10 surprising NFL trends: Offense is down, Geno Smith is starring

We're five weeks into the 2022 NFL season. That's enough games for us to start looking at some trends, both around the league and with specific teams playing particularly good or bad. We can't be sure these trends will stick in a month from now — since it is still early — but through a month of games, we've seen some things worth exploring.

I've combed through Football Outsiders and ESPN Stats & Information metrics, and here is what I've found. Offense is down, but for some unexpected veteran quarterbacks, offense is actually up. There has been a good amount of parity across the league in 2022, as well as lopsided teams with a good offense and a bad defense (or vice versa).

Let's look through some interesting numbers here, from the best units (San Francisco's defense) to the worst (Indianapolis' offense).

Note: Numbers above do not include the Thursday night's Commanders-Bears game.

NFL teams are averaging 21.8 points per game so far, down from 23.0 points per game last season and 24.8 in 2020. If this continues, it will be only the second season since 2010 in which teams averaged less than 22.0 points per game — the other was 2017, when the average was 21.7 points.

Looking at other offensive numbers, it's hard to figure out where the drop is coming from. Passing touchdowns per game are down to their lowest level since 2008, but otherwise, passing numbers are similar to last year. Net yards per attempt is almost exactly the same (6.21 yards this year vs. 6.22 last year). Completion rate, sacks and interceptions are also similar. And running games are more efficient than in recent years; the league is averaging 4.48 yards per carry right now, which would be the highest average since at least the AFL-NFL merger.

Given that