Quote:
Originally Posted by Next Big Thing
Shut up. The average points per game per NFL team was 22.2 this season. Do you know what it was back in 1985 when everyone was copying the 46? 21.8. 1995? 21.5 Do you know what it was back in 1965? 23.1.
The sky is not falling. The changes aren't so drastic that they're affecting the game or making it unwatchable.
http://www.pro-football-reference.co...FL/scoring.htm |
Looking over the stats, the scoring was the highest its been in the 32 team era dating back to 02, and 3 of the last 4 seasons have been at 22 ppg or more. As for 1985, the following 9 years showed a huge drop off in team average scoring, with at one point the average was 299 points per season vs 344 in 85 and 354 in 2011.
In 1985 there was only 1 QB that threw for over 4,000 yards (Marino). In 2011, there were 10 that threw for over 4,000 and 4 that threw for over 5,000. I would dare say that in the era of protected QBs and rules against defenders that you could see a 6,000 yard passing season from someone in the next couple of years (its only about 30 yards per game more to what Brees did last year to get to 6000). Some of this has come at the expense of the running game..which is another argument entirely.
2011 had 3 of the top 12 highest scoring teams in NFL History (Packers #2 35.0, Saints #4 34.2 and Patriots #12 32.1) 5 of the top 12 are 2007 or later (the 2007 Patriots #1 and 2010 Patriots #10)
The 2011 Bucs were the 7th worst team in points allowed (30.9).
Im a big fan of defense..and you cannot say that the rule changes the nfl has made over the last couple years have been in any favor of the defenses.