NFL League Averages: The Passing Era in Numbers
NFL league passer rating, passing yards per game, and scoring for every season since 1970 — with where today's numbers stand historically. Every chart ends with where today stands against the full history.
League passer rating
From the mid-60s ratings of the 1970s to the low 90s today — the baseline any quarterback's rating should be judged against.
Team passing yards per game
The rules-driven rise of the passing game — and its plateau since the mid-2010s.
Points per game (per team)
League scoring by season, including the 2020 spike.
Sources & method
League averages fetched from the sport’s reference-standard database (Pro-Football-Reference) league year-by-year tables. “Where today stands” lines are computed live from the full series — percentile of all seasons on record plus the long-run median. Seasons for NBA/NFL are keyed by starting year.
League-wide averages — team and player context varies. Updated after each season.
Frequently asked questions
Why are passer ratings so much higher than in the 1970s?
Rule changes (illegal contact, pass protection) and scheme evolution: the league averaged ~65 in the mid-70s vs low 90s now. A 'good' rating is era-relative — our passer rating calculator and era translator handle that context.
Is the NFL still becoming more pass-heavy?
Passing yards per game peaked in the mid-2010s (~244 in 2015) and has actually receded since — the chart's context line shows where the current season lands.
What was the 2020 scoring spike?
Teams averaged 24.8 points — an all-time high, often attributed to empty stadiums (no crowd noise) and officiating trends. It remains the modern outlier.