The Myth about the NFL Total Offense and Total Defense - Part 12

   Well I am getting close to ending this series on the Myth about the NFL Total Offense and Total Defense. By now we should all know exactly what that is, of course, the dreaded yards only statistic. I don’t mean to imply that yards gained or yards allowed are not important. They are important, but they do not tell the full story, which is why I have devised an all inclusive method of Total Offense and Total Defense Ranking.

   Pro Football Ranking.com’s method includes fifteen statistics, thirteen of these statistics are ignored by the NFL’s version (yards only method). We have included the following eleven statistics so far in building our comprehensive method of ranking NFL offense’s and defense’s; Interceptions, Fumbles, Penalties, 1^st Downs, 3^rd Down Conversions, Time of Possession, Red Zone, QB Completion Percentage, sacks, Rushing TD’s Scored, and Passing TD’s Scored. I am not done yet! In today’s post I will add two more statistics to this all inclusive list.

Rushing Yards Gained and Rushing Yards Average

   A great rushing offense may not seem glamorous. It will not put up a whole lot of points and, is not as exiting as a great passing game. It won’t gain nearly as many yards as a dynamic passing attack. It will keep the other teams offense off the field of play, take a lot time off the clock, and keep their defense rested allowing them to be fresh late in the game. A good rushing team usually will be good in the Red Zone and this means they will be good in scoring rushing TD’s. I want my team to lead the league in total rushing yards for all of the above reasons. A really good rushing team will win a whole lot of games!

   A really good rushing team needs to be able to gain around five yards on first down, to break longer runs often, and pick up third and short or score that Red Zone TD. A running back like Jamaal Charles who has a career per attempt rushing average of 5+ yards is a perfect example. Without a very good yards per attempt statistic you probably won’t have good Total rushing statistics!

   These rushing statistics are just as important to the defense, but for opposite reasons.

A defense that can stop that 1^st down rush for very short yardage will make the opposing offense one dimensional. This usually leads to a lot of Three and outs and lots of sacks. A defense that ranks high in yards allowed per attempt will rank high in total rushing yards allowed.

   The Rushing Yards Gained and Yards per Attempt statistics are important in their own right and should not be lumped in with the Passing statistics which is why at ProFootball Ranking.com we treat these statistics independently from the passing statistics. The NFL doesn’t agree!

   We have now covered 13 of the 15 statistics used in our ranking method. Next up in Part 13 will be the Passing Yards Per Game and Yards Per Attempt statistics.

How do you feel about Total Offense and Total Defense Ranking? Leave a comment and let me know

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