2021 NFL season, Week 1: Trend to monitor, impact of Ravens' injuries and favorite projections

 Happy 2021 NFL season!



NFL franchises use contextualized data to create competitive advantages. In order to realize an edge, teams need to employ the right data in the right way at the right time. This means distilling, interpreting and applying only the most influential data in a framework that accounts for their personnel, their opponents and their evolving game situations. My goal is to be your analytics department. Each week this season, I'm giving you a peek into which numbers flag in my models as the most impactful ... or the most misunderstood.


This column will follow the format of: one trend to monitor, one news story through the lens of analytics and a couple of my favorite, or least favorite, projections.


As always, let me know if your eye test is picking up on something interesting, or if there's a stat or trend you'd like me to look more deeply into. You can hit me up on Twitter @cfrelund. As with any great analytics department, the more collaborative this is, the more value we can create.

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