luckadjusted
NFL Week 9 · 2026

Week 2 2020 · September 20, 2020

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

Ravens at Texans, Week 2 2020: who deserved to win?

The Ravens beat the Texans 33–16, and the replays back it up: with the way both teams actually played, the Ravens win 9 of 10.

Before kickoff the Ravens were 71% favorites. The biggest swing (Q2, 5:26 left): Return touchdown by the Ravens, worth 26 points of win probability to the Ravens.

Final

Baltimore Ravens 33
Houston Texans 16

September 20, 2020 · NRG Stadium · Closing line: Ravens −7.5

Luck index +12 Ravens about even · −12 Texans

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. Ravens win 9, Texans win 1.

  1. 1 BAL 41 HOU 10
  2. 2 BAL 49 HOU 26
  3. 3 BAL 26 HOU 6
  4. 4 BAL 40 HOU 23
  5. 5 BAL 34 HOU 21
  6. 6 BAL 23 HOU 13
  7. 7 BAL 13 HOU 6
  8. 8 BAL 21 HOU 17
  9. 9 BAL 25 HOU 23
  10. 10 BAL 32 HOU 38

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

Ravens win 88% of them, Texans 12%, counting the 2% still level after regulation as half each. The line is what actually happened: Ravens by 17.

Show as a table
Final margin in the replaysShare of replays
Ravens by 17+42.3%
Ravens by 9–1624.6%
Ravens by 1–820.6%
Level after regulation1.6%
Texans by 1–88.1%
Texans by 9–162.1%
Texans by 17+0.7%

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 +2.3 points to the Ravens: the final margin was Ravens by 17, without the luck Ravens by 14.7. 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.

  • J. Tucker, 32 yds made · 97% expected
  • J. Tucker, 39 yds made · 92% expected
  • K. Fairbairn, 44 yds made · 84% expected
  • J. Tucker, 47 yds made · 83% expected
  • K. Fairbairn, 35 yds made · 93% expected
  • K. Fairbairn, 45 yds made · 79% expected
  • J. Tucker, 20 yds made · 100% expected
Bar: expected chance of a make. Filled dot: made. Open dot: missed or blocked.

Penalties: Ravens 3 for 21 yards, Texans 4 for 22 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
Q2 9:01 Neutral Zone Infraction on the Texans (Charles Omenihu), 5 yards · pre-snap +2% BAL +0.6 pts
Q2 0:34 Illegal Contact on the Ravens (Anthony Averett), 5 yards, wiping out the play +1% HOU +1.1 pts
Q3 15:00 Illegal Double-Team Block on the Ravens, 11 yards +2% HOU +1.0 pts
Q3 10:59 Neutral Zone Infraction on the Texans (Carlos Watkins), 5 yards · pre-snap 0% BAL +0.6 pts
Q3 0:50 False Start on the Texans, 5 yards · pre-snap +2% BAL +0.7 pts
Q4 15:00 Defensive Offside on the Ravens (Calais Campbell), 5 yards · pre-snap +1% HOU +0.5 pts
Q4 4:51 Disqualification on the Texans (Ross Blacklock), 7 yards 0% BAL +1.0 pts

Ravens penalties, every game · Texans penalties, every game · All teams, 2020

When it happened

Texans’ chance of winning

As low as 0% and as high as 58%. 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 Texans were ahead in it, below while the Ravens were.
#WhenWhat happenedWin probability forNext drive
1 Q1 6:57 The Ravens converted 3rd & 103rd & 4th downs · 32% expected +7% BAL BAL: Field goal
2 Q1 0:02 The Texans were stopped on 4th & 13rd & 4th downs · 74% expected +10% BAL HOU: Touchdown
3 Q2 7:11 The Ravens converted 3rd & 93rd & 4th downs · 34% expected +5% BAL BAL: Field goal
4 Q2 5:40 The Ravens were stopped on 3rd & 73rd & 4th downs · 39% expected +4% HOU BAL: Field goal
5 Q2 5:26 The Texans fumbled and the Ravens recoveredFumble bounces · loose balls are close to 50/50Return touchdown by the RavensSpecial teams +26% BAL HOU: Turnover
6 Q3 7:14 The Ravens were stopped on 3rd & 63rd & 4th downs · 42% expected +4% HOU BAL: Field goal
7 Q3 6:28 J. Tucker made a 47-yard field goalKicks · 83% expected for him, 9 of 9 from 45+ before +4% BAL BAL: Touchdown
8 Q3 1:28 The Texans converted 3rd & 153rd & 4th downs · 21% expected +6% HOU HOU: Field goal

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.

  • Gareon Conley (HOU CB), out (IR) · 0.5 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

Ravens 100% · Texans 0%

Final margin
Ravens by 17
Luck in points
2.3 for the Ravens
Luck-adjusted margin
Ravens by 14.7
Replay with same day's form
Ravens 88% · Texans 12% 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 2 2020 games · Ravens · Texans

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