luckadjusted

Week 1 2021 · September 12, 2021

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

Jets at Panthers, Week 1 2021: who deserved to win?

The Panthers beat the Jets 19–14, and it was no fluke: replayed with the way both teams actually played, the Panthers win 9 of 10. The Jets had the bounces: judgment calls alone were worth 4.8 points to the Jets.

Before kickoff the Panthers were 60% favorites. The biggest swing (Q2, 11:33 left): the Panthers were stopped on 4th & 1, worth 14 points of win probability to the Jets.

Final

New York Jets 14
Carolina Panthers 19

September 12, 2021 · Bank of America Stadium · Closing line: Panthers −3.5

Luck index +7 Panthers about even · −7 Jets

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. Jets win 1, Panthers win 9.

  1. 1 NYJ 21 CAR 16
  2. 2 NYJ 31 CAR 33
  3. 3 NYJ 27 CAR 33
  4. 4 NYJ 13 CAR 22
  5. 5 NYJ 10 CAR 22
  6. 6 NYJ 20 CAR 34
  7. 7 NYJ 20 CAR 37
  8. 8 NYJ 10 CAR 31
  9. 9 NYJ 13 CAR 39
  10. 10 NYJ 3 CAR 37

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

Jets win 7% of them, Panthers 93%, counting the 1% still level after regulation as half each. The line is what actually happened: Panthers by 5.

Show as a table
Final margin in the replaysShare of replays
Jets by 17+0.4%
Jets by 9–161.5%
Jets by 1–84.6%
Level after regulation1.0%
Panthers by 1–814.0%
Panthers by 9–1619.5%
Panthers by 17+59.0%

Where the luck was

Take the luck out

The final margin was Panthers by 5. Remove the luck, one kind at a time, and it becomes Panthers by 14.9.

Each row takes one kind of luck out of the margin. Color shows which team it helped. Luck shares are the fitted ones (how much of each component is luck).

The kicks

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

  • R. Santoso, 22 yds made · 99% expected
  • R. Santoso, 29 yds made · 97% expected
  • Extra point missed · 93% expected
Bar: expected chance of a make. Filled dot: made. Open dot: missed or blocked.

When it happened

Panthers’ chance of winning

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 Panthers were ahead in it, below while the Jets were.
#WhenWhat happenedWin probability forNext drive
1 Q1 10:16 Offensive Holding on the Panthers, 10 yards, wiping out the playJudgment calls +8% NYJ NYJ: Punt
2 Q2 11:33 The Panthers were stopped on 4th & 13rd & 4th downs · 68% expectedThe Panthers fumbled and the Jets recoveredFumble bounces · loose balls are close to 50/50 +14% NYJ CAR: Field goal
3 Q2 5:52 The Jets fumbled and recovered it themselvesFumble bounces · loose balls are close to 50/50 +8% NYJ NYJ: Turnover on downs
4 Q2 4:23 The Jets were stopped on 3rd & 13rd & 4th downs · 71% expected +4% CAR NYJ: Turnover on downs
5 Q2 4:18 The Jets were stopped on 4th & 13rd & 4th downs · 71% expected +13% CAR NYJ: Punt
6 Q2 3:21 The Jets were stopped on 3rd & 23rd & 4th downs · 57% expected +4% CAR NYJ: Punt
7 Q4 4:23 Illegal Formation on the Jets, 5 yards, wiping out the playPre-snap flags +5% CAR CAR: End of game
8 Q4 2:00 The Jets converted 3rd & 83rd & 4th downs · 22% expected +5% NYJ NYJ: Touchdown

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.

  • John Miller (CAR G), out (IR) · 0.4 pts
  • Jamison Crowder (NYJ WR), out (IR) · 0.5 pts
  • Alex Lewis (NYJ OL), out (IR) · 0.3 pts
  • Ashtyn Davis (NYJ 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

Jets 0% · Panthers 100%

Final margin
Panthers by 5
Luck in points
9.9 for the Jets
Luck-adjusted margin
Panthers by 14.9
Replay with same day's form
Jets 7% · Panthers 93% unchanged: why
How much of each is luck?

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

What counts

We tested momentum on 19,000 lucky breaks and found none, so it's off by default. 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 1 2021 games · Jets · Panthers

More from Week 1 2021