Random Football Facts

One would think that an intense rivalry game would feature more penalties, specifically personal fouls, maybe offsetting personal fouls, late hits, etc.  

More-penalized games tend to be low scoring because the penalties hurt the offense.  

Also, here is a post by Jim Glass with some interesting data. 

Tom Brady's passing rating when: 
Ahead by 9-16 .... 136 
Ahead ............. 99 
Behind............. 67 
Behind by 9-16 .... 57 

This suggests that when teams are forced to pass, and the defense expects a pass, it gets progressively harder to throw well.