Unwanted Lists in Sports

In the world of sports, there are certainly some lists a player or team would prefer not to be on.

Consider the Los Angeles Chargers. Following their defeat against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, the Chargers are now sitting at 0-2 for the season. Sure, many teams begin their season with an 0-2 record, and some even find their way to the playoffs. For instance, the Houston Texans, the Chicago Bears, and the Carolina Panthers all started 0-2 last year yet made it to the postseason.

But the Chargers, they find themselves on a rather limited list. Both of their losses occurred at home, against teams that ended the previous season with a winning percentage below .200. The only other team to match this peculiar feat is the 1926 Racine Tornadoes.

Interestingly, that Tornadoes team folded a few weeks later.

While we don’t expect the Chargers to call it quits anytime soon, their upcoming schedule does not look promising, potentially leading to further setbacks.

On another note, let’s take a look at the Atlanta Falcons’ offense after two weeks in the season. According to NFL analyst Aaron Schatz from FTN Fantasy, the Falcons are struggling historically.

Through their first two games, they have one of the worst passing games ever evaluated, in terms of Defense-adjusted Value Over Average (DVOA), dating all the way back to 1977.

Currently, the Falcons hold the fifth-worst DVOA rating for their passing offense. Their DVOA stands at about -89.2%, surpassing only a few teams like the 2002 Texans and the 1978 Buccaneers.

Aaron Schatz points out that although the Falcons’ defense has performed reasonably well, their passing attack has been abysmal. They’ve relied on third-string quarterback Cooper Rush and fourth-string quarterback Jack Strand, resulting in this dreadful ranking.

Notably, the 2002 Texans, the 1984 Rams, and the 1979 Oilers managed to win games despite such poor passing statistics. That Texans team, however, ended up with a final record of 4-12.

In contrast, the other two—the Rams and the Oilers—actually made it to the playoffs! The Rams wrapped up second in the NFC West and secured a playoff berth, although they were eliminated by the New York Giants in the Wild Card round.

And then there were the 1979 Oilers, affectionately called the “Luv Ya Blue!” team, clinching the AFC Central title with an 11-5 record, making it to the AFC Championship Game before losing to the Steelers.

This serves as a reminder that it’s been quite a while since a Houston-based NFL team reached the AFC Championship Game. Sure, the franchise transitioned to Tennessee, becoming the Titans, and made it to Super Bowl XXXIV, and more recently lost to the Chiefs in the 2019-2020 AFC Championship Game.

So, there might still be a glimmer of hope for the Falcons, despite their alarming struggles with the passing game this season.

However, DVOA isn’t the only indicator of Atlanta’s offensive issues. We can also look at more nuanced statistics like Adjusted Net Yards per Attempt (ANY/A). The league average for ANY/A is currently 6.4. For comparison, Geno Smith sits at 6.6, while Joe Burrow hovers around 6.1.

Then we have Rush, who has a staggering ANY/A of just 0.9, placing him at the bottom of the list among 32 qualified passers. In fact, when including non-qualifying players, he falls to 37th, just ahead of Strand, who only registers 0.1.

Now, these figures may not mirror the lows I experienced in my college days, but they certainly aren’t impressive.

Another look at Quarterback Efficiency, as evaluated by RBSDM, considers both Expected Points Added per Play and Completion Percentage Over Expected.

Now, some context is essential here. The awful passing numbers have arisen with the likes of third-string quarterback Rush and fourth-string quarterback Strand at the helm. Initially, Tua Tagovailoa was set to lead the team. Still, after suffering a back injury right before Week 1, it forced him out and ushered Rush into play.

Ultimately, the underwhelming performances led Kevin Stefanski to turn to Strand.

Neither quarterback has fared well at all, and one might wonder if Penix could inject some life into the situation.

It’s hard to imagine he could do much worse.