Visualizing The 49ers 2011 Success

by David Fucillo on Nov 23, 2011 3:01 PM PST in San Francisco 49ers News

If you haven't had a chance to poke around SB Nation too much, one of the many interesting blogs is Beyond The Box Score. They provide a sabermetric view of baseball and are one of the older blogs on the network.

One of their writers, David Fung, puts together a variety of infographs related to baseball. Earlier today he approached me with an infograph he had put together about the 49ers (he's a fan). It is not super technical, but rather helps to visualize the various keys to the 49ers success in 2011. We've discussed this success just about every day for the last 2+ months, but I've posted the infograph after the jump for a visual representation. You can view more of David's infographs on Tumblr and follow him on twitter @cobradave.

The turnovers and the rushing numbers are the ones that jump out to most people, but average starting position has been huge for the 49ers. They rank first with an average starting position at the 33. Just as important, they rank first in opponent's average field position with an average of the 24-yard line. The offense has been a bit inconsistent this season, but getting them set up in great field position is huge.

We can thank great punting and kicking for the opponent's field position. We can thank Ted Ginn Jr. and the defense for the 49ers own great starting field position. Tomorrow, both of those stats will be key against the Ravens.

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Thanks for the graphics

always helps even if you’re a stat mavin.

by oldfoggy on Nov 23, 2011 3:08 PM PST reply actions

stats

Those are coming up at 4:30.

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by David Fucillo on Nov 23, 2011 3:46 PM PST up reply actions

I find it somewhat curious

I would not think 5 yards is all that wonderful, but we have average starting position of 33 and the average overall is 27 and we are #1. I realize this is not the median, so it may not be evenly divided, but that would mean around 10-15 teams are within a yard or two of our starting field position. That does not sound too fantastic, overall.

I am curious if that is an even distribution on our starting position, or if we have some really short fields to go with some really long ones. The # of really short fields seems like it would translate more directly into points than the difference between starting at the 27 or the 33.

by Da Bum on Nov 23, 2011 3:15 PM PST reply actions

The difference between 1st and the rest could be huge or extremely small.

Time of possession is one that is usually pretty small. First place could be 30 minutes and if you had a TOP of 29:50, that could mean all the way down to 20th.

Affectionately,
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar,
NBA’s All-Time Leading Scorer

by afrikabamboodle on Nov 23, 2011 3:24 PM PST up reply actions

It's a bigger difference if you also hold the opponent to a crappy field position

Then if they can’t run the ball aganst you it adds to the difficuties. Turnovers is the big one though.

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We are just here to do our job to the best of our abilities, and we take pride in our work. You might not be impressed while you watch us work, if you cannot understand what we are doing. But when you see what we have accomplished you will be impressed.
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by Pat Willie on Nov 23, 2011 3:57 PM PST up reply actions

the delta is 9 yards

that’s almost 1 point PER pair of drives (offense and defense).

That’s huge. Like 10 points / game.

[Poorly Wrought THING] is what Brian Sabean would have made if he were a [THING-maker] instead of a MLB GM

by zenbitz on Nov 23, 2011 3:59 PM PST up reply actions

Or taller than a t-rex riding the shoulders of another t-rex to put it a way more of us can relate to

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by mcwagner on Nov 23, 2011 4:05 PM PST via mobile up reply actions

Educate me

Assuming the differential is 9 yards, how does that equate to 1 point per pair of drives? How does starting on the 33 yard line vs starting on the 24 yard line equate to points? You still have to make a few first downs to get into reasonable field goal range.

The other factors seem way more important to me. Like our D not letting the other guys get those first downs and getting off the field. Is this one that huge?

by Da Bum on Nov 23, 2011 4:12 PM PST up reply actions

Field Position

If you look at the combination of our starting position (vs league avg +6 yds) and our opponent’s (vs league avg -4 yds) that’s a total of 10 yds per drive that we’re in better shape compared to our opponents vs the league avg. That means we’re one first down closer to getting a score than our opponents each and every time we/they get the ball. That would seem to be a pretty big deal.

by sivousplay on Nov 23, 2011 3:57 PM PST reply actions 1 recs

From just a very surface level look at the field position, if the average is 33, there’s likely a good amount of times where they took it past the 40. I didn’t take a look at individual drives, but as sivousplay mentioned above, increasing their chances by getting one extra first down is pretty good.

by David Fung on Nov 23, 2011 5:02 PM PST up reply actions