NFL 2021: Five Key Statistics for Week 9

There will be no undefeated NFL team in 2021. But when will the Detroit Lions win a football game this season? It won’t be this week as Dan Campbell’s team, along with the Seattle Seahawks, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Washington Football Team are on vacation, per say. Once again, here are some numbers of interest when it comes to this week’s slate.

10.6

The New York Jets head to Indianapolis for a Thursday night clash with the Colts. Robert Saleh’s team has split its last four games, defeating the formidable Titans (in overtime) and Bengals along the way. A team that has had its issues putting points on the board has been a little Jekyll-and-Hyde. In the wins over Tennessee and Cincinnati, the Jets averaged 30.5 points. In five setbacks this season, Saleh’s club has managed a mere 10.6 points per outing.

7

Both the Houston Texans and Miami Dolphins got their seasons off to good start by winning on the opening Sunday of 2021. But neither David Culley’s team nor Brian Flores’ squad has posted a victory since. Barring a tie in this contest (and there hasn’t been a tie in 2021 so far), one of these clubs could remain on the path to losing the rest of their games after a Week 1 victory. The last time that happened? The 2020 Jacksonville Jaguars (1-15).

12

The Philadelphia Eagles host the slumping Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday. Nick Sirianni’s club has won just three of their first 8 games but two of those contests were lopsided victories over the Falcons (32-6) and Lions (44-6). So the unpredictable Birds own a plus-12 point differential despite being two games under .500. On the other hand, the Bolts own a winning record (4-3) but have allowed more points (177) than they have scored (172) this season.

80

With the expanded NFL season that now has every team playing 17 games, those extra contests have each of the 32 clubs playing a fifth interconference game. That means a total of 80 regular-season games between the AFC and NFC. After eight weeks in 2021, the latter owns a 21-16 lead head-to-head. Seven of the 14 games on the Week 8 schedule are of the interconference variety – highlighted by a Sunday night meeting between the Titans and Rams.

95

The Chicago Bears find themselves with a 3-5 record after eight games and have a long way to go if they have any intentions of catching the Green Bay Packers in the NFC North. While there’s been much discussion surrounding promising rookie quarterback Justin Fields, Matt Nagy’s defensive unit is having its issues after a 3-2 start. Chicago has dropped three straight games and have allowed a combined 95 points to the Packers, Buccaneers and 49ers.