2020 NFL Season: The anti 1977

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SeahawkFever
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Joined: Mon Jan 08, 2024 4:18 am

2020 NFL Season: The anti 1977

Post by SeahawkFever »

Awhile back I made a post talking about the defenses of 1977 and how the game was in favor of that side of the ball by a ton.

Well is it too early to argue that the 2020 NFL season could be the anti 1977? Ergo: The NFL season where the offenses dominated the most by the numbers.

Consider that 15 teams averaged over 25 points per game, and that league wide averages per team per game of points (24.8), yards (359.0), and first downs (21.7) are the highest on record. The league also had it's highest collective passer rating (93.6), and adjusted net yards per attempt (6.4) on record.

For that matter, the Jets who had the worst NFL offense by points in 2020 still had three games where they scored 28 points and a fourth where they scored 27.

You tell me, is it too early to call 2020 the year for wild NFL offensive stats like 1977 is for team defensive stats?

A couple comparison facts between the two years:

The worst NFL offense of 2020 by points was the Jets; they scored 15.2 points per game. In 1977 that would have ranked 21st out of 28 (between San Francisco and Washington)

The worst NFL defense of 1977 by points was the Seahawks (who had a game where they shutout the Jets on a side note); the 77 Seahawks allowed 26.6 points per game. In 2020 that would have tied them for 23rd out of 32 teams (same average to one decimal as the Chargers).

The best NFL defense of 2020 was the Rams who allowed 18.5 points per game; that would rank 20th in 1977 (between the Bears and 49ers).

The best NFL offense of 1977 was the Raiders who averaged 25.1 points per game, and would rank 16th in 2020 (between the Dolphins and Falcons).
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