NFL season off to highest-scoring start ever

Posted by Michael David Smith on September 23, 2020, 5:04 PM EDT
Getty Images

More points and more touchdowns have been scored in the first two weeks of this season than in any opening two weeks in NFL history.

So far this season, NFL teams have scored a combined 1,611 points. That breaks the previous record of 1,556 points scored in the first two weeks of the 2012 NFL season. Over 32 games, that works out to 1.7 points per game higher than the previous record.

NFL teams have also scored a combined 186 touchdowns this season. That breaks the previous record of 174 touchdowns scored in the first two weeks of the 2018 season.

It appears that after this most unusual of offseasons, with no preseason and limited time at team facilities because of the COVID-19 pandemic, NFL offenses are ahead of defenses. It also helps that NFL officials have been calling fewer penalties, particularly offensive holding penalties.

Fans tend to prefer higher-scoring games, so there will be few complaints if scoring records continue to fall.

Permalink 20 Comments Feed for comments Back to top

20 responses to “NFL season off to highest-scoring start ever”

  1. I think the lack of huge crowds disrupting the opposing offense has something to do with it.

  3. My Lions defense, led by Patricia, the rocket surgeon, has contributed mightily to this eye opening record.

  4. So if the games are exciting and high scoring there must be another reasonfor the record low TV ratings. I wonder what it could be?

  5. Goodell cheating again..wants points and ratings like never before. Will be like 2011.

    League way behind, which is why no holding on the offense is being called. You see jerseys tugged, armbars happening at an alarming rate, etc.

  8. I feel that my Bengals horrid defense is partly responsible for this as well. We even made Baker Mayfield look competent.

  10. Not a surprise to me at all. Offenses — especially those offenses with a lot of veterans — were almost certainly going to have an advantage because of so little practice time.

  11. This despite Kirk Cousins throwing for 113 yards and 3 picks in a weak 2 performance for the ages.

  12. League way behind, which is why no holding on the offense is being called. You see jerseys tugged, armbars happening at an alarming rate, etc.
    ——-
    People complain when there’s too many flags, now they’re complaining there’s not enough. SMH.

  14. No surprise. Offensive players can hear the play at the line of scrimmage better without the loud fans.

  15. chillyball says:

    September 23, 2020 at 5:34 pm

    Dan Marino would have 6000 yard seasons if he played now.

    —-‐——————

    And still would have no superbowl wins.

  17. prob can tie that into no preseason so the D is out there not up to speed…they keep saying they don;t need preseason but most games i’ve seen have looked preseason-ish

  18. The lack of crowd noise has everything to do with record points being scored.offenses now can actually hear their qbs cadance.just ask Seattle and Vikings fans who are the loudest in their stadiums at home games whether they feel like the 12th man on the field.

  19. There was a graphic after week one where holding on the OLine was down 78% league wide. On one play between the Giants and the Bears, Khalil Mack was blatantly held by both guys in a double team, AND they had illegal hands to his face AND they grabbed his face mask, all within sight of the officials and all on the same play, no call. if they aren’t going to call holding on the OLine, you can expect a huge surge in scoring. First downs are a huge contributor to scoring as opposed to 10 yard penalties.

  20. Holding penalties kill drives. Holding penalty calls have dropped dramatically, even though actually holding has not decreased. Fewer stalled drives leads to more points. That isn’t the only factor, but I feel like that is the largest factor.

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to leave a comment. Not a member? Register now!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.