One of the interesting things in compiling data for the Spike Factor is seeing streaks during a game where a defense can't do anything to stop the opposing offense. Minnesota's first 13 plays against the Atlanta Falcons, for instance, all went for a gain as the Vikings scored two touchdowns early. The New York Giants had 15 straight plays against Washington without being stopped for no gain or a loss. And Oakland had a terrible streak of 24 plays in a row where the Raiders couldn't stop the Miami offense. But I'm sure Tony Sparano's gonna get that turned right arouahahaahahahhahahahahahhahahahaha ... oh man, they're screwed.
The Jaguars have a better offense than the Eagles
The Spike Factor has some very bad news for the Philadelphia Eagles this week -- very bad news. Meanwhile, the Chiefs are so damn smooth.
The numbers for every team that played last week, as well as the season-long Spike Factors, are here. Let’s dance!
CARLOS SANTANA SMOOTH TEAM OF THE WEEK
The Vikings and Giants rode those early, spikeless streaks to good final percentages; New York only failed to gain yardage on 19.48 percent of its snaps, and Minnesota was slightly better at 19.17 percent. The smoothest team of the week, however, just needed a steady and sustained performance rather than a flurry of offense. You are just like the ocean under the moon, Kansas City, with the lowest Spike Factor of the week at 18.75 percent.
THE ALMOST WORST
Houston had a dismal offensive day in Week 4, with 42.62 percent of the plays it ran gaining as much ground as a spike would have. The Texans still won, however, for two reasons. One, they have J.J. Watt, human Game Genie. Two, they played the Buffalo Bills, a team with an even worse Spike Factor last week (44.12 percent). You know it's bad when the reaction is "damn, we gotta get Kyle Orton in there."
THE TETANUS SPIKE
Though they didn't pull it off, Philadelphia had chances late against San Francisco to pull out a weird and possibly undeserved win. I say undeserved because the Eagles had the spikiest offense of Week 4 and damn near the worst game of the year. Of the 56 plays they ran against the Niners, only 26 yielded positive yardage. That's a might-as-well-have-spiked-it rate of 53.57 percent. And, given that Philly was already sitting near the bottom of the league Spike Factor-wise this season...
RACE FOR THE S.S. TETANUS
... the Eagles now sit in first place in the race for the season's most sputtering offense, with a Spike Factor of 42.86 percent. Congratulations, Jacksonville Jaguars fans -- you're over a full percentage point behind Philadelphia and off the hot seat for the time being. Blake Bortles is already paying dividends.
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