luckadjusted
NFL Week 9 · 2026

Week 17 2020 · January 3, 2021

No FTN charting for this game (drops and interception-worthy throws are not modelled).

Washington at Eagles, Week 17 2020: who deserved to win?

Washington beat the Eagles 20–14, and the replays lean its way: with the same day's form, it wins 6 of 10.

Before kickoff Washington was a 68% favorite. The biggest swing (Q3, 2:01 left): the Eagles were stopped on 4th & 4, worth 12 points of win probability to the Washington.

Final

Washington Football Team 20
Philadelphia Eagles 14

January 3, 2021 · Lincoln Financial Field · Closing line: Washington −6.5

Luck index +38 Washington lucky · −38 Eagles

Each team’s own plays from this game, resampled into new drives 4,000 times: with the way both teams actually played, how often does this performance win? How the replay works

Ten replays. Washington wins 6, Eagles win 4.

  1. 1 WAS 47 PHI 24
  2. 2 WAS 19 PHI 3
  3. 3 WAS 32 PHI 20
  4. 4 WAS 17 PHI 10
  5. 5 WAS 21 PHI 17
  6. 6 WAS 9 PHI 7
  7. 7 WAS 17 PHI 19
  8. 8 WAS 6 PHI 13
  9. 9 WAS 9 PHI 19
  10. 10 WAS 10 PHI 30

Three other ways to ask

Each answers a different question, so none of them replaces the replay above.

The closing betting line, turned into a probability. What everyone knew before the game.

The line plus what this game showed, weighted by how much one game can tell. It stays close to the line because one game says little.

Every kick, fumble bounce, drop, conversion and judgment call redrawn; everything else fixed. The narrowest view of luck.

How 4,000 replays ended

Washington wins 62% of them, Eagles 38%, counting the 4% still level after regulation as half each. The line is what actually happened: Washington by 6.

Show as a table
Final margin in the replaysShare of replays
Washington by 17+14.2%
Washington by 9–1618.2%
Washington by 1–826.9%
Level after regulation3.6%
Eagles by 1–818.9%
Eagles by 9–1612.3%
Eagles by 17+5.8%

Where the luck was

What the luck was worth

Every lucky and unlucky play, weighted by the moment it happened: its swing in win probability, added up by kind. A missed kick in a decided game counts for nothing; the same kick at the end of a tie game can be most of a win.

Swings add up across a game, so in one that went back and forth they can pass 100%. On the scoreboard the same luck was worth +9.8 points to Washington: the final margin was Washington by 6, without the luck Eagles by 3.8. Luck shares are the fitted ones (how much of each kind is luck).

The kicks

How likely each kicker was to make that kick (his own record, the distance and the weather), and what happened.

  • D. Hopkins, 42 yds made · 81% expected
  • D. Hopkins, 42 yds made · 81% expected
Bar: expected chance of a make. Filled dot: made. Open dot: missed or blocked.

Penalties: Washington 5 for 56 yards, Eagles 6 for 41 yards

Every accepted flag, in order, and what it did to the helped team’s chance of winning at that moment, including any play it wiped out (points on the scoreboard in grey). A flag in a decided game is worth nothing; one at the turn of a close game can be worth most of a win. Judgment calls count half toward luck; pre-snap fouls, which repeat, don’t count. How calls are valued

WhenFlagWin probability for
Q1 14:55 Unnecessary Roughness on Washington (Cole Holcomb), 15 yards +4% PHI +1.8 pts
Q1 5:57 Encroachment on the Eagles, 5 yards · pre-snap +1% WAS +0.8 pts
Q1 2:02 Defensive Holding on Washington (Kamren Curl), 5 yards 0% PHI +0.3 pts
Q1 0:33 Defensive Pass Interference on Washington (Kendall Fuller), 21 yards +5% PHI +2.5 pts
Q2 12:02 Defensive Holding on Washington (Cole Holcomb), 5 yards, wiping out the play +4% PHI +2.0 pts
Q2 2:02 Offensive Holding on the Eagles, 10 yards +3% WAS +0.9 pts
Q2 0:41 Neutral Zone Infraction on the Eagles (Javon Hargrave), 5 yards · pre-snap +5% WAS +0.6 pts
Q3 5:07 Delay of Game on the Eagles, 5 yards · pre-snap +4% WAS +1.0 pts
Q4 12:47 Offensive Holding on the Eagles (Caleb Wilson), 10 yards +3% WAS +0.9 pts
Q4 9:34 Offensive Holding on Washington, 10 yards +3% PHI +1.3 pts
Q4 2:00 Neutral Zone Infraction on the Eagles, 6 yards · pre-snap +2% WAS +2.1 pts

Washington penalties, every game · Eagles penalties, every game · All teams, 2020

When it happened

Eagles’ chance of winning

As low as 0% and as high as 71%. Numbers mark the biggest luck moments, listed below.

nflfastR’s in-game win probability. It ignores the betting line, so it starts near even. Shaded above the middle while the Eagles were ahead in it, below while Washington was.
#WhenWhat happenedWin probability forNext drive
1 Q1 9:32 Washington converted 3rd & 83rd & 4th downs · 28% expected +6% WAS WAS: Touchdown
2 Q2 4:47 The Eagles converted 3rd & 73rd & 4th downs · 32% expected +8% PHI PHI: Touchdown
3 Q2 1:15 Washington converted 3rd & 63rd & 4th downs · 34% expected +9% WAS WAS: Touchdown
4 Q3 2:01 The Eagles were stopped on 4th & 43rd & 4th downs · 36% expected +12% WAS PHI: Turnover
5 Q4 12:53 Washington was stopped on 3rd & 43rd & 4th downs · 43% expected +7% PHI WAS: Punt
6 Q4 9:42 The Eagles fumbled and Washington recoveredFumble bounces · loose balls are close to 50/50 +12% WAS PHI: Punt
7 Q4 4:38 Washington fumbled and recovered itFumble bounces · loose balls are close to 50/50 +10% WAS WAS: Punt
8 Q4 3:38 Washington fumbled and recovered itFumble bounces · loose balls are close to 50/50 +7% WAS WAS: Punt

Missing players

Key players (usually on the field for half the snaps or more) who missed this game or part of it, valued by position and quality. The same players are missing in every replay, so this counts as luck in points only.

  • Dallas Goedert (PHI TE), out · 1.0 pts
  • Lane Johnson (PHI T), out (IR) · 0.9 pts
  • Jordan Mailata (PHI T), out · 0.8 pts
  • Fletcher Cox (PHI DT), out · 0.7 pts
  • Jason Peters (PHI T), out (IR) · 0.6 pts
  • Rodney McLeod (PHI S), out (IR) · 0.4 pts
  • Avonte Maddox (PHI CB), out (IR) · 0.4 pts
  • Jalen Mills (PHI S), out (IR) · 0.4 pts
  • Miles Sanders (PHI RB), out · 0.3 pts
  • Derek Barnett (PHI DE), out · 0.3 pts
  • Kevon Seymour (PHI CB), out (IR) · 0.3 pts
  • Duke Riley (PHI LB), out (IR) · 0.1 pts
  • Deshazor Everett (WAS S), out (IR) · 0.3 pts

Adjust the assumptions

Disagree with how much of a fumble bounce or a pass interference call is luck? Change it and the coin-flip replay reruns in your browser.

Only coin-flips re-rolled

Washington 56% · Eagles 44%

Final margin
Washington by 6
Luck in points
9.8 for the Washington
Luck-adjusted margin
Eagles by 3.8
Replay with same day's form
Washington 62% · Eagles 38% unchanged: why
How much of each is luck?

0% treats it as skill, 100% as pure luck. The tick is our fit.

What counts

None by default: our tests measured no carryover after a lucky break. Slide it up to count a break for more than its own swing. Why

Flip a play

Force the other outcome, in this game and in every replay: a made kick becomes a miss, a stop becomes a conversion, a flag goes the other way.

About these numbers

Play-by-play and win probability from nflfastR via nflverse; kicks valued against each kicker’s own record; drops and interception-worthy throws from FTN charting (not available for this game); injuries from snap counts and injury reports. No FTN charting for this game (drops and interception-worthy throws are not modelled).

Methodology and validation · All Week 17 2020 games · Washington · Eagles

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