Now that the 2015 NFL regular season has come to a conclusion it’s time to do some reflecting. From the amazing to the absolutely terrible, a bunch of eye-opening stats defined the regular season.
Just how bad was the New Orleans Saints defense? Adrian Peterson may have won the rushing title, but was it a tremendous feat?
These are 12 amazing stats from the regular season around the NFL.
Historically bad pass defenses
A total of five defenses yielded quarterback ratings in the triple digits with over half the teams in the NFL giving up a 90-plus rating on the year.
For comparison’s sake, 10 years earlier two teams yielded a rating in the triple digits with a total of four squads giving up a 90-plus rating.
The New Orleans Saints were particularly horrendous in this category. Their defense yielded 45 touchdowns compared to nine interceptions for a ridiculous 116.2 passer rating.
High number of starting quarterbacks
A total of 57 quarterbacks started a game this season with the Dallas Cowboys, Indianapolis Colts, Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans all starting four different signal callers.
Week 17 alone saw the likes of Ryan Mallett, Austin Davis, A.J. McCarron, Zach Mettenberger, Josh Freeman, Brian Hoyer, Case Keenum, Blaine Gabbert and Kellen Moore start for their respective teams.
To say that we are not necessarily in the golden age of quarterback play would be an understatement.
And while stats may suggest otherwise, that’s a bit polluted due to the pass-first offenses we see today and NFL rules that favor that side of the ball more when comparing to previous eras.
With injuries and ineffectiveness taking over on a wide scale during the 2015 season, teams may now be forced to roster three quarterbacks on their 53-man rosters throughout the league.
This will lead to more horrible quarterback play, especially with the talent vacuum not being filled from the collegiate level.
Down year for running backs
Only eight running backs hit the 1,000-yard mark this season. This is obviously a sign that the NFL has trended more towards pass-happy offenses.
Considering it only takes 62.5 yards per game, this isn’t necessarily a tremendous accomplishment. That’s magnified by the fact that 16 running backs hit 1,000 yards back in 2005.
NFL rushing champion Adrian Peterson led the league with 327 rush attempts. Not a single other running back put up as much as 290 attempts. Back in 2005, 11 running backs hit the 290-attempt plateau, with 14 hitting that mark back in 2000.
The 327 rush attempts representing a NFL high is the third-lowest number of the past quarter century, with two of those seasons coming over the past three years.
Some amazing numbers for wide receivers
Pittsburgh Steelers Pro Bowler Antonio Brown put up 13 receptions for 187 yards and a score against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday. This brought his final season totals to 136 receptions for 1,834 yards and 10 touchdowns.
What’s even more amazing about this is that Brown caught 70 percent of the 193 balls thrown his way and dropped just five balls.
While we already know the historical run Russell Wilson has been on recently, let’s not lose sight of what Doug Baldwin has been doing in Seattle.
Including his five-reception performance against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, Baldwin caught a ridiculous 79 percent of the balls thrown to him this year.
You want to know why Seattle heads into the playoffs as one of the most dangerous teams in the NFL. Look no further than here.
New Orleans Saints defense was bad
They might want to tell you it was Rob Ryan’s fault, but the former Saints defensive coordinator had absolutely nothing to work with prior to being fired about midway through the season.
When all was said and done on Sunday, New Orleans defense finished 31st in total yards allowed, 31st in passing yards allowed, 31st in rushing yards allowed and dead last in points allowed.
Opposing signal callers combined for a 116.2 quarterback rating while throwing a whopping 45 touchdowns in 16 games. Heck, the Saints yielded a league-leading 64 passing plays of 20-plus yards.
Khalil Mack, Defensive Player of the Year?
This Oakland Raiders linebacker didn’t just rack up a league-leading 16 sacks on the year, he got to the quarterback for a ridiculous 57 hurries in 16 games.
For comparison’s sake, J.J. Watt tallied a little more than half that amount for the Houston Texans.
What makes Mack’s sophomore season such a smashing success is just how controlled he looked out there. He allowed just seven receptions when actually asked to drop back into coverage and committed a total of two penalties in over 1,000 plays.
We know that Watt will likely earn yet another Defensive Player of the Year award, but Mack should really be in the conversation with him.
Dallas and San Francisco combined to average one more point than Carolina
When the Cowboys and 49ers took on one another in Week 1 of the 2014 season, they had just come off campaigns that saw both of them finish in the top 11 of the NFL in scoring.
Meanwhile, the 2013 season saw Carolina finish in the bottom half of the NFL in this category.
About 16 months removed from this, Dallas and San Francisco — winners of a combined nine games — finished 31st and 32nd respectively in scoring. On the other end of the ledger, the Panthers averaged a league-leading 31.2 points per game.
Let’s put this into perspective for a second.
Cam Newton himself put up 24 touchdowns over the past seven games of the season. Combined, San Francisco and Dallas put up the same amount of touchdowns during that span.
Great pass defenses
All the talk surrounding Denver in the lead up to the divisional playoffs will be about its starting quarterback. Will the team continue to roll with Brock Osweiler even after he was benched in favor of Peyton Manning on Sunday? That’s the question we will see thrown around on a never-ending loop.
But does it really matter that much?
This isn’t the Denver Broncos team that earned a Super Bowl trip two years ago. Instead, it’s more orientated to the defensive side of the ball.
In a NFL that favors passing offenses, what the Broncos defense did against the pass this year was absolutely ridiculous. It allowed just 19 touchdowns compared to 14 interceptions for a 78.8 opposing quarterback rating.
Meanwhile, Seattle overcame some early-year struggles by posting ridiculous season-ending marks itself. All said, the Legion of Boom allowed as many touchdowns (14) as interceptions for a 78.1 opposing quarterback rating.
The 33 touchdown passes that Denver and Seattle combined to allow was less than four entire teams, including 12 fewer than the Saints.
All this is fine and dandy, but it was the Carolina Panthers that took the cake here. It allowed fewer touchdown passes (21) than interceptions (24) for a league-best 73.5 opposing quarterback rating.
It’s not a coincidence that these three teams are in the postseason with a chance to hoist the Lombard Trophy in Santa Clara next month.
Baltimore Ravens run out of luck
Not that they were lucky in the first place, but the Ravens simply couldn’t close out games during what was a horrible 5-11 campaign.
Including their eight-point loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, nine of the Ravens’ 11 losses came by one score. If it were able to post an above .500 mark in those games, Baltimore would have finished with 10 wins on the season.
This just goes to show us the job John Harbaugh did with a depleted roster. After all, the likes of Joe Flacco, Justin Forsett and Steve Smith missed a combined 25 games on the season.
49ers were downright horrible on the road
San Francisco actually finished its home slate with an even .500 record. It was on the road where this team was absolutely horrendous.
With one win in eight road dates, the 49ers were outscored by an average of 16 points away from Levi’s stadium. In fact, San Francisco gave up an average of 31.5 points on the road compared to 16.9 points at home.
Pittsburgh’s domination on offense
Including a 379-yard performance against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, Ben Roethlisberger and Co. are averaging 444 yards per game over their past eight outings (6-2 record).
During that span, wide receiver Antonio Brown has caught 84 passes for over 1,100 yards on 116 targets. That would qualify as a good season for all but about a dozen receivers in the NFL.
Averaging 32 points per game in these eight games, Pittsburgh is one of the most dangerous teams heading into the playoffs after inching its way in on Sunday.
Major success for unheralded tight ends
Veteran Tennessee Titans tight end Delanie Walker put up a career season in 2015, his 10th in the NFL. The 31-year-old pass catcher hauled in 94 passes for 1,088 yards while catching 71 percent of the balls thrown in his direction.
Given an injury-plagued label after missing 12 games in his first two seasons, Washington Redskins tight end Jordan Reed hauled in 87 passes for 952 yards and 11 touchdowns during the regular year. He also caught 76 percent of the balls thrown his way.
Both tight ends caught passes at a higher success rate that Rob Gronkowski with Reed matching the New England Patriots tight end in touchdown receptions.
