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Fantasy News

November 29, 2014

Play calling inside 5

You'll never guess which teams have been most effective around goal line

Inside the 5. That’s where most touchdowns are scored. (In the case of rushing touchdowns, half of all them come from the 1- or 2-yard line.) So it makes sense to look more carefully at this part of the field.

I’ve run a lot of these charts throughout the years, usually focusing on individual players – who’s getting the looks down there and whatnot. This time I’m instead looking at entire offenses.

Starting with running plays. Six teams have at least 20 running plays inside the 5 so far: Patriots, Browns, Bengals, Ravens, Browns and Giants.

The Packers, Cowboys, Texans and Jaguars are the only teams who’ve score on over half of their running plays in that part of the field. The Steelers (1 of 9) and Bears (2 of 10) have been the worst at scoring on those runs.

On all of these charts, 2-point conversions are being treated just like touchdowns. So those headers labeled “touchdowns” are actually just “scores”.

RUNNING INSIDE THE 5
RkTeamPlaysTDPct
1.New England26934.6%
2.Cincinnati231147.8%
3.New Orleans23939.1%
4.Cleveland23834.8%
5.Baltimore21523.8%
6.NY Giants20840.0%
7.NY Jets17635.3%
8.Kansas City16850.0%
9.Miami16743.8%
10.Indianapolis15426.7%
11.Seattle14750.0%
12.Washington14750.0%
13.Carolina14428.6%
14.Arizona13646.2%
15.Detroit11545.5%
16.Philadelphia11436.4%
17.St. Louis11327.3%
18.Buffalo10550.0%
19.Denver10550.0%
20.Tennessee10440.0%
21.San Francisco10330.0%
22.Chicago10220.0%
23.Houston9555.6%
24.Jacksonville9555.6%
25.Minnesota9555.6%
26.Pittsburgh9111.1%
27.Green Bay8562.5%
28.Atlanta8450.0%
29.Dallas7457.1%
30.Tampa Bay6350.0%
31.Oakland5240.0%
32.San Diego4125.0%

Moving on to passing.

Six teams have scored on over 60 percent of their passing plays inside the 5: Washington, Minnesota, Buffalo, Denver, Atlanta and Houston.

Six teams have scored on a third or fewer of their plays in that key part of the field, headlined by the Eagles (0 for 7). Also: Seattle, Detroit, Miami, Jacksonville, Cleveland.

Most plays: Green Bay, Giants, Broncos, Dolphins. Fewest plays: Washingotn, Minnesota, Jacksonville, Tennessee.

PASSING INSIDE 5
RkTeamPlaysTDPct
1.Green Bay251144.0%
2.NY Giants241041.7%
3.Denver231565.2%
4.Miami21733.3%
5.New England19947.4%
6.Dallas18950.0%
7.Indianapolis18950.0%
8.Chicago16956.3%
9.San Diego16743.8%
10.Pittsburgh15853.3%
11.New Orleans15746.7%
12.Kansas City15640.0%
13.Cleveland15533.3%
14.Atlanta14964.3%
15.St. Louis14642.9%
16.NY Jets13538.5%
17.Detroit13430.8%
18.Baltimore11436.4%
19.San Francisco10440.0%
20.Seattle10330.0%
21.Carolina9444.4%
22.Houston8562.5%
23.Arizona8337.5%
24.Buffalo7571.4%
25.Oakland7457.1%
26.Tampa Bay7457.1%
27.Cincinnati7342.9%
28.Philadelphia700.0%
29.Tennessee6350.0%
30.Jacksonville6233.3%
31.Minnesota5480.0%
32.Washington44100.0%

Looking at overall effectiveness. Minnesota, Washington and Atlanta have been the best teams inside the 5 – the best at scoring touchdowns. Oddly, none of those teams has a winning record. Philadelphia, Baltimore and Cleveland have been the worst teams are scoring in that part of the field.

EFFECTIVENESS INSIDE 5 (all plays)
RkTeamPlaysTDPct
1.Minnesota14964.3%
2.Washington181161.1%
3.Atlanta221359.1%
4.Buffalo171058.8%
5.Denver342058.8%
6.Houston171058.8%
7.Tampa Bay13753.8%
8.Dallas251352.0%
9.Oakland12650.0%
10.Green Bay331648.5%
11.Cincinnati301446.7%
12.Jacksonville15746.7%
13.Kansas City311445.2%
14.Tennessee16743.8%
15.Arizona21942.9%
16.Chicago261142.3%
17.New Orleans381642.1%
18.Seattle241041.7%
19.NY Giants441840.9%
20.New England451840.0%
21.San Diego20840.0%
22.Indianapolis331339.4%
23.Miami371437.8%
24.Detroit24937.5%
25.Pittsburgh24937.5%
26.St. Louis25936.0%
27.NY Jets311135.5%
28.San Francisco20735.0%
29.Carolina23834.8%
30.Cleveland381334.2%
31.Baltimore32928.1%
32.Philadelphia18422.2%

Finally, three teams have run the ball over 65 percent of the time when inside the 5 – Washington, Cincinnati and Baltimore. San Diego, Green Bay and Dallas have tended to pass the most often down there.

PLAY CALLING INSIDE 5
RkTeamRunPassRun%
1.Washington14477.8%
2.Cincinnati23776.7%
3.Baltimore211165.6%
4.Minnesota9564.3%
5.Tennessee10662.5%
6.Arizona13861.9%
7.Philadelphia11761.1%
8.Carolina14960.9%
9.Cleveland231560.5%
10.New Orleans231560.5%
11.Jacksonville9660.0%
12.Buffalo10758.8%
13.Seattle141058.3%
14.New England261957.8%
15.NY Jets171356.7%
16.Houston9852.9%
17.Kansas City161551.6%
18.San Francisco101050.0%
19.Tampa Bay6746.2%
20.Detroit111345.8%
21.Indianapolis151845.5%
22.NY Giants202445.5%
23.St. Louis111444.0%
24.Miami162143.2%
25.Oakland5741.7%
26.Chicago101638.5%
27.Pittsburgh91537.5%
28.Atlanta81436.4%
29.Denver102330.3%
30.Dallas71828.0%
31.Green Bay82524.2%
32.San Diego41620.0%

—Ian Allan

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