Pythagenpat History, 1960-2016

by Chase Stuart on June 23, 2017

Yesterday, I looked at Pythagenpat records in 2016. Today, let’s look at the Pythagenpat records for each team since 1960. ^[1]Note that since today’s dataset covers a much longer period, I used 0.255 as the best-fit exponent to determine what exponent used for each team. More explanation available here. The table below shows the following information for all 1,613 teams since 1960:

The top team by Pythagenpat winning percentage was the 1962 Green Bay Packers, who scored 415 points and allowed just 148 points. That translated to a 0.929 winning percentage, and an even better 0.934 Pythagenpat Winning Percentage. The Packers therefore “underachieved” by 0.005, which ranks as the 851st best difference since 1960. The team’s main passer (by attempts) and coach (by games) were Starr and Lombardi, of course.

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Rk	Fran	Team	Year	PF	PA	Win %	Pyth WP	Diff	Diff Rk	Main Passer	Main Coach
1	gnb	GNB	1962	415	148	0.929	0.934	-0.005	851	Bart Starr	Vince Lombardi
2	min	MIN	1969	379	133	0.857	0.932	-0.075	1353	Joe Kapp	Bud Grant
3	clt	BAL	1968	402	144	0.929	0.932	-0.003	835	Earl Morrall	Don Shula
4	pit	PIT	1976	342	138	0.714	0.903	-0.189	1604	Terry Bradshaw	Chuck Noll
5	dal	DAL	1968	431	186	0.857	0.901	-0.044	1150	Don Meredith	Tom Landry
6	chi	CHI	1985	456	198	0.938	0.896	0.042	501	Jim McMahon	Mike Ditka
7	nwe	NWE	2007	589	274	1.000	0.892	0.108	138	Tom Brady	Bill Belichick
8	pit	PIT	1975	373	162	0.857	0.892	-0.035	1077	Terry Bradshaw	Chuck Noll
9	min	MIN	1970	335	143	0.857	0.890	-0.033	1071	Gary Cuozzo	Bud Grant
10	ram	STL	1999	526	242	0.813	0.889	-0.077	1360	Kurt Warner	Dick Vermeil
11	oti	HOU	1961	513	242	0.750	0.889	-0.139	1543	George Blanda	Wally Lemm
12	mia	MIA	1972	385	171	1.000	0.888	0.112	126	Earl Morrall	Don Shula
13	mia	MIA	1973	343	150	0.857	0.886	-0.029	1045	Bob Griese	Don Shula
14	was	WAS	1991	485	224	0.875	0.884	-0.009	888	Mark Rypien	Joe Gibbs
15	ram	RAM	1975	312	135	0.857	0.884	-0.026	1022	James Harris	Chuck Knox
16	gnb	GNB	1996	456	210	0.813	0.881	-0.069	1311	Brett Favre	Mike Holmgren
17	ram	RAM	1973	388	178	0.857	0.881	-0.024	1006	John Hadl	Chuck Knox
18	kan	KAN	1968	371	170	0.857	0.879	-0.022	986	Len Dawson	Hank Stram
19	clt	BAL	1971	313	140	0.714	0.876	-0.161	1584	Johnny Unitas	Don McCafferty
20	sfo	SFO	1984	475	227	0.938	0.874	0.064	340	Joe Montana	Bill Walsh

Showing 1 to 20 of 1,613 entries

The biggest overachieving or clutch team of all time? The ’92 Colts with those memorable leaders, George and Marchibroda. The unluckest team of all time, of course, is the Patriots. New England never gets any luck, particularly in 1981. That team went 10-6 in 1980 and even that was underachieving; the bottom fell out the next year, as the Patriots plunged to a 2-14 record despite a modest Pythagenpat winning percentage.

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References[+]

References
↑1	Note that since today’s dataset covers a much longer period, I used 0.255 as the best-fit exponent to determine what exponent used for each team. More explanation available here.

Tagged as: Pythagenpat Wins

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