NFL League Average PPG In 1997(20.7) Vs 2017(21.7)

[Street Knowledge]

1 point per game difference. I was actually shocked. The “scoring explosion” of today is vastly overstated when we look at the data. Teams aren’t scoring significantly more than they were 20 years before

2017 NFL Standings & Team Stats | Pro-Football-Reference.com

1997 NFL Standings & Team Stats | Pro-Football-Reference.com

Heck if we go back to 1987(21.6)

1987 NFL Standings & Team Stats | Pro-Football-Reference.com

And overall
NFL Season By Season Scoring Summary | Pro-Football-Reference.com

 

[MikelArteta]

Throw up and down the field but struggle In the red zone

 

[gtj1982]

Throw up and down the field but struggle In the red zone

The red zone is where you need a running game or a running QB

 

[concise]

You sure you're not confusing the inflated passing game numbers with scoring numbers? I don't believe I've heard of a scoring explosion before.


Scoring was down this season. Will the NFL’s competition committee do anything about it? – The Denver Post


and 87's numbers were highly influenced by the strike

Slower, Lower-Scoring N.F.L. Games Are Likely

 

[L&HH]

What’s the Median? And how do the top 5 scoring teams compare between now and back then. shytty teams like the Browns, Bills, Colts, etc are going to drag the averages down.

In 2017 8 teams scored over 400 points. In 1997 & 1987 only 2 teams did.

 

[Darealtwo1]

Never heard about more points being scored. All I ever heard was avg QBs throwing for 4K yards due to rule changes.

 

[Remote]

What’s the Median? And how do the top 5 scoring teams compare between now and back then. shytty teams like the Browns, Bills, Colts, etc are going to drag the averages down.

In 2017 8 teams scored over 400 points. In 1997 & 1987 only 2 teams did.

Math is cool.

 

[bl2k8]

Who talks about a scoring explosion

Also nfl been on the downward trend in terms of offense. I’m sure 2012 or 2013 was the peak for offensive football

 

[Street Knowledge]

You sure you're not confusing the inflated passing game numbers with scoring numbers? I don't believe I've heard of a scoring explosion before.


Scoring was down this season. Will the NFL’s competition committee do anything about it? – The Denver Post


and 87's numbers were highly influenced by the strike

Slower, Lower-Scoring N.F.L. Games Are Likely

Even if we take out the lockout season of 87, 1986 It was 20.5 and 1988 it was 20.3. In 2017 it was 21.7

On average teams aren’t scoring significantly more than they were 20 or 30 year ago.

 

[Street Knowledge]

What’s the Median? And how do the top 5 scoring teams compare between now and back then. shytty teams like the Browns, Bills, Colts, etc are going to drag the averages down.

In 2017 8 teams scored over 400 points. In 1997 & 1987 only 2 teams did.

The top 5 scoring offenses of 2017 averaged 28.22 PPG

The Top 5 Scoring offenses of 1997 averaged 25.22 PPG

A difference of less than 3 points.

The bad teams have always dragged the averages down. There were always terrible qbs and terrible offenses

 

[Lifer11]

In 97 2 teams scored over 400 pts for the season, in 2017 8 teams scored over 400 pts. The numbers show that the overall scoring balances out along the way, but 6 more teams scoring over 400 pts leads to a lot more shootouts over the course of a season.

Edit:

Plus I think this entire narrative comes from the older generation/Mike Ditka types mad that there's not smashmouth CTE ball on a regular basis anymore. In the 90s there were hard grind it games, or at least nostalgia has left us with that perspective, where as now we are likely to see one of two types of game: either a shootout between elite offenses or two inept teams struggle to a 13-10 outcome. In the 90s that 13-10 outcome may have happened due to a hardfought defensive game, now it's mainly due to incompetence on the offensive side of the ball--or at least that's the perception of it since not only has the hard hitting been taken out of the game, the sports media rarely glorifies the defensive side of play anymore.