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This doesn't paste in very easy, but interesting none the less.
http://espn.go.com/nfl/insider/stor...ski-washington-redskins-qb-kirk-cousins#NFC W
Buffalo Bills
Buffalo had a league-high 72.3 percent DVOA when using play-action on passes, and their 9.9 yards per play ranked third behind only Arizona and Washington. Only the Rams had a bigger gap between performance in play-action passes and other passes.
Miami Dolphins
Miami's offense struggled overall but was pretty good on second downs, especially second-and-short situations, which present the most freedom for an offensive playcaller. The Dolphins were 21st in offensive DVOA on first downs and 31st on third downs. But on second downs, the Dolphins ranked 12th in offensive DVOA, and only Cincinnati was better on second-and-short (1-2 yards to go).
New England Patriots
Whether via Rob Gronkowski's power moves or Dion Lewis' agility, the Patriots excelled last year at gaining additional yards after the catch. They ranked third in the NFL with an average of 6.1 YAC (behind Kansas City and Minnesota) and finished fourth overall with 135 broken tackles (behind St. Louis, Seattle and Minnesota).
New York Jets
The Jets' offense ranked fourth in DVOA in the red zone, but 20th on the rest of the field. This is one of those splits that usually regresses toward the mean the next year. But, like we saw with the Chiefs in 2015, it doesn't always happen.
Baltimore Ravens
Despite all the injuries to the players around them, the Ravens' offensive line stayed fairly healthy in 2015 and Baltimore's pass protection was excellent. Joe Flacco was only under pressure on 22.8 percent of passes (compared to the NFL average of 25.6 percent) and the Ravens ranked second in adjusted sack rate on offense, trailing only the Rams.
Cincinnati Bengals
The Bengals used at least six offensive linemen on 9.5 percent of plays, fourth-highest in the NFL. They averaged 5.0 yards and had a 23.8 percent DVOA when playing six O-linemen, which ranked seventh and fourth respectively among teams with 30 such plays.
Cleveland Browns
Cleveland had the worst offensive DVOA in the league on first down (-17.1 percent) and third-worst on second down (-24.5 percent). However, they ranked 10th on third downs (12.2 percent), in part because they were one of the best third-and-short offenses (35.2 percent, third overall).
Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh had the league's No. 1 offensive DVOA in the fourth quarter or overtime, and the league's No. 1 offensive DVOA when losing or tied. (By comparison, Pittsburgh was No. 5 in DVOA before the fourth quarter, and No. 8 in DVOA with a lead.)
Houston Texans
Houston's offense inexplicably turned it on near the goal line, going from 29th in DVOA on the rest of the field to seventh in DVOA inside the 20.
Indianapolis Colts
Colts receivers dropped just 17 passes by our count, ranking fourth in dropped-pass rate at 3.0 percent of passes. Not bad considering the combination of Matt Hasselbeck, Charlie Whitehurst, Josh Freeman and Ryan Lindley threw more passes for the Colts last season than Andrew Luck.
Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jaguars were best when Blake Bortles was throwing deep, and he did it a lot. Only Seattle, Cincinnati and Oakland had a higher DVOA rating on deep passes (16 or more yards past the line of scrimmage) and only Arizona threw deep on a higher percentage of its passes.
Tennessee Titans
Denver Broncos[/paste:font]
Denver was near the bottom of the league in terms of both offensive penalties (41) and penalty yards (281). Only Minnesota was better, with just 37 flags for 230 yards. (Penalty totals include declined and offsetting.)
Kansas City Chiefs
For the third straight season, the Kansas City offense was better in the red zone than it was overall. In 2015, this came almost entirely on the strength of the running game; the Chiefs had the No. 2 overall offense in DVOA inside the 20, ranking first on runs but just 18th on passes.
Oakland Raiders
Derek Carr gained 9.3 yards per pass against defensive back blitzes, second only to Tom Brady.
San Diego Chargers
Philip Rivers gained 7.2 yards per pass against blitzes compared to just 6.2 yards per pass otherwise. Sometimes these stats fluctuate from year to year, but Rivers has gained more yards against blitzes in four of the past five years. (In the other year, 2013, he had the exact same average against blitzes that he had against a standard pass rush.)
NFC EAST
Dallas Cowboys
Despite the problems in the passing game, the Dallas offensive line was still a solid run-blocking unit in 2015. The Cowboys ranked ninth in rushing DVOA and allowed running backs to get stuffed for a loss or no gain on just 17 percent of carries, fourth in the league.
New York Giants
The Giants threw 27 percent of their passes in the middle of the field, the third-highest rate in the NFL (behind Atlanta and Detroit), and the numbers show that was a good strategy. They ranked 31st in DVOA on passes to the left side and 22nd on passes to the right side, but seventh on passes up the middle.
Philadelphia Eagles
The Eagles converted a league-leading 84 percent of runs in key short-yardage situations, defined as 1-2 yards to go on third down, on fourth down, or at the goal line. It was the second straight year the Eagles ranked No. 1 in this stat.
Washington Redskins
Kirk Cousins, finishing second in the NFL with 10.3 yards per pass and third with 58.6 percent DVOA.
NFC NORTH
Chicago Bears
Chicago's offense was average on first and second down, but excelled once it got to third down. The Bears ranked second overall in offensive DVOA on third downs, and were near the top of the league on all three distance splits: third-and-short (1-2 yards, fourth), third-and-medium (3-6 yards, third) and third-and-long (7-plus yards, sixth).
Detroit Lions
Detroit was the No. 1 offense in the red zone, with an even more extreme split than either the Jets or Chiefs. The Lions ranked 24th in DVOA on the first 80 yards of the field before zooming up to No. 1 inside the 20. The split was a bit less extreme after Jim Bob Cooter took over as offensive coordinator: From Week 8 through the end of the season, the Lions were 15th in offense outside the red zone and third in the red zone.
Green Bay Packers
The Packers may have had the league's most effective screen game. Green Bay threw 24 percent of its passes behind the line of scrimmage, the third-highest rate in the league, and compiled a 32.4 percent DVOA on those passes, the third-best mark in the league. They were especially excellent on running back screens, compiling a league-leading 126.2 percent DVOA on 48 screens. Only two teams threw more screen passes to running backs.
Minnesota Vikings
Adrian Peterson the big bucks, right? (For two bonus looks at Minnesota's strengths on offense, scroll up to read about New England and Denver.)
NFC SOUTH
Atlanta Falcons
Matt Ryan was good at spotting when the defense would blitz a DB; Atlanta gained 8.2 yards per pass on such plays, sixth in the NFL. Ryan was listed under pressure only 29 percent of the time with a defensive back blitz; Eli Manning was the only quarterback who took less pressure on these plays.
Carolina Panthers
Cam Newton was blitzed on a league-high 39 percent of passes, even though the Panthers gained 7.5 yards per play against the blitz compared to an average 6.8 yards on other pass plays.
New Orleans Saints
The Saints' offense averaged 10.0 yards per play with an empty backfield, best in the league, and ranked third with 63.6 percent DVOA.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Bucs used extra offensive linemen more effectively than any offense in the league. Tampa had six or more O-linemen on 12.9 percent of its plays -- second behind Washington -- and compiled a 36.1 percent DVOA on these plays (third among teams with at least 20 such plays).
Arizona Cardinals
The Cardinals led all offenses with 8.9 yards per pass and 11.5 average YAC on passes thrown behind the line of scrimmage, and were second with 44.5 percent DVOA on such passes.
Los Angeles Rams
The Rams led the NFL with broken tackles on 13.2 percent of plays; they were third with 136 total broken tackles but ran many fewer plays than Minnesota or Seattle. Todd Gurley ranked sixth with 46 and Tavon Austin led wide receivers with 34. Benny Cunningham added 21, and his rate of one broken tackle every three touches was the best for any player in the league with at least 25 touches.
San Francisco 49ers
We don't tend to think of Blaine Gabbert as a mobile quarterback, but he was much better last year outside the pocket. Including scrambles, Gabbert was outside the pocket on 21 percent of pass plays. The 49ers gained 7.6 yards per play with 49.2 percent DVOA when he was outside the pocket, compared to 5.9 yards and -1.0 percent DVOA when he was inside the pocket.
Seattle Seahawks
It's hard to find an under-the-radar strength for the Seahawks' offense, because it was so balanced and did everything so well -- except for pass protection, which was horrendous. But here's a surprising split from 2015: Seattle was the league's best offense on passes that did not have play-action (56.0 percent DVOA, 7.6 yards per pass) but was relatively weak when using play-action (25.4 percent DVOA, matching the NFL average, and only 5.7 yards per pass, two yards below the NFL average of 7.8).
http://espn.go.com/nfl/insider/stor...ski-washington-redskins-qb-kirk-cousins#NFC W
Buffalo Bills
Buffalo had a league-high 72.3 percent DVOA when using play-action on passes, and their 9.9 yards per play ranked third behind only Arizona and Washington. Only the Rams had a bigger gap between performance in play-action passes and other passes.
Miami Dolphins
Miami's offense struggled overall but was pretty good on second downs, especially second-and-short situations, which present the most freedom for an offensive playcaller. The Dolphins were 21st in offensive DVOA on first downs and 31st on third downs. But on second downs, the Dolphins ranked 12th in offensive DVOA, and only Cincinnati was better on second-and-short (1-2 yards to go).
New England Patriots
Whether via Rob Gronkowski's power moves or Dion Lewis' agility, the Patriots excelled last year at gaining additional yards after the catch. They ranked third in the NFL with an average of 6.1 YAC (behind Kansas City and Minnesota) and finished fourth overall with 135 broken tackles (behind St. Louis, Seattle and Minnesota).
New York Jets
The Jets' offense ranked fourth in DVOA in the red zone, but 20th on the rest of the field. This is one of those splits that usually regresses toward the mean the next year. But, like we saw with the Chiefs in 2015, it doesn't always happen.
Baltimore Ravens
Despite all the injuries to the players around them, the Ravens' offensive line stayed fairly healthy in 2015 and Baltimore's pass protection was excellent. Joe Flacco was only under pressure on 22.8 percent of passes (compared to the NFL average of 25.6 percent) and the Ravens ranked second in adjusted sack rate on offense, trailing only the Rams.
Cincinnati Bengals
The Bengals used at least six offensive linemen on 9.5 percent of plays, fourth-highest in the NFL. They averaged 5.0 yards and had a 23.8 percent DVOA when playing six O-linemen, which ranked seventh and fourth respectively among teams with 30 such plays.
Cleveland Browns
Cleveland had the worst offensive DVOA in the league on first down (-17.1 percent) and third-worst on second down (-24.5 percent). However, they ranked 10th on third downs (12.2 percent), in part because they were one of the best third-and-short offenses (35.2 percent, third overall).
Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh had the league's No. 1 offensive DVOA in the fourth quarter or overtime, and the league's No. 1 offensive DVOA when losing or tied. (By comparison, Pittsburgh was No. 5 in DVOA before the fourth quarter, and No. 8 in DVOA with a lead.)
Houston Texans
Houston's offense inexplicably turned it on near the goal line, going from 29th in DVOA on the rest of the field to seventh in DVOA inside the 20.
Indianapolis Colts
Colts receivers dropped just 17 passes by our count, ranking fourth in dropped-pass rate at 3.0 percent of passes. Not bad considering the combination of Matt Hasselbeck, Charlie Whitehurst, Josh Freeman and Ryan Lindley threw more passes for the Colts last season than Andrew Luck.
Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jaguars were best when Blake Bortles was throwing deep, and he did it a lot. Only Seattle, Cincinnati and Oakland had a higher DVOA rating on deep passes (16 or more yards past the line of scrimmage) and only Arizona threw deep on a higher percentage of its passes.
Tennessee Titans
Denver Broncos[/paste:font]
Denver was near the bottom of the league in terms of both offensive penalties (41) and penalty yards (281). Only Minnesota was better, with just 37 flags for 230 yards. (Penalty totals include declined and offsetting.)
Kansas City Chiefs
For the third straight season, the Kansas City offense was better in the red zone than it was overall. In 2015, this came almost entirely on the strength of the running game; the Chiefs had the No. 2 overall offense in DVOA inside the 20, ranking first on runs but just 18th on passes.
Oakland Raiders
Derek Carr gained 9.3 yards per pass against defensive back blitzes, second only to Tom Brady.
San Diego Chargers
Philip Rivers gained 7.2 yards per pass against blitzes compared to just 6.2 yards per pass otherwise. Sometimes these stats fluctuate from year to year, but Rivers has gained more yards against blitzes in four of the past five years. (In the other year, 2013, he had the exact same average against blitzes that he had against a standard pass rush.)
NFC EAST
Dallas Cowboys
Despite the problems in the passing game, the Dallas offensive line was still a solid run-blocking unit in 2015. The Cowboys ranked ninth in rushing DVOA and allowed running backs to get stuffed for a loss or no gain on just 17 percent of carries, fourth in the league.
New York Giants
The Giants threw 27 percent of their passes in the middle of the field, the third-highest rate in the NFL (behind Atlanta and Detroit), and the numbers show that was a good strategy. They ranked 31st in DVOA on passes to the left side and 22nd on passes to the right side, but seventh on passes up the middle.
Philadelphia Eagles
The Eagles converted a league-leading 84 percent of runs in key short-yardage situations, defined as 1-2 yards to go on third down, on fourth down, or at the goal line. It was the second straight year the Eagles ranked No. 1 in this stat.
Washington Redskins
Kirk Cousins, finishing second in the NFL with 10.3 yards per pass and third with 58.6 percent DVOA.
NFC NORTH
Chicago Bears
Chicago's offense was average on first and second down, but excelled once it got to third down. The Bears ranked second overall in offensive DVOA on third downs, and were near the top of the league on all three distance splits: third-and-short (1-2 yards, fourth), third-and-medium (3-6 yards, third) and third-and-long (7-plus yards, sixth).
Detroit Lions
Detroit was the No. 1 offense in the red zone, with an even more extreme split than either the Jets or Chiefs. The Lions ranked 24th in DVOA on the first 80 yards of the field before zooming up to No. 1 inside the 20. The split was a bit less extreme after Jim Bob Cooter took over as offensive coordinator: From Week 8 through the end of the season, the Lions were 15th in offense outside the red zone and third in the red zone.
Green Bay Packers
The Packers may have had the league's most effective screen game. Green Bay threw 24 percent of its passes behind the line of scrimmage, the third-highest rate in the league, and compiled a 32.4 percent DVOA on those passes, the third-best mark in the league. They were especially excellent on running back screens, compiling a league-leading 126.2 percent DVOA on 48 screens. Only two teams threw more screen passes to running backs.
Minnesota Vikings
Adrian Peterson the big bucks, right? (For two bonus looks at Minnesota's strengths on offense, scroll up to read about New England and Denver.)
NFC SOUTH
Atlanta Falcons
Matt Ryan was good at spotting when the defense would blitz a DB; Atlanta gained 8.2 yards per pass on such plays, sixth in the NFL. Ryan was listed under pressure only 29 percent of the time with a defensive back blitz; Eli Manning was the only quarterback who took less pressure on these plays.
Carolina Panthers
Cam Newton was blitzed on a league-high 39 percent of passes, even though the Panthers gained 7.5 yards per play against the blitz compared to an average 6.8 yards on other pass plays.
New Orleans Saints
The Saints' offense averaged 10.0 yards per play with an empty backfield, best in the league, and ranked third with 63.6 percent DVOA.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Bucs used extra offensive linemen more effectively than any offense in the league. Tampa had six or more O-linemen on 12.9 percent of its plays -- second behind Washington -- and compiled a 36.1 percent DVOA on these plays (third among teams with at least 20 such plays).
Arizona Cardinals
The Cardinals led all offenses with 8.9 yards per pass and 11.5 average YAC on passes thrown behind the line of scrimmage, and were second with 44.5 percent DVOA on such passes.
Los Angeles Rams
The Rams led the NFL with broken tackles on 13.2 percent of plays; they were third with 136 total broken tackles but ran many fewer plays than Minnesota or Seattle. Todd Gurley ranked sixth with 46 and Tavon Austin led wide receivers with 34. Benny Cunningham added 21, and his rate of one broken tackle every three touches was the best for any player in the league with at least 25 touches.
San Francisco 49ers
We don't tend to think of Blaine Gabbert as a mobile quarterback, but he was much better last year outside the pocket. Including scrambles, Gabbert was outside the pocket on 21 percent of pass plays. The 49ers gained 7.6 yards per play with 49.2 percent DVOA when he was outside the pocket, compared to 5.9 yards and -1.0 percent DVOA when he was inside the pocket.
Seattle Seahawks
It's hard to find an under-the-radar strength for the Seahawks' offense, because it was so balanced and did everything so well -- except for pass protection, which was horrendous. But here's a surprising split from 2015: Seattle was the league's best offense on passes that did not have play-action (56.0 percent DVOA, 7.6 yards per pass) but was relatively weak when using play-action (25.4 percent DVOA, matching the NFL average, and only 5.7 yards per pass, two yards below the NFL average of 7.8).
