Factoid
It was a little surprising when new Cleveland decision-maker Mike Holmgren retained Eric Mangini as head coach; the Browns' four-game winning streak to end the season probably played a factor. Another consideration may have been the way Cleveland's defense performed in the second half of the season.
Among the numbers we track is team defensive performance in the first eight games versus the last eight games. In terms of scoring, Cleveland's defense was dramatically better in the final eight games than in the first eight games. That's likely a large part of why the defensive-minded Mangini is still around, and why coordinator Rob Ryan will probably one day be the third member of the Ryan family (after father Buddy and brother Rex) to land a head coaching job.
Other big winners from the first half of the season to the second half included Tennessee and Carolina. What's surprising is that the team that made the biggest drop in terms of points allowed from the first half of the season to the second is the AFC's Super Bowl representative, the Indianapolis Colts.
Points allowed (first eight games):
13.5 Indianapolis
14.4 New England
15.5 Denver
16.4 NY Jets
16.9 Cincinnati
17.4 Pittsburgh
19.0 Dallas
19.1 Philadelphia
19.3 Washington
19.3 Baltimore
20.5 Arizona
20.8 Atlanta
20.9 Seattle
20.9 Houston
21.1 Buffalo
21.5 Green Bay
21.8 Minnesota
21.8 New Orleans
21.8 San Francisco
22.4 San Diego
22.7 NY Giants
23.9 Chicago
24.5 Carolina
24.8 Jacksonville
25.1 Oakland
25.5 Miami
25.6 Kansas City
26.1 Cleveland
27.6 St. Louis
28.9 Tampa Bay
29.6 Detroit
29.8 Tennessee
Points allowed (last eight games):
12.3 Dallas
12.8 NY Jets
13.4 Baltimore
13.4 San Francisco
14.0 Carolina
15.6 Green Bay
17.3 Minnesota
17.6 San Diego
19.5 Cincinnati
19.6 Buffalo
19.8 Arizona
19.9 Atlanta
20.5 Tennessee
20.6 Houston
20.8 Cleveland
20.9 New Orleans
21.1 Tampa Bay
21.3 New England
22.3 Oakland
22.8 Jacksonville
22.8 Washington
23.0 Chicago
23.0 Philadelphia
23.1 Pitttsburgh
23.3 Miami
24.9 Indianapolis
25.0 Denver
26.9 St. Louis
27.4 Kansas City
27.9 Seattle
30.5 NY Giants
32.1 Detroit
--Andy Richardson
- Comments [0]
Readers' Comments
Add a Comment
Already a registered user? Please sign in to add comments.
To add comments, you must become a registered user of our site. To register, please click here.
