Earlier this offseason, I published an article with a full season 24 update on ISFL / NSFL scorigami—tracking unique final score combinations in the league’s history. In this companion article, I provide an analysis of scorigami for the developmental league, the DSFL, for the first time. I consider the final scores from all 1,046 regular season and playoff games played in the DSFL since its inception in season 3 through season 24 (pre-season doesn’t count!). Out of these 1,046 games, 392 have ended in unique final score pairs.
This post will present DSFL scorigami and discuss trends in the league’s scorigami over time (seasons). Next, I present the 13 scorigami matches from the most recent season (24). I list out some of the league’s all time most notable scorigami games (based on total score, score differential, etc.) and most notable scorigami teams. I end with a comparison between the DSFL scorigami grid and the ISFL / NSFL scorigami grid.
The Basics
Here is the “classic” scorigami chart for the DSFL (seasons 3 through 24):
We can take the visualization one step further by adding a color gradient that represents the number of times that each score pair has occurred in the DSFL (see below). The darker the green, the more often the final score has occurred. The most common final score is 24-17 having occurred 15 times, including the London Royals’ season 24 Ultimini win over the Norfolk Seawolves. The next most commons scores include 24-7 (having occurred 13 times) and 17-10, 20-14, 24-10, and 24-13 (each having occurred 12 times).
Scorigami across DSFL Seasons
Now let’s consider trends in scorigami over time. Here I graph the number of scorigami achieved each season of the DSFL. Note that the league expanded from 6 teams in season 20 to 8 teams in season 21, adding the London Royals and the Dallas Birddogs. So to standardize for comparison across seasons with different numbers of games, I also graph the proportion of games played in a season that result in scorigami.
Early seasons of the league have the greatest number and proportion of scores that result in scorigami, since there were fewer incumbent scores to fill in the scorigami chart. We see a relatively steady decline in the frequency of scorigami as the league progresses, with the percentage of games resulting in scorigami hovering around 20% since the league expansion in season 21.
In season 24, 22% of all games played in the DSFL resulted in scorigami, adding 13 new score pairs to the chart. To see where these scores fell, I have included a chart below with each score pair colored by the season in which they were first achieved. The thirteen bright yellow tiles scores are those achieved for the first time this season.
New DSFL Scorigami in Season 24
Now let’s relive the 13 matches that added new scorigami to the DSFL chart just this past season.
The first scorigami of season 24 came in week 2, when the Tijuana Luchadores scored 22 points at home to the Myrtle Beach Buccaneers’ 6 points. The teams traded possession throughout most of the first quarter with the Luchadores breaking the ice with a field goal to go up 3-0 by the start of the second quarter. The Buccaneers quickly countered with a field goal of their own. The Luchadores drove down the field to score a touchdown, but a missed extra point by Burton put the game on the map for a scorigami finish. Burton redeemed himself with another field goal for the Luchadores, which made Bloomfield’s missed 56 yard attempt to end the half that much more painful. Let’s be fair, that’s a long kick for a DSFL kicker. The Buccaneers were not able to rally during the second half and scored only one more field goal and allowing the Luchadors 10 points (touchdown plus field goal).
Week 3 saw two scorigami matches. The first was a home field overtime win by the Kansas City Coyotes: 41-35 over the Luchadores. The game started out ugly as the Luchadores worked their way down the field for an opening drive touchdown, helped along the way by four Coyote penalties. It was almost like the sim got confused and thought the Coyotes were the away team. But, the Coyotes were able to tie it up by the end of the first quarter. The second quarter saw 14 unanswered points in the form of two touchdowns for the Luchadores, who had a solid 21-7 lead at half time. Something rallied those Coyotes in the locker room at halftime and they came out to start the third quarter with a touchdown, followed by two more to take the lead. The Luchadores answered with two additional touchdown of their own, retaking the lead, only to give up another touchdown to the Coyotes. An interception by Griddle on the Coyotes looked like it would seal the fate of the Luchadores, but the 44-yard field goal by Thomason at the end of the fourth quarter was no good, sending the game into overtime. The Luchadores received the kickoff at the start of halftime, but gave up another interception to Griddle on their first set of downs that was run back for a touchdown, immediately handing the 41-35 win to the Coyotes.
The second scorigami match of week 3 was a close victory by the Minnesota Grey Ducks visiting the Portland Pythons: 19-15. Neither team delivered a strong offensive performance with the Grey Ducks having the only touchdown of the game and otherwise scoring 4 field goals. The Pythons never made it to the endzone, having to settle for 5 field goals that were not enough to win them the game.
There were two additional scorigami matches in week 4. The first was another Grey Ducks victory, this one at home over the Luchadores. The game went awry for the Luchadores almost from the beginning; the second play of the game was a fumble turnover by Howlett, that led to an early Grey Ducks field goal. Both teams were able to rack up the points, with the Luchadores scoring three field goals and the Grey Ducks a single touchdown to bring the score to 10-9 at the half. Despite trading possession with back-to-back interceptions at the start of the second half, both teams continued to score with the Grey Ducks scoring a touchdown and field goal in each of the third and fourth quarters. The Luchadores scored a field goal and a touchdown to close the Grey Duck lead to a single score. As the game clock ran down, the Luchadores drove for one last time to the endzone. Taking a gamble, went for two to win the game outright rather than take it into overtime, but were unable to successfully convert.
The second week 4 scorigami was the Python’s 38-24 victory against the Coyotes. The Pythons dominated the game scoring one field goal and five touchdowns (one after an interception by Smith). Despite the interception, the Coyotes offense put up three touchdowns and a field goal but their defense were unable to keep the Pythons out of the end zone. A sad loss for the hometown fans.
Now two scorigami in a single week is exciting, but three scorigami in a single week (when only four games are played) is something extra special! And that’s exactly what happened in week 8. The Dallas Birddogs had an 18-10 home field victory against the Luchadores, the London Royals beat out the Grey Ducks 24-15, and the Pythons outscored the Norfolk Seawolves 21-9.
The Birddog-Luchadores match was almost destined to be scorigami from the start, with the third play of the match ending in a safety for the Birddogs. Through the rest of the first half, the Birddogs scored two field goals to the Luchadores’ one for a 8-3 score at halftime. The second half remained relatively low scoring, with the Birddogs securing another field goal and a touchdown and the Luchadores getting only one touchdown.
The Royals-Grey Ducks match was more typical, but still ended in a score combination that had not yet occurred in the league. The Grey Ducks, despite being the away team, had a good showing in the first half scoring a touchdown and two field goals to the Royals’ single field goal and touchdown. However, two touchdowns in quick succession for the Royals to start the second half (one after an interception by Jones) turned the tide for the Royals, who kept the Grey Ducks from reaching the endzone in the second half. The Grey Ducks were able to put up two points in the fourth quarter with a clutch safety, but it wasn’t enough to tip the scales in their favor.
The third and final scorigami of the week came with the Python’s 21-9 victory over the Seawolves. Each team put up points three times during the game, but the Pythons with their touchdowns outstripped the Seawolves’ field goals.
Having been left out of the scorigami fun the previous week, the Coyotes emerged the victors of a scorigami the following week (9) against the Birddogs. The Coyotes at home were relentless, scoring one touchdown each quarter of the game. The Birddogs were unable to break through in the first half, but put up two touchdowns in the third quarter and a field goal in the fourth to cut down the lead. With three minutes left in the game, they scored another touchdown and but were unable to complete the two-point conversion. And the Coyotes were able to run out the clock for the close win.
One scorigami occurred in week 10 with the Grey Duck’s 16-15 victory over the Pythons. In the first half, each team scored a touchdown and a field goal apiece, but the Pythons went into halftime with a 2-point lead thanks to a safety off of a sack by McBobby. The second half saw the teams exchanging drives with little headway in the red zone to show for it but field goals. But the Grey Ducks eked out a win with a final ball through the uprights to outscore the Pythons’ banked safety by 1.
The next scorigami of the season came in a relatively high-scoring game in week 13. The Birddogs put up 34 points to the Buccaneers’ 29. The first quarter was not kind to the Birddogs, who gave up an early interception for a touchdown followed directly by a safety. The teams traded touchdowns to end the first quarter 7-16 with the Buccaneers having a comfortable lead. However the Birddogs rallied in the second quarter, putting up two more touchdowns and holding the Buccaneers to two field goals to go into halftime down only one point. The teams traded touchdowns in the third quarter, with the Buccaneers still having a one-point edge. However, the Bulldogs dominated the fourth quarter pinning the Buccaneers offense to their side of the field and bringing home the win with two more field goals.
In week 14 there was one additional scorigami with the Buccaneers slaughtering the Grey Ducks 54-10. Really nothing went right for the Grey Ducks during this match, who could not keep the Buccaneers out of endzone. Buccaneers rubbed salt in the wound ending the Grey Ducks’ final drive of the game in a sack for a safety: Goat Tank style!
The final scorigami of the season came during the playoffs in the NFC championships game between the Royals and the Pythons. The Royals with home field advantage took the lead in the first quarter with a 53-yard field goal by Fencik. The Pythons countered with a field goal in the second quarter, but the Royals answered with a field goal and a touch down (with a missed extra point) to go into halftime up 12-3. The second half got off to a slow start with a scoreless third quarter after which the Royals put up another 10 unanswered points. Overall, it just looked like the Pythons never recovered from their jetlag, so the low losing score and the missed extra point attempt made this a natural scorigami. (The Royals then went on to win the Ultimini against the Seawolves with the most common score pair in the league: 24-17).
Most Notable DSFL Scorigami of All Time
So there has been some great scorigami added to the books this past season, but none have been quite so crazy as the league’s most notable scorigami of all time. Here I list out some of the outliers in the DSFL scorigami, setting records for most unique of all of the unique scores:
Most recent Ultimini scorigami: It’s always extra exciting when scorigami happens during the final title battle of the playoffs. This hasn’t happened for some time, with the most recent Ultimini scorigami being from season 15, when the Solar Bears beat the Pythons 37 to 17 to take home the title.
Highest point differential scorigami: The scorigami with the highest point differential (of 51) came in week 11 of season 16 between two defunct franchises. The San Antonio Marshals mustered a 51-0 home field shutout victory against the Palm Beach Solar Bears to make DSFL scorigami history.
Highest winning team score scorigami: There are two scorigami games tied for the title of highest winning team score scorigami, each with the winning team scoring 57 points. The first came in week 6 of season 9 when the Pythons scored 57 points against the Seawolves, who only put up 24 points. The second came in week 9 of season 19 when the Buccaneers scored 57 points again against the Seawolves for a unique 57-13 victory.
Highest total score scorigami (and highest losing team score scorigami): The highest total score game in league history (at a total of 82) also takes the title for highest losing team score scorigami. This title goes to the season 7, week 14 match up between the Pythons and the Coyotes. The Python scored 44 points at home, managing to win by six points against a Coyotes team that put up 38 points (the most ever by a losing team in the league).
Lowest total score scorigami: For this category we again have a tie between two scorigami matches that both ended in 10 points (the lowest total score in league history). The first of these two games occurred in week 1 of season 5 when the Luchadores shutout the Coyotes for a 10-0 win. The second occurred the next season (week 10, season 6) with a 7-3 victory by the Pythons over the Solar Bears.
Finally, it’s natural to wonder which team in the league appears the most often in scorigami matches. For this, I only consider the scorigami performance of teams since the season 21 DSFL expansion to provide a level playing field. For all games in seasons 21 through 24, two teams appear most often in scorigami matches: the Luchadores and the Grey Ducks (each 15 times). Two teams lead the league in scorigami match wins: the Buccaneers and the Grey Ducks (each with 8). But when considering proportion of scorigami matches won, the title goes to the Buccaneers who won 8 out of 11 (or nearly 73%) of their scorigami matches (to the Grey Ducks’ 53%). So it looks like the Buccaneers are the greatest beneficiaries of scorigami games. And the greatest losers of scorigami games were the Pythons (losing 8 out of their 12 scorigami appearances, or 67%) and the Luchadores (losing 9 of their 15 scorigami appearances, or 60%).
DSFL Scorigami versus ISFL / NSFL Scorigami
Finally, I thought it would be exciting to take a look at how the DSFL scorigami grid compares to the scorigami grid of the ISFL / NSFL (see below). In the figure, there are 85 purple tiles representing scores that have occurred in the DSFL but not in the ISFL / NSFL, 278 light green tiles representing scores that have occurred in the ISFL / NSFL but not in the DSFL, and 307 dark green tiles (the two colors overlapping) representing scores that have occurred in both leagues. A reminder that the leagues have not played the same number of games, with the ISFL / NSFL having more matches (and hence chance for scorigamis) given its two additional seasons and greater number of teams.
From visual inspection, there are a few interesting trends that can be gleaned from the comparison. It appears that scorigami that have occurred in the DSFL but not in the ISFL / NSFL include many tie scores (right along the diagonal) and other odd, but lower scoring combinations. On the other hand, many scorigami that have occurred in the ISFL / NSFL but not in the DSFL involve fairly high scores for the winning team or overall (including a crop of close match-ups where the winning and losing teams both scored more than 30 points). Strangely, while both leagues have seen their share of shutout victories (where the losing team scores zero points), there is little overlap in the winning team score in these scorigami games between the leagues.
While both leagues use the same sim and operate under the same rule set, the fact that the DSFL has a TPE cap and includes many new players means that their games do tend to be more evenly matched, resulting in lower or more symmetric score pairs. While there are of course many exceptions to this rule, there is clearly higher variance in the ISFL / NSFL scores than those of the DSFL.
In addition, this chart gives a good idea of where there is still room for scorigami overall, and in each league. Looking at losing team scores (rows), for example, shows that there is no game in either league’s history in which the losing team scored only two points (a safety) or four points (two safeties or one field goal and a single point on a kickoff safety). 8 and 11 points for the losing team are also uncommon, although there have been a few particularly in the DSFL. Looking at winning team scores (columns), we see that games with winning team scores of 18, 25, or 32 are relatively rare compared to other winning team scores below 40. There are also many ties still left available in both leagues, but particularly within the ISFL.
Data and Methods
Data scraped from the DSFL index “Weekly Results” pages (as a .csv) and analysis code (as an R-markdown file) are available on github.
This post will present DSFL scorigami and discuss trends in the league’s scorigami over time (seasons). Next, I present the 13 scorigami matches from the most recent season (24). I list out some of the league’s all time most notable scorigami games (based on total score, score differential, etc.) and most notable scorigami teams. I end with a comparison between the DSFL scorigami grid and the ISFL / NSFL scorigami grid.
The Basics
Here is the “classic” scorigami chart for the DSFL (seasons 3 through 24):
We can take the visualization one step further by adding a color gradient that represents the number of times that each score pair has occurred in the DSFL (see below). The darker the green, the more often the final score has occurred. The most common final score is 24-17 having occurred 15 times, including the London Royals’ season 24 Ultimini win over the Norfolk Seawolves. The next most commons scores include 24-7 (having occurred 13 times) and 17-10, 20-14, 24-10, and 24-13 (each having occurred 12 times).
Scorigami across DSFL Seasons
Now let’s consider trends in scorigami over time. Here I graph the number of scorigami achieved each season of the DSFL. Note that the league expanded from 6 teams in season 20 to 8 teams in season 21, adding the London Royals and the Dallas Birddogs. So to standardize for comparison across seasons with different numbers of games, I also graph the proportion of games played in a season that result in scorigami.
Early seasons of the league have the greatest number and proportion of scores that result in scorigami, since there were fewer incumbent scores to fill in the scorigami chart. We see a relatively steady decline in the frequency of scorigami as the league progresses, with the percentage of games resulting in scorigami hovering around 20% since the league expansion in season 21.
In season 24, 22% of all games played in the DSFL resulted in scorigami, adding 13 new score pairs to the chart. To see where these scores fell, I have included a chart below with each score pair colored by the season in which they were first achieved. The thirteen bright yellow tiles scores are those achieved for the first time this season.
New DSFL Scorigami in Season 24
Now let’s relive the 13 matches that added new scorigami to the DSFL chart just this past season.
The first scorigami of season 24 came in week 2, when the Tijuana Luchadores scored 22 points at home to the Myrtle Beach Buccaneers’ 6 points. The teams traded possession throughout most of the first quarter with the Luchadores breaking the ice with a field goal to go up 3-0 by the start of the second quarter. The Buccaneers quickly countered with a field goal of their own. The Luchadores drove down the field to score a touchdown, but a missed extra point by Burton put the game on the map for a scorigami finish. Burton redeemed himself with another field goal for the Luchadores, which made Bloomfield’s missed 56 yard attempt to end the half that much more painful. Let’s be fair, that’s a long kick for a DSFL kicker. The Buccaneers were not able to rally during the second half and scored only one more field goal and allowing the Luchadors 10 points (touchdown plus field goal).
Week 3 saw two scorigami matches. The first was a home field overtime win by the Kansas City Coyotes: 41-35 over the Luchadores. The game started out ugly as the Luchadores worked their way down the field for an opening drive touchdown, helped along the way by four Coyote penalties. It was almost like the sim got confused and thought the Coyotes were the away team. But, the Coyotes were able to tie it up by the end of the first quarter. The second quarter saw 14 unanswered points in the form of two touchdowns for the Luchadores, who had a solid 21-7 lead at half time. Something rallied those Coyotes in the locker room at halftime and they came out to start the third quarter with a touchdown, followed by two more to take the lead. The Luchadores answered with two additional touchdown of their own, retaking the lead, only to give up another touchdown to the Coyotes. An interception by Griddle on the Coyotes looked like it would seal the fate of the Luchadores, but the 44-yard field goal by Thomason at the end of the fourth quarter was no good, sending the game into overtime. The Luchadores received the kickoff at the start of halftime, but gave up another interception to Griddle on their first set of downs that was run back for a touchdown, immediately handing the 41-35 win to the Coyotes.
The second scorigami match of week 3 was a close victory by the Minnesota Grey Ducks visiting the Portland Pythons: 19-15. Neither team delivered a strong offensive performance with the Grey Ducks having the only touchdown of the game and otherwise scoring 4 field goals. The Pythons never made it to the endzone, having to settle for 5 field goals that were not enough to win them the game.
There were two additional scorigami matches in week 4. The first was another Grey Ducks victory, this one at home over the Luchadores. The game went awry for the Luchadores almost from the beginning; the second play of the game was a fumble turnover by Howlett, that led to an early Grey Ducks field goal. Both teams were able to rack up the points, with the Luchadores scoring three field goals and the Grey Ducks a single touchdown to bring the score to 10-9 at the half. Despite trading possession with back-to-back interceptions at the start of the second half, both teams continued to score with the Grey Ducks scoring a touchdown and field goal in each of the third and fourth quarters. The Luchadores scored a field goal and a touchdown to close the Grey Duck lead to a single score. As the game clock ran down, the Luchadores drove for one last time to the endzone. Taking a gamble, went for two to win the game outright rather than take it into overtime, but were unable to successfully convert.
The second week 4 scorigami was the Python’s 38-24 victory against the Coyotes. The Pythons dominated the game scoring one field goal and five touchdowns (one after an interception by Smith). Despite the interception, the Coyotes offense put up three touchdowns and a field goal but their defense were unable to keep the Pythons out of the end zone. A sad loss for the hometown fans.
Now two scorigami in a single week is exciting, but three scorigami in a single week (when only four games are played) is something extra special! And that’s exactly what happened in week 8. The Dallas Birddogs had an 18-10 home field victory against the Luchadores, the London Royals beat out the Grey Ducks 24-15, and the Pythons outscored the Norfolk Seawolves 21-9.
The Birddog-Luchadores match was almost destined to be scorigami from the start, with the third play of the match ending in a safety for the Birddogs. Through the rest of the first half, the Birddogs scored two field goals to the Luchadores’ one for a 8-3 score at halftime. The second half remained relatively low scoring, with the Birddogs securing another field goal and a touchdown and the Luchadores getting only one touchdown.
The Royals-Grey Ducks match was more typical, but still ended in a score combination that had not yet occurred in the league. The Grey Ducks, despite being the away team, had a good showing in the first half scoring a touchdown and two field goals to the Royals’ single field goal and touchdown. However, two touchdowns in quick succession for the Royals to start the second half (one after an interception by Jones) turned the tide for the Royals, who kept the Grey Ducks from reaching the endzone in the second half. The Grey Ducks were able to put up two points in the fourth quarter with a clutch safety, but it wasn’t enough to tip the scales in their favor.
The third and final scorigami of the week came with the Python’s 21-9 victory over the Seawolves. Each team put up points three times during the game, but the Pythons with their touchdowns outstripped the Seawolves’ field goals.
Having been left out of the scorigami fun the previous week, the Coyotes emerged the victors of a scorigami the following week (9) against the Birddogs. The Coyotes at home were relentless, scoring one touchdown each quarter of the game. The Birddogs were unable to break through in the first half, but put up two touchdowns in the third quarter and a field goal in the fourth to cut down the lead. With three minutes left in the game, they scored another touchdown and but were unable to complete the two-point conversion. And the Coyotes were able to run out the clock for the close win.
One scorigami occurred in week 10 with the Grey Duck’s 16-15 victory over the Pythons. In the first half, each team scored a touchdown and a field goal apiece, but the Pythons went into halftime with a 2-point lead thanks to a safety off of a sack by McBobby. The second half saw the teams exchanging drives with little headway in the red zone to show for it but field goals. But the Grey Ducks eked out a win with a final ball through the uprights to outscore the Pythons’ banked safety by 1.
The next scorigami of the season came in a relatively high-scoring game in week 13. The Birddogs put up 34 points to the Buccaneers’ 29. The first quarter was not kind to the Birddogs, who gave up an early interception for a touchdown followed directly by a safety. The teams traded touchdowns to end the first quarter 7-16 with the Buccaneers having a comfortable lead. However the Birddogs rallied in the second quarter, putting up two more touchdowns and holding the Buccaneers to two field goals to go into halftime down only one point. The teams traded touchdowns in the third quarter, with the Buccaneers still having a one-point edge. However, the Bulldogs dominated the fourth quarter pinning the Buccaneers offense to their side of the field and bringing home the win with two more field goals.
In week 14 there was one additional scorigami with the Buccaneers slaughtering the Grey Ducks 54-10. Really nothing went right for the Grey Ducks during this match, who could not keep the Buccaneers out of endzone. Buccaneers rubbed salt in the wound ending the Grey Ducks’ final drive of the game in a sack for a safety: Goat Tank style!
The final scorigami of the season came during the playoffs in the NFC championships game between the Royals and the Pythons. The Royals with home field advantage took the lead in the first quarter with a 53-yard field goal by Fencik. The Pythons countered with a field goal in the second quarter, but the Royals answered with a field goal and a touch down (with a missed extra point) to go into halftime up 12-3. The second half got off to a slow start with a scoreless third quarter after which the Royals put up another 10 unanswered points. Overall, it just looked like the Pythons never recovered from their jetlag, so the low losing score and the missed extra point attempt made this a natural scorigami. (The Royals then went on to win the Ultimini against the Seawolves with the most common score pair in the league: 24-17).
Most Notable DSFL Scorigami of All Time
So there has been some great scorigami added to the books this past season, but none have been quite so crazy as the league’s most notable scorigami of all time. Here I list out some of the outliers in the DSFL scorigami, setting records for most unique of all of the unique scores:
Most recent Ultimini scorigami: It’s always extra exciting when scorigami happens during the final title battle of the playoffs. This hasn’t happened for some time, with the most recent Ultimini scorigami being from season 15, when the Solar Bears beat the Pythons 37 to 17 to take home the title.
Highest point differential scorigami: The scorigami with the highest point differential (of 51) came in week 11 of season 16 between two defunct franchises. The San Antonio Marshals mustered a 51-0 home field shutout victory against the Palm Beach Solar Bears to make DSFL scorigami history.
Highest winning team score scorigami: There are two scorigami games tied for the title of highest winning team score scorigami, each with the winning team scoring 57 points. The first came in week 6 of season 9 when the Pythons scored 57 points against the Seawolves, who only put up 24 points. The second came in week 9 of season 19 when the Buccaneers scored 57 points again against the Seawolves for a unique 57-13 victory.
Highest total score scorigami (and highest losing team score scorigami): The highest total score game in league history (at a total of 82) also takes the title for highest losing team score scorigami. This title goes to the season 7, week 14 match up between the Pythons and the Coyotes. The Python scored 44 points at home, managing to win by six points against a Coyotes team that put up 38 points (the most ever by a losing team in the league).
Lowest total score scorigami: For this category we again have a tie between two scorigami matches that both ended in 10 points (the lowest total score in league history). The first of these two games occurred in week 1 of season 5 when the Luchadores shutout the Coyotes for a 10-0 win. The second occurred the next season (week 10, season 6) with a 7-3 victory by the Pythons over the Solar Bears.
Finally, it’s natural to wonder which team in the league appears the most often in scorigami matches. For this, I only consider the scorigami performance of teams since the season 21 DSFL expansion to provide a level playing field. For all games in seasons 21 through 24, two teams appear most often in scorigami matches: the Luchadores and the Grey Ducks (each 15 times). Two teams lead the league in scorigami match wins: the Buccaneers and the Grey Ducks (each with 8). But when considering proportion of scorigami matches won, the title goes to the Buccaneers who won 8 out of 11 (or nearly 73%) of their scorigami matches (to the Grey Ducks’ 53%). So it looks like the Buccaneers are the greatest beneficiaries of scorigami games. And the greatest losers of scorigami games were the Pythons (losing 8 out of their 12 scorigami appearances, or 67%) and the Luchadores (losing 9 of their 15 scorigami appearances, or 60%).
DSFL Scorigami versus ISFL / NSFL Scorigami
Finally, I thought it would be exciting to take a look at how the DSFL scorigami grid compares to the scorigami grid of the ISFL / NSFL (see below). In the figure, there are 85 purple tiles representing scores that have occurred in the DSFL but not in the ISFL / NSFL, 278 light green tiles representing scores that have occurred in the ISFL / NSFL but not in the DSFL, and 307 dark green tiles (the two colors overlapping) representing scores that have occurred in both leagues. A reminder that the leagues have not played the same number of games, with the ISFL / NSFL having more matches (and hence chance for scorigamis) given its two additional seasons and greater number of teams.
From visual inspection, there are a few interesting trends that can be gleaned from the comparison. It appears that scorigami that have occurred in the DSFL but not in the ISFL / NSFL include many tie scores (right along the diagonal) and other odd, but lower scoring combinations. On the other hand, many scorigami that have occurred in the ISFL / NSFL but not in the DSFL involve fairly high scores for the winning team or overall (including a crop of close match-ups where the winning and losing teams both scored more than 30 points). Strangely, while both leagues have seen their share of shutout victories (where the losing team scores zero points), there is little overlap in the winning team score in these scorigami games between the leagues.
While both leagues use the same sim and operate under the same rule set, the fact that the DSFL has a TPE cap and includes many new players means that their games do tend to be more evenly matched, resulting in lower or more symmetric score pairs. While there are of course many exceptions to this rule, there is clearly higher variance in the ISFL / NSFL scores than those of the DSFL.
In addition, this chart gives a good idea of where there is still room for scorigami overall, and in each league. Looking at losing team scores (rows), for example, shows that there is no game in either league’s history in which the losing team scored only two points (a safety) or four points (two safeties or one field goal and a single point on a kickoff safety). 8 and 11 points for the losing team are also uncommon, although there have been a few particularly in the DSFL. Looking at winning team scores (columns), we see that games with winning team scores of 18, 25, or 32 are relatively rare compared to other winning team scores below 40. There are also many ties still left available in both leagues, but particularly within the ISFL.
Data and Methods
Data scraped from the DSFL index “Weekly Results” pages (as a .csv) and analysis code (as an R-markdown file) are available on github.