The NFL’s preseason is often a quick fix for fans desperate to watch some football.
Other than that, it’s mostly been a tough watch.
We tune in to watch the starters for a drive or two if we’re lucky, and the same goes for promising rookies.
This time, however, it’s been even tougher to watch.
At least, according to NFL analyst Warren Sharp.
In his latest column, he pointed out that teams are only averaging 15.6 points per game in the preseason, with quarterbacks completing just 60.9% of their passes.
Teams are only averaging 15.6 points per preseason game.
Quarterbacks are completing only 60.9% of their attempts.
These are all the worst of any preseason since 2017.
Why Are Offenses Struggling This Preseason?@SharpFootball https://t.co/q5gw2ElQiU
— Sharp Football Analysis (@SharpFBAnalysis) August 21, 2024
Per his analysis, both are the worst numbers since 2017, and offenses have posted all-time worst numbers in several categories as well, such as EPA/play, success percentage, QB EPA/dropback, and yards per attempt.
As a result, preseason unders have hit 82% of the time thus far, with 27 out of 33 games going under the total.
Per Sharp, it has something to do with coaches not caring about the outcome and quarterbacks playing less nowadays to keep them safe and sound for the start of the season.
Still, he thinks the referees deserve most of the blame, as defensive penalties have gone down by 38%, leading to more punts and turnovers on downs.
Even so, there’s nothing to be worried about.
The league has made it loud and clear that they want offense and scoring to go up.
So, after a couple of weeks of seeing this trend continue, they’re more than likely going to make adjustments accordingly to make sure we start getting high scoring totals and highlight reels again.
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