Oakland Raiders: Hanging in There, a Measure of Stamina

Let us define a measure of stamina in the following way. Look at the last four games in the season. Assign five to a win, and zero to a loss. Then, aggregate the data for 2004-2009.

Here is the data in a comparison between the Oakland Raiders and the Denver Broncos.

Broncos (last four games for each season)

Raiders (last four games for each season)

If this model is used to measure stamina, then the observations (descriptive) that can be made are:

1. Oakland's stamina exceeded that of the Broncos during the last four games in 2008 and 2009.

2. During the last four games in the seasons spanning 2004 to 2009, it looks like the Broncos are steadily losing their stamina.

The sequence for the Broncos is: 15, 20, 10, 10, 5, 0 (from 2004 to 2009)

The sequence for Oakland is: 5, 0, 0, 0, 10, 5 (from 2004 to 2009)

Where did I get the idea of attempting to measure stamina of a team during the last four games? Well, having met a marathon runner a few weeks ago, it just made sense to at least conjecture what could be a "rough" measure of the stamina of a team near the end of the season.

When you compare the Oakland Raiders with the Denver Broncos, focusing only on the last four games of 2007 to 2009, it looks like there is not much difference in stamina, according to this model. Those sequences are 10, 5, 0 for the Broncos and 0, 10, 5 for the Raiders.

However, you may notice that there is a steady (for the last three entries) decrease in stamina for the Broncos using this measure. For example, notice that the sequence is 20, 10, 10, 5, 0.

On the otherhand, this measure of stamina yields an increase for Oakland: 0, 10, and then a decrease to 5. Note, however, that the five for the Raiders is greater than the zero for the last four games of 2009 for the Broncos.

This is a local analysis for a short time interval. Yet, there is a recognizable pattern.

Another pattern is evident. What do you have to say about it?

And finally, for a global view of the two franchises, taking note of their total wins for each season from 1978 to 2009, see chart below.

Observe the periods of dominance for both Oakland and the Broncos. What do you see, looking at the situation globally?

Go Raiders! Hang in there to the bitter end!