	4.25	19	4.02	22	4.76	7
11	NO	4.26	13	4.06	21	4.45	10	3.88	25	4.38	11
12	NE	4.95	4	4.15	20	4.46	9	3.68	29	2.77	31
13	MIN	2.95	26	4.79	6	4.29	15	4.46	5	5.07	5
14	WAS	4.00	18	4.93	5	4.50	7	3.87	26	3.84	19
15	KC	3.46	24	4.50	12	4.50	8	2.49	32	4.59	9
16	GB	4.58	5	4.73	7	3.90	26	4.10	16	3.36	26
		LEFT END		LEFT TACKLE		MID/GUARD		RIGHT TACKLE		RIGHT END
	TEAM	ALY	Rank	ALY	Rank	ALY	Rank	ALY	Rank	ALY	Rank
17	ATL	4.45	10	3.57	30	4.29	16	4.16	13	4.59	8
18	DEN	2.55	30	3.96	23	4.55	6	4.36	10	3.41	24
19	HOU	4.09	16	2.68	32	4.37	11	4.14	15	4.17	14
20	BAL	2.94	27	4.58	10	4.22	20	4.08	17	3.99	16
21	MIA	3.31	25	4.61	9	3.91	25	4.72	2	4.79	6
22	PIT	3.97	19	3.84	27	4.31	14	3.56	31	3.91	17
23	ARI	4.04	17	3.88	26	4.12	21	3.68	30	3.39	25
24	CAR	4.57	6	4.23	18	4.05	22	4.38	8	2.38	32
25	NYJ	2.73	29	4.50	11	3.87	27	4.69	3	3.60	21
26	BUF	4.48	9	4.24	16	3.69	30	3.83	28	3.35	27
27	TB	2.94	28	4.02	22	3.99	23	4.07	19	4.10	15
28	TEN	3.77	20	3.25	31	3.96	24	4.16	14	3.53	23
29	OAK	4.33	12	3.70	28	3.85	28	4.37	9	3.06	28
30	SEA	4.18	14	3.95	24	3.61	31	3.88	24	2.94	29
31	CLE	0.00	32	4.25	15	3.53	32	4.23	11	3.60	22
32	DET	3.51	23	3.89	25	3.73	29	4.08	18	2.84	30
x	NFL	4.04	x	4.28	x	4.24	x	4.13	x	4.00	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	CHI	471	13%	15%	44%	19%	9%
2	KC	471	12%	11%	55%	10%	11%
3	SD	461	12%	19%	46%	13%	8%
4	SEA	449	14%	24%	36%	16%	10%
5	NE	432	16%	15%	49%	14%	6%
6	JAC	430	6%	11%	67%	9%	7%
7	NO	427	11%	16%	51%	12%	10%
8	WAS	427	24%	13%	33%	12%	17%
9	DAL	426	11%	14%	50%	14%	10%
10	DEN	426	10%	18%	49%	18%	5%
11	NYG	426	16%	16%	36%	19%	11%
12	NYJ	426	10%	9%	63%	11%	7%
13	IND	416	17%	13%	42%	11%	18%
14	PIT	415	13%	13%	48%	15%	10%
15	ATL	405	8%	21%	38%	23%	9%
16	BAL	401	6%	13%	67%	10%	4%
	Team	RB Carries	LEFT END	LEFT TACKLE	MID/ GUARD	RIGHT TACKLE	RIGHT END
17	GB	396	18%	19%	34%	17%	11%
18	STL	396	8%	14%	57%	12%	9%
19	CIN	393	13%	13%	52%	15%	6%
20	MIN	393	15%	17%	51%	9%	7%
21	CAR	389	8%	10%	59%	10%	12%
22	SF	381	8%	13%	57%	9%	12%
23	TEN	380	6%	12%	47%	18%	16%
24	ARI	378	15%	20%	46%	12%	8%
25	BUF	368	11%	22%	51%	9%	8%
26	HOU	365	7%	10%	62%	14%	6%
27	MIA	358	8%	10%	51%	18%	12%
28	PHI	354	11%	13%	46%	17%	13%
29	OAK	352	14%	10%	47%	16%	13%
30	TB	346	10%	14%	63%	7%	5%
31	CLE	312	3%	14%	60%	17%	5%
32	DET	264	18%	16%	27%	17%	21%
x	NFL	x	12%	15%	49%	14%	10%