It's been only three weeks, but NFL scoring and passing offense is down again.
While the New York Jets ' offensive production is up with Aaron Rodgers back at the controls , the same cannot be said for most teams.
Collectively, teams' scoring average is on pace to decrease for the fourth year in a row after an all-time historic high (24.8 ppg) in 2020. Thus far in 2024, NFL teams are accounting for 21.2 points per outing. The Jets, however, have scored nine touchdowns through three games, a feat that took them 11 weeks to achieve last season.
Passing numbers are also down, and Jets' fans can relate to that as their future Hall-of-Fame quarterback threw for only 176 yards in a Week 2 road win over the Tennessee Titans . Teams are accounting for a 201.2 pass yards per game on average in 2024. That number was 218.9 ypg at the end of last season and it reached 240.2 ypg back in 2020.
Jets' fourth-year head coach Robert Saleh doesn't foresee a sudden league-wide uptick in offensive production, at least not this year.
"It's a season long thing," said Saleh while addressing reporters in Florham Park. "Defenses, for the last few years, have been sitting in a two shell and daring offenses to run. I think coordinators around the League are doing a really good job staying patient."
New York actually experienced that trend firsthand , falling victim to a heavy dose of the San Francisco 49ers ' rushing attack in a season-opening loss.
"Week 1 was a perfect example. I joked with [49ers' head coach] Kyle [Shanahan] the other day that I kind of wish [RB Christian] McCaffrey did play because then he would have thrown it, but he turned around and handed it off over 40 times," said Saleh. "You're seeing a lot of teams, even New England before we played them, that they're handing it off over 30 times."
Like yardage, pass attempts are noticeably down, supporting Saleh's theory. Teams are throwing an average of 31.1 times per game thus far this season, a 4.1 attempts per game drop from the 2020 number.
"Play callers are being very patient, getting the ball to their backs and running the ball and just taking the challenge to run the ball," said Saleh.
As defenses go lighter and litter the field with defensive backs, offenses are seemingly prepared to respond by opting to ground and pound. The cyclical nature of the NFL appears to be on display once again.
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• Jets' rookie RB forces Robert Saleh's hand and Aaron Rodgers agrees
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