With the playoffs over, let’s take one last look at Game Scripts data from the 2015 season. Some high-level notes:
- In the wild card round, all four road teams won. No road team won another game in the postseason.
- Just two teams won playoff games this year with negative Game Scripts: the Broncos against the Steelers (-0.5) and the Seahawks against the Vikings (-2.5). The Steelers led 10-6 for much of the 2nd quarter, and 13-9 in the third quarter. In fact, Denver trailed 13-12 until there were three minutes left in the game. The frigid game in Minnesota was a tale of three quarters… and a disastrous fourth. The Vikings entered the 4th quarter up 9-0, but Seattle scored the final points of the game to emerge with a 10-9 win.
- The most pass-happy game by a winning team in the playoffs? That came by the Patriots in the division round against the Chiefs. Even without adjusting for Game Script, it was pass-happy, but a 76.4% pass ratio with a +8.3 Game Script is incredible. Remember, New England attempted a pass on 24 of its first 26 plays, and the Patriots finished with just 10 non-kneel runs.
Below are the 2015 playoffs Game Scripts data:
| Wk | Team | H/R | Opp | Boxscore | PF | PA | Margin | Game Script | Pass | Run | P/R Ratio | Op_P | Op_R | Opp_P/R Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Div | CAR | SEA | Boxscore | 31 | 24 | 7 | 18.1 | 23 | 41 | 35.9% | 53 | 11 | 82.8% | |
| CCG | CAR | ARI | Boxscore | 49 | 15 | 34 | 15.8 | 29 | 37 | 43.9% | 44 | 16 | 73.3% | |
| WC | KAN | @ | HOU | Boxscore | 30 | 0 | 30 | 15 | 25 | 37 | 40.3% | 37 | 24 | 60.7% |
| Div | NWE | KAN | Boxscore | 27 | 20 | 7 | 8.3 | 42 | 13 | 76.4% | 51 | 32 | 61.4% | |
| SB | DEN | N | CAR | Boxscore | 24 | 10 | 14 | 6.9 | 28 | 28 | 50.0% | 48 | 27 | 64.0% |
| CCG | DEN | NWE | Boxscore | 20 | 18 | 2 | 5.4 | 35 | 29 | 54.7% | 60 | 17 | 77.9% | |
| WC | PIT | @ | CIN | Boxscore | 18 | 16 | 2 | 4.3 | 40 | 29 | 58% | 44 | 23 | 65.7% |
| WC | GNB | @ | WAS | Boxscore | 35 | 18 | 17 | 2.2 | 36 | 31 | 53.7% | 52 | 18 | 74.3% |
| Div | ARI | GNB | Boxscore | 26 | 20 | 6 | 1 | 44 | 19 | 69.8% | 45 | 22 | 67.2% | |
| Div | DEN | PIT | Boxscore | 23 | 16 | 7 | -0.5 | 38 | 32 | 54.3% | 40 | 19 | 67.8% | |
| WC | SEA | @ | MIN | Boxscore | 10 | 9 | 1 | -2.5 | 28 | 27 | 50.9% | 27 | 29 | 48.2% |
The Broncos ran on close to half of the team’s plays in the first two playoff games, and then on exactly 50% of offensive plays in the Super Bowl. In three of the 11 playoff games, the winning team ran more frequently than they passed; in a fourth game, the Vikings also pulled off that feat.
What stands out to you?