luckadjusted
NFL Week 9 · 2026

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 the replays back it up: with the way both teams actually played, the Panthers win 9 of 10. The Jets had the bounces: fumble bounces alone were worth 12 points of win probability to the Jets.

Before kickoff the Panthers were 60% favorites. The biggest swing (Q2, 4:18 left): the Jets were stopped on 4th & 1, worth 12 points of win probability to the Panthers.

Final

New York Jets 14
Carolina Panthers 19

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

Luck index +6 Panthers about even · −6 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 26 CAR 19
  2. 2 NYJ 30 CAR 33
  3. 3 NYJ 17 CAR 23
  4. 4 NYJ 28 CAR 37
  5. 5 NYJ 28 CAR 41
  6. 6 NYJ 10 CAR 27
  7. 7 NYJ 17 CAR 37
  8. 8 NYJ 13 CAR 36
  9. 9 NYJ 16 CAR 43
  10. 10 NYJ 10 CAR 43

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 6% of them, Panthers 94%, 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 9–161.3%
Jets by 1–84.3%
Level after regulation0.8%
Panthers by 1–810.8%
Panthers by 9–1622.0%
Panthers by 17+60.5%

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 +7.4 points to the Jets: the final margin was Panthers by 5, without the luck Panthers by 12.4. 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.

  • R. Santoso, 22 yds made · 99% expected
  • R. Santoso, 29 yds made · 97% expected
  • Extra point missed · 94% expected
Bar: expected chance of a make. Filled dot: made. Open dot: missed or blocked.

Penalties: Jets 5 for 30 yards, Panthers 6 for 38 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 12:48 False Start on the Jets, 5 yards · pre-snap +3% CAR +0.7 pts
Q1 10:16 Offensive Holding on the Panthers, 10 yards, wiping out the play +8% NYJ +3.1 pts
Q1 8:07 Delay of Game on the Jets, 5 yards · pre-snap +1% CAR +0.4 pts
Q1 8:02 Offensive Holding on the Jets (Daniel Brown), 10 yards +3% CAR +1.1 pts
Q1 1:27 Illegal Formation on the Jets (Tyler Kroft), 5 yards · pre-snap +2% CAR +0.6 pts
Q2 10:11 Illegal Use of Hands on the Panthers (Shaq Thompson), 5 yards +2% NYJ +0.2 pts
Q3 12:41 Defensive Pass Interference on the Panthers (Juston Burris), 8 yards +2% NYJ +2.0 pts
Q3 6:13 False Start on the Panthers, 5 yards · pre-snap 0% NYJ +0.8 pts
Q4 9:36 Delay of Game on the Panthers, 5 yards · pre-snap 0% NYJ +0.3 pts
Q4 4:36 Offensive Too Many Men on Field on the Panthers, 5 yards · pre-snap 0% NYJ +0.4 pts
Q4 4:23 Illegal Formation on the Jets, 5 yards, wiping out the play · pre-snap +5% CAR +2.6 pts

Jets penalties, every game · Panthers penalties, every game · All teams, 2021

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 Q1 0:35 The Panthers converted 3rd & 63rd & 4th downs · 41% expected +4% CAR CAR: Turnover
3 Q2 11:33 The Panthers fumbled and the Jets recoveredFumble bounces · loose balls are close to 50/50 +5% NYJ CAR: Field goal
4 Q2 5:52 The Jets fumbled and recovered it themselvesFumble bounces · loose balls are close to 50/50 +7% NYJ NYJ: Turnover on downs
5 Q2 4:23 The Jets were stopped on 3rd & 13rd & 4th downs · 73% expected +4% CAR NYJ: Turnover on downs
6 Q2 4:18 The Jets were stopped on 4th & 13rd & 4th downs · 73% expected +12% 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 · 23% expected +4% 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
7.4 for the Jets
Luck-adjusted margin
Panthers by 12.4
Replay with same day's form
Jets 6% · Panthers 94% 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 1 2021 games · Jets · Panthers

More from Week 1 2021