A data analyst crunched the numbers for games dating back to 2000.
1. Warren Sharp at Sharp Football Analysis spent a generous amount of time digging into the the Patriots’ records of fumbles and ball security.
He analyzed each team in the league, then plotted them in a chart.
The results are, to say the least, interesting:
The orange line shows the average number of plays teams run between fumbles: The Eagles anchor the league with one fumble every 76 plays, the Patriots lead with one fumble every 187 plays. Their nearest competitor, the Houston Texans, fumble once every 140 plays.
The blue plots show the total number of fumbles made by each team since 2010. The Broncos have fumbled the most, with 73 offensive fumbles, and the Eagles trail behind with 72. The Patriots again anchor the other end of the spectrum, with a total of 33 offensive fumbles since 2010. The Texans are once again just behind the Patriots, with 40 total offensive fumbles in that time.
3. Sharp also analyzed when the Patriots began to record such low rates of offensive fumbles:
Warren cross-referenced these numbers with data he culled yesterday about how the Patriots perform in inclement weather:
“The Patriots went 14-1 (93%) in Tom Brady’s home games played in wet weather since 2007.”
4. The Patriots are currently being investigated for using footballs that were inflated well below the league mandate.
Read more: http://www.buzzfeed.com/lindseyadler/data-shows-the-patriots-have-fumbled-the-ball-far-less-than
