There have been exactly ZERO shutouts in the NFL through Week 11.
You know, that horrific happening when a team plays sixty minutes and yet produces no points to prove they were even there. In fantasy football, you don’t even have to look at the box score to know your player didn’t have a big week. For any offense, shutout is a dirty word.
Fact – No previous NFL season has ever reached Week 8 without a shutout. This is a record setting year.
It’s a brave new world now, but it always includes at least a field goal.
NFL shutouts since the 1970 merger
There were plenty of shutouts over time – 505 since the 1970 merger. But none this season. Here’s also proof how much better offenses are than back in the 1970’s when defenses ruled. The NFL prior to the merger had plenty of shutouts as well, but they played shorter seasons.
Fact – The worst shutouts were Titans 0, Patriots 59 (2009) and Falcons 0, Rams 59 (1976).
Fact – The lowest total points scored in an NFL game was three, reached in 7 games and most recently 2023 when the Vikings beat the Raiders 3-0.
Most shutouts of an offense since 1970
Ths contains teams by their city, so there are more than 32. The AFC East had three of the Top-7 offenses that were shut out. These are over 54 years.
Most shutouts by a defense since 1970
Interesting that over the 54 years, most of the best defenses at shutting out an opponent are still among the top defenses.
Statistics courtesy of stathead.com, a part of Pro Football Reference