What are yards per point? Put simply, it’s a team’s offensive yardage divided by the number of points scored. The lower the number of “yards per point,” the more efficient that team is as far as maximizing their offensive production.
There are many factors that go into having a low “yards per point” total, like red zone efficiency, special teams play, etc. But by far and away, the biggest difference maker is turnover differential. Teams like the Chiefs and Eagles, who both have to gain 22+ yards for every point have horrid turnover differentials, as they’re 31st and 32nd in the NFL. The Chiefs are -21 in turnover differential, while the Eagles are -14.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the coin, the Patriots (+20), Bears (+14), and Ravens (+12) are 1, 2, and 3 in turnover differential. Not surprisingly, they’re also the top three teams in “yards per point.”
| Rank | Team | Yards/game | Points/game | Yards per point | If the season ended today |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bears | 316.8 | 26.9 | 11.8 | Playoffs |
| 2 | Patriots | 431.9 | 35.8 | 12.1 | Playoffs |
| 3 | Ravens | 338.7 | 26.7 | 12.7 | Playoffs |
| 4 | Buccaneers | 369.3 | 28.7 | 12.9 | |
| 5 | Broncos | 394.2 | 30.1 | 13.1 | Playoffs |
| 6 | Texans | 382.9 | 29.3 | 13.1 | Playoffs |
| 7 | Packers | 345.5 | 26.3 | 13.1 | Playoffs |
| 8 | Saints | 391.3 | 28.7 | 13.6 | |
| 9 | Giants | 367.4 | 26.7 | 13.8 | Playoffs |
| 10 | Falcons | 382.1 | 27 | 14.2 | Playoffs |
| 11 | Bengals | 352.8 | 24.8 | 14.2 | |
| 12 | Chargers | 328.8 | 23.2 | 14.2 | |
| 13 | Vikings | 340.9 | 23.8 | 14.3 | Playoffs |
| 14 | Cardinals | 283.7 | 16.3 | 14.6 | |
| 15 | Redskins | 379.7 | 25.7 | 14.8 | |
| 16 | Titans | 324.5 | 21.9 | 14.8 | |
| 17 | Jets | 301.3 | 20.2 | 14.9 | |
| 18 | Bills | 350.9 | 23 | 15.3 | |
| 19 | 49ers | 365.9 | 23.7 | 15.4 | Playoffs |
| 20 | Seahawks | 317.2 | 19.8 | 16 | |
| 21 | Steelers | 349.8 | 21.7 | 16.1 | Playoffs |
| 22 | Browns | 311.9 | 18.9 | 16.5 | |
| 23 | Dolphins | 309.9 | 18.7 | 16.6 | |
| 24 | Lions | 401.7 | 23.6 | 17 | |
| 25 | Jaguars | 283 | 16.4 | 17.3 | |
| 26 | Cowboys | 367.4 | 21.1 | 17.4 | |
| 27 | Raiders | 369.4 | 20.8 | 17.8 | |
| 28 | Panthers | 334 | 18.4 | 18.2 | |
| 29 | Colts | 393.4 | 21 | 18.7 | Playoffs |
| 30 | Rams | 327.1 | 17.4 | 18.8 | |
| 31 | Eagles | 361.7 | 16.2 | 22.3 | |
| 32 | Chiefs | 343.4 | 15.2 | 22.6 |
In other words:
Winning the turnover battle = low “yards per point” (less of struggle trying to score) = W’s.
…not that I’m saying anything new here that turnovers are kind of a big deal.
Wouldn’t this metric also measure penalties?
Lack of offensive penalties creates a better rank, and having the other teams defense commit penalties would also produce lower yards per point.
Of course there’s that correlation/causation thingie…
Do these take out defensive/ST scores from the pts/game? I doubt it would adjust too much. The Bears would probably drop some in the ranking, but I imagine they would still be top ten.
Def/ST scores were not excluded.