luckadjusted

Week 15 2020 · December 19, 2020

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

Panthers at Packers, Week 15 2020: who deserved to win?

The Packers beat the Panthers 24–16, and it was no fluke: replayed with the way both teams actually played, the Packers win 8 of 10.

Before kickoff the Packers were 76% favorites. The biggest swing (Q1, 12:55 left): the Packers converted 3rd & 1, worth 8 points of win probability to the Packers.

Final

Carolina Panthers 16
Green Bay Packers 24

December 19, 2020 · Lambeau Field · Closing line: Packers −9.5

Luck index +19 Packers about even · −19 Panthers

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. Panthers win 2, Packers win 8.

  1. 1 CAR 36 GB 24
  2. 2 CAR 20 GB 17
  3. 3 CAR 26 GB 28
  4. 4 CAR 24 GB 28
  5. 5 CAR 14 GB 22
  6. 6 CAR 23 GB 34
  7. 7 CAR 17 GB 31
  8. 8 CAR 10 GB 29
  9. 9 CAR 10 GB 34
  10. 10 CAR 16 GB 48

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

Panthers win 19% of them, Packers 81%, counting the 2% still level after regulation as half each. The line is what actually happened: Packers by 8.

Show as a table
Final margin in the replaysShare of replays
Panthers by 17+2.1%
Panthers by 9–165.3%
Panthers by 1–810.9%
Level after regulation2.1%
Packers by 1–827.5%
Packers by 9–1621.6%
Packers by 17+30.4%

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 +1.6 points to the Packers: the final margin was Packers by 8, without the luck Packers by 6.4. 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.

  • J. Slye, 36 yds made · 90% expected
  • J. Slye, 22 yds made · 98% expected
  • M. Crosby, 51 yds made · 69% expected
  • J. Slye, 33 yds made · 93% expected
Bar: expected chance of a make. Filled dot: made. Open dot: missed or blocked.

Penalties: Panthers 7 for 66 yards, Packers 5 for 50 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 4:31 Unnecessary Roughness on the Packers (Davante Adams), 15 yards +3% CAR +1.5 pts
Q1 3:09 Defensive Pass Interference on the Panthers (Troy Pride Jr.), 16 yards +6% GB +2.3 pts
Q2 11:55 Offensive Holding on the Panthers, 10 yards +2% GB +0.9 pts
Q2 11:43 Lowering the Head to Initiate Contact on the Packers (Kevin King), 15 yards +3% CAR +1.9 pts
Q2 7:29 Illegal Contact on the Panthers (Shaq Thompson), 5 yards +1% GB +1.3 pts
Q2 0:26 Illegal Block Above the Waist on the Packers (Robert Tonyan), 10 yards +1% CAR +0.8 pts
Q3 6:19 Defensive Holding on the Packers (Kevin King), 5 yards 0% CAR +1.1 pts
Q3 5:15 Defensive Holding on the Panthers (Bravvion Roy), 5 yards +1% GB +1.0 pts
Q4 9:36 Offensive Holding on the Panthers, 10 yards, wiping out the play +6% CAR +1.1 pts
Q4 1:07 Offensive Holding on the Panthers, 10 yards +2% GB +0.9 pts
Q4 0:55 Intentional Grounding on the Panthers (Teddy Bridgewater), 10 yards +4% GB +0.9 pts
Q4 0:24 Defensive Offside on the Packers (Za'Darius Smith), 5 yards, wiping out the play · pre-snap +1% CAR +2.2 pts

Panthers penalties, every game · Packers penalties, every game · All teams, 2020

When it happened

Packers’ 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 Packers were ahead in it, below while the Panthers were.
#WhenWhat happenedWin probability forNext drive
1 Q1 13:50 The Panthers were stopped on 3rd & 23rd & 4th downs · 59% expected +4% GB CAR: Punt
2 Q1 12:55 The Packers converted 3rd & 13rd & 4th downs · 77% expected +8% GB GB: Touchdown
3 Q1 3:09 Defensive Pass Interference on the Panthers (Troy Pride Jr.), 16 yardsJudgment calls · 4 flags in 651 snaps before, position avg 1 per 207 +6% GB GB: Touchdown
4 Q2 14:15 The Packers converted 3rd & 63rd & 4th downs · 33% expected +5% GB GB: Touchdown
5 Q2 11:43 The Panthers fumbled and recovered it themselvesFumble bounces · loose balls are close to 50/50Lowering the Head to Initiate Contact on the Packers (Kevin King), 15 yardsJudgment calls · 5 flags in 1413 snaps before, position avg 1 per 207 +7% CAR CAR: Turnover
6 Q2 8:06 The Panthers converted 4th & 13rd & 4th downs · 72% expected +7% CAR CAR: Turnover
7 Q2 7:39 The Panthers fumbled and the Packers recoveredFumble bounces · loose balls are close to 50/50 +7% GB CAR: Punt
8 Q4 9:36 Offensive Holding on the Panthers, 10 yards, wiping out the playJudgment calls +6% CAR GB: 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.

  • Corey Linsley (GB C), out (IR) · 0.7 pts
  • Josh Jackson (GB CB), out · 0.4 pts
  • Raven Greene (GB S), out (IR) · 0.2 pts
  • Russell Okung (CAR T), out · 0.8 pts
  • Stephen Weatherly (CAR DE), 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

Panthers 15% · Packers 85%

Final margin
Packers by 8
Luck in points
1.6 for the Packers
Luck-adjusted margin
Packers by 6.4
Replay with same day's form
Panthers 19% · Packers 81% 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 15 2020 games · Panthers · Packers

More from Week 15 2020