MLS: All Competitions PPG Ranking

The list of the best & worst single season performances has been linked on the left side of this blog for a long time now. It's a list of the regular season records from all 149 MLS team seasons. When people talk about the the best records ever, that's usually what they mean: regular season only. But what if you looked at every game the team played, and ranked them by PPG using that? I counted all shootouts (1996-99) as draws. The column on the far right labled "OVR Diff" tells you how a team's all competitions PPG compares to its regular season PPG. For example, the minus sign indicates that 1998 LA's all competitions PPG is worse than the regular season only PPG. All Competitions Single Season Ranking GP W L D Pts PPG OVR Diff 1 1998 Los Angeles 36 24 7 5 77 2.139 -0.049 2 2002 Los Angeles 38 24 11 3 75 1.974 0.152 3 2003 Chicago 38 22 8 8 74 1.947 0.181 4 2008 Columbus 36 21 8 7 70 1.944 0.044 5 1998 DC United 43 24 8 11 83 1.930 0.024 6 2001 Miami 34 20 9 5 65 1.912 -0.127 7 2000 Chicago 44 26 12 6 84 1.909 0.128 7 1997 DC United 44 24 8 12 84 1.909 0.065 9 1998 Chicago 41 24 11 6 78 1.902 0.121 10 2001 Chicago 37 21 9 7 70 1.892 -0.071 11 2005 San Jose 36 19 6 11 68 1.889 -0.111 12 2001 San Jose 35 19 8 8 65 1.857 0.126 13 2001 Los Angeles 41 22 9 10 76 1.854 0.046 14 1999 DC United 42 22 9 11 77 1.833 -0.042 15 1999 Los Angeles 41 22 10 9 75 1.829 0.017 16 2007 New England 38 20 9 9 69 1.816 0.149 17 1996 DC United 41 23 13 5 74 1.805 0.274 18 2000 Kansas City 40 20 8 12 72 1.800 0.019 19 2004 Kansas City 38 20 11 7 67 1.763 0.130 19 1996 Tampa Bay 38 21 13 4 67 1.763 -0.143 21 2005 New England 37 19 10 8 65 1.757 -0.087 22 2007 Houston 43 22 12 9 75 1.744 0.011 23 2006 DC United 38 18 9 11 65 1.711 -0.008 24 2000 New York 41 22 15 4 70 1.707 0.020 25 2003 San Jose 37 18 10 9 63 1.703 0.003 26 2000 Los Angeles 41 20 12 9 69 1.683 0.120 27 1999 Dallas 40 19 11 10 67 1.675 -0.106 27 2005 Los Angeles 40 20 13 7 67 1.675 0.269 29 1996 Los Angeles 38 18 11 9 63 1.658 0.002 30 2007 Chivas USA 33 15 9 9 54 1.636 -0.130 31 2006 Chicago 38 18 12 8 62 1.632 0.163 32 2007 DC United 43 20 13 10 70 1.628 -0.205 33 1998 Columbus 41 20 15 6 66 1.610 0.047 34 2008 Houston 48 19 9 20 77 1.604 -0.096 35 1999 Columbus 40 18 12 10 64 1.600 0.069 36 2005 DC United 42 19 13 10 67 1.595 -0.092 37 2002 San Jose 36 18 15 3 57 1.583 -0.024 38 2001 Columbus 33 15 11 7 52 1.576 -0.155 39 2002 Columbus 37 17 13 7 58 1.568 0.210 40 1999 Chicago 39 17 12 10 61 1.564 -0.092 41 2004 Columbus 34 13 7 14 53 1.559 -0.075 41 2002 Dallas 34 15 11 8 53 1.559 0.023 43 2008 Chicago 36 16 12 8 56 1.556 0.022 43 2006 Dallas 36 17 14 5 56 1.556 -0.069 45 1999 Colorado 37 16 12 9 57 1.541 -0.053 46 2005 Chicago 39 18 15 6 60 1.538 0.007 46 2005 Dallas 39 16 11 12 60 1.538 0.038 48 2001 New York 36 17 15 4 55 1.528 -0.088 48 2000 Tampa Bay 36 17 15 4 55 1.528 -0.097 50 1997 Los Angeles 38 17 14 7 58 1.526 0.026 51 2006 Houston 39 15 10 14 59 1.513 0.075 52 2003 New England 37 15 12 10 55 1.486 -0.014 52 2003 New York 37 15 12 10 55 1.486 0.086 54 2004 DC United 35 14 11 10 52 1.486 0.086 55 1997 Kansas City 35 14 12 9 51 1.457 -0.137 56 1997 Dallas 40 17 16 7 58 1.450 0.075 57 2007 Dallas 39 16 15 8 56 1.436 -0.031 58 2002 Colorado 35 15 15 5 50 1.429 -0.107 58 2005 New York 35 13 11 11 50 1.429 -0.040 60 2006 New England 40 14 11 15 57 1.425 -0.075 61 2000 Dallas 37 16 17 4 52 1.405 -0.032 62 2008 New England 42 16 15 11 59 1.405 -0.029 63 2002 New England 35 15 16 4 49 1.400 0.043 64 1997 Colorado 38 16 17 5 53 1.395 0.113 65 1998 Colorado 36 15 16 5 50 1.389 -0.049 65 1997 Tampa Bay 36 15 16 5 50 1.389 -0.080 67 1996 Dallas 37 14 14 9 51 1.378 0.003 67 2000 Miami 37 15 16 6 51 1.378 0.097 69 2002 Kansas City 40 15 15 10 55 1.375 0.089 70 2008 Kansas City 35 12 11 12 48 1.371 -0.029 70 1996 San Jose 35 13 13 9 48 1.371 -0.035 72 2002 Chicago 36 15 17 4 49 1.361 0.040 72 1997 Columbus 36 14 15 7 49 1.361 0.017 72 2005 Kansas City 36 12 11 13 49 1.361 -0.045 75 2003 Kansas City 34 12 12 10 46 1.353 -0.047 75 2004 Los Angeles 34 12 12 10 46 1.353 -0.080 77 2006 Chivas USA 35 11 10 14 47 1.343 -0.001 77 2008 Real Salt Lake 35 12 12 11 47 1.343 0.010 79 2004 Colorado 33 11 11 11 44 1.333 -0.033 79 2003 DC United 36 13 14 9 48 1.333 0.033 79 2000 New England 36 14 16 6 48 1.333 -0.073 79 2007 New York 33 12 13 8 44 1.333 -0.100 83 2007 Los Angeles 38 14 16 8 50 1.316 0.182 84 2008 New York 35 12 13 10 46 1.314 0.014 85 2008 Colorado 32 12 14 6 42 1.313 0.046 86 2005 Colorado 36 13 15 8 47 1.306 -0.101 87 2001 DC United 37 15 19 3 48 1.297 0.297 87 2004 San Jose 37 12 13 12 48 1.297 0.031 89 2007 Chicago 34 11 12 11 44 1.294 -0.039 89 2003 Colorado 34 12 14 8 44 1.294 -0.039 89 2007 Kansas City 34 12 14 8 44 1.294 -0.039 92 2008 Chivas USA 38 13 15 10 49 1.289 -0.144 92 2006 Los Angeles 38 14 17 7 49 1.289 0.071 94 1996 Columbus 35 12 14 9 45 1.286 -0.027 94 2000 Columbus 35 13 16 6 45 1.286 0.098 96 2004 Dallas 33 12 15 6 42 1.273 0.073 97 2006 Colorado 37 13 16 8 47 1.270 -0.011 98 2002 New York 30 12 16 2 38 1.267 0.017 99 2004 Chicago 38 13 16 9 48 1.263 0.163 99 1996 Kansas City 38 13 16 9 48 1.263 -0.081 101 2003 Columbus 35 12 15 8 44 1.257 -0.010 102 2003 Los Angeles 39 13 16 10 49 1.256 0.056 103 1999 San Jose 32 9 10 13 40 1.250 0.000 104 1998 New York 37 14 19 4 46 1.243 0.024 105 2007 Colorado 33 11 14 8 41 1.242 0.076 106 2006 Real Salt Lake 34 11 14 9 42 1.235 0.017 106 1998 San Jose 34 11 14 9 42 1.235 0.048 108 1997 New York 35 13 18 4 43 1.229 0.072 109 2000 Colorado 36 13 18 5 44 1.222 -0.122 110 2008 Dallas 32 9 11 12 39 1.219 0.019 110 2001 New England 32 11 15 6 39 1.219 0.219 112 2008 DC United 47 17 24 6 57 1.213 -0.021 113 2004 New York 33 11 15 7 40 1.212 -0.121 114 2001 Kansas City 38 14 20 4 46 1.211 -0.123 115 2006 Kansas City 34 11 15 8 41 1.206 0.018 116 2001 Dallas 30 10 14 6 36 1.200 -0.146 116 1997 New England 35 11 15 9 42 1.200 -0.081 116 1996 New York 35 12 17 6 42 1.200 -0.081 116 1999 Tampa Bay 35 10 13 12 42 1.200 -0.019 120 2006 New York 36 10 13 13 43 1.194 -0.024 121 2007 Columbus 31 9 12 10 37 1.194 -0.040 122 1998 Tampa Bay 34 11 16 7 40 1.176 -0.042 122 2008 Toronto 34 10 14 10 40 1.176 0.010 124 2002 DC United 30 10 15 5 35 1.167 0.024 125 1998 Dallas 39 13 20 6 45 1.154 -0.065 126 2005 Columbus 33 11 17 5 38 1.152 -0.036 127 2004 New England 34 9 13 12 39 1.147 0.047 127 1997 San Jose 34 10 15 9 39 1.147 0.022 129 1996 New England 32 9 15 8 35 1.094 0.000 130 1998 Kansas City 33 10 17 6 36 1.091 -0.034 131 1998 Miami 36 11 19 6 39 1.083 -0.010 132 2008 Los Angeles 31 8 14 9 33 1.065 -0.035 132 2008 San Jose 31 8 14 9 33 1.065 -0.035 134 1996 Colorado 34 10 18 6 36 1.059 0.028 134 2006 Columbus 34 9 16 9 36 1.059 0.028 136 1998 New England 32 9 17 6 33 1.031 0.000 136 1999 New England 32 7 13 12 33 1.031 0.000 138 2000 DC United 35 10 19 6 36 1.029 0.091 139 1999 Miami 34 8 16 10 34 1.000 -0.031 139 2000 San Jose 35 9 18 8 35 1.000 0.094 141 2007 Real Salt Lake 32 7 16 9 30 0.938 0.038 142 2001 Colorado 27 5 14 8 23 0.852 -0.033 143 2007 Toronto 30 6 17 7 25 0.833 0.000 144 1999 Kansas City 32 6 18 8 26 0.813 0.000 145 2003 Dallas 31 6 20 5 23 0.742 -0.025 146 2005 Chivas USA 34 5 23 6 21 0.618 0.055 147 1999 New York 33 4 21 8 20 0.606 -0.019 147 2005 Real Salt Lake 33 5 23 5 20 0.606 -0.019 149 2001 Tampa Bay 28 4 22 2 14 0.500 -0.019 Biggest Changes? Which teams look better as a result of this? The 2002 Galaxy won the MLS Cup and advanced to the Open Cup final going 8-2-0 combined in both tournaments, and they rocket up to second overall. Still, their PPG improvement is only the 10th best on the list. The top three includes two underdog MLS champions: 1996 DC (2nd) and 2005 LA (3rd). Outside of regular season play they were 8-0-1 and 7-0-1 respectively. But the biggest PPG improvement comes from a pretty middling team: 2001 DC. That was the team that made it to the final of the Giants Cup (don't ask), as well as the semifinals of the Champions Cup and Open Cup. They went 8-16-2 in MLS, and 7-3-1 outside of it. The teams that came out looking worst by comparison? 3rd place goes to the 2001 Dallas Burn. One point from four games in the playoffs and Open Cup. Bonus shame goes to them for being one of only two MLS teams to lose to a PDL team. 2nd place goes to another team from the same year, 2001 CLB. It's not surprising to see several 2001 teams listed because it was the shortest season in league history (originally 28 games, made even shorter by cancellations due to 9/11). Anyway, the Crew also competed in the Giants Cup, as well as the playoffs and Open Cup. They went 2-4-1 in those competitions compared to 13-7-6 in the league. The top decrease is also held by a DC team: 2007 DC. The Supporters' Shield winners went 16-7-7 in the regular season, but ended up playing 13 additional games in five different competitions (Champions Cup, Open Cup, Superliga, Copa Sudamericana, and playoffs), going 4-6-3.