How important is it to score first in the NFL? In 2006 the league winning percentage was more than 64% for the year. If you take that winning percentage and project it over a full season it would equate to just over 10 wins…and we all know that 10 wins is the magic number for making the post season.
As for the Ravens, scoring first was even more critical than the league average. In the Ravens four losses they scored first only once; versus Denver…so when not scoring first they lost 75% of the time. The Ravens scored first in nine of their thirteen victories for a win percentage of 69.23%.
BTN would be remiss to not mention the Super Bowl and how teams that score first have faired. The team scoring first in the Super Bowl has won 26 of the 40 games for a 65% win percentage. Over the first 20 games the team scoring first won 75% of the games; but that trend has decreased significantly over the last 20 games to a tune of just 55%. Over the last 10 games, six of the winning teams did not score first. Go Bears!
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Scoring First in 2006:
|
|
|
|
|
|
Week
|
Team scored first & won game
|
Weekly Pct.
|
Yearly total
|
Yearly Pct.
|
|
1
|
9 / 16
|
56.25%
|
9 / 16
|
56.25%
|
|
2
|
14 / 16
|
87.50%
|
23 / 32
|
71.87%
|
|
3
|
8 / 14
|
57.14%
|
31 / 46
|
67.39%
|
|
4
|
5 / 14
|
35.71%
|
36 / 60
|
60.00%
|
|
5
|
7 / 14
|
50.00
|
43 / 74
|
58.11%
|
|
6
|
9 / 13
|
69.23%
|
52 / 87
|
59.77%
|
|
7
|
11 / 13
|
84.61%
|
63 / 100
|
63.00%
|
|
8
|
12 / 14
|
85.71%
|
75 / 114
|
65.79%
|
|
9
|
12 / 14
|
85.71%
|
87 / 128
|
67.97%
|
|
10
|
8 / 16
|
50.00%
|
95 / 144
|
65.97%
|
|
11
|
11 / 16
|
68.75%
|
106 / 160
|
66.25%
|
|
12
|
9 / 16
|
56.25%
|
115 / 176
|
65.34%
|
|
13
|
9 / 16
|
56.25%
|
124 / 192
|
64.58%
|
|
14
|
11 / 16
|
68.75%
|
135 / 208
|
64.90%
|
|
15
|
11 / 16
|
68.75%
|
146 / 224
|
65.18%
|
|
16
|
9 / 16
|
56.25%
|
155 / 240
|
64.58%
|
|
17
|
10 / 16
|
62.50%
|
165 / 256
|
64.45%
|
