Eagles vs Patriots

Our Power Stat which measures the balance between offense and defense is the key stat in determining how many games a team wins. Closely related to Power is Winning Margin. It's an easy stat to compute -- simply subtract points allowed on defense from points scored on offense.

In the NFC this season Coach Andy Reid's Philadelphia Eagles were head and shoulders over the competition earning 7.9 points per game more than their D allowed.

The average team is typified by the St. Louis Rams winning 8 games but allowing -4.6 points more on D than their pass oriented offense earned. They backed into the playoffs when their wild card competition (Seattle, 9 wins) lucked out.

The weakest team in the NFC was the San Francisco 49ers allowing -12.1 points per game more on D than their offense earned. They won only 2 games. The great gap between the '9ers and the rest of the league led to the departure of both General Manager and Coach.

In the AFC the Patriots lead earning 11.1 points PPG more on offense than their D gave up and winning 14 games. As the stat graphic pictures the AFC was a more competitive Conference with the Steelers, Colts and Chargers all battling for the title.

The Steelers won 15 on "Bus" Bettis' heavy running game (18 rushes for each 10 pass attempts, a 20-year hi on this key run/pass rushing stat). And rookie QB Roethlisberger's super efficient pass offense. They finished the season averaging 7.6 points per game more on offense than D allowed.

The Colts, led by MVP QB Manning earned 10.7 PPG and won 12 and the Chargers won 12 games with 8.3 PPG more on offense.

The Cleveland Browns and Miami Dolphins won 4 games each allowing -5.9 PPG and -4.9 PPG more than their offense earned. Both teams have new coaches.

If the only stat used to project a Super Bowl winner is this Winning Margin differential, then the difference between the favored Patriots and Eagles is only 3.2 points.

Bud Goode

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