Star fullback Larry Csonka left the Miami Dolphins in 1975 for the new World Football League. He slumped in 1974, with just a 3.8 yards-per-rush average, down from 4.6, 5.2, and 5.4 in his previous three seasons. Reports suggest his performance was worse because he was switching leagues. How would the Dolphins have done if Csonka was up to form?
The Dolphins that year had an 11-3 record and averaged just 3.8 yards rushing. If we assume Csonka would have averaged at least 5.0 yards per rush, and Jim Kiick had been up to form as well, the Dolphins might have been able to put up 5 yards per rush as in their previous two seasons. Since the Dolphins had the most rushing attempts of any team in the league, they could have significantly improved their performance. In fact, they probably would have scored more than 50 points more than they actually did.
But would this really make a difference? According to the Pythagorean Record system, the Dolphins would have won fewer games than they actually did! This is true because the Dolphins overacheived that year by about 1 1/2 games. So, even if Larry Csonka had been up to form in 1974 and the Dolphins had redid their season, in the long run it would make no difference in their record.
