Despite having no preseason and a condensed training camp schedule to work with this offseason, teams have had very little trouble scoring in 2020. With the exception of a few teams – primarily the two that call MetLife Stadium home – scoring is up across the NFL this year.
Of the 32 teams in the league, 22 are averaging at least 24 points per game. Compare that to last year when only 12 teams scored 24 points per game and the difference is clear – even if the sample size is only four weeks.
According to the Los Angeles Times, teams combined for 3,151 points entering Monday night’s double-header, which is the most in the first month of any season in the Super Bowl era. By every measure, scoring and offense are up significantly this year.
Sean McVay was asked about that on Wednesday and he has a theory. It’s related to the lack of home crowds, which changes the way offenses get to operate on the road.
“You know, it’s hard to say. I think when you look at four games, it’ll be a better sample size once you get a little bit more through the season and have a bigger inventory. But I do think it’s a big deal that the absence of having to use your silent cadence and some of the get off,” McVay told reporters. “I think so much of defensive football is predicated on that energy from sometimes the stadium. If you said, what’s the main difference why I think you want to wait until we get a little bit more of an inventory to see. But, if I had to put my thumb on something in particular, I think it’s the ability to use your verbal cadence and not have to use your silent count on some of these tough road atmospheres that ends up being a big deal that offenses aren’t having to deal with.”
The NFL is allowing teams to pump in artificial crowd noise, but it doesn’t simulate the energy that real fans bring, particularly at venues like Arrowhead Stadium and the Superdome in New Orleans.
Offenses get to make their usual calls at the line and don’t have to use a silent count, which makes it easier for them to operate. It helps that quarterbacks are completing passes at a high rate, and that penalties are down across the league, but the lack of actual crowds certainly helps offenses, too.