2009 OFFENSIVE LINES

Regular season totals, through Week 17

Revised as of 1/4/2010

Teams are ranked according to Adjusted Line Yards. Based on regression analysis, the Adjusted Line Yards formula takes all running back carries and assigns responsibility to the offensive line based on the following percentages:

Losses: 120% value
0-4 Yards: 100% value
5-10 Yards: 50% value
11+ Yards: 0% value

These numbers are then adjusted based on down, distance, situation, opponent, and the difference in rushing average between shotgun compared to standard formations. Finally, we normalize the numbers so that the league average for Adjusted Line Yards per carry is the same as the league average for RB yards per carry. These stats are explained further here [1].

The following stats are not adjusted for opponent:

RB Yards: Yards per carry by that team's running backs, according to standard NFL numbers.
Power Success: Percentage of runs on third or fourth down, two yards or less to go, that achieved a first down or touchdown. Also includes runs on first-and-goal or second-and-goal from the two-yard line or closer. This is the only statistic on this page that includes quarterbacks.
Stuffed: Percentage of runs where the running back is tackled at or behind the line of scrimmage. Since being stuffed is bad, teams are ranked from stuffed least often (#1) to most often (#32).
2nd Level Yards: Yardage gained by running backs between five and 10 yards past the line of scrimmage, divided by total running back carries.
Open Field Yards: Yardage gained by running backs at least 10 yards past the line of scrimmage, divided by total running back carries.

NFL averages for each stat given in red.

Why are these rankings different from the team offense [2] DVOA ratings for rushing? Among other reasons, they don't include quarterbacks or fumbles, long runs are truncated, and a different set of adjustments is used, attempting to isolate line play rather than total team offense.

A team with a high ranking in Adjusted Line Yards but a low ranking in Open Field Yards is heavily dependent on its offensive line to make the running game work. A team with a low ranking in Adjusted Line Yards but a high ranking in Open Field Yards is heavily dependent on its running back breaking long runs to make the running game work.

However, it is important to understand that these ratings only somewhat separate the offensive line from the running backs. A team with a very good running back will appear higher no matter how bad their line, and a team with a great line with appear lower if the running back is terrible.

Stats in blue represent pass blocking. Teams are ranked according to adjusted sack rate, which gives sacks (plus intentional grounding penalties) per pass attempt adjusted for down, distance, and opponent. Pass blocking stats are explained further here [3]. Our sack totals may differ slightly from official NFL totals depending on the league's retroactive statistical adjustments.

RUN BLOCKING												PASS PROTECTION
	Team	Adj. Line Yards	RB Yards	Power Success	Power Rank	Stuffed	Stuffed Rank	2nd Level Yards	2nd Level Rank	Open Field Yards	Open Field Rank	Team	Rank	Sacks	Adjusted Sack Rate
1	MIA	4.50	4.44	79%	2	14%	1	1.00	28	0.63	22	IND	1	13	3.1%
2	NO	4.48	4.62	69%	7	17%	9	1.27	8	0.93	9	NE	2	18	3.6%
3	DAL	4.47	4.99	58%	26	17%	7	1.36	3	1.16	5	TEN	3	15	3.7%
4	BAL	4.42	4.97	68%	9	17%	8	1.29	6	1.26	3	NO	4	21	4.2%
5	NE	4.39	4.29	68%	10	14%	2	1.22	11	0.59	26	SD	5	26	4.5%
6	DEN	4.30	4.27	58%	27	20%	20	1.29	5	0.61	24	ATL	6	27	4.6%
7	PHI	4.30	4.25	63%	19	18%	11	1.05	25	0.61	25	ARI	7	26	5.2%
8	GB	4.29	4.17	73%	3	16%	4	1.04	26	0.73	17	HOU	8	26	5.2%
9	NYJ	4.28	4.48	70%	6	16%	3	1.11	20	0.88	12	NYG	9	32	5.3%
10	ATL	4.26	4.36	63%	17	18%	12	1.12	17	0.89	10	CIN	10	29	5.6%
11	JAC	4.25	4.55	69%	8	19%	14	1.12	18	1.07	6	TB	11	33	5.7%
12	BUF	4.19	4.29	50%	31	17%	10	1.15	16	0.63	21	DEN	12	34	5.9%
13	NYG	4.15	4.19	60%	20	19%	15	1.24	10	0.68	19	CHI	13	35	5.9%
14	PIT	4.13	4.32	72%	5	20%	19	1.18	15	0.87	13	MIN	14	34	6.0%
15	HOU	4.10	3.73	60%	21	22%	26	1.12	19	0.41	31	CLE	15	30	6.1%
16	ARI	4.09	4.27	56%	28	22%	29	1.36	2	0.81	14	DAL	16	34	6.2%
RUN BLOCKING												PASS PROTECTION
	Team	Adj. Line Yards	RB Yards	Power Success	Power Rank	Stuffed	Stuffed Rank	2nd Level Yards	2nd Level Rank	Open Field Yards	Open Field Rank	Team	Rank	Sacks	Adjusted Sack Rate
17	CAR	4.03	4.93	67%	11	22%	23	1.40	1	1.31	2	CAR	17	33	6.5%
18	SD	4.02	3.54	46%	32	16%	6	0.95	31	0.40	32	MIA	18	34	6.6%
19	CHI	4.02	4.04	58%	25	19%	16	0.95	30	0.81	15	BAL	19	37	6.6%
20	MIN	4.01	4.18	59%	23	23%	31	1.18	14	0.94	8	PHI	20	40	6.6%
21	TEN	4.01	5.29	64%	15	22%	28	1.28	7	1.77	1	SEA	21	41	7.0%
22	CLE	4.01	3.93	65%	14	18%	13	1.10	22	0.50	30	DET	22	43	7.0%
23	OAK	3.97	4.02	72%	4	16%	5	1.03	27	0.63	20	NYJ	23	30	7.7%
24	CIN	3.97	4.14	79%	1	19%	17	1.20	12	0.74	16	STL	24	44	7.7%
25	IND	3.93	3.80	66%	12	22%	27	1.11	21	0.51	29	KC	25	46	7.8%
26	WAS	3.92	3.72	59%	24	19%	18	0.99	29	0.54	28	SF	26	40	8.1%
27	SEA	3.91	4.15	56%	29	22%	24	1.19	13	0.72	18	WAS	27	46	8.5%
28	STL	3.86	4.38	56%	30	22%	25	1.34	4	0.88	11	JAC	28	44	8.5%
29	DET	3.64	3.72	59%	22	23%	30	1.07	23	0.56	27	PIT	29	50	8.5%
30	KC	3.60	4.34	63%	18	21%	22	1.24	9	0.97	7	GB	30	51	8.6%
31	TB	3.58	3.80	65%	13	21%	21	1.06	24	0.62	23	OAK	31	49	9.4%
32	SF	3.50	4.22	63%	16	24%	32	0.92	32	1.25	4	BUF	32	46	9.9%
x	NFL	x	4.29	64%	x	19%	x	1.16	x	0.82	x	NFL	x	35	6.4%

The second table lists each team's Adjusted Line Yards in each direction listed in official NFL play-by-play, along with rank among the 32 teams. Only five directions are listed because research so far shows no statistically significant difference between how well a team performs on runs listed middle, left guard, and right guard.

		LEFT END		LEFT TACKLE		MID/GUARD		RIGHT TACKLE		RIGHT END
	TEAM	ALY	Rank	ALY	Rank	ALY	Rank	ALY	Rank	ALY	Rank
1	MIA	4.99	7	3.46	31	4.59	3	4.34	8	4.11	18
2	NO	3.67	24	4.17	14	4.65	2	4.63	4	4.86	3
3	DAL	5.21	3	5.03	4	4.19	13	4.16	15	4.80	6
4	BAL	4.22	17	4.15	15	4.46	5	3.98	18	5.40	1
5	NE	4.96	9	4.21	13	4.55	4	3.84	23	3.63	25
6	DEN	4.96	8	3.47	30	4.41	6	3.38	28	5.06	2
7	PHI	4.36	15	5.17	3	4.07	18	4.26	10	4.23	15
8	GB	2.83	30	3.76	24	4.71	1	4.26	12	4.86	4
9	NYJ	3.05	29	4.06	17	4.21	12	5.06	1	3.75	23
10	ATL	5.18	5	3.84	21	4.12	15	3.96	19	4.62	10
11	JAC	5.66	1	4.53	8	4.06	19	3.92	21	4.45	11
12	BUF	3.27	26	4.21	12	4.39	7	3.22	30	4.77	7
13	NYG	4.11	19	4.05	18	4.04	21	4.56	6	4.19	17
14	PIT	4.58	14	4.30	11	4.08	17	3.72	25	4.72	8
15	HOU	3.62	25	3.56	28	4.24	11	4.16	14	4.64	9
16	ARI	5.47	2	3.80	22	3.94	24	4.27	9	3.72	24
		LEFT END		LEFT TACKLE		MID/GUARD		RIGHT TACKLE		RIGHT END
	TEAM	ALY	Rank	ALY	Rank	ALY	Rank	ALY	Rank	ALY	Rank
17	CAR	4.05	21	4.92	5	3.98	22	3.57	27	3.53	26
18	SD	3.20	27	4.34	10	3.85	25	4.79	2	4.41	12
19	CHI	4.93	10	3.78	23	4.05	20	3.37	29	3.93	21
20	MIN	3.83	22	4.60	7	4.10	16	3.67	26	3.83	22
21	TEN	4.11	20	3.55	29	3.71	27	4.35	7	4.82	5
22	CLE	5.21	4	3.72	26	3.97	23	4.09	17	2.73	29
23	OAK	4.81	11	3.74	25	3.72	26	4.12	16	4.27	14
24	CIN	3.79	23	4.46	9	4.26	10	3.82	24	2.79	28
25	IND	2.63	31	3.96	19	4.39	8	3.92	20	3.94	20
26	WAS	3.19	28	3.95	20	4.30	9	4.60	5	3.13	27
27	SEA	1.26	32	4.10	16	4.16	14	4.22	13	4.29	13
28	STL	4.70	12	5.27	2	3.70	28	3.88	22	2.67	30
29	DET	5.18	6	3.56	27	3.28	31	4.71	3	2.13	32
30	KC	4.30	16	5.66	1	3.34	30	1.92	32	4.19	16
31	TB	4.18	18	4.86	6	3.17	32	4.26	11	2.42	31
32	SF	4.58	13	2.63	32	3.51	29	3.22	31	4.02	19
x	NFL	4.20	x	4.14	x	4.08	x	4.08	x	4.05	x

The third table lists how often each team runs in each direction. Numbers may not add up to 100% due to carries listed without direction.

	Team	RB Carries	LEFT END	LEFT TACKLE	MID/ GUARD	RIGHT TACKLE	RIGHT END
1	NYJ	533	6%	10%	52%	23%	9%
2	CAR	491	10%	15%	52%	14%	9%
3	MIA	455	14%	7%	60%	11%	9%
4	CIN	452	10%	19%	40%	17%	14%
5	NO	431	11%	16%	51%	14%	8%
6	TEN	431	15%	13%	42%	16%	14%
7	MIN	426	13%	12%	51%	11%	13%
8	BAL	419	11%	13%	55%	12%	9%
9	NE	418	9%	15%	58%	11%	6%
10	NYG	413	13%	14%	40%	17%	15%
11	CLE	408	7%	14%	63%	14%	2%
12	ATL	405	13%	13%	53%	10%	11%
13	DEN	405	11%	13%	51%	13%	13%
14	DAL	394	11%	15%	52%	13%	9%
15	SD	385	11%	9%	57%	15%	9%
16	KC	379	16%	8%	50%	12%	14%
	Team	RB Carries	LEFT END	LEFT TACKLE	MID/ GUARD	RIGHT TACKLE	RIGHT END
17	STL	378	5%	11%	50%	24%	10%
18	PIT	377	7%	11%	54%	19%	10%
19	GB	374	11%	20%	40%	14%	17%
20	BUF	367	7%	11%	61%	11%	9%
21	HOU	365	7%	19%	45%	19%	10%
22	OAK	360	11%	16%	44%	20%	9%
23	JAC	355	9%	5%	76%	4%	7%
24	DET	353	14%	18%	33%	17%	18%
25	SEA	349	9%	15%	43%	22%	11%
26	TB	343	9%	11%	59%	16%	6%
27	IND	338	13%	19%	35%	16%	17%
28	WAS	338	18%	17%	38%	14%	14%
29	ARI	330	14%	14%	38%	22%	12%
30	SF	329	5%	7%	71%	12%	6%
31	CHI	327	11%	12%	54%	12%	11%
32	PHI	301	14%	13%	46%	10%	17%
x	NFL	x	11%	13%	50%	15%	11%