Breaking Down the Oakland Raiders' Stats: Wins and Losses

It’s easy to look at the Oakland Raiders’ record and say, Well, of course they’ve lost so many games! They’re terrible! But are they? Or does their record have more to do with the incredibly difficult schedule that comes with being an NFL team? To better understand just how good or bad the Raiders really are, let’s take a closer look at their wins and losses by analyzing key statistics from each game. Here are some things that stood out in this analysis of their wins and losses...

The Win-Loss Record

While many teams will talk about their wins and losses, there’s more to team success than just that. In fact, there are a number of different statistics you can look at when considering if a team has done well or not. For example, consider point differential—the difference between points scored and points allowed throughout an entire season. This could indicate how effective a team is at closing out games or how consistently they can put up points. Or it could mean they were very lucky in one area (or both). A record of 9-7 isn’t necessarily bad for a team, but it might be exactly what we would expect from a .500 team. So while record isn’t everything, it does give us some idea as to what should be expected. And no matter what measure you use, every result is relative.

Big Plays and Field Position

Coaching staffs often say that a game is won or lost in field position. As such, it’s important to note that even though Oakland averages less than 300 yards per game (277.9), they’ve racked up a +0.7 average starting position on offense (via Football Outsiders). It should be noted however, that these numbers are a bit skewed by facing three of the NFL’s worst offenses: Jacksonville, Baltimore, and Kansas City twice each. So while we can’t say for sure that their offensive line has been great at creating big plays, we can definitely say that their defense has done an excellent job of preventing them. In fact, Oakland ranks as one of only four teams with a positive net turnover margin (-1.6) after 11 weeks. The other three? Seattle (+3.2), Arizona (+2.8), and Cincinnati (+2.5). With turnovers being so critical to winning football games, look for Jack Del Rio's club to continue forcing them down the stretch if they want to make a run at January football...

3rd Downs, Red Zone, 4th Quarter

The Oakland Raiders were awful in 2012. The record is proof of that, but when you break down some of their stats, it’s not hard to see why things fell apart in 2012. For example, on third downs, they only converted 36% of their opportunities for a first down or touchdown. That ranked 25th in all of football last season (out of 32 teams). And even worse than that, on third downs in their own territory (inside the 30 yard line), they only converted 8%! That was dead last in all of football. In fact, looking at just how bad they were on third downs compared to other NFL teams shows just how much better off they could be if they can improve those numbers next year. But it wasn't just on 3rd down where they struggled; it was also inside their opponents' 20-yard line where things went south for them as well. They scored touchdowns only 44% of the time from inside an opponent's 20-yard line (27th overall) which is a big reason why so many games came down to 4th quarter shootouts with little defense being played by either team.

Special Teams

The Kicking Game and Punting Attack - In terms of kickoffs, neither team excels or fails. The Chargers have a touchback rate of 56.9%, which is good for 12th in the league, while it’s 55.2% for Oakland. Both teams also feature punters who don’t get many opportunities to punt—Oakland with Shane Lechler (just 45 punts on the season) and San Diego with Mike Scifres (43). Neither are among league leaders in yards per punt, but both are top 10. For field goals, Sebastian Janikowski has been one of Oakland’s few bright spots on offense—he ranks 7th in field goal percentage at 88.5%. Nick Novak has been less impressive for San Diego, kicking at just 79%. Both teams rank near the bottom when it comes to converting extra points—San Diego is 27th and Oakland 28th.