First downs

[Almighty Colin]

Originally posted by DrGuile@Oct 1 2003, 02:48 PM
Is it "Teams that run wins" or "Team that are winning, run"

Yup. I've always thought that too. Teams that are winning run more than the other way around.

Now as to the question as to whether it means anything. Won/lost record itself is only a fair measure of team strength since strength of schedule can easily be worth a few wins or losses.

What statistic would best rate offenses? Points scored? That's too influenced by field position. Yards per game? Too influenced by defensive performance (Teams with good defenses get the ball more). I think first down conversion percentage is pretty good especially when combined with other factors.