NFL travel has had profound impact on wins and losses

Sleep cycles and circadian rhythms are a simple fact of our daily lives, but it has a strong impact on athletic performance and therefore the outcome of NFL games.

When the Jets and Dolphins met in London on Sunday, the game started at 2:30pm local time, but 9:30am EST, something neither team is used to.

Researchers believe that peak athletic performance occurs later in the afternoon and evening, especially for NFL players who have their body clocks acclimated to a 1pm start time in their respective time zones.

The journal Sleep, analyzed night games from 1970 through 2011 and it showed that west coast teams not only beat the point spread in 66% of those games, but beat it by an average of 5.26 points. These games started at or near the peak performance time frame for west coast teams. For daytime games, there was no significant advantage for either coast with regard to point spread.

In addition, while west coast teams have traditionally struggled with 1pm starts on the east coast, they have dominated Monday Night Football. Between 1970 and 2010, west coast teams won 74% of all MNF contests. The Seahawks just notched their 10th straight Monday night win over the Lions and are now 22-9 all-time, an NFL best.

Coaches have begun to understand these peak performance hours and are starting to better accommodate the circadian rhythm of their players. For example, in the rare event that a west coast team plays consecutive games on the east coast, that team will remain in the eastern time zone to prepare for the second game.

Perhaps, the Dolphins are as terrible as they appear, or maybe the Jets simply did a better job at adjusting their body clocks.