Ever heard of the “Redskins Rule”? If you haven’t, here’s the gist: It’s a theory that involves the NFL team of the Washington Redskins and that the outcome of one of their games can determine who will win the presidential election. Ridiculous, right? Probably, but it has been pretty stinkin’ accurate.
Here’s the rule: if the Redskins win their last home game before the presidential election, the incumbent party wins. If they lose, the other party wins.
Accuracy of the Redskins Rule?
The Redskins moved to Washington in 1937. Since then, there have been 18 presidential elections and the Redskins rule has been accurate for 17 of those. The one miss was in 2004. Odd coincidence or some kind of divination? Well, I’m not one for prognostications that come from anywhere but the Bible, so I take it with a grain of salt.
However, Yahoo! Sports’ Chris Wilson thought that the Redskins shouldn’t be the only NFL team with a presidential prediction, so he went through the painstaking process of figuring out a metric for the other 31 NFL teams. You can read the original article here, but I put this together to track the games that are supposed to tell us who will win on November 6.
Updated: Now I have another reason not to like the Redskins..
Here’s How Things Ended Up:
| Obama | Romney | ||
| Rule | streak | 12 | 20 |
| The 49ers Rule: If San Francisco scores at least 1.5 points for every completion in its third home game of the season, the Democrat wins. Otherwise, the Republican wins. | 13/13 | ||
| The 49ers scored only 3 points on 23 completions against the Giants on Oct 14 |  |
||
| The Bears Rule: If, in Chicago’s fourth game, more than 5 percent of the quarterback’s completions are for touchdowns, the Democrat wins. Otherwise, the Republican wins. | 13/13 | ||
| Bears completed 18 passes, 2 for TD on Oct 1 vs Dallas | |
||
| The Bengals Rule: If Cincinnati posts more than 300 total yards of offense in its third home game, the incumbent party wins the White House. Otherwise, the out-of-power party wins. | 13/13 | ||
| The Bengals managed just 185 total yards vs Pittsburgh on Oct 21 | |
||
| The Bills Rule: If the opposing team in Buffalo’s second home game throws for more than 160 yards, the Republican wins the election. Otherwise, the Democrat wins. | 13/13 | ||
| NE passed for 333 on Sep 30 | |
||
| The Broncos Rule: If Denver rushes for at least 106 yards in its fifth game, the incumbent party wins. Otherwise, the out-of-power party wins. | 13/13 | ||
| Denver had 70 yards rushing vs New England on Oct 7 | |
||
| The Browns Rule: If Cleveland does not throw an interception in its third home game, the Democrat wins. Otherwise, the Republican wins. | 14/14 | ||
| The Browns threw one interception vs Bengals on Oct 14 | |
||
| The Buccaneers Rule: If Tampa Bay scores more than 14 points in its fourth game, the out-of-power party wins the White House. Otherwise, theincumbent party wins. | 9/9 | ||
| Tampa scored 22 points on Sep 30 vs Washington | |
||
| The Cardinals Rule: If Arizona averages more than 18.2 yards per first down in its fifth-to-last game before the election, the out-of-power party wins. Otherwise, the incumbent party retains the White House. | 17/17 | ||
| Cardinals averaged 14.1 yards per 1st down vs Rams on Oct 4 | |
||
| The Chargers Rule: If San Diego runs for an odd number of yards in its third away game, the incumbent party holds the White House. Otherwise, the out-of-power party wins. | 13/13 | ||
| Chargers ran for 117 yards vs. New Orleans on Oct 7 | |
||
| The Chiefs Rule: If Kansas City’s opponent in the Chiefs’ second game runs at least 7.2 yards for every point it scores, the Democrat wins. Otherwise, the Republican wins. | 13/13 | ||
| The Bills averaged 5.7 rush yards per point on Sep 16. | |
||
| The Colts Rule: If Indianapolis has more sacks than turnovers in its first home game, the Democrat wins. Otherwise, the Republican wins. | 13/13 | ||
| The Colts had 4 sacks and 0 turnovers vs. Viking on Sep 16. | |
||
| The Cowboys Rule: If Dallas rushes for more than 96 yards in its fourth home game, the Republican wins the White House. Otherwise, the Democrat does. | 13/13 | ||
| Dallas had only 63 rushing yards against the Giants on Nov. 18 | |
||
| The Dolphins Rule: If Miami’s opponent in its last away game before the election completes at least 19 passes, the Democrat wins. Otherwise, the Republican wins. | 10/11 | |
|
| The Colts had 30 completions vs Miami on Nov. 4 | |||
| The Eagles Rule: If Philadelphia scores at least one offensive touchdown per nine first downs in its second away game, the Democrat wins the White House. Otherwise, the Republican wins. | 15/16 | ||
| Eagles scored 0 TDs vs Arizona on Sep 23 | |
||
| The Falcons Rule: If the quarterback for Atlanta throws at least one interception in the Falcons’ fifth game of the season, the out-of-power party wins the election. Otherwise, the incumbent party wins. | 11/11 | ||
| Matt Ryan threw 1 interception vs Redskins on Oct 7 | |
||
| The Giants Rule: If New York completes at least 60 percent of its passes in its seventh game, the incumbent party wins. Otherwise, the out-of-power party wins. | 11/11 | ||
| The Giants completed 65% of their passes vs Redskins on Oct 21 | |
||
| The Jaguars Rule: If Jacksonville completes more than half of its passes in its first away game, the out-of-power party wins. Otherwise, the incumbent party wins. | 4/4 | ||
| The Jaguars were 23 for 39 against the Vikings on Sept. 9. | |
||
| The Jets Rule: If the New York Jets win their second away game, the Republican wins the White House. Otherwise, the Democrat wins. | 12/13 | ||
| Jets beat Miami on Sep 23 | |
||
| The Lions Rule: If Detroit’s opponent is charged with at least 20 percent more penalties than Detroit in the last home game before the election, the Republican wins. Otherwise, the Democrat wins. | 13/13 | ||
| Seattle had fewer penalties than Detroit on Oct 28 | |
||
| The Packers Rule: If Green Bay throws more than one interception per 20 pass attempts in its last game before the election, the Republican wins. Otherwise, the Democrat wins. | 13/13 | ||
| This year: vs. Arizona on Nov. 4 | |
||
| The Panthers Rule: If Carolina does not fumble in its third home game, theincumbent party wins the White House. Otherwise, the out-of-power party wins. | 4/4 | ||
| Panthers had 1 fumble vs Seahawks on Oct 7 | |
||
| The Patriots Rule: If New England commits fewer turnovers than its opponent in its first away game, the out-of-power party wins the White House. Otherwise, the incumbent party wins. | 12/13 | ||
| The Patriots committed zero turnovers to the Titans’ two on Sep 9. | |
||
| The Raiders Rule: If Oakland does not advance at least 358 yards in its fourth home game, the Democrat wins. Otherwise, the Republican wins. | 13/13 | ||
| Oakland had a total of 424 yards vd. Tampa Bay on Nov. 4 | |
||
| The Rams Rule: If St. Louis averages at least one fumble per eight first downs in its first game, the Democrat wins. Fewer than that, the Republican wins. | 13/13 | ||
| The Rams fumbled twice and had 14 first downs vs Detroit on Sep 9. | |
||
| The Ravens Rule: If Baltimore wins its third-to-last away game before the election, the Republican wins. Otherwise, the Democrat wins. | 4/4 | ||
| Ravens win vs Chiefs on Oct 7 | |
||
| The Redskins Rule: If the Washington Redskins win their last home game before the election, the incumbent party retains the White House. Otherwise, the out-of-power party wins. | 16/17 | ||
| Redskins lose to Panthers 21-13 on Nov 4 | |
||
| The Saints Rule: If New Orleans tallies more first downs than its opponent in the team’s fourth away game, the out-of-power party wins the White House. Otherwise the incumbent party wins. | 11/11 | ||
| The Saints had just 19 first downs compared to Denver’s 29 on Oct 28 | |
||
| The Seahawks Rule: If Seattle gets at least 18 first downs in its third-to-last game before the election, the incumbent party wins. Otherwise, the out-of-power party wins. | 9/9 | ||
| Seattle managed just 13 first downs vs 49ers on Oct 18 | |
||
| The Steelers Rule: If Pittsburgh rushes for more yards than it passes in the Steelers’ first home game, the Democrat wins. Otherwise, the Republican wins. | 15/17 | ||
| The Steelers had 66 yds rushing and 265 passing on Sep 16. | |
||
| The Texans Rule: If the Houston Texans win their second away game, the Republican wins the White House. Otherwise, the Democrat wins. | 2/2 | ||
| Texans beat Broncos on Sep 23 | |
||
| The Titans Rule: If Tennessee fumbles at least twice in its second away game, the incumbent party wins the White House. Otherwise, the out-of-power party wins. | 13/13 | ||
| 2 fumbles on Sep 30 | |
||
| The Vikings Rule: If Minnesota scores five or fewer points for every turnover the Vikings’ opponent commits in the team’s third home game, the incumbent party holds the White House. Otherwise, the out-of-power party wins. | 11/12 | ||
| Vikings scored 15 points per turnover (30 pts, 2 TO) vs Titans on Oct 7 | |
