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Q: Ever since seeing John Elway lead his Broncos to victory with "The Drive" I've been impressed by teams that can start deep in their own end and still wind up scoring a Touchdown. Who were the best teams in 2001 at scoring Touchdowns in "Long Drive" situations?
A: We'll define a long drive as one where a team gets the ball at its own 20-yard line or worse field position (eg the team will need to go 80+ yards to reach the end zone):
OFFENSE
| Team |
Yds per
Play |
Yds per
Drive |
TD % |
FG % |
Punt% |
T/O % |
Points |
| STL |
7.1 |
44 |
30% |
6% |
34% |
26% |
27.9 |
| TB |
5.0 |
36 |
16% |
16% |
57% |
7% |
20.0 |
| SF |
5.3 |
35 |
18% |
11% |
45% |
16% |
19.9 |
| NE |
5.9 |
34 |
20% |
6% |
56% |
13% |
19.6 |
| OAK |
5.0 |
33 |
17% |
14% |
51% |
8% |
19.6 |
| ARI |
6.0 |
34 |
19% |
3% |
57% |
14% |
17.7 |
| IND |
5.9 |
34 |
18% |
4% |
53% |
17% |
17.4 |
| ATL |
5.5 |
32 |
16% |
6% |
52% |
18% |
16.2 |
| MIN |
5.8 |
35 |
16% |
5% |
49% |
22% |
16.0 |
| TEN |
5.0 |
30 |
15% |
8% |
56% |
15% |
15.6 |
| BUF |
4.9 |
27 |
14% |
4% |
61% |
16% |
14.1 |
| KC |
5.4 |
34 |
12% |
10% |
55% |
15% |
13.8 |
| PHI |
5.4 |
30 |
10% |
12% |
61% |
14% |
13.7 |
| NO |
5.2 |
28 |
12% |
8% |
48% |
21% |
13.7 |
| DEN |
4.8 |
27 |
11% |
10% |
55% |
20% |
13.4 |
| BAL |
5.3 |
33 |
7% |
18% |
50% |
15% |
13.1 |
| DAL |
5.5 |
35 |
10% |
10% |
45% |
15% |
13.0 |
| PIT |
4.9 |
36 |
5% |
22% |
47% |
13% |
12.9 |
| GB |
5.6 |
31 |
11% |
9% |
51% |
19% |
12.9 |
| NYG |
4.8 |
26 |
13% |
4% |
66% |
12% |
12.8 |
| NYJ |
5.4 |
36 |
13% |
4% |
55% |
15% |
12.8 |
| DET |
5.2 |
33 |
12% |
6% |
44% |
24% |
12.6 |
| SEA |
5.0 |
28 |
12% |
3% |
61% |
9% |
12.2 |
| MIA |
5.2 |
28 |
13% |
2% |
62% |
20% |
12.0 |
| SD |
5.7 |
31 |
10% |
8% |
51% |
25% |
12.0 |
| JAX |
4.8 |
24 |
10% |
5% |
69% |
10% |
11.1 |
| CIN |
4.7 |
30 |
10% |
4% |
57% |
14% |
10.0 |
| CHI |
4.5 |
25 |
8% |
8% |
66% |
8% |
9.5 |
| CAR |
4.3 |
19 |
7% |
5% |
63% |
20% |
8.0 |
| CLE |
4.0 |
20 |
8% |
0% |
78% |
10% |
7.5 |
| WAS |
4.2 |
22 |
4% |
6% |
76% |
6% |
6.0 |
DEFENSE
| Team |
Yds per
Play |
Yds per
Drive |
TD % |
FG % |
Punt% |
T/O % |
Points |
| WAS |
4.3 |
24 |
4% |
6% |
56% |
22% |
6.3 |
| GB |
4.4 |
28 |
6% |
4% |
63% |
19% |
6.8 |
| NYG |
4.9 |
26 |
4% |
8% |
62% |
13% |
6.9 |
| JAX |
4.0 |
26 |
3% |
11% |
59% |
11% |
7.1 |
| CIN |
4.3 |
26 |
6% |
6% |
70% |
13% |
8.1 |
| PIT |
4.7 |
29 |
7% |
5% |
64% |
13% |
8.3 |
| PHI |
5.0 |
28 |
8% |
4% |
63% |
16% |
8.6 |
| BAL |
4.7 |
25 |
10% |
3% |
67% |
10% |
10.1 |
| STL |
4.3 |
24 |
10% |
4% |
57% |
21% |
10.4 |
| CLE |
5.0 |
29 |
10% |
6% |
43% |
31% |
11.0 |
| DAL |
5.1 |
30 |
8% |
12% |
58% |
14% |
11.0 |
| MIA |
5.0 |
28 |
11% |
6% |
65% |
12% |
11.6 |
| SD |
4.6 |
25 |
12% |
3% |
63% |
12% |
12.0 |
| SEA |
4.8 |
26 |
11% |
6% |
67% |
11% |
12.2 |
| TB |
4.9 |
29 |
10% |
11% |
49% |
23% |
12.8 |
| OAK |
5.0 |
28 |
14% |
1% |
64% |
17% |
13.0 |
| CHI |
5.4 |
34 |
9% |
14% |
49% |
21% |
13.5 |
| CAR |
5.8 |
30 |
14% |
5% |
63% |
14% |
13.8 |
| NYJ |
4.4 |
27 |
14% |
7% |
52% |
17% |
14.3 |
| NE |
5.7 |
35 |
14% |
7% |
53% |
19% |
14.5 |
| ARI |
5.6 |
37 |
15% |
10% |
57% |
10% |
17.0 |
| TEN |
5.6 |
35 |
16% |
9% |
55% |
6% |
17.3 |
| DEN |
5.8 |
33 |
16% |
10% |
50% |
20% |
17.6 |
| BUF |
5.6 |
35 |
18% |
9% |
56% |
9% |
18.5 |
| KC |
5.2 |
32 |
17% |
11% |
51% |
13% |
18.6 |
| NO |
6.2 |
33 |
21% |
3% |
50% |
13% |
19.5 |
| IND |
5.7 |
36 |
20% |
10% |
55% |
10% |
20.3 |
| MIN |
5.5 |
35 |
17% |
15% |
52% |
12% |
20.4 |
| SF |
6.2 |
43 |
22% |
11% |
36% |
18% |
23.1 |
| DET |
6.0 |
39 |
25% |
6% |
45% |
18% |
23.2 |
| ATL |
6.9 |
47 |
26% |
13% |
39% |
15% |
26.9 |
NET STATS
| Team |
Yds per
Play |
Yds per
Drive |
TD % |
FG % |
Punt% |
T/O % |
Points |
| STL |
2.8 |
20 |
20% |
2% |
-23% |
5% |
17.5 |
| TB |
0.1 |
7 |
6% |
5% |
8% |
-16% |
7.2 |
| OAK |
0.0 |
5 |
3% |
13% |
-13% |
-9% |
6.6 |
| GB |
1.2 |
3 |
5% |
5% |
-12% |
0% |
6.1 |
| NYG |
-0.1 |
0 |
9% |
-4% |
4% |
-1% |
5.9 |
| PHI |
0.4 |
2 |
2% |
8% |
-2% |
-2% |
5.1 |
| NE |
0.2 |
-1 |
6% |
-1% |
3% |
-6% |
5.1 |
| PIT |
0.2 |
7 |
-2% |
17% |
-17% |
0% |
4.6 |
| JAX |
0.8 |
-2 |
7% |
-6% |
10% |
-1% |
4.0 |
| BAL |
0.6 |
8 |
-3% |
15% |
-17% |
5% |
3.0 |
| DAL |
0.4 |
5 |
2% |
-2% |
-13% |
1% |
2.0 |
| CIN |
0.4 |
4 |
4% |
-2% |
-13% |
1% |
1.9 |
| ARI |
0.4 |
-3 |
4% |
-7% |
0% |
4% |
0.7 |
| MIA |
0.2 |
0 |
2% |
-4% |
-3% |
8% |
0.4 |
| SD |
1.1 |
6 |
-2% |
5% |
-12% |
13% |
0.0 |
| SEA |
0.2 |
2 |
1% |
-3% |
-6% |
-2% |
0.0 |
| WAS |
-0.1 |
-2 |
0% |
0% |
20% |
-16% |
-0.3 |
| NYJ |
1.0 |
9 |
-1% |
-3% |
3% |
-2% |
-1.5 |
| TEN |
-0.6 |
-5 |
-1% |
-1% |
1% |
9% |
-1.7 |
| IND |
0.2 |
-2 |
-2% |
-6% |
-2% |
7% |
-2.9 |
| SF |
-0.9 |
-8 |
-4% |
0% |
9% |
-2% |
-3.2 |
| CLE |
-1.0 |
-9 |
-2% |
-6% |
35% |
-21% |
-3.5 |
| CHI |
-0.9 |
-9 |
-1% |
-6% |
17% |
-13% |
-4.0 |
| DEN |
-1.0 |
-6 |
-5% |
0% |
5% |
0% |
-4.2 |
| MIN |
0.3 |
0 |
-1% |
-10% |
-3% |
10% |
-4.4 |
| BUF |
-0.7 |
-8 |
-4% |
-5% |
5% |
7% |
-4.4 |
| KC |
0.2 |
2 |
-5% |
-1% |
4% |
2% |
-4.8 |
| NO |
-1.0 |
-5 |
-9% |
5% |
-2% |
8% |
-5.8 |
| CAR |
-1.5 |
-11 |
-7% |
0% |
0% |
6% |
-5.8 |
| DET |
-0.8 |
-6 |
-13% |
0% |
-1% |
6% |
-10.6 |
| ATL |
-1.4 |
-15 |
-10% |
-7% |
13% |
3% |
-10.7 |
ANALYSIS: The Rams continue to dominate this category, as they have ever since Marshall Faulk and Kurt Warner first hooked up in 1999. Back in that storybook '99 campaign that led to their Super Bowl triumph, they posted these numbers on offense: 31% TD's, 7% FG's, 20% T/O's and 30 points on the game scale, which is very similar to the 30% TD effort of 2001. Not only do the Rams possess the best long distance offense by a huge margin (New England was #2 in TD percentage at 20%), they are also very respectable at containing opponents on defense which leads to a whopping net edge of +17.5 points per game, should all drives for both teams begin at the 20-yd line or worse! This explains why they continue to be the #1 threat in football.
In general the offensive long drive stats are the most informative, and will lead you to the championship caliber teams, whereas the defensive stats usually have a few modest sides slip into the top ten and indeed in 2001 four of the top five in defense failed to make the playoffs!
Quarterbacks of course get a great deal of the credit for long drive touchdowns in pressure situations, and should you be looking for the next Joe Montana ~ John Elway type who can carry a team down the field, the QB's of our top five long drivers are: Warner, Brad Johnson, Jeff Garcia, Tom Brady, and Rich Gannon.
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