The NFL has seen fewer points per game in each of the past three successive seasons. Team owners started asking questions. Points are the lifeblood of this league, after all.
After Week 1, there are plenty of smiles around the league as the NFL saw 45.8 points per game across the 16 contests. It’s the highest average for Week 1 since 2021, and it gets the league above the 45-point watermark it hopes to hit each season after failing to reach it the last two years.
But while scoring is up, how teams are scoring is rather unique. In fact, it’s unlike anything the NFL has seen in decades and, in some cases, ever.
Just 35 passing touchdowns were thrown in Week 1, marking the fewest in the opening week of an NFL season since 29 were thrown in Week 1 of 2006. And for the first time since 1989, there were more rushing touchdowns than passing touchdowns in Week 1.
There were 36 rushing touchdowns compared to the 35 passing touchdowns in Week 1. It was just the fifth time since the 1970 merger that was the case.
Also plummeting last week were passing yards per game. Games averaged 376.6 passing yards in Week 1, the fewest in the opening week of the league since 1996. The NFL has become known for becoming pass-happy in recent years, yet passing yards per game fell by 151 total yards from its all-time high set just five years ago in 2019.
Yes, it’s only a one-week sample size, but in an apples-to-apples comparison the numbers are still down. So what gives?
Multiple NFL personnel men pointed to the lack of preseason and practice time in today’s NFL as being one of the primary reasons. “Passing game takes timing and precision,” said one team executive.
A lack of sophisticated offensive philosophies in college, mixed with the quarterback position trending younger and more mobile, along with inconsistency within one offensive system could be another reason.
“Kids are transferring every year…
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/nfl-week-1-scoring-rises-after-two-year-lull-but-how-points-were-accumulated-is-the-real-story/
Author : Jonathan Jones
Publish date : 2024-09-12 11:00:47
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