In my never-ending quest to give you more information about kickers than you would ever want, I’m back with another mini-analysis on that position. This time around, I have been asked to clarify whether teams with good running games are more likely to score more kicking points. The idea being those teams perhaps might move into scoring position, then lack the chops to finish drives with the necessary pass plays.
It’s another one of those ideas that sounds good. But when you actually get the numbers out, it doesn’t really hold water.
For this one, I looked at the 2002-2014 season. That’s 416 teams, reducing the potential for a few outlier teams to swing the results. And rather than look at individual players, I looked at the kicking production of entire teams, eliminating the pollutant factor of injuries and lineup changes.
In this 13-year period, 204 teams have ranked higher in rushing than passing. Those teams averaged 109.4 points per season. But the 207 teams that ranked higher in passing averaged 4 more points per season (a point more per month).
We can focus it more strongly. If you look at teams that ranked 10 or more spots higher in rushing (for example, 5th in rushing but just 17th in passing) those teams averaged 111.2 kicking points per season. But the mirror-image pass-heavy teams, those teams averaged 114.5 – a little more than 3 points more. There were about 120 teams in each of those groups.
If we go for ridiculously lopsided offenses (20 or more spots difference between rushing and passing) than it swings to favor the ground games. The 45 such running teams averaged 116.2 kicking points, compared to only 115.5 points for the 39 passing teams. But less than a point difference between those groups, and the damage was already done in the earlier, larger cross-sections of teams.
We can also look at the 31 teams that have scored at least 140 kicking points in a season. That’s what we’re all searching for right – that butt-kicking dominant kicker. Of that group, 18 of those teams ranked higher in passing than rushing. Only 12 ranked higher in rushing. One team (the 2006 Bears, ranked 15th in both rushing and passing).
In the chart below, if a team ranked higher in rushing, I have those yards in bold. If it was better in passing, that yardage total is in bold.
| TEAMS WITH 140 KICKING POINTS SINCE 2002 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | Run | Rk | Pass | Rk | K Pts |
| 2011 | San Francisco 49ers | 2,044 | 8 | 3,193 | 30 | 166 |
| 2003 | St. Louis Rams | 1,496 | 30 | 4,287 | 2 | 163 |
| 2013 | New England Patriots | 2,065 | 9 | 4,343 | 10 | 158 |
| 2003 | Indianapolis Colts | 1,695 | 19 | 4,289 | 1 | 157 |
| 2014 | New England Patriots | 1,727 | 18 | 4,121 | 9 | 156 |
| 2012 | New England Patriots | 2,184 | 7 | 4,844 | 4 | 153 |
| 2014 | Philadelphia Eagles | 1,992 | 9 | 4,356 | 6 | 150 |
| 2013 | Denver Broncos | 1,873 | 15 | 5,572 | 1 | 150 |
| 2008 | New York Giants | 2,518 | 1 | 3,353 | 19 | 149 |
| 2005 | Arizona Cardinals | 1,138 | 32 | 4,723 | 1 | 149 |
| 2005 | New York Giants | 2,209 | 6 | 3,762 | 11 | 148 |
| 2008 | New England Patriots | 2,278 | 6 | 3,790 | 10 | 148 |
| 2011 | New Orleans Saints | 2,127 | 6 | 5,505 | 1 | 147 |
| 2009 | San Diego Chargers | 1,423 | 31 | 4,506 | 4 | 146 |
| 2012 | New York Giants | 1,862 | 14 | 3,967 | 15 | 145 |
| 2013 | San Diego Chargers | 1,965 | 13 | 4,478 | 6 | 144 |
| 2008 | Philadelphia Eagles | 1,697 | 22 | 4,060 | 6 | 144 |
| 2013 | Seattle Seahawks | 2,188 | 4 | 3,508 | 26 | 143 |
| 2010 | Philadelphia Eagles | 2,324 | 5 | 4,215 | 8 | 143 |
| 2006 | Chicago Bears | 1,918 | 15 | 3,446 | 15 | 143 |
| 2011 | New England Patriots | 1,764 | 20 | 5,257 | 2 | 143 |
| 2012 | Atlanta Falcons | 1,397 | 29 | 4,719 | 5 | 143 |
| 2010 | Oakland Raiders | 2,494 | 2 | 3,471 | 22 | 142 |
| 2012 | Minnesota Vikings | 2,634 | 2 | 2,935 | 32 | 141 |
| 2004 | New England Patriots | 2,134 | 7 | 3,750 | 13 | 141 |
| 2013 | Green Bay Packers | 2,136 | 7 | 4,538 | 5 | 141 |
| 2007 | Green Bay Packers | 1,597 | 21 | 4,461 | 2 | 141 |
| 2013 | San Francisco 49ers | 2,201 | 3 | 3,210 | 31 | 140 |
| 2013 | Baltimore Ravens | 1,328 | 30 | 3,914 | 19 | 140 |
| 2014 | Indianapolis Colts | 1,612 | 22 | 4,894 | 1 | 140 |
| 2011 | Green Bay Packers | 1,558 | 27 | 5,161 | 3 | 140 |
—Ian Allan