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Last Thursday, the Lions hosted the Packers, and jumped out to a 17-0 lead before the end of the first quarter. A field goal attempt midway through the 3rd made it 20-0, although the Packers then responded with two quick scores. With seven minutes left in the 4th, Detroit made it a 9-point game, and seemed to have this one locked up. In fact, when the clock hit triple zeroes, the Lions were ahead, 23-21.

Of course, a phantom face mask penalty meant the game was not yet over, and Green Bay won on the final play of the game. For the game, Green Bay had a Game Script of -10.1, which represents the average score in the game, from the Packers perspective, across the 3600 seconds of action. That’s the worst Game Script by a winning team since San Diego won in similarly remarkable fashion against the 49ers in week 16 of the 2014 season.

Below are the Game Scripts data for week 13:

TeamH/ROppBoxscorePFPAMarginGame ScriptPassRunP/R RatioOp_POp_ROpp_P/R Ratio
CIN@CLEBoxscore3733417.5233341.1%411968.3%
SEA@MINBoxscore3873116303645.5%321666.7%
DEN@SDGBoxscore1731412273940.9%392362.9%
PITINDBoxscore45103511.5393254.9%391868.4%
ARI@STLBoxscore2732411.2433654.4%351570%
BUFHOUBoxscore302195.3223637.9%452663.4%
TENJAXBoxscore423934.3333548.5%382065.5%
PHI@NWEBoxscore352873.2253343.1%612471.8%
MIABALBoxscore151322.7202643.5%492665.3%
TAMATLBoxscore231940.7283743.1%481872.7%
DAL@WASBoxscore19163-0.5302455.6%342557.6%
KAN@OAKBoxscore342014-0.8262254.2%522468.4%
SFO@CHIBoxscore26206-1.5362361%324243.2%
CAR@NORBoxscore41383-2.4423356%441475.9%
NYJ@NYGBoxscore23203-5.4532468.8%372460.7%
GNB@DETBoxscore27234-10.1392461.9%382560.3%
  • Cincinnati and Seattle posted monster Game Scripts numbers in blowout victories. Denver won by 14 points over San Diego, but even that is a little misleading: the Game Script was +12.0, because Denver led 14-0 before the end of the first quarter, and 17-0 in the second quarter. Neither the Broncos nor Chargers scored in the second half, a feat that has occurred just three times since the start of the 2009 season.
  • Buffalo continues its run-happy ways. The Bills were the only team this week to pass on fewer than 40% of all plays, in a relatively tight game.  Philadelphia and Miami — yes, that says Miami — were also really run-heavy in competitive games, with each team passing on less than 44% of plays. And Tampa Bay and Chicago (in a losing effort, but with a positive Game Script) had similar numbers.  After a really pass-happy week 12, a number of teams showed first commitments to the running game in competitive contests.
  • One team that was decided not interested in establishing the run: New Orleans. The Saints actually had a positive Game Script in the loss to Carolina, but finished with 44 pass attempts and just 14 runs.  The other team that stood out for its pass-happy ways last week was Atlanta: in a back-and-forth game with a neutral Game Script, the Falcons passed on 73% of plays, while Tampa Bay passed on just 43% of plays.  That says a lot about the tendencies of both teams.

What stands out to you?

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