It is not necessarily that the teams that pass the most in any given season have the most success on average in that given season.
It is that teams on average are passing more than running now. Even the teams that pass the least are passing more than they used to, and that trend continues to diverge in favor of passing at a steady rate. Last season teams averaged 26.3 rushing attempts per game against 35.7 passing attempts. In 2014 it was 26.7 vs. 34.9. You can go right down the years and see the clear trend. The lines intersected back in the early to mid 80's when the rules started favoring the passing game and have continued to diverge in favor of more passing and less running ever since.
Last season the Panthers, who ran the most, were still almost 50/50 (32.9 rushes / 31.3 passes per game). That is your heavy running team today and they are a somewhat unique case given how much their passer actually runs the ball. Contrast that with the 84 Rams, who believe it or not were only the fourth most running team that year at 33.8 / 22.4. The Bears were tops in rushing attempts in 84 with a run/pass ratio per game of 42.1 / 24.4.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/18/2016 07:14PM by 9er8er.
