inca911
Footballguy
Here's an article I wrote that didn't make the cut this year. There are many actual scoring examples below that you can use to see if your league rules cover the odd plays that occur every year in the NFL. If this article helps someone patch some holes in the rules of their league before problems occur, then it'll have been worth the effort.
Comprehensive League Scoring Rules Article
Introduction
It happens almost every year, an amazing NFL play that makes it to #1 on the ESPN Plays of the Week, and causes controversy in fantasy leagues across the nation. Let’s flash-back to October 06, 2003 for a famous play that most of us have seen. It’s Week 5 of the NFL season, and Keenan McCardell and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are hosting the Indianapolis Colts on Monday Night Football. One of the classic comeback games in recent NFL history. Late in the first quarter, Bucs QB Brad Johnson’s pass is intercepted by the Colts’ Mike Doss, who then fumbles the ball back to the Bucs’ Keenan McCardell, who runs 57 yards to the end zone for a TD. Across the board, different fantasy football sites score the play differently. Some sites award points to the Bucs D/ST unit for the score, others give McCardell the points. Some give the Colts D/ST unit the points for the INT and take away points for the fumble, while others give just the points for the INT. In short, it’s fantasy football chaos.
Without a set of comprehensive scoring rules, this kind of play can create havoc in a league, even causing arguments between friends who interpret the existing scoring rules slightly differently. Many a league has ended up dissolving over differences in rules interpretations that can be easily avoided. This article provides a set of comprehensive rules designed to address the various scoring issues that have been encountered by fantasy football leagues over the past twenty years. The intent of this article is not to define one set of rules for all leagues; rather the intent is to provide an example that a league can use to develop a complete set of their own rules that address the wide variety of issues that are the cause of so many problems.
Scoring Rules
General Scoring Principles
Player scoring has a total lower limit of zero points. Rushing yards, receiving yards, passing yards, and receptions will use decimal scoring (e.g., 0.9 points per 9 receiving yards, 0.5 points for each reception, -0.2 points for -2 rushing yards). In the event of any scoring scenarios not accounted for in the rules defined below, the league agrees to abide by the statistical decisions made by the NFL reflected in the boxscores on NFL.com. Scoring may be corrected if all of the following criteria are met:
1. The NFL officially changes the statistics as reflected in the boxscores on NFL.com
2. The issue is brought to the commissioner's attention prior the kickoff of the first game of the following week (i.e., all Week 10 scores are final at the kickoff of the first Week 11 game)
Note that “Defense” and “Offense” are based on ball possession at the start of the play and do not change during a play as a result of change in possession (i.e., the Bears Offense fumbles, the Falcons Defense recovers, the Falcons Defense re-fumbles, the Bears Offense recovers).
Offensive Scoring (includes Kickers):
Offensive Scoring includes all offensive positions (e.g., a Kicker can be credited for a passing TD and yardage from a fake field goal). Yardage from any Offensive player lateral during a rushing play is considered rushing yardage. Yardage from any Offensive player lateral during a passing play is considered reception yardage. Yardage gained after recovery of a fumble is considered rushing yardage. Scoring by an Offensive player as a result of recovery of a ball in the end zone is considered a rushing TD. A player can complete a pass to himself, and gets credit for both passing and receiving stats as a result (1997 Brad Johnson Rule). Special Teams play is not counted as Offensive Scoring for any individual player (e.g., Devin Hester does not get points for a kickoff return for a TD, only the Bears DST unit receives points), and fake punts and field goals are not considered part of Special Teams scoring, only regular Offensive Scoring.
Offensive Scoring:
Passing Yards (decimal) = 1 point for every 20 yards (0.05 points per yard)
Passing TD = 4 points
Rushing or Receiving Yards (decimal) = 1 point for every 10 yards (0.1 points per yard)
Rushing or Receiving TD = 6 points
Receptions (decimal)= 0.5 points per reception (RB and others), 1.0 point per reception (WR), 1.5 points per reception (TE)
Passing Two Point Conversion = 1 point
Rushing Two Point Conversion = 2 points
Receiving Two Point Conversion = 2 points
Passing Interception = -2 points
Fumble Lost = -2 points
Field Goal: < 40 yards = 3 points
Field Goal: 40 - 49 yards = 4 points
Field Goal: >= 50 yards = 5 points
Extra Point = 1 point
Player scores TD after changes in possession (2003 Keenan McCardell Rule) = 6 points (same as Rushing TD)
Defensive and Special Team Scoring:
Defensive or Special Team TD (includes TD resulting from blocked punt, blocked field goal, recovery of a muffed kick, and return of a missed field goal) = 4 points
Interception = 2 points
Fumble recovery from opponent offense (includes offensive fumble into the end zone resulting in defensive recovery and touchback, and includes when a ball carrier fumbles the ball within the field of play and the ball is not recovered prior to crossing the end line and being out of play) = 2 points
Safety = 4 points
Sack = 1 point
Blocked Field Goal, includes catching a missed field goal attempt (2002 Chris McAlister rule) = 1 point
Fumble recovery from opponent offense, then lost back to opponent offense (2003 Keenan McCardell Rule) = -2 point (this acts to zero out the points awarded for a fumble recovery, that is then lost again)
Scoring Examples
The following actual examples of NFL plays are provided to assess whether a set of existing rules are adequate. If your rules are clear for all the provided examples, you deserve a round of congratulations!
Week 7, 1997: Brad Johnson drops back from the Panthers’ 3 yard line and passes, but the pass is deflected right back to him by nose tackle Greg Kragen. Brad jukes one LB, picks up a block, and dives forward three yards for a TD:
Brad Johnson: 1 pass attempt, 1 pass completion, 3 passing yards, 1 passing touchdown, 1 reception, 3 receiving yards, 1 receiving touchdown
Week 4, 2002: Chris McAlister (BAL) catches a missed field goal in the back of the end zone and takes it 107 yards for a TD (since surpassed by Antonio Cromartie’s record 109 yard return):
BAL: 1 blocked field goal, 1 defense/special teams TD
Week 3, 2003: Jamal Lewis (BAL) fumbles the ball and his teammate Alan Ricard (BAL) picks it up and goes 50 yards for a TD.
Jamal Lewis: 1 carry, 0 yards, 1 fumble
Alan Ricard: 0 carries, 50 rushing yards, 1 rushing TD
Week 7, 2003: Daunte Culpepper (MIN) completes a pass to Randy Moss (MIN), who goes 44 yards before he laterals the ball to Moe Williams (MIN), who goes the final 15 yards for a TD.
Daunte Culpepper: 1 pass attempt, 1 pass completion, 59 passing yards, 1 passing TD
Randy Moss: 1 reception, 44 receiving yards
Moe Williams: 0 receptions, 15 receiving yards, 1 receiving TD
Week 16, 2003: Aaron Brooks (NO) completes a 42 yard pass to Donte' Stallworth (NO). Stallworth laterals to Michael Lewis (NO) who goes 7 yards. Lewis laterals to Deuce McAllister (NO) who goes 5 yards. McAllister laterals to Jerome Pathon (NO) who carries another 21 yards for a TD.
Aaron Brooks: 1 pass attempt, 1 pass completion, 75 passing yards, 1 passing TD
Donte’ Stallworth: 1 reception, 42 receiving yards
Michael Lewis: 0 receptions, 7 receiving yards
Deuce McAllister: 0 receptions, 5 receiving yards
Jerome Pathon: 0 receptions, 21 receiving yards, 1 receiving TD
Roster Rules
Team Roster
Each week, Owners will select players from their roster to fill the required positions. Positions are defined based on player data on the NFL.com website. Note that this player definition prevents issues such as Yahoo’s listing Marques Colston as a TE in 2006, even though Colston wore #12, and TEs are limited by NFL numbering regulations to only jersey numbers 80-89, or 20-49 when those numbers are not available:
Team QB
The “Team QB” option means that all QB points for a given team are added to determine the scoring for the QB roster position. Scoring for the QB position does not include points from passing plays that occur as a direct snap to a non-QB player in the backfield. Note that the NFL quarterback position as defined by player data on the NFL.com website is currently limited to players wearing jersey numbers 1 through 19.
Conclusion
Investing the time and energy needed to create a comprehensive set of scoring rules is like buying insurance, you hope you never have a need for it, but when you do you are very glad that you are covered. Hopefully the information in this article will fill in some of the holes in the rules of existing leagues, and prevent problems in the future.
Comprehensive League Scoring Rules Article
Introduction
It happens almost every year, an amazing NFL play that makes it to #1 on the ESPN Plays of the Week, and causes controversy in fantasy leagues across the nation. Let’s flash-back to October 06, 2003 for a famous play that most of us have seen. It’s Week 5 of the NFL season, and Keenan McCardell and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are hosting the Indianapolis Colts on Monday Night Football. One of the classic comeback games in recent NFL history. Late in the first quarter, Bucs QB Brad Johnson’s pass is intercepted by the Colts’ Mike Doss, who then fumbles the ball back to the Bucs’ Keenan McCardell, who runs 57 yards to the end zone for a TD. Across the board, different fantasy football sites score the play differently. Some sites award points to the Bucs D/ST unit for the score, others give McCardell the points. Some give the Colts D/ST unit the points for the INT and take away points for the fumble, while others give just the points for the INT. In short, it’s fantasy football chaos.
Without a set of comprehensive scoring rules, this kind of play can create havoc in a league, even causing arguments between friends who interpret the existing scoring rules slightly differently. Many a league has ended up dissolving over differences in rules interpretations that can be easily avoided. This article provides a set of comprehensive rules designed to address the various scoring issues that have been encountered by fantasy football leagues over the past twenty years. The intent of this article is not to define one set of rules for all leagues; rather the intent is to provide an example that a league can use to develop a complete set of their own rules that address the wide variety of issues that are the cause of so many problems.
Scoring Rules
General Scoring Principles
Player scoring has a total lower limit of zero points. Rushing yards, receiving yards, passing yards, and receptions will use decimal scoring (e.g., 0.9 points per 9 receiving yards, 0.5 points for each reception, -0.2 points for -2 rushing yards). In the event of any scoring scenarios not accounted for in the rules defined below, the league agrees to abide by the statistical decisions made by the NFL reflected in the boxscores on NFL.com. Scoring may be corrected if all of the following criteria are met:
1. The NFL officially changes the statistics as reflected in the boxscores on NFL.com
2. The issue is brought to the commissioner's attention prior the kickoff of the first game of the following week (i.e., all Week 10 scores are final at the kickoff of the first Week 11 game)
Note that “Defense” and “Offense” are based on ball possession at the start of the play and do not change during a play as a result of change in possession (i.e., the Bears Offense fumbles, the Falcons Defense recovers, the Falcons Defense re-fumbles, the Bears Offense recovers).
Offensive Scoring (includes Kickers):
Offensive Scoring includes all offensive positions (e.g., a Kicker can be credited for a passing TD and yardage from a fake field goal). Yardage from any Offensive player lateral during a rushing play is considered rushing yardage. Yardage from any Offensive player lateral during a passing play is considered reception yardage. Yardage gained after recovery of a fumble is considered rushing yardage. Scoring by an Offensive player as a result of recovery of a ball in the end zone is considered a rushing TD. A player can complete a pass to himself, and gets credit for both passing and receiving stats as a result (1997 Brad Johnson Rule). Special Teams play is not counted as Offensive Scoring for any individual player (e.g., Devin Hester does not get points for a kickoff return for a TD, only the Bears DST unit receives points), and fake punts and field goals are not considered part of Special Teams scoring, only regular Offensive Scoring.
Offensive Scoring:
Passing Yards (decimal) = 1 point for every 20 yards (0.05 points per yard)
Passing TD = 4 points
Rushing or Receiving Yards (decimal) = 1 point for every 10 yards (0.1 points per yard)
Rushing or Receiving TD = 6 points
Receptions (decimal)= 0.5 points per reception (RB and others), 1.0 point per reception (WR), 1.5 points per reception (TE)
Passing Two Point Conversion = 1 point
Rushing Two Point Conversion = 2 points
Receiving Two Point Conversion = 2 points
Passing Interception = -2 points
Fumble Lost = -2 points
Field Goal: < 40 yards = 3 points
Field Goal: 40 - 49 yards = 4 points
Field Goal: >= 50 yards = 5 points
Extra Point = 1 point
Player scores TD after changes in possession (2003 Keenan McCardell Rule) = 6 points (same as Rushing TD)
Defensive and Special Team Scoring:
Defensive or Special Team TD (includes TD resulting from blocked punt, blocked field goal, recovery of a muffed kick, and return of a missed field goal) = 4 points
Interception = 2 points
Fumble recovery from opponent offense (includes offensive fumble into the end zone resulting in defensive recovery and touchback, and includes when a ball carrier fumbles the ball within the field of play and the ball is not recovered prior to crossing the end line and being out of play) = 2 points
Safety = 4 points
Sack = 1 point
Blocked Field Goal, includes catching a missed field goal attempt (2002 Chris McAlister rule) = 1 point
Fumble recovery from opponent offense, then lost back to opponent offense (2003 Keenan McCardell Rule) = -2 point (this acts to zero out the points awarded for a fumble recovery, that is then lost again)
Scoring Examples
The following actual examples of NFL plays are provided to assess whether a set of existing rules are adequate. If your rules are clear for all the provided examples, you deserve a round of congratulations!
Week 7, 1997: Brad Johnson drops back from the Panthers’ 3 yard line and passes, but the pass is deflected right back to him by nose tackle Greg Kragen. Brad jukes one LB, picks up a block, and dives forward three yards for a TD:
Brad Johnson: 1 pass attempt, 1 pass completion, 3 passing yards, 1 passing touchdown, 1 reception, 3 receiving yards, 1 receiving touchdown
Week 4, 2002: Chris McAlister (BAL) catches a missed field goal in the back of the end zone and takes it 107 yards for a TD (since surpassed by Antonio Cromartie’s record 109 yard return):
BAL: 1 blocked field goal, 1 defense/special teams TD
Week 3, 2003: Jamal Lewis (BAL) fumbles the ball and his teammate Alan Ricard (BAL) picks it up and goes 50 yards for a TD.
Jamal Lewis: 1 carry, 0 yards, 1 fumble
Alan Ricard: 0 carries, 50 rushing yards, 1 rushing TD
Week 7, 2003: Daunte Culpepper (MIN) completes a pass to Randy Moss (MIN), who goes 44 yards before he laterals the ball to Moe Williams (MIN), who goes the final 15 yards for a TD.
Daunte Culpepper: 1 pass attempt, 1 pass completion, 59 passing yards, 1 passing TD
Randy Moss: 1 reception, 44 receiving yards
Moe Williams: 0 receptions, 15 receiving yards, 1 receiving TD
Week 16, 2003: Aaron Brooks (NO) completes a 42 yard pass to Donte' Stallworth (NO). Stallworth laterals to Michael Lewis (NO) who goes 7 yards. Lewis laterals to Deuce McAllister (NO) who goes 5 yards. McAllister laterals to Jerome Pathon (NO) who carries another 21 yards for a TD.
Aaron Brooks: 1 pass attempt, 1 pass completion, 75 passing yards, 1 passing TD
Donte’ Stallworth: 1 reception, 42 receiving yards
Michael Lewis: 0 receptions, 7 receiving yards
Deuce McAllister: 0 receptions, 5 receiving yards
Jerome Pathon: 0 receptions, 21 receiving yards, 1 receiving TD
Roster Rules
Team Roster
Each week, Owners will select players from their roster to fill the required positions. Positions are defined based on player data on the NFL.com website. Note that this player definition prevents issues such as Yahoo’s listing Marques Colston as a TE in 2006, even though Colston wore #12, and TEs are limited by NFL numbering regulations to only jersey numbers 80-89, or 20-49 when those numbers are not available:
Team QB
The “Team QB” option means that all QB points for a given team are added to determine the scoring for the QB roster position. Scoring for the QB position does not include points from passing plays that occur as a direct snap to a non-QB player in the backfield. Note that the NFL quarterback position as defined by player data on the NFL.com website is currently limited to players wearing jersey numbers 1 through 19.
Conclusion
Investing the time and energy needed to create a comprehensive set of scoring rules is like buying insurance, you hope you never have a need for it, but when you do you are very glad that you are covered. Hopefully the information in this article will fill in some of the holes in the rules of existing leagues, and prevent problems in the future.
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