With a third of the 18 weeks in the books, it’s clear that defenses are winning this year. Yards and scoring are down, and it’s going to be a forgettable season for fantasy purposes.
There are exceptions, of course. Miami has been able to put up unbelievable numbers, and the 49ers were really humming along until running into a defense in Cleveland that’s allowed the fewest yards by any team (in its first five games) in over 50 years.
But there have been a lot more misses than hits.
Six weeks in, 15 offenses are averaging fewer than 2 TDs per week. That would be the highest total in 20 years. (In the last seven years, there’s been an average of 6.7 such teams.)
LOW-SCORING OFFENSES | |
---|---|
Year | Tms |
2002 | 9 |
2003 | 16 |
2004 | 10 |
2005 | 14 |
2006 | 14 |
2007 | 13 |
2008 | 10 |
2009 | 11 |
2010 | 10 |
2011 | 13 |
2012 | 11 |
2013 | 8 |
2014 | 11 |
2015 | 5 |
2016 | 8 |
2017 | 10 |
2018 | 7 |
2019 | 7 |
2020 | 2 |
2021 | 8 |
2022 | 13 |
2023 | 15 |
There’s just a bunch of sputtering offenses right now. Below see the rundown of all offenses (not teams, but offenses) who’ve averaged no more than 1.33 TDs per game in the 32-team team era. That is, since 2002. Of the 31 lowest-scoring offenses (out of 704 candidates) 7 come from our current season.
The Giants, with Daniel Jones, are currently on pace to become the first offense since 2006 to average less than a touchdown per game. The Steelers and Jets aren’t far behind.
LOW-SCORING OFFENSES (2002-) | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Team | G | Pass | Run | Total | Avg |
2006 | Oakland | 16 | 7 | 5 | 12 | .75 |
2023 | • NY Giants | 6 | 2 | 3 | 5 | .83 |
2023 | • Pittsburgh | 5 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 1.00 |
2011 | St. Louis | 16 | 9 | 7 | 16 | 1.00 |
2010 | Carolina | 16 | 9 | 7 | 16 | 1.00 |
2009 | St. Louis | 16 | 12 | 4 | 16 | 1.00 |
2012 | Kansas City | 16 | 8 | 9 | 17 | 1.06 |
2009 | Oakland | 16 | 10 | 7 | 17 | 1.06 |
2008 | Cleveland | 16 | 11 | 6 | 17 | 1.06 |
2008 | Cincinnati | 16 | 11 | 6 | 17 | 1.06 |
2005 | San Francisco | 16 | 8 | 9 | 17 | 1.06 |
2002 | Houston | 16 | 11 | 6 | 17 | 1.06 |
2011 | Kansas City | 16 | 13 | 5 | 18 | 1.13 |
2023 | • NY Jets | 6 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 1.17 |
2010 | Arizona | 16 | 10 | 9 | 19 | 1.19 |
2008 | St. Louis | 16 | 11 | 8 | 19 | 1.19 |
2005 | Cleveland | 16 | 15 | 4 | 19 | 1.19 |
2004 | Chicago | 16 | 9 | 10 | 19 | 1.19 |
2011 | Cleveland | 16 | 16 | 4 | 20 | 1.25 |
2007 | Buffalo | 16 | 12 | 8 | 20 | 1.25 |
2006 | Tampa Bay | 16 | 14 | 6 | 20 | 1.25 |
2012 | Arizona | 16 | 11 | 10 | 21 | 1.31 |
2011 | Jacksonville | 16 | 12 | 9 | 21 | 1.31 |
2009 | Cleveland | 16 | 11 | 10 | 21 | 1.31 |
2007 | NY Jets | 16 | 15 | 6 | 21 | 1.31 |
2005 | NY Jets | 16 | 11 | 10 | 21 | 1.31 |
2002 | Dallas | 16 | 14 | 7 | 21 | 1.31 |
2023 | • Cincinnati | 6 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 1.33 |
2023 | • New England | 6 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 1.33 |
2023 | • New Orleans | 6 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 1.33 |
2023 | • Tennessee | 6 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 1.33 |
—Ian Allan