2017 Week 7 Score Report: A Real Odd Week

I'll do the ratings in a separate post if I remember to later this week.

Strange week this week.

• Only 39.6 points per game this week for the 15 games played.  42.27 last year, 46.43 two years ago.
• For the 7 weeks, the average game is down to 43.85 PPG.  45.36 last year, 46.60 two years ago.

For reference, go to the post I just made on the most-fined teams again.  Any mystery, especially with Philly now 6-1, where this league may be going?  The only question in the NFC West now is are they ready to push the Rams because of the Seahawks' mouths?

• Three shutouts this week.  According to FOX, you need to go back five years to December of 2012 to find a similar week, and you need to go back to November 1983 to find a week with four shutouts.
• AND Carolina got only three points off of Chicago.
• AND Cleveland and Tennessee had the second game this year with no touchdowns -- and this one went deep into the ten-minute overtime!
• Back to that Carolina-Chicago mess.  14 of the 17 points Chicago scored were defensive.  The Bears only had five first downs, and WON!  Last time that happened?  Tennessee over Jacksonville in 2006!  It's only happened six times since 1974 that a team has won with five or fewer first downs.
• The record for fewest first downs for a winning team in an NFL game?  The New York Giants defeated Washington on September 27, 1942 by 14-7.  They scored on a 50 yard pass and a 66 yard interception return.  NO FIRST DOWNS!  (All historical statistics courtesy of Pro Football Reference.)
• Home teams actually reversed a recent trend and went 9-5 on the third London week.  52-51 for the year.  Last year, 9-4-1 for 61-42-1.  Two years ago:  8-5 for about the same winning percentage as last year (.592))
• The Over went 7-8 for 51-51-4.  Last year:  6-9 for 56-50.
• Vegas gave back a bit this week.  9-4-2 against the number (Miami and Buffalo both pushed with three-point wins.), 12-3 straight up.
• That's now 46-58-2 against the number and 63-43 straight up.  (44-51-5 against the number last year, 56-43-1 straight up.)
• Team with more penalties was 7-8 for 47-51-8.  Last year:  4-8 for 38-56.
• Four Cliffhangers for 21 total.  Right about at 20% of the games ending in Cliffhangers.
• However, only ONE other game (for five total) ended within eight points, and that was at eight, and ONLY because of the fact that Baltimore scored at the gun to end the game with Minnesota at 24-16.  (And, oh, by the way, the Over hit as a result -- that was 38.)
• Two games were within eight at some point in the fourth quarter, meaning EIGHT of the 15 contests were non-competitive.
• So the last four years of Cliffhangers through seven weeks:  21, 22, 23, and 20
• There were ZERO Last Chance Misses this week, so still only 17 for the year, 33 last year through seven weeks.
• Only half of the games this year (53/106) are within eight points at the final margin.  63.2% last year, 52.38% two years ago.
• Adding in those games within 8 at some point in the fourth quarter, and you have 69/106 competitive.  Ten fewer than the same number of games at the same week last year!