NFL Play Prediction

Abstract

Based on NFL game data we try to predict the outcome of a play in multiple different ways. An application of this is the following: by plugging in various play options one could determine the best play for a given situation in real time. While the outcome of a play can be described in many ways we had the most promising results with a newly defined measure that we call "progress". We see this work as a first step to include predictive analysis into NFL playcalling.