Ian Allan
I have pointed out a few times in recent months that the NFL is more and more becoming a quarterback’s league. Those are the guys that are driving offenses nowadays; the days of having to run the ball and play good defense seem to have declined.
Another such stat trend appears belows. This one looks at the average number of rushing and passing touchdowns over the last 20 years. And it shows the swing toward the pass.
If you look at the 2010 numbers (which appear at the bottom), you’ll see the average of 23.5 TD passes per team; that’s the highest of any of the years. And if you look at the average of 34.6 percent of touchdowns being scored on running plays, that’s the lowest.
The number of rushing touchdowns – 12.5 per team – isn’t the lowest, but keep in mind that scoring overall has risen over the years. Relative to passing production, the run was at an all-time low last year.
RUN-PASS TD NUMBERS, 1990-2010
Run Pass Tot R Pct
13.5 20.5 34.0 39.6% 1990
12.8 18.3 31.0 41.2% 1991
11.9 18.4 30.3 39.2% 1992
10.9 18.5 29.3 37.0% 1993
12.1 20.8 33.0 36.8% 1994
12.8 22.1 35.0 36.7% 1995
12.1 20.9 33.0 36.7% 1996
12.8 20.6 33.4 38.3% 1997
12.6 21.9 34.6 36.5% 1998
11.7 21.5 33.2 35.3% 1999
13.4 20.5 33.8 39.5% 2000
11.8 20.5 32.3 36.4% 2001
14.4 21.6 36.0 39.9% 2002
13.3 20.4 33.9 39.3% 2003
13.0 22.9 35.9 36.2% 2004
13.5 20.1 33.6 40.1% 2005
13.3 20.3 33.5 39.6% 2006
12.1 22.5 34.7 34.8% 2007
14.9 20.2 35.2 42.3% 2008
13.4 22.2 35.6 37.7% 2009
12.5 23.5 36.0 34.6% 2010
—Ian Allan
- Comments [3]
Readers' Comments
Add a Comment
Already a registered user? Please sign in to add comments.
To add comments, you must become a registered user of our site. To register, please click here.
Posted by Moishe Steigmann | Mar. 02 at 03:33 AM
I think that a helpful chart with this would be to compare the top 10 individual rushing TDs of the past decade. It seems that there are fewer 1-2 yd QB sneaks; maybe that accounts for the differential. It could be lack of Alstott-type players on rosters. Or, it could be a legitimate trend. Could you please post the top 10 individual rush TD numbers from oeach of the past 10 years (or 20...)? If that's too tedious, I certainly understand. Thank you in particular for your terrific and continued off-season posts.
Posted by IAN ALLAN | Mar. 02 at 05:31 AM
I'll address further in the upcoming days. I noticed yesterday that there were only eight running backs scoring 10-plus TDs, which I believe is the fewest since 1992.
Posted by Moishe Steigmann | Mar. 02 at 01:56 PM
Thanks! I'm looking forward it.