The Fall of the House of Rusher

A quick non-financial post.

What happened to running the ball in the NFL? Since 1978, thanks to rule changes, the passing game has become more important every year. But this year…wow! The running game has run right off a cliff.

The season is still young so this trend may not last, but with two weeks on the books, the number of rushes-per-game is down 4.8% from last year.

But what’s really dramatic is that average yards-per-carry is down by 10.7% (from 4.262 to 3.805).

Combine the two effects, fewer runs going not as far, and the rushing-yards-per-game figure is down 15% from last year. That number has been fairly steady for the last 25 years.

On the passing side, attempts are up 7.8%, completions are up 10.0% and passing yards are up 10.5%. The league-wide passer rating now stands 87.3. In 1994, that would have qualified as fourth-best in the league.

Posted by on September 17th, 2013 at 10:48 pm


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