When Super Bowl Scoring Peaks?or Timing Your Bathroom Break
https://www.wsj.com/articles/when-super-bowl-scoring-peaksor-timing-your-bathroom-break-1486117801
By Jim Chairusmi
February 3, 2017, 6:02 am ET
The Numbers
Decade of data show precisely when pro football teams pile up the points
HOUSTON?This Sunday, a football fan has many decisions to make during the Super Bowl: Atlanta Falcons or New England Patriots? Wings or nachos? And perhaps most important, when is the best time to take a bathroom break or run to the fridge?
To figure out the normal ebb and flow of football and pinpoint the slowest moments in a game, The Wall Street Journal looked at a minute-by-minute breakdown of the combined points scored in every National Football League game over the past 10 seasons, not including overtime.
Since the 2007-08 season, a total of 119, 040 points were scored, according to Stats LLC, with 63,303 scored in the first, 30-minute half and 58,737 in the second.
The numbers suggest that viewers Sunday would risk missing out on compelling offensive action if they wander from the television toward the end of the first half, with 7,861, or nearly 7% of all the points scored, taking place in the final minute before halftime.
This is more than the total points scored in the final two minutes of a game (6,360), with the reason being that a team with a secure lead aims to run out the clock rather than try to score.
Scoring in the Super Bowl mirrors other games through the season, with the final minute of the first half the most prolific time for points. Super Bowls have also usually been decided before the final minutes of the game, with only five lead changes in the last two minutes of the game.
When told that the final minute of the first half is when the most points are scored, several players set to play in Sunday?s game said it wasn?t surprising.
?Teams want to make a big play before the half and go into the second half with momentum,? said Patriots defensive lineman Geneo Grissom.
?You?re probably playing more aggressive,? Patriots offensive tackle Nate Solder said. ?Both teams are likely still in the game.?
Falcons receiver Eric Weems said defenses can struggle to substitute players on the field in response to offenses that are often in hurry-up mode with the clock ticking. ?Offenses have the whole play book, while defenses have to stay basic with the coverages they were already playing,? he said.
A die-hard fan not wanting to miss a minute of Super Bowl game action might choose to get up during a commercial break, but as Mr. Solder pointed out on Wednesday, the ads are sometimes more entertaining than the actual game. ?Everyone loves the ads. So you can?t miss the ads,? he said.
Patriots linebacker Shea McClellin agreed. ?When I watch the Super Bowl, I like to watch the commercials,? he said.
A Journal study once determined that there is approximately 11 minutes of action in an average NFL game, but games took 3 hours and 10 minutes to complete this season. The Super Bowl will undoubtedly run longer. Last year?s Super Bowl ran 3 hours and 43 minutes.
Halftime during a regular-season game lasts 12 minutes but this Sunday?s halftime break, featuring a performance by Lady Gaga, is to run 27 minutes, according to NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy. The Super Bowl also has more commercial breaks, including during each change of possession. That makes it inevitable that a viewer will have to make a strategic choice as to when to get up from the couch.
?For me, I?m not a halftime show guy,? Patriots defensive back Nate Ebner said. ?For some people, I know they want to watch the halftime show. That?s probably when I would get up.?
?I would get up right when halftime starts,? Mr. Weems said. ?They still need time to set up the stage.?
Falcons center Alex Mack suggested waiting for a juncture in the game when a team isn?t in scoring position. ?I would see where the teams are on the field,? he said. ?If they are on their own 30-yard line or near their own end zone, it?s probably going to be just a normal play. But if a crazy play does happen, people will probably yell and scream and you can still catch the replay.?
The first minute of NFL games, when the most people are likely focused on the game, yielded the fewest amount of points. according to Stats LLC.
Only nine points combined have been scored in the first minute of the previous 50 Super Bowls.
?You have to watch the first minute of the game though, right?? asked Patriots quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who recalled that Devin Hester returned the opening kickoff of Super Bowl XLI in 2007 for a touchdown for the Chicago Bears.
?That?s why I?d go at the end of the first quarter, maybe? I don?t know. You have some tough questions, man,? Mr. Garoppolo said.
Sitting across the table from Mr. Garoppolo on Wednesday, fellow Patriots quarterback Jacoby Brissett was listening to the conversation and shook his head.
?So you would rather miss the game than the commercials? I don?t think that makes sense,? Mr. Brissett said. ?That?s why there?s YouTube.?
Write to Jim Chairusmi at jim.chairusmi@wsj.com
https://www.wsj.com/articles/when-super-bowl-scoring-peaksor-timing-your-bathroom-break-1486117801
By Jim Chairusmi
February 3, 2017, 6:02 am ET
The Numbers
Decade of data show precisely when pro football teams pile up the points
HOUSTON?This Sunday, a football fan has many decisions to make during the Super Bowl: Atlanta Falcons or New England Patriots? Wings or nachos? And perhaps most important, when is the best time to take a bathroom break or run to the fridge?
To figure out the normal ebb and flow of football and pinpoint the slowest moments in a game, The Wall Street Journal looked at a minute-by-minute breakdown of the combined points scored in every National Football League game over the past 10 seasons, not including overtime.
Since the 2007-08 season, a total of 119, 040 points were scored, according to Stats LLC, with 63,303 scored in the first, 30-minute half and 58,737 in the second.
The numbers suggest that viewers Sunday would risk missing out on compelling offensive action if they wander from the television toward the end of the first half, with 7,861, or nearly 7% of all the points scored, taking place in the final minute before halftime.
This is more than the total points scored in the final two minutes of a game (6,360), with the reason being that a team with a secure lead aims to run out the clock rather than try to score.
Scoring in the Super Bowl mirrors other games through the season, with the final minute of the first half the most prolific time for points. Super Bowls have also usually been decided before the final minutes of the game, with only five lead changes in the last two minutes of the game.
When told that the final minute of the first half is when the most points are scored, several players set to play in Sunday?s game said it wasn?t surprising.
?Teams want to make a big play before the half and go into the second half with momentum,? said Patriots defensive lineman Geneo Grissom.
?You?re probably playing more aggressive,? Patriots offensive tackle Nate Solder said. ?Both teams are likely still in the game.?
Falcons receiver Eric Weems said defenses can struggle to substitute players on the field in response to offenses that are often in hurry-up mode with the clock ticking. ?Offenses have the whole play book, while defenses have to stay basic with the coverages they were already playing,? he said.
A die-hard fan not wanting to miss a minute of Super Bowl game action might choose to get up during a commercial break, but as Mr. Solder pointed out on Wednesday, the ads are sometimes more entertaining than the actual game. ?Everyone loves the ads. So you can?t miss the ads,? he said.
Patriots linebacker Shea McClellin agreed. ?When I watch the Super Bowl, I like to watch the commercials,? he said.
A Journal study once determined that there is approximately 11 minutes of action in an average NFL game, but games took 3 hours and 10 minutes to complete this season. The Super Bowl will undoubtedly run longer. Last year?s Super Bowl ran 3 hours and 43 minutes.
Halftime during a regular-season game lasts 12 minutes but this Sunday?s halftime break, featuring a performance by Lady Gaga, is to run 27 minutes, according to NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy. The Super Bowl also has more commercial breaks, including during each change of possession. That makes it inevitable that a viewer will have to make a strategic choice as to when to get up from the couch.
?For me, I?m not a halftime show guy,? Patriots defensive back Nate Ebner said. ?For some people, I know they want to watch the halftime show. That?s probably when I would get up.?
?I would get up right when halftime starts,? Mr. Weems said. ?They still need time to set up the stage.?
Falcons center Alex Mack suggested waiting for a juncture in the game when a team isn?t in scoring position. ?I would see where the teams are on the field,? he said. ?If they are on their own 30-yard line or near their own end zone, it?s probably going to be just a normal play. But if a crazy play does happen, people will probably yell and scream and you can still catch the replay.?
The first minute of NFL games, when the most people are likely focused on the game, yielded the fewest amount of points. according to Stats LLC.
Only nine points combined have been scored in the first minute of the previous 50 Super Bowls.
?You have to watch the first minute of the game though, right?? asked Patriots quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who recalled that Devin Hester returned the opening kickoff of Super Bowl XLI in 2007 for a touchdown for the Chicago Bears.
?That?s why I?d go at the end of the first quarter, maybe? I don?t know. You have some tough questions, man,? Mr. Garoppolo said.
Sitting across the table from Mr. Garoppolo on Wednesday, fellow Patriots quarterback Jacoby Brissett was listening to the conversation and shook his head.
?So you would rather miss the game than the commercials? I don?t think that makes sense,? Mr. Brissett said. ?That?s why there?s YouTube.?
Write to Jim Chairusmi at jim.chairusmi@wsj.com
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