Informative, Interesting, Relevant Statistics (For Once)!
The Commanders' supersonic offense, the Bills' hoplite tactics, Zack Baun slams the screen shut, and ... a Chiefs penalty advantage SMOKING GUN!?!?!?!?!?!?
We begin today’s stat-heavy proceedings with the all-new Washington Commanders fight song:
Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go
Gotta go fast, gotta go fast,
Gotta go faster, faster, faster, faster, faster
Movin' at speed of sound - make tracks
Quickest offense around!
Got ourselves a situation, stuck in a new location,
Without any explanation, no time for relaxation!
Don't, don't, don't, don't, don't blink, don't think,
Just go, go, go, go, g-g-g-g-go, go!
N-n-n-n-n-n-na, N-n-n-n-n-n-na
Eh, like Van Halen lyrics, they make more sense with the music:
The Commanders ran the most up-tempo offense in the NFL by a wide margin in 2024. In fact, they are running one of the fastest-tempo offenses in NFL history.
The folks at Sports Info Solutions track plays run without a huddle. Here are the teams with the most no-huddle passing dropbacks, including sacks and scrambles, from the start of the SIS database in 2015 through the 2024 regular season. I included the passing efficiency ratings on the no-huddle pass attempts, though they are not all that enlightening.
2015 Eagles: 493 dropbacks, 87.9 rating
2024 Commanders: 429 dropbacks, 95.9 rating
2016 Giants: 411 dropbacks, 88.4 rating
2015 Giants: 401 dropbacks, 93.6 rating
2016 49ers: 323 dropbacks, 87.1 rating
2020 Cardinals: 260 dropbacks, 96.0 rating
2021 Cardinals: 255 dropbacks, 105.1 rating
2015 Packers: 247 dropbacks, 99.8 rating
2022 Cardinals: 244 dropbacks, 91.1 rating
2017 Lions: 212 dropbacks, 112.5 rating
“No-huddle” does not always mean “up-tempo” or “hurry-up,” but the terms are interchangeable enough at the NFL level, and the tactical advantages are the same: limit defensive substitutions and play-calling options, catch defenders out of position or gassed.
The 2015 season was Chip Kelly’s final year with the Eagles; I would need to search the archives to find the 2013 and 2014 data. The 2016 Niners were also coached by Kelly.
Ben McAdoo coordinated the 2015 and 2016 Giants offenses; he and Tom Clements devised a robust no-huddle package for Aaron Rodgers while they were on Mike McCarthy’s Packers staff. The three Cardinals teams on the list above were coached by Kliff Kingsbury, who of course currently coordinates the Commanders offense.
The numbers show that while Kingsbury used no-huddle tactics often in Arizona, he is using them twice as often now! The Commanders also use them far more often than any current team: the Seattle Seahawks ranked second in the NFL with just 153 dropbacks without a huddle in 2024. Most teams use the tactic for about 60-75 passing attempts per season, usually in two-minute drills before halftime or when trailing late.
No-huddle tactics are not just for passing, as Kelly taught us a decade ago. Here are the teams with the most no-huddle rushing attempts from 2015-24:
2024 Commanders: 305 rushes, 5.3 yards per carry
2015 Eagles: 286 rushes, 4.3 yards per carry
2016 49ers: 252 rushes, 4.4 yards per carry
2016 Giants: 180 rushes, 3.7 yards per carry
2020 Cardinals: 177 rushes, 4.6 yards per carry
2015 Giants: 169 rushes. 4.4 yards per carry
2024 Eagles: 159 rushes, 5.7 yards per carry
2015 Packers: 143 rushes, 4.9 yards per carry
2021 Cardinals: 128 rushes, 4.4 yards per carry
2024 Bears: 118 rushes, 5.1 yards per carry
It takes serious commitment to up-tempo tactics to use them in the running game more often than even Kelly did! The 2013-14 Eagles almost certainly rushed more without a huddle than the Commanders did: 2015 was the year the whole league caught on to how simple Kelly’s offense really was. (Kelly also seized personnel control of the Eagles and went bananapants, but that’s another story.) Kelly also emphasized getting snaps off as quickly as possible; the Commanders are more like 400-meter runners than sprinters.
No-huddle tactics really drive the Commanders running game. Brian Robinson averaged 5.1 yards per rush on 105 carries against defenses which might not have been 100% ready for him. Daniels added 433 scramble yards (8.5 yards per scramble), taking advantage of the chaos.
The 2024 Eagles and Bears cracked the second list, as both teams like to get to the line quickly to hammer a running play now and then. Otherwise, we see the usual coaching suspects, with Kingsbury again using no-huddle tactics twice as frequently now as he did with the Cardinals.
After the paywall: a bit more on the Commanders, some Bills six-lineman and Eagles pass defense data, and the SMOKING GUN that PROVES that the refs are biased toward the Chiefs (not really but I am trying to get some subscribers here).