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Factoid

The Vanishing Interception

Passing games giving up fewer turnovers than in past

Quarterbacks and passing games are getting better, and rule changes are more quarterback-friendly all the time. Whichever you choose to give more credit to, teams are putting up better passing numbers than ever before. Accordingly, defenses aren't having as much success against those passing games, not only in terms of yards allowed, but also in terms of interceptions.

League-wide, defenses allowed an average of 252 passing yards per game last year, some 30 yards more than they were 10 and 20 years ago. In that same time frame, interceptions have dropped from 17 per team per season to just 14 last year. Teams have now averaged under 15 interceptions in two of the last three years. Only one other time in the last 20 years have they been under 15.

The first table below shows average interceptions per team over the last 20 years. It's been a fairly steady decline -- and a particularly steep one over the last 7-8 years. The second table shows team interceptions for the 2014 season. Only 13 of them had more than 14 interceptions.

INTERCEPTIONS, YEAR BY YEAR (1995-2014)
YearAvg. INTs
199517.1
199618.1
199716.0
199817.0
199918.1
200017.1
200117.6
200216.5
200316.8
200416.4
200515.8
200616.3
200716.7
200814.5
200916.4
201016.0
201115.8
201214.6
201315.7
201414.1
INTERCEPTIONS BY TEAM (2014)
RkTeamINTs
1.San Francisco23
2.Cleveland21
3.Cincinnati20
3.Detroit20
3.Houston20
6.Buffalo19
7.Arizona18
7.Dallas18
7.Denver18
7.Green Bay18
11.NY Giants17
12.Atlanta16
12.New England16
14.Carolina14
14.Chicago14
14.Miami14
14.Tampa Bay14
18.Minnesota13
18.Seattle13
18.St. Louis13
21.Indianapolis12
21.New Orleans12
21.Philadelphia12
21.Tennessee12
25.Baltimore11
25.Pittsburgh11
27.Oakland9
28.San Diego7
28.Washington7
30.Jacksonville6
30.Kansas City6
30.NY Jets6

--Andy Richardson

Fantasy Index