Statistics might be the best factual information out there. You can manipulate them nearly any way you want. You can analyze them for days if you'd like. You can create equations, charts, and graphs with them. You can base entire reports, studies, or, in this case, articles on them. The sky is the limit when dealing with statistics.
Statistics can be formed many ways. They can be decimals, percentages, or fractions. They can be counting numbers, whole numbers, or integers. Let's put it like this, if there is a way to write a digit, then there statistics using that way.
In the NFL, statistics are formed mainly from decimals, percentages, whole numbers, and integers. The passer rating system uses decimals. The quarterback completion percentage obviously uses percentages. Pass completions, pass attempts, rush attempts, receptions, catches, etc. all use whole numbers (numbers that start with 0 and go up from there). Passing, rushing, and receiving yards also use whole numbers, but could use integers (negative as well as positive numbers).
Now that I've set you up with all that info on statistics, I'm going to use none of it. (Yea, I know, you're all confused as hell right now. Hang in there though.) I'm going to be talking about ordinal numbers. You know, numbers like first, second, third, fourth, etc. These numbers are the most important numbers in the sports world. Don't believe me? At the end of the day, where do you want your team to be? I would hope the answer is first. It doesn't matter to you that your quarterback has a crappy passer rating, or that your running back didn't reach 1,000 yards. As long as you can say your team was first, nothing else matters.
While first is the most important ordinal number in sports, this past week in the NFL the number 'second' certainly popped up a lot. There were two pretty big firsts, though, one being the undefeated Green Bay Packers were defeated and the other being the winless Indianapolis Colts won. Week 15 was also the first time four teams score 40 or more points. But seconds still reigned supreme.
Let's start off with the what could have been but wasn't since I already brought that up. If the Packers won the rest of their regular seasons games and then went on to win the Super Bowl, then they would have been the second team to go undefeated since the 1972 Miami Dolphins team. If the Colts lost the rest of their regular season games, then they would have been the second team to go winless since the 2008 Detroit Lions. Two big seconds no more after Week 15.
The San Francisco 49ers have become the second team to go 15 straight weeks without allowing a rushing score. The Chicago Bears did it in 1985. I'm sure there are more seconds like this one, but they are probably more obscure and not nearly as big as that.
Moving on to the wins and losses portion of the seconds. Tebow and his Broncos lost for the second time this year to Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. The first lost coming Week 8 against the Lions. In both of those losses the defense surrendered 40 or more points. The Jets were torched by three touchdowns or more for the second time. This time by the Eagles and previously by the Patriots in Week 10. (I don't know whether Jets fans are pissed or depressed.) The Steelers lost for the second time to someone other than the Ravens. The Niners did them in this time with the Texans beating them last in Week 4. While doing so, the Niners held an opponent to just a field goal for the second time this year. The Bucs were their victims the first time back in Week 5. It was also the second time Ben Roethlisberger threw for 330 yards in a losing effort.
As you can see, there were plenty of easy seconds to pickup on.
To conclude, I don't really have a point. I was just fascinated on all the seconds and felt like sharing them with the world. I'm sure Week 15 had plenty more firsts, seconds, thirds, fourths, etc., but I didn't want to dig too deep. When you dig too deep, the statistics start sound stupid and pointless, and people start losing interest. This is why I barely scratched the surfaces in this article. The deepest one I threw in was about the Niners going 15 straight weeks without allowing a rushing TD, but my friends at ESPN helped me out on that (No, I'm not really friends nor am I affiliated with anyone at ESPN. It's just an expression.) I hope you enjoyed all the secondary stats I provided. I just had to point out that deuces were better than aces, at least for one week.
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