The Curious Matter of the NFL’s Pro Bowl

***Note of Misfortune: Below post updated from original for the 2011 Season.***

The NFL kicks off its annual all-star game – the AFC-NFC Pro Bowl – on Sunday evening beneath the warmth of Hawaii’s winter sun. The game itself is little more than a glorified scrimmage that means even less than a preseason game. I personally would much rather see if the rookie linebacker taken in the fourth round of the draft will be able to add much-needed depth to my favorite team’s roster than watch my team’s star running back risk unnecessary injury while carrying the ball 15 times in a pointless exhibition game.

The Pro Bowl is played simply as another means to get more money from fans without providing any real entertainment. Players saddled with the “Pro Bowl” honor, as voted by fans after only three quarters of the season have been played, are expected to make the trip to Hawaii unless still recovering from an injury or having made it to the Super Bowl. Despite this, every year several replacement players are named to the team rosters – check out this season’s list here - for players not making the trip to Honolulu. How exciting can the game be when the star players of the league – the true All-Pros – avoid the game like the plague if even slightly nicked up?

These same stars will still gladly embrace the “Pro Bowl” label for contract and endorsement purposes. Getting named to the Pro Bowl is far more significant than actually playing in the Pro Bowl. Nobody cares if the player actually made the trip to Hawaii, let alone if they were awarded the game’s MVP award. As if injured players missing the game weren’t enough, the All-Star talent pool is further diluted now that the game is played one week before the Super Bowl instead of one week afterward. No Pro Bowlers from either the New England Patriots or the New York Giants will take part in the Pro Bowl festivities. Focused on their sport’s ultimate prize, as they should be, the exhibition game truly becomes a meaningless endeavor.

The NFL should do away with the Pro Bowl game, plain and simple. All-Star games in other, less violent sports, like basketball and baseball, are fun events (though don’t get me started on MLB’s inane decision to determine home-field advantage in the World Series based on the winner of their exhibition contest). However, football players, more so than any other major sport, are closer to being one play away from a career-ending injury. When careers are so short to begin with, why should the NFL risk further damaging their players? Without the players, there is no league of any significance, a fact the owners should remember as they continue to debate a lockout in the coming months.

The league has made it a point of emphasis this season to penalize and fine players for late hits and to sit down players still suffering from the after-effects of concussions quite common in the violent game. The NFL should take their publicly-voiced concern one step further and do away with the Pro Bowl entirely.

But since the game will still be played, here is my prediction of Creative Misfortune:

American Football Conference 38

National Football Conference   44

I, however, will not be watching this weekend.

Next week, Super Bowl XLVI hype gets underway in earnest...

The Curious Matter of the NFL’s Pro Bowl

The NFL kicks off its annual all-star game – the AFC-NFC Pro Bowl – on Sunday evening beneath the warmth of Hawaii’s winter sun. The game itself is little more than a glorified scrimmage that means even less than a preseason game. I personally would much rather see if the rookie linebacker taken in the fourth round of the draft will be able to add much-needed depth to my favorite team’s roster than watch my team’s star running back risk unnecessary injury while carrying the ball 15 times in a pointless exhibition game.

The Pro Bowl is played simply as another means to get more money from fans without providing any real entertainment. Players saddled with the “Pro Bowl” honor, as voted by fans after only three quarters of the season have been played, are expected to make the trip to Hawaii unless still recovering from an injury. Despite this, every year several replacement players are named to the team rosters – check out this season’s list here - for players not making the trip to Honolulu. How exciting can the game be when the star players of the league – the true All-Pros – avoid the game like the plague if even slightly nicked up?

These same stars will still gladly embrace the “Pro Bowl” label for contract and endorsement purposes. Getting named to the Pro Bowl is far more significant than actually playing in the Pro Bowl. Nobody cares if the player actually made the trip to Hawaii, let alone if they were awarded the game’s MVP award. As if injured players missing the game weren’t enough, the All-Star talent pool is further diluted now that the game is played one week before the Super Bowl instead of one week afterward. No Pro Bowlers from either the Pittsburgh Steelers or the Green Bay Packers will take part in the Pro Bowl festivities. Focused on their sport’s ultimate prize, as they should be, the exhibition game truly becomes a meaningless endeavor.

The NFL should do away with the Pro Bowl game, plain and simple. All-Star games in other, less violent sports, like basketball and baseball, are fun events (though don’t get me started on MLB’s inane decision to determine home-field advantage in the World Series based on the winner of their exhibition contest). However, football players, more so than any other major sport, are closer to being one play away from a career-ending injury. When careers are so short to begin with, why should the NFL risk further damaging their players? Without the players, there is no league of any significance, a fact the owners should remember as they continue to debate a lockout in the coming months.

The league has made it a point of emphasis this season to penalize and fine players for late hits and to sit down players still suffering from the after-effects of concussions quite common in the violent game. The NFL should take their publicly-voiced concern one step further and do away with the Pro Bowl entirely.

But since the game will still be played, here is my prediction of Creative Misfortune:

American Football Conference 37

National Football Conference   31

I, however, will not be watching this weekend.

Next week, Super Bowl XLV hype gets underway in earnest.

The Curious Matter of the Explosive Raiders

The Broncos didn't know what hit them. Before Denver fans even had a chance to settle into their seats to watch the contest against bitter, division rival Oakland, the Raiders jumped out to an early 14-point lead. By the end of the first quarter the Raiders had accumulated 24 points and were no where close to stopping. At halftime the Raiders, a team who just the week before barely managed three field goals against the 1-5 San Francisco 49ers, led the stunned Broncos 38-7. Three more touchdowns in the third quarter lifted Oakland to a franchise record 59 points and then they put the brakes on and coasted the rest of the game for an outstanding 59-14 road victory. The unexpected offensive explosion was enough to jolt Al Davis back from the dead and renewed waning hope for the possibility of a Raider playoff birth, particularly in the suspect AFC West.

But did the Raiders accomplish something unique on Sunday? After all, they were not the first team to score 59 or more points in three quarters. Two other teams have accomplished this same feat.

Just over one year ago, the lovable New England Patriots obliterated the 0-5 Tennessee Titans in Foxboro, 59-0 on October 18, 2009. During their bye week following the game, Titans coach Jeff Fisher donned a Peyton Manning jersey at a charity event and declared he just "wanted to feel like a winner for a change."

Prior to the destruction of the Tennessee Titans, only one other team had ever scored 59 or more points in just three quarters of action. On October 29, 1950 - exactly 60 years ago - the Los Angeles Rams hosted the Detroit Lions in a game that started out quite normal. After the first quarter, the Rams led 7-3 and had expanded their lead to 24-10 at halftime. However, a curious thing happened after the break. Norm Van Brocklin led the Rams to a devastating deluge of points in the third quarter. When the smoke had settled and the clock rolled over to quarter number four, the Rams led 65-17. The 41 points scored by the Rams in the third quarter ranks among the most points ever scored in a single quarter. Los Angeles won the game by a final score of 65-24.

Despite being the third team in NFL history to score 59 or more points in three quarters, Oakland was the first ever team to do so on the road. Crushing the Broncos in Denver only makes the victory sweeter. By contrast, both Los Angeles and New England played at home when they lit up the scoreboard.

The Raiders, on the other hand, became only the fourth team to score 50 or more points through three quarters on the road. The Chicago Bears racked up 54 points in three quarters of the 1940 NFL Championship game against the Washington Redskins before going on to win 73-0. The Chicago Cardinals were the next to score 50 or more in three quarters back on November 13, 1949 when they defeated the New York Bulldogs, 65-20 during a game played in New York. The Pittsburgh Steelers later managed to score 50 on the road during the first three quarters of their game against the Atlanta Falcons on December 18, 1966, which they ended up winning 57-33.

However, Oakland's 59-point performance on Sunday stands alone as a benchmark for prolific scoring by a road team through three quarters of play. And despite Al Davis' affinity for throwing the ball deep down the field, most of the Raiders points came off rushing touchdowns. How curious.

The Curious Matter of Unnatural Scoring

On Monday Night the New England Patriots defeated the Miami Dolphins by scoring a rare combination of offensive, defensive and special teams touchdowns. In fact, no team in NFL history had ever scored a rushing, passing, interception return, kickoff return and a blocked field goal return touchdown in the same game before. New England also blocked a Miami punt and their kicker recorded numerous touchbacks keeping the Dolphins pinned deep in their own territory after each score, making any comeback attempt difficult. While watching the game, I wondered how many other teams in NFL history have had similar success in games by scoring a combination of unnatural touchdowns (i.e. not by rushing or passing).

The answer, quite simply, is not many. Which brings us to the curious matter of unnatural scoring.

Scoring multiple, unnatural touchdowns in a single game is a rarity in NFL history. Out of the thousands of games played, no team has every returned a kickoff, a punt, an interception and a fumble for a touchdown in the same game.

Eighteen times a team has returned two punts for a touchdown in a single game and 13 times they have returned two kickoffs for a touchdown, but no team has ever returned both two punts and two kickoffs for touchdowns in the same game. In fact, no team has ever returned two punts and a single kickoff for a touchdown in one game.

However, back on November 6, 1966, the Philadelphia Eagles returned two kickoffs and a punt for touchdowns in a game against Dallas. The Eagles held on to win the game by the slimmest of margins, 24-23. I think the breakdown on special teams by the Cowboys directly impacted the result of that game. As somewhat common as kickoff returns and punt return touchdowns are, doubling up on them in a single game is quite rare and no team has ever returned either three punts or three kickoffs for a touchdown in one day.

Fumble recovery and interception return touchdowns, also rare, are a different animal altogether than kick returns. 47 teams have returned two fumbles for touchdowns in a game. Out of those 47 instances, only four teams – the 2005 49ers, 2002 Chargers, 2000 Seahawks and the 1975 Saints – managed to lose those games. Curiously enough, no team has ever returned three fumbles for touchdowns in one contest.

Interception return touchdowns are by far the most common unnatural score NFL teams achieve. 139 times teams have scored at least two touchdowns in a game off of interceptions. Out of those 139 games, the team with 2+ interception return touchdowns lost only five times and tied once.

Teams have managed to return three interceptions for touchdowns eight times and only once in NFL history has a team scored four interception touchdowns in a single game. The Seattle Seahawks accomplished this feat on November 4, 1984 in a game against the Kansas City Chiefs, which they easily won, 45-0.

While no team has ever returned a kickoff, a punt, an interception and a fumble for a touchdown in the same game and no other teams have ever duplicated the unique set of touchdowns scored by New England on Monday night, two teams have scored combined sets of unnatural touchdowns to win a game.

In a game against the New York Giants on November 13, 2005, the Minnesota Vikings won 24-21 on the strength of a kickoff return touchdown, a punt return touchdown and an interception returned for a touchdown. The Vikings remain the only team to have ever accomplished this unique combination of scores.

The Kansas City Chiefs scored an even rarer combination of unnatural touchdowns when they crushed the St. Louis Rams 49-10 on December 8, 2002. The Chiefs padded their victory by returning a kickoff, a punt and a fumble for touchdowns. Kansas City alone has achieved this winning combination.

Unnatural touchdowns can happen on any play, which makes football one of the most exciting sports in the world. However, scoring multiple times by these kinds of touchdowns in a single game is quite uncommon. To appreciate the true rarity of games like Monday night and the others listed above, you only have to look at the following items –

NFL teams have rushed for 4 or more touchdowns in 425 games since 1940.

NFL teams have thrown 5 or more touchdown passes in 3,160 games since 1940.

The Curious Matter of Packer Penalties

On Monday, the Green Bay Packers lost a close division game to the Bears in Chicago, 20-17. Besides the Bears improving to 3-0 and becoming the lone team in the NFL’s young season to remain undefeated in the NFC, the story of the game centered around Packer penalties. The Packers committed a record 18 penalties for an astounding 152 yards during the game. These penalties definitely factored into Chicago’s victory on Monday, but could the Packers have won the game despite setting a franchise record for miscues?

Last night I received an inquiry from one of the blog readers, a self-proclaimed Packers fan, who asked if Green Bay, or any team for that matter, could ever win a game after committing so many errors. I jokingly responded, “sure they could… if they were playing the hapless Detroit Lions instead of a team like Chicago.” After further research, it turns out this off-the-cuff remark was correct. 

NFL teams typically win about 54% of their games when they commit fewer penalties than their opponents, which is only slightly different than the roughly 58% of games teams win playing at home. Also, a single penalty at a key time late in a close game is far more likely to cost a team a victory than a bunch of penalties sprinkled over the course of four quarters.

Packer linebacker Nick Barnett, when discussing the loss in Chicago said, “you can’t win a game like that.” Sloppy play resulting in penalties certainly makes such a blanket statement more true than not, but Green Bay only has to look at their own history to see that penalties in and of themselves were not the overwhelming reason for their loss on Monday.

Against the Bears, the Packers committed 18 penalties for 152 yards, but didn’t allow a sack and outgained Chicago in total yardage, 379-276. A key fumble by James Jones late in the fourth quarter, not penalties, cost them the game. By contrast, two games in Packer history stand out for being riddled with penalties and sloppy play by the Green and Gold.

In week 6 of 2009, the Green Bay Packers hosted the downtrodden Detroit Lions. The Packers were quite careless during this game. Officials flagged them 13 times for 130 yards. The Lions vaunted pass rush sacked Aaron Rodgers five times and Green Bay turned the ball over twice. You’d think the Packers would have lost. Against a better team, even a mediocre team, they probably would have, but this particular game they crushed the Lions 26-0, outgaining them in total yardage an impressive 436-149.

Going back further in history, the Green Bay Packers hosted the now defunct Boston Yanks on October 21, 1945. This game, nearly 65 years ago, held the gold standard for illegal Packer activity until last Monday. Green Bay committed 17 penalties for a record 184 penalty yards and turned the ball over three times against the Yanks. The Packers did manage to gain the yardage advantage in this contest, 456-250, but this yardage difference was far more akin to the Bears game than the thrashing of the Lions in 2009. Despite the record number of miscues, the Packers demolished the Yanks 38-14.

Green Bay combined for 30 penalties, totaling 314 yards, five sacks and five turnovers during those two contests, yet still managed to outscore Boston and Detroit, 64-14.

So, Packer fans, take heart. Your team can win big when they repeatedly draw the ire of the officials… but not on Monday Night, not when away from the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field and only if they are playing the inept likes of modern-day Detroit or the Boston Yanks, a franchise that never won more than four games in a single season.