CFZ Interesting trend in the NFL with scoring

[Bobhaze]

It’s only 3 games into a long season, but there’s an interesting trend in the NFL: Scoring is WAY down. This last week, the 20.3 points per game by teams was the lowest for a Week 3 since 2009 and the fourth lowest for any week in the past 5 seasons.

Even the league’s top QBs are struggling. Pat Mahomes, Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers- winners of four of the last five MVP awards have all struggled in the first 3 games. Last week, their teams had a paltry 43 points combined. That's the fewest points scored in the 57 weeks those top QBs have all started. The previous low was 55 in Week 15 of the 2018 season.

Brady’s Bucs have yet to score 20 points in a game this year. Rodgers packers are averaging 16.5 points a game. Several games this week were just awful from an offensive standpoint- especially the 11-10 doze bowl between the niners and broncos Sun night. Just brutal.

We knew going into this season the Cowboys might struggle on offense at the start with so many new faces. So why is this a pattern league wide?
Here are some theories:

• Fewer teams playing starters in ps games- making the start of the season inherently sloppy. Most teams no longer risk playing their QBs and other key skill people.
• Defenses are better at the start of each season- coming out of training camp, defenses are almost always ahead of the offense.
• Defenses getting away with more holding and grabbing in the passing game- we saw this Sun against NYG with several holds and PI not being called. Reminded me of the 70s defenses.
• Parity- after 3 games, there are only two teams that are undefeated- Mia and Filly. Are there just fewer good teams this year?

The good news for the Cowboys in all this is two fold- 1. The Cowboys have a bonafide good defense and 2. The NFL appears to be much more wide open this year. It may be a year where a champion could spring from a team who gets hot late in the season- maybe a 10-7 type team?

Who knows? It’s still early. But interesting how offenses are struggling league wide.

 

[817Gill]

It’s only 3 games into a long season, but there’s an interesting trend in the NFL: Scoring is WAY down. This last week, the 20.3 points per game by teams was the lowest for a Week 3 since 2009 and the fourth lowest for any week in the past 5 seasons.

Even the league’s top QBs are struggling. Pat Mahomes, Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers- winners of four of the last five MVP awards have all struggled in the first 3 games. Last week, their teams had a paltry 43 points combined. That's the fewest points scored in the 57 weeks those top QBs have all started. The previous low was 55 in Week 15 of the 2018 season.

Brady’s Bucs have yet to score 20 points in a game this year. Rodgers packers are averaging 16.5 points a game. Several games this week were just awful from an offensive standpoint- especially the 11-10 doze bowl between the niners and broncos Sun night. Just brutal.

We knew going into this season the Cowboys might struggle on offense at the start with so many new faces. So why is this a pattern league wide?
Here are some theories:

• Fewer teams playing starters in ps games- making the start of the season inherently sloppy. Most teams no longer risk playing their QBs and other key skill people.
• Defenses are better at the start of each season- coming out of training camp, defenses are almost always ahead of the offense.
• Defenses getting away with more holding and grabbing in the passing game- we saw this Sun against NYG with several holds and PI not being called. Reminded me of the 70s defenses.
• Parity- after 3 games, there are only two teams that are undefeated- Mia and Filly. Are there just fewer good teams this year?

The good news for the Cowboys in all this is two fold- 1. The Cowboys have a bonafide good defense and 2. The NFL appears to be much more wide open this year. It may be a year where a champion could spring from a team who gets hot late in the season- maybe a 10-7 type team?

Who knows? It’s still early. But interesting how offenses are struggling league wide.

Great write up, super interesting topic

 

[VaqueroTD]

I noticed defense was making a comeback this year too. I think you’re on to something with offenses not being in sync as much now with less preseason. Most teams aren’t even playing their offensive starters. My personal belief is offense takes more time to gel. Our defense also carried over everyone except Gregory and has a full season understanding Quinn’s defense which changes frequently.

But I also think it’s parity. As longtime fans we continue to expect the classic dominance but as Aikman once said, every team is just 2-3 starter injuries away from a losing record. What I really appreciate about our team this year is ‘next man up’ is working. I think some fans watch a backup lineman or QB come out and do their job and suddenly proclaim them a hidden talent, when really they’re just doing what they’re paid to do. Your team shouldn’t fall apart so quickly like we have in the past when Romo was out, or Tyron couldn’t man the critical LT, and so on…

 

[reddyuta]

i dont know the stats but what i have seen is teams are not blitzing much and are flooding passing lanes and making it hard even on good QBs,without a good run game its hard to sustain drives in this environment .

 

[Proof]

are the lions the highest scoring team in the league currently?

 

[VaqueroTD]

i dont know the stats but what i have seen is teams are not blitzing much and are flooding passing lanes and making it hard even on good QBs,without a good run game its hard to sustain drives in this environment .

Agree with that too and Bob’s statement about defenders being more aggressive and getting away with it. Just watching the desperate manhandling of Noah Brown last week shows that. I’ve always loved dominant defenses and physical run games so happy to see it if this trend continues.

 

[Doomsday101]

It’s only 3 games into a long season, but there’s an interesting trend in the NFL: Scoring is WAY down. This last week, the 20.3 points per game by teams was the lowest for a Week 3 since 2009 and the fourth lowest for any week in the past 5 seasons.

Even the league’s top QBs are struggling. Pat Mahomes, Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers- winners of four of the last five MVP awards have all struggled in the first 3 games. Last week, their teams had a paltry 43 points combined. That's the fewest points scored in the 57 weeks those top QBs have all started. The previous low was 55 in Week 15 of the 2018 season.

Brady’s Bucs have yet to score 20 points in a game this year. Rodgers packers are averaging 16.5 points a game. Several games this week were just awful from an offensive standpoint- especially the 11-10 doze bowl between the niners and broncos Sun night. Just brutal.

We knew going into this season the Cowboys might struggle on offense at the start with so many new faces. So why is this a pattern league wide?
Here are some theories:

• Fewer teams playing starters in ps games- making the start of the season inherently sloppy. Most teams no longer risk playing their QBs and other key skill people.
• Defenses are better at the start of each season- coming out of training camp, defenses are almost always ahead of the offense.
• Defenses getting away with more holding and grabbing in the passing game- we saw this Sun against NYG with several holds and PI not being called. Reminded me of the 70s defenses.
• Parity- after 3 games, there are only two teams that are undefeated- Mia and Filly. Are there just fewer good teams this year?

The good news for the Cowboys in all this is two fold- 1. The Cowboys have a bonafide good defense and 2. The NFL appears to be much more wide open this year. It may be a year where a champion could spring from a team who gets hot late in the season- maybe a 10-7 type team?

Who knows? It’s still early. But interesting how offenses are struggling league wide.

You look at the targets these guys lost during the off season as well as in season. Hill in KC, Devante Adams in GB, Brady of course dealing with guys in and out of the lineup

 

[VaqueroTD]

You look at the targets these guys lost during the off season as well as in season. Hill in KC, Devante Adams in GB, Brady of course dealing with guys in and out of the lineup

That’s another great point. With teams paying QBs so much, the loser is the wideout. Your examples and our own with Coop.

 

[guag]

i dont know the stats but what i have seen is teams are not blitzing much and are flooding passing lanes and making it hard even on good QBs,without a good run game its hard to sustain drives in this environment .

Yeah I kinda noticed that too, seems to be less blitzing going on in the league. Even against the Giants, I heard we should expect a lot of blitzing and it didn't really happen.

 

[McKDaddy]

"Preseason" is over now. I suspect we'll start to see an uptick in offense. Of course, some teams like the Buc's are so injury riddled it may not be a realistic expectation.

 

[Doomsday101]

That’s another great point. With teams paying QBs so much, the loser is the wideout. Your examples and our own with Coop.

True QB are getting paid, some a lot more than others yet teams only have so much cap space. Davante Adams? anyone really think Rodgers did not want him back? You can't keep everyone

 

[Bobhaze]

I noticed defense was making a comeback this year too. I think you’re on to something with offenses not being in sync as much now with less preseason. Most teams aren’t even playing their offensive starters. My personal belief is offense takes more time to gel. Our defense also carried over everyone except Gregory and has a full season understanding Quinn’s defense which changes frequently.

But I also think it’s parity. As longtime fans we continue to expect the classic dominance but as Aikman once said, every team is just 2-3 starter injuries away from a losing record. What I really appreciate about our team this year is ‘next man up’ is working. I think some fans watch a backup lineman or QB come out and do their job and suddenly proclaim them a hidden talent, when really they’re just doing what they’re paid to do. Your team shouldn’t fall apart so quickly like we have in the past when Romo was out, or Tyron couldn’t man the critical LT, and so on…

The parity thing is very intriguing. The NFL has always wanted parity. And most fans forget that the talent margins between NFL teams- good and bad- are actually paper thin. Unlike college football where the talent disparity between say Alabama and Vanderbilt is cavernous. The NFL talent pool makes every team capable of rising up and winning games no one expected.

 

[Bobhaze]

are the lions the highest scoring team in the league currently?

Interestingly, the lions are the second highest scoring team in the league behind the ravens (99 pts). The lions have scored 95, which is the most in the NFC.

 

[sandbridge77]

"Preseason" is over now. I suspect we'll start to see an uptick in offense. Of course, some teams like the Buc's are so injury riddled it may not be a realistic expectation.

Agreed, with teams sitting key starters and vanilla schemes in preseason, the defenses are ahead of the offenses. It will start to change shortly.

 

[Risen Star]

I wish I could bold like Bob.

 

[Bobhaze]

I wish I could bold like Bob.

“He was a bold man that first ate an oyster.”
-Jonathan Swift

 

[75boyz]

Yep, good big picture NFL observations for this season that hopefully will level the playing field come playoff time if the Cowboys make them.

Just maybe my inability to envision a Cowboys team defeating 4 straight playoff level opponents and winning a trophy could be influenced by a dominant defense and a few lucky breaks.

Will be entertaining to see how it all plays out this year.

 

[erod]

The quarterback position in the NFL has never been this bad.

It's comically terrible. All of last year's QB first-round picks look like scrubs. They don't teach quarterbacks in college anymore to play the position like is required in the NFL.

 

[JBS]

It’s none of the above

the nfl has transitioned to a shell defense. The same defense that Dak can’t beat is giving other qbs trouble as well. defenses are forcing teams to run the ball and they’re playing 7 in coverage. That’s why scoring is down.

 

[atlantacowboy]

It’s only 3 games into a long season, but there’s an interesting trend in the NFL: Scoring is WAY down. This last week, the 20.3 points per game by teams was the lowest for a Week 3 since 2009 and the fourth lowest for any week in the past 5 seasons.

Even the league’s top QBs are struggling. Pat Mahomes, Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers- winners of four of the last five MVP awards have all struggled in the first 3 games. Last week, their teams had a paltry 43 points combined. That's the fewest points scored in the 57 weeks those top QBs have all started. The previous low was 55 in Week 15 of the 2018 season.

Brady’s Bucs have yet to score 20 points in a game this year. Rodgers packers are averaging 16.5 points a game. Several games this week were just awful from an offensive standpoint- especially the 11-10 doze bowl between the niners and broncos Sun night. Just brutal.

We knew going into this season the Cowboys might struggle on offense at the start with so many new faces. So why is this a pattern league wide?
Here are some theories:

• Fewer teams playing starters in ps games- making the start of the season inherently sloppy. Most teams no longer risk playing their QBs and other key skill people.
• Defenses are better at the start of each season- coming out of training camp, defenses are almost always ahead of the offense.
• Defenses getting away with more holding and grabbing in the passing game- we saw this Sun against NYG with several holds and PI not being called. Reminded me of the 70s defenses.
• Parity- after 3 games, there are only two teams that are undefeated- Mia and Filly. Are there just fewer good teams this year?

The good news for the Cowboys in all this is two fold- 1. The Cowboys have a bonafide good defense and 2. The NFL appears to be much more wide open this year. It may be a year where a champion could spring from a team who gets hot late in the season- maybe a 10-7 type team?

Who knows? It’s still early. But interesting how offenses are struggling league wide.

Because nobody plays in the preseason now, a lot of teams are basically using the first month of the season to figure things out. I wouldn't judge until week 5 or 6.