luckadjusted

Week 11 2021 · November 21, 2021

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

Lions at Browns, Week 11 2021: who deserved to win?

The Browns beat the Lions 13–10 and were the better team on the day: replayed with the same form, they win 7 of 10. The Lions had the bounces: kicks alone were worth 5.3 points to the Lions.

Before kickoff the Browns were 83% favorites. The biggest swing (Q3, 2:04 left): the Lions converted 3rd & 8, worth 13 points of win probability to the Lions.

Final

Detroit Lions 10
Cleveland Browns 13

November 21, 2021 · FirstEnergy Stadium · Closing line: Browns −13

Luck index +30 Browns lucky · −30 Lions

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. Lions win 3, Browns win 7.

  1. 1 DET 34 CLE 17
  2. 2 DET 27 CLE 19
  3. 3 DET 23 CLE 20
  4. 4 DET 23 CLE 25
  5. 5 DET 7 CLE 12
  6. 6 DET 21 CLE 30
  7. 7 DET 13 CLE 26
  8. 8 DET 13 CLE 30
  9. 9 DET 10 CLE 30
  10. 10 DET 10 CLE 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

Lions win 30% of them, Browns 70%, counting the 4% still level after regulation as half each. The line is what actually happened: Browns by 3.

Show as a table
Final margin in the replaysShare of replays
Lions by 17+4.4%
Lions by 9–168.6%
Lions by 1–814.8%
Level after regulation3.7%
Browns by 1–824.6%
Browns by 9–1620.8%
Browns by 17+23.0%

Where the luck was

Take the luck out

The final margin was Browns by 3. Remove the luck, one kind at a time, and it becomes Lions by 1.5.

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.

  • C. McLaughlin, 46 yds missed · 78% expected
  • A. Rosas, 43 yds made · 81% expected
  • Extra point missed · 93% expected
Bar: expected chance of a make. Filled dot: made. Open dot: missed or blocked.

When it happened

Browns’ chance of winning

As low as 38% and as high as 100%. 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 Browns were ahead in it, below while the Lions were.
#WhenWhat happenedWin probability forNext drive
1 Q1 4:54 The Lions were stopped on 3rd & 133rd & 4th downs · 22% expected +12% CLE DET: Punt
2 Q2 13:57 The Browns fumbled and recovered it themselvesFumble bounces · loose balls are close to 50/50 +6% CLE CLE: Missed field goal
3 Q2 10:13 C. McLaughlin missed 46-yard field goalKicks · 78% expected for him, 12 of 17 from 45+ before +6% DET CLE: Touchdown
4 Q2 6:44 The Browns converted 3rd & 133rd & 4th downs · 23% expected +8% CLE CLE: Touchdown
5 Q3 2:04 The Lions converted 3rd & 83rd & 4th downs · 30% expected +13% DET DET: Touchdown
6 Q3 0:35 Unsportsmanlike Conduct on the Lions, 15 yardsJudgment calls +6% CLE CLE: Turnover
7 Q4 12:54 Offensive Holding on the Browns (Harrison Bryant), 7 yards, wiping out the playJudgment calls · 2 flags in 1149 snaps before, position avg 1 per 269 +6% DET DET: Field goal
8 Q4 11:09 The Browns were stopped on 3rd & 103rd & 4th downs · 27% expected +6% DET CLE: 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.

  • Jack Conklin (CLE T), out (IR) · 0.9 pts
  • Donovan Peoples-Jones (CLE WR), out · 0.6 pts
  • Troy Hill (CLE CB), out · 0.4 pts
  • Jared Goff (DET QB), out, replaced by t.boyle · 4.4 pts
  • Frank Ragnow (DET C), out (IR) · 0.8 pts
  • Matt Nelson (DET T), out · 0.6 pts
  • Quintez Cephus (DET WR), out (IR) · 0.4 pts
  • Romeo Okwara (DET LB), out (IR) · 0.3 pts
  • Trey Flowers (DET LB), out · 0.3 pts
  • Austin Seibert (DET K), out (IR) · 0.2 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

Lions 30% · Browns 70%

Final margin
Browns by 3
Luck in points
4.5 for the Browns
Luck-adjusted margin
Lions by 1.5
Replay with same day's form
Lions 30% · Browns 70% 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 11 2021 games · Lions · Browns

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