I’ve had a few guys asking about kicker and defense rankings for Weeks 15-16. They’re looking at playoff matchups down the road. I have tossed out a few ideas. But now that it’s Saturday and there’s a little more time to work with, I can offer a more detailed answer.
Specifically, I can average what offenses have done so far against what defenses have allowed. That is, if a team so far has scored 100 kicking points, and it’s going against a defense that has allowed 85 kicking points, it’s first-blush number would be 185 (divided by 24 games = 7.7 points).
These aren’t official rankings. They don’t factor in home-field advantage, and they give no weight to what teams have done recently. A team that was pretty good in September, for example, might now be really crappy. Maybe a team has lost four straight or just lost its Pro Bowl quarterback or whatever.
But this kind of approach provides a reasonable starting point in the figuring.
Here be the kicking estimates for Week 15 (not this week’s games, but next week’s).
KICKING POINTS ESTIMATE, WEEK 15 | |||
---|---|---|---|
Rk | Team | Opponent | Points |
1. | Carolina | at NY Giants | 9.0 |
2. | Kansas City | at Baltimore | 8.7 |
3. | Arizona | at Philadelphia | 8.3 |
4. | Seattle | Cleveland | 8.3 |
5. | Tampa Bay | at St. Louis | 8.3 |
6. | NY Jets | at Dallas | 8.0 |
7. | Green Bay | at Oakland | 7.9 |
8. | Minnesota | Chicago | 7.7 |
9. | New England | Tennessee | 7.6 |
10. | Atlanta | at Jacksonville | 7.6 |
11. | Chicago | at Minnesota | 7.5 |
12. | Pittsburgh | Denver | 7.4 |
13. | Detroit | at New Orleans | 7.4 |
14. | NY Giants | Carolina | 7.3 |
15. | Dallas | NY Jets | 7.3 |
16. | Cincinnati | at San Francisco | 7.3 |
17. | Denver | at Pittsburgh | 7.0 |
18. | Buffalo | at Washington | 7.0 |
19. | San Diego | Miami | 6.9 |
20. | St. Louis | Tampa Bay | 6.9 |
21. | Baltimore | Kansas City | 6.8 |
22. | Washington | Buffalo | 6.8 |
23. | Jacksonville | Atlanta | 6.7 |
24. | Cleveland | at Seattle | 6.6 |
25. | Philadelphia | Arizona | 6.6 |
26. | New Orleans | Detroit | 6.6 |
27. | Oakland | Green Bay | 6.6 |
28. | Houston | at Indianapolis | 6.5 |
29. | Miami | at San Diego | 6.4 |
30. | Indianapolis | Houston | 6.2 |
31. | San Francisco | Cincinnati | 5.8 |
32. | Tennessee | at New England | 5.5 |
Here are the numbers for Week 16 for kickers …
KICKING POINTS ESTIMATE, WEEK 16 | |||
---|---|---|---|
Rk | Team | Opponent | Points |
1. | Kansas City | Cleveland | 8.8 |
2. | Pittsburgh | at Baltimore | 8.3 |
3. | Chicago | at Tampa Bay | 8.2 |
4. | Seattle | St. Louis | 8.2 |
5. | New England | at NY Jets | 8.1 |
6. | Minnesota | NY Giants | 8.1 |
7. | Jacksonville | at New Orleans | 8.0 |
8. | NY Giants | at Minnesota | 7.9 |
9. | Tampa Bay | Chicago | 7.8 |
10. | Carolina | at Atlanta | 7.8 |
11. | Arizona | Green Bay | 7.8 |
12. | San Diego | at Oakland | 7.7 |
13. | Oakland | San Diego | 7.7 |
14. | Washington | at Philadelphia | 7.6 |
15. | Baltimore | Pittsburgh | 7.4 |
16. | Buffalo | Dallas | 7.4 |
17. | Cincinnati | at Denver | 7.1 |
18. | Philadelphia | Washington | 7.1 |
19. | Dallas | at Buffalo | 7.0 |
20. | Green Bay | at Arizona | 6.9 |
21. | New Orleans | Jacksonville | 6.8 |
22. | Denver | Cincinnati | 6.8 |
23. | NY Jets | New England | 6.8 |
24. | Indianapolis | at Miami | 6.7 |
25. | San Francisco | at Detroit | 6.6 |
26. | Detroit | San Francisco | 6.6 |
27. | Atlanta | Carolina | 6.5 |
28. | St. Louis | at Seattle | 6.3 |
29. | Miami | Indianapolis | 6.0 |
30. | Cleveland | at Kansas City | 5.7 |
31. | Tennessee | Houston | 5.5 |
32. | Houston | at Tennessee | 5.5 |
Finally, these are the two-week totals for kickers …
KICKING POINTS ESTIMATE, WEEKS 15-16 | ||
---|---|---|
Rk | Team | Points |
1. | Kansas City | 17.5 |
2. | Carolina | 16.8 |
3. | Seattle | 16.4 |
4. | Arizona | 16.1 |
5. | Tampa Bay | 16.0 |
6. | Chicago | 15.8 |
7. | Minnesota | 15.8 |
8. | New England | 15.8 |
9. | Pittsburgh | 15.7 |
10. | NY Giants | 15.2 |
11. | Green Bay | 14.8 |
12. | NY Jets | 14.8 |
13. | Jacksonville | 14.6 |
14. | San Diego | 14.6 |
15. | Washington | 14.4 |
16. | Buffalo | 14.4 |
17. | Cincinnati | 14.4 |
18. | Baltimore | 14.3 |
19. | Dallas | 14.3 |
20. | Oakland | 14.3 |
21. | Atlanta | 14.1 |
22. | Detroit | 14.0 |
23. | Denver | 13.8 |
24. | Philadelphia | 13.7 |
25. | New Orleans | 13.4 |
26. | St. Louis | 13.1 |
27. | Indianapolis | 12.9 |
28. | Miami | 12.4 |
29. | San Francisco | 12.4 |
30. | Cleveland | 12.3 |
31. | Houston | 12.0 |
32. | Tennessee | 11.0 |
I will list the defensive numbers in a separate post.
—Ian Allan