A couple of day ago Ian ran an item about special teams touchdowns -- which teams have been best on kick and punt return scores in recent years. A reader wondered how the numbers are different when you add in touchdowns off turnovers and safeties. Those numbers are below.
Philadelphia, thanks to a ridiculous 11 total defensive and special teams touchdowns back in 2014, has been the best over the last three years. If we expand it to four years, Kansas City -- with 11 total in 2013 -- would be tops. Based strictly on 2016, it goes Kansas City, Minnesota and then Philadelphia and San Diego were tied for 3rd. Those are the teams who have been best in recent years at turning punts, kicks and turnovers into touchdowns (keeping in mind that Minnesota lost a difference-maker in the offseason when Cordarrelle Patterson signed with Oakland).
Included in these numbers are defensive 2-point conversions -- when a team blocks an extra point and brings it back the other way for 2 points. Uncommon, but it's happened three times the last two years.
DEFENSIVE POINTS (TDS AND 2-PTRS), 2014-2016 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Team | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | Total |
Philadelphia | 66 | 44 | 32 | 142 |
Minnesota | 30 | 36 | 44 | 110 |
Kansas City | 18 | 38 | 52 | 108 |
Arizona | 30 | 46 | 22 | 98 |
Denver | 20 | 38 | 26 | 84 |
Miami | 24 | 24 | 26 | 74 |
Houston | 38 | 18 | 14 | 70 |
Pittsburgh | 44 | 18 | 8 | 70 |
NY Giants | 6 | 38 | 24 | 68 |
Atlanta | 18 | 18 | 30 | 66 |
Buffalo | 26 | 20 | 18 | 64 |
Carolina | 18 | 24 | 20 | 62 |
LA Rams | 30 | 26 | 6 | 62 |
San Diego | 20 | 6 | 32 | 58 |
Seattle | 20 | 30 | 8 | 58 |
Indianapolis | 12 | 32 | 12 | 56 |
Jacksonville | 20 | 24 | 12 | 56 |
Tampa Bay | 12 | 18 | 26 | 56 |
Baltimore | 14 | 24 | 14 | 52 |
Detroit | 14 | 16 | 22 | 52 |
Green Bay | 38 | 12 | 0 | 50 |
New England | 30 | 14 | 6 | 50 |
Cleveland | 20 | 18 | 6 | 44 |
Washington | 0 | 32 | 6 | 38 |
Chicago | 12 | 0 | 20 | 32 |
Dallas | 18 | 14 | 0 | 32 |
Tennessee | 12 | 12 | 6 | 30 |
Oakland | 12 | 10 | 6 | 28 |
New Orleans | 4 | 20 | 2 | 26 |
San Francisco | 18 | 6 | 2 | 26 |
Cincinnati | 12 | 6 | 2 | 20 |
NY Jets | 2 | 0 | 6 | 8 |
Remarkable for their ineptitude in this span is the Jets, who have one total defensive or special teams touchdown in the last three seasons. It isn't even easy to give them much credit for that one, an odd play with three minutes left in Week 17 last season where they kicked it off to Buffalo and the Bills failed to field the ball. The Jets fell on it in the end zone for a touchdown.