In a league like the NFL, every single game matters, with pivotal moments in each contest that help determine the victor between two professional football teams. There are some key things to look at when it comes to success in the NFL, things like turnover ratio, third down avoidance on offense, third down efficiency defensively and, most importantly, avoiding self-inflicted wounds.
One of the biggest self-inflicted areas that often hurt teams is the rate in which they’re penalized, which is a great predictor for which teams will win more often than not. Let’s take last season for example, out of the 16 teams that had the most penalties last season, only six of them made the playoffs (with the Buccaneers making the playoffs despite a losing record).