OFFENSIVE LINES 2007

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	NE	4.63	4.25	70%	9	11%	26	16%	6	GB	1	19	3.2%
2	CLE	4.60	4.46	64%	15	17%	15	14%	1	CIN	2	17	3.2%
3	NYG	4.48	4.79	70%	7	20%	8	17%	9	NO	3	16	3.5%
4	IND	4.46	4.03	78%	1	9%	31	15%	4	NE	4	21	4.1%
5	PHI	4.46	4.73	74%	4	19%	12	19%	19	CLE	5	19	4.2%
6	TB	4.42	4.10	59%	23	13%	21	16%	7	IND	6	23	4.2%
7	NO	4.36	3.86	66%	13	9%	30	18%	10	DAL	7	25	4.5%
8	HOU	4.30	3.91	69%	10	13%	22	15%	3	SD	8	24	4.7%
9	ARI	4.28	3.70	65%	14	8%	32	15%	2	ARI	9	24	4.7%
10	CIN	4.25	3.90	73%	5	10%	27	19%	20	HOU	10	22	4.8%
11	TEN	4.22	3.90	71%	6	12%	23	16%	8	NYG	11	28	5.0%
12	SF	4.19	4.31	57%	24	15%	19	15%	5	WAS	12	29	5.1%
13	MIN	4.18	5.44	76%	2	32%	1	22%	28	BUF	13	26	5.4%
14	DAL	4.16	4.31	68%	12	20%	11	18%	14	DEN	14	32	5.9%
15	DEN	4.15	4.60	49%	32	23%	6	20%	23	CAR	15	33	6.4%
16	OAK	4.10	4.20	55%	25	16%	18	19%	21	TEN	16	30	6.6%
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	4.09	3.73	60%	22	10%	28	18%	16	JAC	17	31	6.9%
18	JAC	4.09	4.81	61%	18	28%	2	23%	30	CHI	18	43	7.1%
19	CAR	4.08	4.07	63%	16	14%	20	18%	17	SEA	19	37	7.1%
20	PIT	4.05	4.21	60%	21	19%	13	18%	12	MIA	20	42	7.4%
21	MIA	4.01	4.22	70%	8	17%	16	19%	22	PHI	21	49	7.6%
22	DET	3.99	4.14	50%	29	20%	9	21%	25	BAL	22	39	7.6%
23	NYJ	3.94	3.88	50%	31	12%	25	18%	11	TB	23	36	7.9%
24	BUF	3.93	3.97	51%	28	16%	17	19%	18	ATL	24	47	7.9%
25	SD	3.93	4.52	61%	19	26%	4	21%	26	STL	25	48	8.1%
26	GB	3.85	4.47	50%	30	27%	3	21%	24	DET	26	54	8.3%
27	BAL	3.77	4.02	68%	11	18%	14	18%	15	OAK	27	41	8.6%
28	STL	3.72	3.98	54%	26	22%	7	21%	27	MIN	28	38	8.6%
29	SEA	3.69	3.92	52%	27	20%	10	25%	31	KC	29	55	9.1%
30	CHI	3.66	3.34	75%	3	9%	29	18%	13	NYJ	30	53	9.3%
31	KC	3.55	3.37	61%	20	12%	24	23%	29	PIT	31	47	10.1%
32	ATL	3.42	4.04	62%	17	24%	5	26%	32	SF	32	55	10.3%
x	NFL	x	4.17	63%	x	18%	x	19%	x	NFL	x	34	6.5%

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	NE	4.45	11	4.88	5	4.61	2	4.58	7	4.37	9
2	CLE	6.03	1	5.10	3	4.35	7	4.70	4	4.92	2
3	NYG	4.80	7	4.21	18	4.50	6	4.35	14	4.81	4
4	IND	3.67	23	5.84	2	4.57	5	4.07	19	4.43	7
5	PHI	5.26	2	5.93	1	4.14	13	4.45	10	3.60	25
6	TB	3.99	16	4.30	14	4.58	4	4.56	8	4.00	18
7	NO	3.96	17	3.42	30	4.96	1	3.96	22	3.75	22
8	HOU	4.85	4	4.43	12	4.17	12	4.63	5	4.07	15
9	ARI	3.74	21	4.34	13	4.22	10	4.71	3	4.15	12
10	CIN	4.05	15	4.21	17	4.60	3	3.23	31	4.82	3
11	TEN	3.71	22	4.87	6	4.34	8	3.60	28	3.77	21
12	SF	3.25	27	4.30	16	4.19	11	4.46	9	4.01	17
13	MIN	4.64	9	4.17	20	4.27	9	4.04	21	3.45	26
14	DAL	2.63	31	4.58	9	3.71	27	4.94	2	5.10	1
15	DEN	4.80	8	4.72	8	3.74	26	3.74	25	4.66	5
16	OAK	3.65	24	4.45	11	3.95	20	4.38	13	4.14	14
		LEFT END		LEFT TACKLE		MID/GUARD		RIGHT TACKLE		RIGHT END
	TEAM	ALY	Rank	ALY	Rank	ALY	Rank	ALY	Rank	ALY	Rank
17	WAS	4.07	14	4.82	7	4.06	16	4.06	20	3.68	24
18	JAC	4.81	6	3.67	26	4.07	15	5.01	1	3.24	31
19	CAR	5.22	3	3.76	25	3.83	23	4.14	17	4.40	8
20	PIT	4.53	10	4.52	10	3.70	28	4.42	11	4.15	13
21	MIA	3.81	20	4.98	4	3.77	25	3.73	26	4.59	6
22	DET	4.23	13	4.30	15	3.81	24	3.88	23	3.85	20
23	NYJ	3.42	25	3.02	32	4.08	14	4.13	18	3.92	19
24	BUF	2.73	29	3.89	23	3.97	19	4.59	6	3.42	27
25	SD	4.31	12	3.64	27	3.90	22	3.55	29	4.34	10
26	GB	3.94	18	3.92	22	3.98	18	4.14	16	3.36	28
27	BAL	4.81	5	4.03	21	3.63	31	4.22	15	2.89	32
28	STL	2.73	30	3.13	31	4.01	17	3.66	27	4.06	16
29	SEA	3.91	19	3.80	24	3.65	29	3.80	24	3.27	30
30	CHI	2.81	28	3.58	29	3.63	30	4.41	12	3.68	23
31	KC	2.27	32	4.21	19	3.94	21	3.36	30	3.28	29
32	ATL	3.36	26	3.63	28	3.24	32	3.07	32	4.32	11
x	NFL	4.02	x	4.29	x	4.08	x	4.16	x	3.99	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	453	8%	17%	53%	17%	5%
2	OAK	449	12%	18%	38%	18%	13%
3	WAS	446	23%	13%	39%	13%	12%
4	JAC	445	10%	6%	70%	4%	10%
5	SD	440	17%	16%	48%	8%	10%
6	TEN	438	6%	12%	61%	15%	5%
7	NYG	434	12%	18%	39%	20%	11%
8	MIN	430	15%	13%	52%	8%	12%
9	IND	417	17%	12%	40%	12%	18%
10	CAR	406	10%	12%	51%	15%	13%
11	BAL	404	8%	10%	63%	11%	8%
12	BUF	403	8%	17%	51%	17%	6%
13	NE	399	7%	16%	58%	14%	5%
14	CLE	396	5%	17%	60%	14%	4%
15	TB	388	8%	11%	57%	10%	13%
16	CHI	385	9%	17%	43%	17%	14%
	Team	RB Carries	LEFT END	LEFT TACKLE	MID/ GUARD	RIGHT TACKLE	RIGHT END
17	SEA	385	13%	15%	43%	19%	10%
18	DAL	381	6%	20%	47%	15%	12%
19	NYJ	381	8%	8%	60%	16%	8%
20	STL	379	9%	13%	60%	12%	6%
21	CIN	376	12%	15%	47%	18%	8%
22	DEN	375	15%	16%	41%	14%	14%
23	HOU	371	8%	12%	49%	18%	11%
24	ARI	365	8%	25%	49%	14%	4%
25	KC	363	18%	13%	49%	8%	11%
26	NO	356	9%	14%	54%	11%	12%
27	PHI	355	15%	12%	46%	11%	16%
28	ATL	354	16%	16%	43%	13%	11%
29	GB	343	17%	20%	26%	17%	19%
30	MIA	335	9%	16%	61%	9%	5%
31	SF	316	5%	12%	59%	16%	8%
32	DET	285	14%	19%	32%	21%	14%
x	NFL	x	11%	15%	50%	14%	10%