It’s no news flash that teams are passing more now than ever before. (You did hear about Peyton Manning throwing 55 TDs last year, right?)
In a rough sense, teams are scoring about 5 more TDs on passes than they did 20 years ago. It just keeps rising every year. At the same time, they’re scoring slightly fewer touchdowns on runs.
It’s a pass-heavy league.
But note that two of the very best teams last year employed the time-tested theory of playing good defense and running the ball. Seattle and San Francisco both ran the ball on over 52 percent of their offensive plays.
If you can do it, that’s still a recipe for success. In the last seven years, 25 teams have run the ball more often than they’ve thrown it. Only 2 of those 25 passes finished with losing records (five others went 8-8).
Over 70 percent of those teams finished with winning records, and six of them (in bold) made it to the conference championship game level. Only two of those teams, however, made it to the ultimate game – San Francisco and Seattle the last two years.
| RUN-DOMINATED TEAMS (2007-2013) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | Pct | Record |
| 2009 | NY Jets | 58.9% | 9-7 |
| 2008 | Baltimore | 56.0% | 11-5 |
| 2008 | Atlanta | 55.4% | 11-5 |
| 2012 | Seattle | 55.0% | 11-5 |
| 2008 | Carolina | 53.7% | 12-4 |
| 2011 | Denver | 53.7% | 8-8 |
| 2013 | San Francisco | 52.5% | 12-4 |
| 2007 | Tennessee | 52.4% | 10-6 |
| 2013 | Seattle | 52.3% | 13-3 |
| 2010 | Kansas City | 52.3% | 10-6 |
| 2012 | Washington | 52.2% | 10-6 |
| 2008 | Tennessee | 52.2% | 13-3 |
| 2011 | Houston | 52.2% | 10-6 |
| 2009 | Carolina | 51.3% | 8-8 |
| 2009 | Cleveland | 51.3% | 5-11 |
| 2007 | Minnesota | 51.2% | 8-8 |
| 2008 | Minnesota | 51.2% | 10-6 |
| 2007 | Pittsburgh | 51.1% | 10-6 |
| 2007 | Jacksonville | 51.1% | 11-5 |
| 2007 | Oakland | 50.8% | 4-12 |
| 2012 | San Francisco | 50.8% | 11-4-1 |
| 2009 | Tennessee | 50.4% | 8-8 |
| 2010 | Jacksonville | 50.2% | 8-8 |
| 2011 | San Francisco | 50.2% | 13-3 |
| 2009 | Cincinnati | 50.0% | 10-6 |
—Ian Allan