Is the passing game out of control? (1 Viewer)

[Hagger]

I'm just curious to see what other NFL fans think of the passing numbers that are being thrown up early this season. For me personally it's gone a little too far. Mediocre QB's are routinely delivering 300 yard performances, 400+ yards seems to be the new standard for a 'good game', and the NFL record isn't on pace to be broken, but shattered.

 

[Craig_MiamiFL]

Love a passing NFL

 

[ponchsox]

It's not out of control, it's the new NFL. Most teams are running the spread offense. QB and WR are at a premium as are cornerbacks who can stop them.

 

[bulger2holt]

The object is to score points any way you can.

 

[pecorino]

the game is so far out of whack, it is not even funny. this "team-game" has been reduced to a QB game: protect your own and try to take out the other guy. the running game is, at best, 50% of the offense but more usually closer to an after thought at ~35%. the rules changes have all contributed to this lack of balance. as long as the masses lap it up, why wouldn't the NFL keep going in that direction? as for me, i am strongly considering selling my PSLs and semi-divorcing myself from the game.

 

[jon_mx]

I always thought the criticism of the run-n-shoot offense was silly. I think the only reason the Lions got away from it was peer pressure. The idea that you have to effectively run the ball to win, just ain't so. It is a nice luxury to have.

 

[chinawildman]

It's more the rules that "help" a passing game that worries me... I swear some of those routes the patriots ran would've for sure been called offensive interference the way they screen off defenders... and every time brady falls on the ground he's looking at the ref for a flag.

Back in the day if a QB was torching your team, you couldn't wait for the moment your blitzing LB goes in there and lights him up, nowadays you just hope he wraps him up for fear of a penalty if the hit looked too "violent". It's pretty lame.

 

[KentGraham10]

Gotta think the weather will elevate the importance of running the ball.

 

[RBM]

Yes, its out of control and I hate it. And I think its bad for the game.

 

[RBM]

It's more the rules that "help" a passing game that worries me... I swear some of those routes the patriots ran would've for sure been called offensive interference the way they screen off defenders... and every time brady falls on the ground he's looking at the ref for a flag. Back in the day if a QB was torching your team, you couldn't wait for the moment your blitzing LB goes in there and lights him up, nowadays you just hope he wraps him up for fear of a penalty if the hit looked too "violent". It's pretty lame.

Sure, but the biggest one I think is that receivers can barely be touched. The days of the physical corner are over, and that sucks.

 

[Vision6]

NFL is sacrificing the game of football for the casual fan money.

 

[KentGraham10]

Eli is on pace for 4000 yards, 32 TD, 8 Int. In the past, that's an MVP season. Now, that's not even good enough for your fantasy football team.

 

[Eucalyptus Yoho]

[devils advocate] What specific rule change, that went into effect this year, do you think is the cause of said Passing explosion?

 

[jwb]

Not enjoying it at all. This isn't the NFL I grew up watching.

 

[KentGraham10]

Not enjoying it at all. This isn't the NFL I grew up watching.

The games I've seen have been enjoyable. Might be spoiled though since my Giants had two come from behind wins.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

[devils advocate] What specific rule change, that went into effect this year, do you think is the cause of said Passing explosion?

It's a culmination of the last 10 years including no touching the receiver 5 yds past the LOS, no hitting the receiver(Mike Torico literally said on MNF "He has to allow the receiver to make a football move" WHAT?), no hitting the QB less you get flagged, QBs can toss the ball out of bounds anytime to avoid a sack, and the last 20+ years players have ballooned to 350 lbs along the LOS and it's much easier to build a wall of 350 pound fatties and have the 275 pound QB stand back there and lob it to 230 pound WRs streaking down the field who cannot be touched. Thats a start anyways. This ain't football, it's a Playstation game designed to entertain people at home, the game is built for television. I have been growing more and more tired of it and I don't think it is going to change anytime soon.

 

[KentGraham10]

Something else that hasn't been talked about is the lockout. Hurts defense more than offense.

 

[Dizzy]

Eli is on pace for 4000 yards, 32 TD, 8 Int. In the past, that's an MVP season. Now, that's not even good enough for your fantasy football team.

Yeah, I'd say that sums it up pretty well. NFL passing game is totally out of control.

 

[thatguy]

Was just thinking about this, great time to get some discussion going.

I completely agree. Nothing against Cam Newton, but that fact that a rookie QB, through his first 4 games, is on pace to throw for 5544 yards is absurd.

It would be interesting to see how many QB's are on pace to throw for 4000+ yards and 30+ TD's through 4 weeks. A QB with those numbers just 5 years ago would have been a good bet to finish the season as QB1 in FF, and at worst, would have been considered an uber-elite option. Now, it seems to be becoming the norm.

ETA: Previous poster said essentially the same thing in a much more concise manner, but the point stands.

 

[eoMMan]

I love it.

Defense is boring.

 

[KentGraham10]

Was just thinking about this, great time to get some discussion going.I completely agree. Nothing against Cam Newton, but that fact that a rookie QB, through his first 4 games, is on pace to throw for 5544 yards is absurd. It would be interesting to see how many QB's are on pace to throw for 4000+ yards and 30+ TD's through 4 weeks. A QB with those numbers just 5 years ago would have been a good bet to finish the season as QB1 in FF, and at worst, would have been considered an uber-elite option. Now, it seems to be becoming the norm.ETA: Previous poster said essentially the same thing in a much more concise manner, but the point stands.

I actually just did the 4000 30 td thing, and my rough count is around 10. There are a ton of guys who are on pace for 4000 yards, though. Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Drew Brees, Matthew Stafford, Michael Vick, Cam Newton, Big Ben, Tony Romo, Matt Hasselback, Eli Manning, Matt Ryan, and, after tonight, Joe Flacco + Sanchez. Orton, Cutler, Grossman, Schaub, and Jason Campbell are looking at about 3800 yards. Might have missed a few though.

 

[thekidd2009]

Was just thinking about this, great time to get some discussion going.I completely agree. Nothing against Cam Newton, but that fact that a rookie QB, through his first 4 games, is on pace to throw for 5544 yards is absurd. It would be interesting to see how many QB's are on pace to throw for 4000+ yards and 30+ TD's through 4 weeks. A QB with those numbers just 5 years ago would have been a good bet to finish the season as QB1 in FF, and at worst, would have been considered an uber-elite option. Now, it seems to be becoming the norm.ETA: Previous poster said essentially the same thing in a much more concise manner, but the point stands.

I actually just did the 4000 30 td thing, and my rough count is around 10. There are a ton of guys who are on pace for 4000 yards, though. Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Drew Brees, Matthew Stafford, Michael Vick, Cam Newton, Big Ben, Tony Romo, Matt Hasselback, Eli Manning, Matt Ryan, and, after tonight, Joe Flacco + Sanchez. Orton, Cutler, Grossman, Schaub, and Jason Campbell are looking at about 3800 yards. Might have missed a few though.

LOL what a joke. Records are almost meaningless for qb's nowadays IMO.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

I love it.Defense is boring.

Two words: Arena Football

 

[KentGraham10]

I get so much enjoyment out of the defensive side of the football. That's why I play in deep IDP leagues, master defense on Madden, and save my energy for defense in pick up games.

 

[haterade]

It makes the game better.

No lead is safe.

 

[Johnny Blood]

If you don't like it, turn on the Ravens/Jets game.

 

[Dr. No]

it's a function of making the game safer and changing the rules.

tonight's game being the exception.. i feel like defensive team's scores keep getting lower all the time and the way we score them might have to change.

Marino's passing yards record looks like it will fall this year or next.... the rules he played under to get 5084 are far different than what they have now. What he did then was incredible.

it all ebbs and flows. pretty soon it will swing so far in the offense direction like baseball did that they will make a few rule changes and get things back in balance.

I'm beginning to realize that sports statistics aren't as much a function of the quality of the player as they are a function of whatever rules were in place at the time/what the trends were.

 

[SacramentoBob]

They might as well take the pads off and attach flags to their waists, because that's what the NFL is now.

 

[Wolfpack26]

This is what the NFL wants. Fast paced, higher scoring games. Quickest way to get that is encourage passing. We are witnessing a new breed of NFL. More concerning is how the NFL is overprotecting the offense. It's almost impossible to stop the offenses now with all the new rules and phony roughing the passer calls if you stare at Tom Brady's Beiber hair too long.

 

[BigSteelThrill]

It ####### sucks.

Basically a 1 dimensional game. (sans a few outliers) Boring.

 

[comfortably numb]

While it is fun, it does bring back reminders of how 30/100 was a real good standard in baseball...then the span came where you had to hit 40/120 to best your second baseman.

 

[KentGraham10]

Controlling the clock and playing good defense is going to be even MORE important going forward to keep high powered offenses off the field. Not every team can win shootouts, but they all sure are trying.

 

[Ignoratio Elenchi]

It's just global warming. Warmer air all over the country gives more lift to the ball, which gives speedy receivers more time to catch up to deep passes. It's now possible for even mediocre QBs to complete passes that could only be made by elite QBs in the past. Smart coaches (e.g. Belichick) figured this out a couple of years ago, but now the rest of the league is starting to catch on.

 

[Dought Man]

It's awesome...run and shoot ! The rules are set up to allow athletes to run free in the secondary..of course everyone is going to throw the ball.

 

[mcintyre1]

College football fans have seen this coming for awhile. I'm surprised it took this long for the NFL to keep up with the times.

 

[Porkchop Express]

Do not want Arena football.

 

[Reepicheep]

Was looking at the stats today. Early in the season, teams were throwing for over 250 yards per game. I don't remember the exact number, just remember noticing it. That number has now fallen to 231 yards per team game, through week 10. That would still be a record of course, but with winter setting in and starting QBs dropping like flies (or running the triple option instead!), I would not be surprised to see the number fall below 2010's record of 221. (Since about 1980 or so, typically the number has been 200-210 with very few outliers in either direction until the last couple years)

Team scoring is high but not record-setting: if the season were to end to day, it would go down as the 8th highest in NFL history with 22 points per team per game being scored. It would however be the highest scoring season since 1965, when 23.1 points per team game were scored.

 

[Ignoratio Elenchi]

Team scoring is high but not record-setting: if the season were to end to day, it would go down as the 8th highest in NFL history with 22 points per team per game being scored. It would however be the highest scoring season since 1965, when 23.1 points per team game were scored.

Wait, so the 7 highest-scoring NFL seasons all occurred prior to 1966?

 

[Two Deep]

The Tebowcat will offset these numbers.

 

[Reepicheep]

Team scoring is high but not record-setting: if the season were to end to day, it would go down as the 8th highest in NFL history with 22 points per team per game being scored. It would however be the highest scoring season since 1965, when 23.1 points per team game were scored.

Wait, so the 7 highest-scoring NFL seasons all occurred prior to 1966?

Strange but true. See here. (Have to sort by points manually after following the link)

 

[Ignoratio Elenchi]

Team scoring is high but not record-setting: if the season were to end to day, it would go down as the 8th highest in NFL history with 22 points per team per game being scored. It would however be the highest scoring season since 1965, when 23.1 points per team game were scored.

Wait, so the 7 highest-scoring NFL seasons all occurred prior to 1966?

Strange but true. See here. (Have to sort by points manually after following the link)

Wow, I never would have guessed that.

 

[LittlePhatty]

Gone too far?

I don't get it.

 

[jwb]

Team scoring is high but not record-setting: if the season were to end to day, it would go down as the 8th highest in NFL history with 22 points per team per game being scored. It would however be the highest scoring season since 1965, when 23.1 points per team game were scored.

Wait, so the 7 highest-scoring NFL seasons all occurred prior to 1966?

Strange but true. See here. (Have to sort by points manually after following the link)

Wow, I never would have guessed that.

Less teams, more blowouts are the likely cause.

 

[GregR]

Team scoring is high but not record-setting: if the season were to end to day, it would go down as the 8th highest in NFL history with 22 points per team per game being scored. It would however be the highest scoring season since 1965, when 23.1 points per team game were scored.

Wait, so the 7 highest-scoring NFL seasons all occurred prior to 1966?

Strange but true. See here. (Have to sort by points manually after following the link)

Wow, I never would have guessed that.

Less teams, more blowouts are the likely cause.

I am having a hard time convincing myself that fewer teams should mean more blowouts. Also not convincing myself that blowouts mean more league scoring necessarily. A 40-7 blow out scores fewer points than a 27-24 game for instance. They would have to be like 40-20 blow outs and be more common than the ones in other years.Looking at all sorts of things, league size, roster size, players playing both ways, rule changes, etc. Couple of candidates for reasons, but nothing glaring.

All of the years from 48-54 are in the top 15 for team scoring average except for 53. After 54 there seems to be a drop off (other than 1958) until you get to around 1962 when again it jumps.

Now in 1955 they changed the rules to something like the current where any contact with the ground other than hands or feet makes you down. I'm not sure what it was before, probably required the trunk of your body, but that could have caused plays to be blown dead that under the previous rules would have still been alive.

Passing yards plummeted in 1955 as well, going from 192 to 160 per game, but I don't see anything else to point to why after a quick look.

I thought about the goal posts being moved 10 yards from the goal line to 10 yards back at the back of the end zone, but that was in 1974 and scoring had already dropped off from those top 15 seasons back in the 50s and early 60s.

Another big change would be the NFL-AFL merger in 1970, but the scoring in the 60s was already dropping off before that from the high level in the first half of the decade.

I think I read somewhere on the web that the point of emphasis against pass interference had happened twice before it happened back in, what was it most recently, 2004? Both times there was a jump in passing after. One was back right around when Marino had his big season if I remember right. If there was another time before that, could have been it was back in the 60s and that might explain the leap.

FWIW, I'd rather see the league as it exists today than, say, a league that copycats the 2003 Patriots mugging every Colts receiver in sight in the playoffs and not getting called. Which was the direct cause of the next year's point of emphasis about pass interference and illegal contact. But it does suck to see old records fall by the wayside because of rule changes.

 

[shadyridr]

Team scoring is high but not record-setting: if the season were to end to day, it would go down as the 8th highest in NFL history with 22 points per team per game being scored. It would however be the highest scoring season since 1965, when 23.1 points per team game were scored.

Wait, so the 7 highest-scoring NFL seasons all occurred prior to 1966?

Strange but true. See here. (Have to sort by points manually after following the link)

how is that possible?

 

[Das Boot]

Q: Is the passing game out of control?

A:

 

[faulkfan]

I like the passing (unless it means my RB doesn't get his touches) and from a fantasy perspective it is why I changed my offense. At mid season last year I had McFadden, Rice, Chris Johnson, McCoy, Blount, Michael Turner, and Moreno at RB on my fantasy team and was starting 3 RBs each week. Partly for the heck of it and partly because I have seen the way the passing game was becoming the focal point of the NFL I traded all but a couple of them away. I already had Calvin and Andre at WR and so I added Nicks, Fitzgerald, VJax and then Rivers and some picks and traded away a bunch of RBs.

Personally I think the ebb and flow of the NFL will eventually lead us back to a heavy run game, but as rules are created, amended, and discarded the league changes so we as fans and fantasy owners just have to adjust. It is still a great game to watch.

 

[CompetitiveEdgeFootball]

It's evolution. Granted, football has been tampered with, but I have to say I don't mind. It makes heroes out of QBs. High scores. Exciting games. I like it. Although I can totally understand why purists might feel differently.

 

[grateful zed]

i have lost interest to the point i have quit posting in ff forums.

 

[Fensalk]

If you don't like offense, you are all welcome to join me as a fan of the Cleveland Browns.