I like this point of the season. Every team has played at least a dozen games, so there’s a decent amount of data to work with. You can slice the numbers in different ways and see which teams and players bubble to the surface.
Consider, for example, rushing production. We can take the rushing stats for each team from its first six games and compare it to the last six games. Those overview numbers paint of picture of which teams are getting better, and which are getting worse.
Four teams are averaging at least 30 more rushing yards per game now (last six games) than they were in the first six weeks: Steelers, Patriots, Vikings, Falcons. Four offenses, on the other hand, are averaging at least 30 fewer yards: Dolphins, Jets, Eagles, Cardinals (those offenses have all also averaged about a yard less per carry).
Four teams right now are averaging over a yard per carry more than they did back in the first six games: the Steelers (at almost 2 yards per attempt), Lions, Ravens and Patriots. (Two of those teams will be in action tonight, if you’re looking for additional reasons to be fired up for the most recent Amazon matchup – I actually kind of like Ezekiel Elliott in this game.)
If we’re looking solely at rushing touchdowns, the Texans, Bengals and Vikings are the three teams that have risen the most, each scoring at least 5 more rushing touchdowns in their last six than they did in the first six.
The Dolphins and 49ers have declined the most in the rushing touchdowns category. Miami has scored 7 rushing touchdowns in its last six, but it was up at 15 in their first six games. The 49ers similarly have scored 8 in their last six but were up at 12 rushing touchdowns.
If we look at composite rushing production (using 1 point for every 10 yards and 6 points for touchdowns) the Steelers, Vikings, Texans and Bengals have the rushing offenses that have improved the most overall. The Dolphins, Jets, 49ers and Chargers have the ground games that have declined the most.
In the final two columns of the chart below, you’re seeing the overall rank (1 thru 32) for each offense for its first six games, and the same number for its more recent six games. Note that Atlanta and Washington have played 13 games, and for those two clubs, I tossed out their seventh games entirely.
| MOST IMPROVED RUNNING GAMES | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Yd/G | Yd/Att | TD | 1st Rk | 2nd Rk |
| Pittsburgh | 68 | 1.8 | 2 | 27 | 6 |
| Minnesota | 34 | -.2 | 5 | 32 | 19 |
| Houston | 18 | 1.0 | 6 | 29 | 11 |
| Cincinnati | 25 | .9 | 5 | 31 | 22 |
| Baltimore | 28 | 1.2 | 4 | 3 | 1 |
| New Orleans | 19 | .5 | 4 | 23 | 10 |
| Tampa Bay | 15 | .9 | 4 | 30 | 24 |
| Atlanta | 32 | .4 | 2 | 17 | 4 |
| New England | 40 | 1.2 | 0 | 26 | 23 |
| Denver | 20 | -.9 | 2 | 25 | 21 |
| Las Vegas | 18 | 1.0 | 2 | 28 | 25 |
| Detroit | 26 | 1.3 | 1 | 6 | 2 |
| Chicago | 3 | -.7 | 3 | 14 | 7 |
| Washington | 28 | .7 | 0 | 20 | 16 |
| Buffalo | 8 | .1 | 0 | 9 | 8 |
| Green Bay | 28 | .9 | -2 | 21 | 26 |
| Carolina | -4 | -.5 | 1 | 24 | 29 |
| Dallas | -5 | .4 | 1 | 13 | 14 |
| Indianapolis | -2 | -.2 | 0 | 7 | 9 |
| Tennessee | -3 | -.6 | 0 | 16 | 20 |
| NY Giants | 17 | .3 | -2 | 22 | 28 |
| LA Rams | 13 | .1 | -2 | 11 | 15 |
| Philadelphia | -48 | -.8 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| Arizona | -35 | -1.2 | 2 | 8 | 12 |
| Jacksonville | -21 | -.4 | 0 | 10 | 17 |
| Kansas City | -17 | .1 | -1 | 18 | 27 |
| Seattle | -24 | -.1 | -3 | 15 | 31 |
| Cleveland | -25 | -.6 | -3 | 5 | 18 |
| LA Chargers | -28 | -.6 | -3 | 12 | 30 |
| San Francisco | -23 | .0 | -4 | 2 | 5 |
| NY Jets | -54 | -1.9 | -3 | 19 | 32 |
| Miami | -77 | -2.5 | -8 | 1 | 13 |
| RUSHING PRODUCTION (first 6 games) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Att | Yards | Avg | TD | F Pts |
| Miami | 168 | 1,091 | 6.5 | 15 | 199.1 |
| San Francisco | 198 | 890 | 4.5 | 12 | 161.0 |
| Baltimore | 203 | 869 | 4.3 | 9 | 140.9 |
| Philadelphia | 201 | 900 | 4.5 | 7 | 132.0 |
| Cleveland | 198 | 885 | 4.5 | 7 | 130.5 |
| Detroit | 187 | 745 | 4.0 | 9 | 128.5 |
| Indianapolis | 166 | 700 | 4.2 | 8 | 118.0 |
| Arizona | 161 | 846 | 5.3 | 5 | 114.6 |
| Buffalo | 162 | 709 | 4.4 | 7 | 112.9 |
| Jacksonville | 181 | 681 | 3.8 | 7 | 110.1 |
| LA Rams | 153 | 649 | 4.2 | 7 | 106.9 |
| LA Chargers | 162 | 671 | 4.1 | 6 | 103.1 |
| Dallas | 182 | 718 | 3.9 | 5 | 101.8 |
| Chicago | 170 | 816 | 4.8 | 3 | 99.6 |
| Seattle | 156 | 636 | 4.1 | 6 | 99.6 |
| Tennessee | 145 | 662 | 4.6 | 5 | 96.2 |
| Atlanta | 178 | 714 | 4.0 | 4 | 95.4 |
| Kansas City | 165 | 711 | 4.3 | 4 | 95.1 |
| NY Jets | 135 | 705 | 5.2 | 3 | 88.5 |
| Washington | 124 | 527 | 4.3 | 5 | 82.7 |
| Green Bay | 145 | 545 | 3.8 | 4 | 78.5 |
| NY Giants | 158 | 593 | 3.8 | 3 | 77.3 |
| New Orleans | 168 | 575 | 3.4 | 3 | 75.5 |
| Carolina | 144 | 588 | 4.1 | 2 | 70.8 |
| Denver | 129 | 636 | 4.9 | 1 | 69.6 |
| New England | 147 | 502 | 3.4 | 3 | 68.2 |
| Pittsburgh | 146 | 488 | 3.3 | 3 | 66.8 |
| Las Vegas | 148 | 441 | 3.0 | 3 | 62.1 |
| Houston | 167 | 533 | 3.2 | 1 | 59.3 |
| Tampa Bay | 153 | 467 | 3.1 | 1 | 52.7 |
| Cincinnati | 121 | 419 | 3.5 | 1 | 47.9 |
| Minnesota | 113 | 450 | 4.0 | 0 | 45.0 |
Statistics compiled using search tools at Pro-Football-Reference.com
| RUSHING PRODUCTION (last 6 games) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Att | Yards | Avg | TD | F Pts |
| Baltimore | 187 | 1,034 | 5.5 | 13 | 181.4 |
| Detroit | 171 | 903 | 5.3 | 10 | 150.3 |
| Philadelphia | 166 | 612 | 3.7 | 11 | 127.2 |
| Atlanta | 208 | 908 | 4.4 | 6 | 126.8 |
| San Francisco | 166 | 752 | 4.5 | 8 | 123.2 |
| Chicago | 206 | 836 | 4.1 | 6 | 119.6 |
| Pittsburgh | 174 | 896 | 5.1 | 5 | 119.6 |
| Buffalo | 170 | 759 | 4.5 | 7 | 117.9 |
| Indianapolis | 170 | 690 | 4.1 | 8 | 117.0 |
| New Orleans | 173 | 686 | 4.0 | 7 | 110.6 |
| Houston | 154 | 642 | 4.2 | 7 | 106.2 |
| Arizona | 157 | 638 | 4.1 | 7 | 105.8 |
| Miami | 158 | 629 | 4.0 | 7 | 104.9 |
| Dallas | 159 | 686 | 4.3 | 6 | 104.6 |
| LA Rams | 166 | 725 | 4.4 | 5 | 102.5 |
| Washington | 142 | 696 | 4.9 | 5 | 99.6 |
| Jacksonville | 164 | 558 | 3.4 | 7 | 97.8 |
| Cleveland | 192 | 736 | 3.8 | 4 | 97.6 |
| Minnesota | 171 | 655 | 3.8 | 5 | 95.5 |
| Tennessee | 162 | 645 | 4.0 | 5 | 94.5 |
| Denver | 187 | 753 | 4.0 | 3 | 93.3 |
| Cincinnati | 130 | 571 | 4.4 | 6 | 93.1 |
| New England | 161 | 742 | 4.6 | 3 | 92.2 |
| Tampa Bay | 142 | 555 | 3.9 | 5 | 85.5 |
| Las Vegas | 137 | 551 | 4.0 | 5 | 85.1 |
| Green Bay | 154 | 714 | 4.6 | 2 | 83.4 |
| Kansas City | 139 | 608 | 4.4 | 3 | 78.8 |
| NY Giants | 170 | 692 | 4.1 | 1 | 75.2 |
| Carolina | 157 | 564 | 3.6 | 3 | 74.4 |
| LA Chargers | 141 | 501 | 3.6 | 3 | 68.1 |
| Seattle | 122 | 490 | 4.0 | 3 | 67.0 |
| NY Jets | 116 | 384 | 3.3 | 0 | 38.4 |
Statistics compiled using search tools at Pro-Football-Reference.com
—Ian Allan