Writers of Pro Football Prospectus 2008

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Innovative Statistics

Football Outsiders exclusive statistics


ArmchairGM -- All Sports, All You

OFFENSIVE LINES 2002

Regular season totals, playoffs not included

Revised as of 6/26/2005

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, and opponent, and normalized so that the league average for Adjusted Line Yards per carry is the same as the league average for RB yards per carry (in 2002, 4.15). These stats are explained further here.

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 that result in (on first down) zero or negative gain or (on second through fourth down) less than one-fourth the yards needed for another first down.  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 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 per pass attempt adjusted for opponent, down, and distance. Pass blocking stats are explained further here. Our sack totals may differ slightly from official NFL totals depending on the league's retroactive statistical adjustments.

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 DEN 5.05 5.16 65% 19 18% 10 15% 1 DET 1 20 3.2%
2 MIN 4.59 5.12 77% 4 25% 1 18% 2 IND 2 23 3.8%
3 KC 4.54 4.72 76% 5 16% 17 22% 12 TEN 3 21 4.0%
4 OAK 4.53 4.48 73% 10 17% 16 20% 3 SF 4 23 4.2%
5 WAS 4.39 4.29 67% 16 14% 24 21% 5 NYG 5 25 4.4%
6 MIA 4.38 4.76 69% 14 21% 6 21% 4 GB 6 27 4.6%
7 JAC 4.38 4.54 70% 13 20% 8 25% 19 SD 7 23 4.7%
8 SF 4.37 4.47 82% 3 17% 13 23% 13 NE 8 31 5.0%
9 BUF 4.36 4.35 70% 12 13% 26 23% 14 CIN 9 35 5.2%
10 CIN 4.33 4.19 88% 1 14% 25 22% 9 SEA 10 32 5.4%
11 NE 4.33 4.01 76% 7 12% 28 22% 6 KC 11 26 5.5%
12 GB 4.31 4.29 67% 17 17% 14 24% 16 CLE 12 35 5.9%
13 BAL 4.25 4.25 75% 8 18% 12 22% 10 OAK 13 36 5.9%
14 PHI 4.25 4.18 76% 6 14% 23 25% 17 PIT 14 35 6.0%
15 ATL 4.16 3.92 65% 18 16% 19 22% 11 NO 15 38 6.1%
16 SD 4.14 4.51 59% 28 22% 3 26% 23 MIA 16 28 6.2%
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 NYJ 4.08 4.09 52% 30 16% 20 26% 25 TB 17 42 6.4%
18 TEN 4.07 3.55 73% 9 9% 31 25% 18 NYJ 18 33 6.4%
19 NYG 4.05 4.22 50% 31 23% 2 27% 27 WAS 19 38 6.5%
20 SEA 4.04 4.02 67% 15 18% 11 26% 24 ARI 20 40 6.7%
21 NO 4.03 4.17 82% 2 22% 5 25% 20 PHI 21 37 6.8%
22 ARI 3.99 4.14 62% 21 20% 7 22% 8 CHI 22 43 6.8%
23 PIT 3.96 3.84 64% 20 14% 22 22% 7 STL 23 45 7.3%
24 TB 3.91 3.81 61% 24 16% 18 25% 21 BAL 24 42 7.3%
25 CHI 3.90 3.42 71% 11 9% 32 23% 15 ATL 25 40 7.5%
26 CLE 3.89 3.91 61% 25 17% 15 25% 22 DEN 26 45 7.9%
27 STL 3.89 4.16 60% 26 19% 9 28% 28 MIN 27 52 8.4%
28 IND 3.87 3.50 62% 22 11% 29 27% 26 BUF 28 54 8.4%
29 CAR 3.75 3.61 59% 27 12% 27 29% 30 CAR 29 44 8.5%
30 DET 3.74 4.07 44% 32 22% 4 32% 31 JAC 30 42 8.6%
31 DAL 3.74 4.04 61% 23 15% 21 29% 29 DAL 31 55 10.1%
32 HOU 3.10 2.96 56% 29 9% 30 36% 32 HOU 32 76 14.0%
NFL 4.15 67% 17% 24% NFL 37.0 6.5%


This 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 DEN 5.86 1 5.32 1 4.83 1 4.88 4 5.33 2
2 MIN 4.59 10 4.43 10 4.33 12 4.61 8 5.64 1
3 KC 5.15 4 5.18 2 4.79 2 4.01 20 3.31 25
4 OAK 4.71 6 4.82 5 4.55 5 4.65 7 4.04 15
5 WAS 4.35 12 3.81 25 4.33 13 5.12 2 4.80 5
6 MIA 5.60 3 4.44 9 4.06 24 4.36 16 5.17 3
7 JAC 4.64 8 4.07 19 4.57 4 4.51 12 3.50 21
8 SF 4.48 11 4.14 17 4.27 15 5.02 3 4.05 14
9 BUF 3.84 21 4.49 7 4.36 9 4.38 13 4.71 6
10 CIN 3.24 28 4.46 8 4.73 3 4.51 11 3.44 22
11 NE 3.95 19 5.00 4 4.52 6 4.53 10 2.51 32
12 GB 4.07 14 4.58 6 4.21 18 4.56 9 4.30 11
13 BAL 5.60 2 3.36 30 4.24 17 4.04 18 4.29 12
14 PHI 5.06 5 3.77 26 4.46 7 3.95 21 3.96 16
15 ATL 4.07 15 4.31 13 4.43 8 4.04 19 3.39 23
16 SD 3.65 24 3.57 29 4.12 21 4.70 5 4.89 4
    LEFT END LEFT TACKLE MID/GUARD RIGHT TACKLE RIGHT END
  TEAM ALY Rank ALY Rank ALY Rank ALY Rank ALY Rank
17 NYJ 3.94 20 3.69 28 4.16 20 4.66 6 3.64 19
18 TEN 4.60 9 4.03 20 4.25 16 3.51 29 3.96 17
19 NYG 3.99 18 3.72 27 4.09 23 3.54 28 4.50 10
20 SEA 3.67 23 4.18 15 4.35 10 3.82 25 3.36 24
21 NO 4.04 17 3.97 22 3.81 28 4.37 15 4.58 8
22 ARI 2.77 32 4.15 16 4.03 25 4.38 14 4.22 13
23 PIT 3.63 25 4.36 12 4.16 19 3.93 22 2.96 28
24 TB 4.69 7 3.83 24 3.51 30 3.78 26 4.61 7
25 CHI 2.77 31 4.31 14 4.12 22 4.13 17 2.62 30
26 CLE 4.05 16 3.91 23 3.69 29 3.71 27 4.53 9
27 STL 2.84 29 4.40 11 4.34 11 3.47 30 3.82 18
28 IND 3.27 27 4.07 18 4.30 14 3.86 24 3.04 27
29 CAR 2.84 30 5.09 3 3.98 26 3.41 31 2.53 31
30 DET 3.75 22 3.09 31 3.93 27 3.90 23 3.53 20
31 DAL 4.10 13 3.98 21 3.19 32 5.17 1 3.27 26
32 HOU 3.31 26 2.68 32 3.30 31 2.20 32 2.95 29
NFL 4.08 4.19 4.20 4.20 3.92