Windy City Gridiron
Welcome back to STEP Differential. STEP stands for Sack + Turnover(x2) + Explosive Play Differential. Make sure you’re flipping through pages 2-5 to see everything broken out by component and the overall performance of the STEP Differential in individual games. After a lukewarm start, the statistic is on a roll lately. Winning the STEP Differential over the last five weeks has a combines 57-6. Infogram below:
The Jets went back to Jets-ing with a -7 and a loss. They’re probably not going to threaten the Browns record -101 at this point but they’re still awful. The Ravens won despite a -6 STEP Differential against the Browns with an awesome comeback. They’re about to turn teal with a winning record as they continue their charge to take over the AFC North from the Steelers. The Panthers turned teal this week getting into above .500 territory but I think they’re about to hit a losing streak. The Falcons continue lost this week and had a -2 STEP, so at least that matched up.
The big outliers in the 2×2 charts are the Broncos amazing sack performance (up to 49 through 11 games) while keeping Bo Nix upright. Their +36 breaks the chart and vaults them into second place overall. They are a real threat to the 1984 Chicago Bears record of 72 sacks in a single season. The Jets still only have one takeaway and we are on NFL record watch there too. At this point, you have to believe their going to break the record, but how low can they go? The Bears at +16 turnover differential are easily pacing the field. They lead the league in takeaways by four, but they are also tied for the second least giveaways with six. It’s an awesome combination.
