I’m not a big fan of scoring systems that give bonuses for shutouts. There just aren’t enough of them. The way the NFL game is structured nowadays, it’s really hard for a defense to keep an opponent from scoring for an entire game.
It happened only 7 times last year, and that was actually an increase over previous seasons. There were only 3 shutouts in 2013 (that’s in 256 regular-season games). In the 2010-2012 seasons, there were 5-6 shutouts each year.
Year | Shutouts |
---|---|
2005 | 6 |
2006 | 14 |
2007 | 5 |
2008 | 6 |
2009 | 11 |
2010 | 5 |
2011 | 5 |
2012 | 6 |
2013 | 3 |
2014 | 7 |
So rather than shutouts, it’s my preference to see defenses rewarded on a more regular basis. If it holds an opponent to only 13 points, for example, that’s also very difficult to achieve and is worthy of some fantasy points.
We don’t hesitate to give offensive players fractions of points for yards – 9.1 points for 91 yards and whatnot. Why not do the same with defenses?
I favor the approach of giving defenses some credit for everything under 24 points (which is about what NFL offenses average nowadays). Maybe a half fantasy point for everything under that threshold. Shutout would equal 12 points, allowing 14 points in an NFL game would be worth 5 fantasy points, and 17 would be worth 3.5. Similarly, allowing 30 points would result in minus-3.
Thoughts?
SHUTOUTS IN LAST 10 YEARS | |||
---|---|---|---|
Year | Winner | Loser | Score |
2005 | at Cleveland | Miami | 22-0 |
2005 | at Denver | NY Jets | 27-0 |
2005 | at New England | Tampa Bay | 28-0 |
2005 | at NY Giants | Washington | 36-0 |
2005 | Pittsburgh | at Cleveland | 41-0 |
2005 | Seattle | at Philadelphia | 42-0 |
2006 | at Buffalo | Miami | 21-0 |
2006 | at Baltimore | Pittsburgh | 27-0 |
2006 | at Carolina | St. Louis | 15-0 |
2006 | at Jacksonville | NY Jets | 41-0 |
2006 | at Jacksonville | Pittsburgh | 9-0 |
2006 | at Miami | New England | 21-0 |
2006 | at Seattle | Oakland | 16-0 |
2006 | Cincinnati | at Cleveland | 30-0 |
2006 | Chicago | at Green Bay | 26-0 |
2006 | New England | at Green Bay | 35-0 |
2006 | Chicago | at NY Jets | 10-0 |
2006 | San Diego | at Oakland | 27-0 |
2006 | St. Louis | at Oakland | 20-0 |
2006 | Baltimore | at Tampa Bay | 27-0 |
2007 | at Cleveland | Buffalo | 8-0 |
2007 | at Green Bay | Minnesota | 34-0 |
2007 | at Pittsburgh | Miami | 3-0 |
2007 | at Pittsburgh | Seattle | 21-0 |
2007 | at Seattle | San Francisco | 24-0 |
2008 | at Carolina | Kansas City | 34-0 |
2008 | at Indianapolis | Tennessee | 23-0 |
2008 | at Pittsburgh | Cleveland | 31-0 |
2008 | New England | at Buffalo | 13-0 |
2008 | Cincinnati | at Cleveland | 14-0 |
2008 | Atlanta | at Oakland | 24-0 |
2009 | at Dallas | Philadelphia | 24-0 |
2009 | at Green Bay | Detroit | 26-0 |
2009 | at New England | Tennessee | 59-0 |
2009 | at NY Jets | Cincinnati | 37-0 |
2009 | at Seattle | Jacksonville | 41-0 |
2009 | at Seattle | St. Louis | 28-0 |
2009 | at San Francisco | St. Louis | 35-0 |
2009 | Baltimore | at Cleveland | 16-0 |
2009 | NY Jets | at Oakland | 38-0 |
2009 | NY Giants | at Tampa Bay | 24-0 |
2009 | Dallas | at Washington | 17-0 |
2010 | at Houston | Tennessee | 20-0 |
2010 | at San Diego | Kansas City | 31-0 |
2010 | Chicago | at Miami | 16-0 |
2010 | Green Bay | at NY Jets | 9-0 |
2010 | Tampa Bay | at San Francisco | 21-0 |
2011 | at Pittsburgh | St. Louis | 27-0 |
2011 | at Pittsburgh | Seattle | 24-0 |
2011 | at San Francisco | St. Louis | 26-0 |
2011 | Kansas City | at Oakland | 28-0 |
2011 | Buffalo | at Washington | 23-0 |
2012 | at Atlanta | NY Giants | 34-0 |
2012 | at New England | Miami | 28-0 |
2012 | at New Orleans | Tampa Bay | 41-0 |
2012 | at Oakland | Kansas City | 15-0 |
2012 | at Seattle | Arizona | 58-0 |
2012 | San Francisco | at NY Jets | 34-0 |
2013 | at Buffalo | Miami | 19-0 |
2013 | at Carolina | NY Giants | 38-0 |
2013 | Seattle | at NY Giants | 23-0 |
2014 | at Indianapolis | Cincinnati | 27-0 |
2014 | at Miami | San Diego | 37-0 |
2014 | at Philadelphia | NY Giants | 27-0 |
2014 | at San Diego | NY Jets | 31-0 |
2014 | at St. Louis | Oakland | 52-0 |
2014 | Cincinnati | at Cleveland | 30-0 |
2014 | St. Louis | at Washington | 24-0 |
—Ian Allan