FanPost

Time of Possesion: By Quarter

There has been recent discussion about how the defense is often tired by the end of the game because they are on the field so often. I questioned this and decided to look it up. Our average time of possession per game is 29:22. That is 23rd in the league, or slightly below average. There are teams above us that have losing records (Cincinnati, Dallas, Detroit) and teams below us with winning records (Chicago, New England, Tennessee).

Time of possession isn't a key to victory but it sure helps. Because of the discussion, I wanted to break it down into quarters. I also took a look at each drive that started in the quarter and listed the totals. The averages are to the far right. The half where we receive is in bold, so for the Jacksonville game, we received in the 1st half, so the 1st quarter number is bold. Also included is the average length of time of our offensive drives and points allowed for each quarter.

This isn't an in-depth look at the material, just a presentation of the data and my thoughts.

The Table:

Game

Quarter

Jax

Seattle

Indy

Tenn.

Balt.

NY J

Oakland

SF

Average

1st

8:08

5:01

5:19

5:59

5:05

4:09

3:29

5:42

5:20

Drives

3

2

3

3

2

3

4

3

2.9

Avg. Drive Duration

2:45

2:50

1:40

2:00

2:50

1:20

0:55

1:50

1:35

Points Allowed

0

0

6

0

7

0

24

3

5.0

2nd

6:28

10:32

9:01

8:07

9:08

9:44

6:25

10:03

8:09

Drives

2

2

2

3

3

4

4

2

2.8

Avg. Drive Length

3:15

5:15

4:45

2:21

3:01

2:25

1:30

5:00

2:35

Points Allowed

7

0

7

10

10

7

14

0

6.9

3rd

8:28

11:22

6:15

10:55

4:58

9:55

5:04

4:34

7:45

Drives

3

2

3

3

2

4

4

3

3.0

Avg. Drive Length

2:45

5:40

3:02

3:15

2:30

2:20

1:15

1:20

2:15

Points Allowed

10

7

7

10

0

3

21

0

7.3

4th

7:22

10:32

9:17

10:09

4:28

7:49

6:24

6:07

7:45

Drives

2

3

3

4

3

3

2

5

3.1

Avg. Drive Length

3:25

3:30

3:02

2:20

1:20

2:33

3:12

1:20

2:15

Points Allowed

7

7

7

0

14

14

0

21

8.8

Total TOP

30:30

37:27

29:52

35:18

23:43

30:23

21:21

26:26

29:22

Total Drives

10

9

11

13

10

14

14

13

12


And due to popular demand, the chart without Oakland and Seattle is now up:

Game

Quarter

Jax

Indy

Tenn.

Balt.

NY J

SF

Average

1st

8:08

5:19

5:59

5:05

4:09

5:42

5:45

Drives

3

3

3

2

3

3

2.8

Avg. Drive Length

2:45

1:40

2:00

2:50

1:20

1:50

1:55

Points Allowed

0

6

0

7

0

3

2.7

2nd

6:28

9:01

8:07

9:08

9:44

10:03

8:35

Drives

2

2

3

3

4

2

2.7

Avg. Drive Length

3:15

4:45

2:21

3:01

2:25

5:00

2:45

Points Allowed

7

7

10

10

7

0

6.8

3rd

8:28

6:15

10:55

4:58

9:55

4:34

7:55

Drives

3

3

3

2

4

3

3.0

Avg. Drive Length

2:45

3:02

3:15

2:30

2:20

1:20

2:30

Points Allowed

10

7

10

0

3

0

5.0

4th

7:22

9:17

10:09

4:28

7:49

6:07

7:40

Drives

2

3

4

3

3

5

3.3

Avg. Drive Length

3:25

3:02

2:20

1:20

2:33

1:20

2:15

Points Allowed

7

7

0

14

14

21

10.5

Total TOP

30:30

29:52

35:18

23:43

30:23

26:26

29:22

Total Drives

10

11

13

10

14

13

11.8


The Break Down:

So overall it seemed we struggled in the 1st quarter, and by struggled I mean just plain don't do anything offensively. But the 2nd quarter was actually our best quarter, averaging over eight minutes. The 2nd quarter was successful because it had a longer average drive, and was more successful on average to score. At the second half, we controlled the clock pretty well, either tied or winning the TOP for both the 3rd and 4th quarters. It was interesting to note that we had longer drives, and scored more often in the second half then in the 1st. With similar number of drives, and a longer TOP, we see longer more successful drives in the 2nd half.

As for the defense, it was shocking how many points were allowed in the 4th quarter despite winning the TOP battle for the 2nd, 3rd and 4th quarters. The defense plays outstanding football in the 1st quarter despite a low TOP, but have a bit point increase as each quarter progresses despite having a much better TOP after the 1st quarter. We allowed more points in a shorter amount of time from the 2nd quarter onward.

Another note, we are much more successful at sustaining drives if we defer, receiving in the 1st half is a waste, but if we defer, the offense almost always scores early in the 2nd half.

After removing the Seattle and Oakland game, the offense seems even more successful, especially early, with a long TOP and longer drives. While it is still short, it isn't nearly as bad. The 1st quarter defense looks even better, allowing only about three points per 1st quarter, but look even worse in the 4th quarter, with little change to the 2nd and 3rd quarters. Taking out these two games makes both the offense and defense better, which is strange considering we won the Seattle game. The offense doesn't look nearly as bad early by removing those games and the defense looks better in the mid game.

Despite the fact most opposing teams are leading in the 4th quarter and we are even on TOP, we are allowing more then 10 points on average in the 4th quarter. In a time when the opponent is trying to run the clock out, they are still scoring. That's the defense's biggest weakness, and it's big. The offense is still doing terrible job in the 1st quarter, and needs to improve that. Doing that will give us more points, which is good obviously, but it doesn't seem to play a big part in late game collapses.

Well there's the numbers, I knew our 1st quarter TOP was bad but our other three quarters were very good, actually in the top 10 in the league. So to me TOP is a huge offensive problem in the 1st quarter, but for the following quarters, the offense is successful at staying on the field, and the defense becomes a liability in the mid to late game.

This is a Fan-Created Comment on MileHighReport.com. The opinion here is not necessarily shared by the editorial staff of MHR.