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This year, teams are 126-51 when outrushing their opponents, for a 0.712 winning percentage. In the abstract, that doesn’t mean much, and I’ll take a historical look at this data tomorrow. But what about teams this year?

The 10-1 Eagles rank 2nd in rushing yards and 1st in rushing yards allowed, thanks to a dominant run defense and an offense that is usually playing with the lead. The Eagles have outrushed their opponents in 9 straight games, but in week 1 the Eagles beat Washington despite being outrushed 64-58, and in week 2, the Eagles lost to the Chiefs and were outrushed 112-107. The table below shows how often each team has outrushed its opponents this year:

TeamWon Rushing BattleLost Rushing BattlePerc
PHI920.818
PIT830.727
JAX830.727
CAR830.727
MIN830.727
DAL840.667
DEN740.636
SEA740.636
CLE740.636
HOU740.636
NOR740.636
BUF650.545
CHI650.545
KAN650.545
ATL650.545
BAL650.545
TEN650.545
MIA560.455
LAR560.455
OAK560.455
NWE560.455
WAS570.417
ARI470.364
NYJ470.364
DET470.364
GNB470.364
SFO380.273
LAC380.273
TAM380.273
IND380.273
NYG290.182
CIN290.182

At the team level, there are a number of unsurprising results The Jaguars are 7-1 when they win the rushing battle, and 0-3 when they don’t. The Cardinals and Bucs are 7-0 when they win the rushing battle, and 2-13 when they don’t. The Titans are 6-0 when they win the rushing battle, and 1-4 when they don’t. The Cowboys are 6-2 when they outrush their opponents, and winless when they don’t.

But you also have teams like the Packers, who are 1-3 when they outrush their opponents, but 4-3 when they don’t. But the Packers were outrushed in all 5 Aaron Rodgers games (when Green Bay went 4-1), while outrushing their opponents in 4 of 6 Brett Hundley games (where the Packers have gone 1-5). So that one is more than a little misleading. Less misleading: Seattle is 4-3 when outrushing opponents but also 3-1 when being outrushed. The Bengals are a respectable 4-5 when being outrushed, while the Rams and Patriots are both 4-2 when being outrushed! The Patriots have actually been outrushed this season, have a below-average pass defense, and yet are 9-2. It may have something to do with the passing game.

Below is each team’s record when outrushing, and being outrushed by, their opponent.

TeamRecord When OutrushingWin %Record When Being OutrushedWin %
GNB1-30.2504-30.571
SEA4-30.5713-10.750
CIN1-10.5004-50.444
HOU3-40.4291-30.250
LAR4-10.8004-20.667
CHI2-40.3331-40.200
DET3-10.7503-40.429
OAK3-20.6002-40.333
LAC2-10.6673-50.375
BUF4-20.6672-30.400
KAN4-20.6672-30.400
IND1-20.3332-60.250
CLE0-70.0000-40.000
NWE5-01.0004-20.667
NOR6-10.8572-20.500
ATL5-10.8332-30.400
MIA3-20.6001-50.167
DEN3-40.4290-40.000
SFO1-20.3330-80.000
CAR7-10.8751-20.333
BAL5-10.8331-40.200
NYJ3-10.7501-60.143
NYG1-10.5001-80.111
PHI9-01.0001-10.500
WAS4-10.8001-60.143
PIT8-01.0001-20.333
MIN8-01.0001-20.333
DAL6-20.7500-40.000
TEN6-01.0001-40.200
JAX7-10.8750-30.000
ARI4-01.0001-60.143
TAM3-01.0001-70.125

Finally, a word about the Cleveland Browns. Despite the 0-11 record, the Browns have remarkably outrushed their opponents 7 times this season! Part of that is due to DeShone Kizer being a running quarterback, but the Browns also rank 8th in rushing yards allowed. The Browns have faced the 5th most rushing attempts this year, but because they rank 2nd in yards per carry allowed, the team ranks 25th from the bottom in rushing yards allowed. Hey, a bright spot in Cleveland!

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