luckadjusted

Week 10 2020 · November 15, 2020

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

Eagles at Giants, Week 10 2020: who deserved to win?

The Giants beat the Eagles 27–17, and it was no fluke: replayed with the way both teams actually played, the Giants win 8 of 10. The Eagles had the bounces: judgment calls alone were worth 20 points of win probability to the Eagles.

An off day for the Eagles: their defense played far below its usual level. In a fresh game against the Giants they would win 57% of the time; with this day’s form, 16%. The numbers

Before kickoff the Eagles were 63% favorites. The biggest swing (Q4, 9:02 left): Offensive Holding on the Giants, 10 yards, wiping out the play, worth 11 points of win probability to the Eagles.

Final

Philadelphia Eagles 17
New York Giants 27

November 15, 2020 · MetLife Stadium · Closing line: Eagles −4.5

Luck index +16 Giants about even · −16 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. Eagles win 2, Giants win 8.

  1. 1 PHI 32 NYG 17
  2. 2 PHI 25 NYG 21
  3. 3 PHI 14 NYG 17
  4. 4 PHI 20 NYG 25
  5. 5 PHI 0 NYG 8
  6. 6 PHI 13 NYG 24
  7. 7 PHI 16 NYG 31
  8. 8 PHI 14 NYG 33
  9. 9 PHI 3 NYG 26
  10. 10 PHI 10 NYG 41

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.

An off day for the Eagles

Their defense played far below its usual level. In a fresh game against the Giants they would win 57% of the time; with this day’s form, 16%.

41 points apart for the Eagles: the gap is how differently this game went from what the two teams usually are.

UnitThis gameUsual levelBetter or worse than usual
Eagles offenseEPA per play gained +0.12 +0.06 better by 0.06
Eagles defenseEPA per play allowed +0.21 +0.10 worse by 0.11
Giants offenseEPA per play gained +0.21 +0.07 better by 0.14
Giants defenseEPA per play allowed +0.12 +0.15 better by 0.03

EPA (expected points added) per play on competitive snaps, turnovers left out because they are valued as luck. Usual level: the team’s earlier games this season plus half of last season, pulled toward the league average. One team’s defense and the other team’s offense are the same snaps, so one game can’t fully say whose day it was; it shows how far this one was from both teams’ norms.

How 4,000 replays ended

Eagles win 16% of them, Giants 84%, counting the 2% still level after regulation as half each. The line is what actually happened: Giants by 10.

Show as a table
Final margin in the replaysShare of replays
Eagles by 17+1.6%
Eagles by 9–164.0%
Eagles by 1–89.7%
Level after regulation1.7%
Giants by 1–819.2%
Giants by 9–1624.7%
Giants by 17+39.3%

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 +5.9 points to the Eagles: the final margin was Giants by 10, without the luck Giants by 15.9. 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. Elliott, 40 yds made · 83% expected
  • G. Gano, 35 yds made · 91% expected
  • G. Gano, 44 yds made · 77% expected
Bar: expected chance of a make. Filled dot: made. Open dot: missed or blocked.

Penalties: Eagles 11 for 74 yards, Giants 7 for 64 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 toward luck, pre-snap fouls mostly don’t. How calls are valued

WhenFlagWin probability for
Q1 11:55 Encroachment on the Eagles (Malik Jackson), 5 yards · pre-snap +8% NYG +0.8 pts
Q1 8:54 False Start on the Eagles (Jalen Reagor), 5 yards · pre-snap +1% NYG +0.6 pts
Q1 2:52 Neutral Zone Infraction on the Eagles, 5 yards · pre-snap 0% NYG +0.5 pts
Q2 14:57 Offensive Holding on the Eagles (Corey Clement), 9 yards +1% NYG +0.7 pts
Q2 11:58 Delay of Game on the Eagles, 5 yards · pre-snap +1% NYG +0.5 pts
Q2 9:58 Offensive Holding on the Eagles, 5 yards +2% NYG +1.0 pts
Q2 7:07 Encroachment on the Giants (B.J. Hill), 5 yards · pre-snap +1% PHI +0.8 pts
Q2 7:05 Defensive Pass Interference on the Giants (Darnay Holmes), 14 yards +4% PHI +1.6 pts
Q2 1:17 Delay of Game on the Giants, 5 yards · pre-snap +1% PHI +0.6 pts
Q2 0:57 False Start on the Eagles (Travis Fulgham), 5 yards · pre-snap +2% NYG +0.3 pts
Q2 0:16 Offensive Holding on the Giants (Dion Lewis), 10 yards +3% PHI +1.8 pts
Q3 15:00 Illegal Block Above the Waist on the Eagles (Shaun Bradley), 10 yards +1% NYG +1.0 pts
Q3 2:57 Delay of Game on the Giants, 5 yards · pre-snap +4% PHI +1.0 pts
Q4 11:02 Defensive Holding on the Eagles, 5 yards +2% NYG +0.6 pts
Q4 9:28 Illegal Use of Hands on the Eagles, 5 yards, wiping out the play +3% PHI +0.5 pts
Q4 9:02 Offensive Holding on the Giants, 10 yards, wiping out the play +11% PHI +3.2 pts
Q4 6:13 Roughing the Passer on the Giants (Leonard Williams), 15 yards +5% PHI +1.4 pts
Q4 1:11 Unnecessary Roughness on the Eagles (Malik Jackson), 15 yards 0% NYG +1.6 pts

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

When it happened

Giants’ 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 Giants were ahead in it, below while the Eagles were.
#WhenWhat happenedWin probability forNext drive
1 Q1 11:55 The Giants converted 3rd & 33rd & 4th downs · 55% expectedEncroachment on the Eagles (Malik Jackson), 5 yardsPre-snap flags · 3 flags in 335 snaps before, position avg 1 per 262 +10% NYG NYG: Touchdown
2 Q1 9:23 The Eagles converted 4th & 13rd & 4th downs · 76% expected +5% PHI PHI: Field goal
3 Q2 15:00 The Giants converted 4th & 13rd & 4th downs · 69% expected +7% NYG NYG: Touchdown
4 Q4 14:18 The Giants were stopped on 3rd & 43rd & 4th downs · 49% expected +7% PHI NYG: Punt
5 Q4 12:40 The Eagles fumbled and recovered it themselvesFumble bounces · loose balls are close to 50/50 +10% PHI PHI: Punt
6 Q4 9:02 Offensive Holding on the Giants, 10 yards, wiping out the playJudgment calls +11% PHI PHI: Turnover on downs
7 Q4 4:56 The Eagles were stopped on 4th & 103rd & 4th downs · 30% expected +7% NYG PHI: Turnover on downs
8 Q4 3:11 G. Gano made 44-yard field goalKicks · 77% expected for him +5% NYG NYG: End of game

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.

  • Ryan Lewis (NYG DB), out (IR) · 0.4 pts
  • Ryan Lewis (NYG CB), out (IR) · 0.4 pts
  • Devonta Freeman (NYG RB), out (IR) · 0.3 pts
  • Lorenzo Carter (NYG LB), out (IR) · 0.3 pts
  • Adrian Colbert (NYG DB), out (IR) · 0.2 pts
  • Tae Crowder (NYG LB), out (IR) · 0.2 pts
  • Zach Ertz (PHI TE), out (IR) · 1.1 pts
  • DeSean Jackson (PHI WR), out (IR) · 0.5 pts
  • Nathan Gerry (PHI DB), out (IR) · 0.5 pts
  • Nathan Gerry (PHI LB), out (IR) · 0.3 pts
  • Isaac Seumalo (PHI OL), 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

Eagles 1% · Giants 99%

Final margin
Giants by 10
Luck in points
5.9 for the Eagles
Luck-adjusted margin
Giants by 15.9
Replay with same day's form
Eagles 16% · Giants 84% 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 10 2020 games · Eagles · Giants

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