Final 2009 Bendability Index
Cold, Hard Football Facts for Jan 03, 2010
The Bendability Index is a "Quality Stat" because it has a direct correlation to winning football games. Read more about this team-wide measure of scoring efficiency here.
Bendability is the first indicator on Planet Pigskin that attempts to measure the concept of the "bend but don't break defense." But remember, the Bendability Index is not merely an defensive indicator! It is a team-wide measurement of ability to keep opponents off the scoreboard. It takes into account a variety of factors (including proficiency of offense and special teams, red zone defense, and turnover differential) and then spits it all out in an easy-to-understand number. Other measures of defense, and defensive efficiency, look at the defensive unit in a vacuum. We do not care how a unit plays in a fantasy-football vacuum because in real football games teams do not play in a vacuum. Instead, our Quality Stats give you insight into the many complex, interacting factors that go into team-wide success.
Bendability is obtained this way: Yards Allowed/Total Points Allowed = Yards Per Point Allowed (YPPA). The higher the number, the more difficult a team makes it for opponents to score points.
FINAL 2009 BENDABILITY INDEX
The Bendability Index measures the "bend-but-don't-break defense" phenomenon and is a reliable indicator of team-wide success.
Dallas topped the Bendability Index in 2009, forcing opponents to march an incredible 20.26 yards for every point scored. To put that in more concrete football terms, Cowboys opponents had to generate a daunting 141.8 yards for every touchdown and extra point they scored. That'sa lot of work for a simple TD.
The division rival Giants, meanwhile, finished dead last in Bendability in 2009. They surrendered 7 points for every 84.9 yards they allowed on defense.
As a result, the Cowboys boasted one of the best defenses in football in 2009 (250 points allowed); the Giants suffered with one of the worst defenses in football (427 points allowed).
It's a startling difference in points allowed. But if you use the standard NFL and media measure to rank defenses, there was little difference: Dallas surrendered 5,064 yards on defense; New York surrendered 5,179 yards on defense. That's a difference of just 7 yards per game -- not even noticeable to the naked eye.
The difference was efficiency.
With all that said, why did the Cowboys barely eke out a division title and get bumped off so badly by the Vikings (34-3) in the divisional round? Blame one of the most inefficient offenses in football. The Cowboys, No. 1 on the Bendability Index, finished an awful No. 25 on our Scoreability Index.
Final 2009 Bendability Index
| Team | Yards | Points | YPPA | |
| 1 | Dallas | 5064 | 250 | 20.26 |
| 2 | San Francisco | 5222 | 281 | 18.58 |
| 3 | Baltimore | 4808 | 261 | 18.42 |
| 4 | New England | 5123 | 285 | 17.98 |
| 5 | Indianapolis | 5427 | 307 | 17.68 |
| 6 | Atlanta | 5582 | 325 | 17.18 |
| 7 | N.Y. Jets | 4037 | 236 | 17.11 |
| 8 | Arizona | 5548 | 325 | 17.07 |
| 9 | New Orleans | 5724 | 341 | 16.79 |
| 10 | Buffalo | 5449 | 326 | 16.71 |
| 11 | Cleveland | 6227 | 375 | 16.61 |
| 12 | Cincinnati | 4822 | 291 | 16.57 |
| 13 | Carolina | 5053 | 308 | 16.41 |
| 14 | San Diego | 5230 | 320 | 16.34 |
| 15 | Minnesota | 4888 | 312 | 15.67 |
| 16 | Houston | 5197 | 333 | 15.61 |
| 17 | Denver | 5040 | 324 | 15.56 |
| 18 | Green Bay | 4551 | 297 | 15.32 |
| 19 | Oakland | 5791 | 379 | 15.28 |
| 20 | Philadelphia | 5137 | 337 | 15.24 |
| 21 | Washington | 5115 | 336 | 15.22 |
| 22 | Pittsburgh | 4885 | 324 | 15.08 |
| 23 | Jacksonville | 5633 | 380 | 14.82 |
| 24 | Kansas City | 6210 | 424 | 14.65 |
| 25 | Seattle | 5703 | 390 | 14.62 |
| 26 | Tampa Bay | 5849 | 400 | 14.62 |
| 27 | Tennessee | 5850 | 402 | 14.55 |
| 28 | Chicago | 5404 | 375 | 14.41 |
| 29 | Miami | 5590 | 390 | 14.33 |
| 30 | St. Louis | 5965 | 436 | 13.68 |
| 31 | Detroit | 6274 | 494 | 12.70 |
| 32 | N.Y. Giants | 5179 | 427 | 12.13 |
Read more: Cold Hard Football Facts, NFL
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