NFL teams are currently averaging 21.4 points per game, the fifth straight year the scoring average has decreased, and the lowest points per game total since 2006.
When New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers walked off the field after the Jets’ 24-3 win against the New England Patriots on Thursday night, he did so after accomplishing something he hadn’t since his final game with the Green Bay Packers two seasons ago: throwing for more than 200 yards.
Rodgers’ passing totals in the first two weeks of this year were 167 and 176 yards, well below his career average of roughly 255 yards per game.
He wasn’t alone with the meager numbers, however.
Through the first two weeks (and one game) of the NFL season, offensive output, particularly passing, has taken a considerable dip, and the explanations for why are all over the board.
The numbers are pretty stark.
The current per-game passing yard average through one game of Week 3 is 192.7, per Pro Football Reference. If that number holds, it would be the lowest passing yards per game number since 1992, when the average was 187.6. The leaguewide number of passing attempts per game — 30.3 — would also be its lowest since
