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Defensive: Drive Averages · Points/drive (allowed)

DEF · Drive AveragesP + N
About this stat ↓

Showing the 2022 season. The most recent season with data for this stat is 2026.

What Points/drive (allowed) is

Points allowed per own drive: points allowed divided by the number of drives this team's offense had. It is the defense's cost spread over the team's own possessions — a pace-adjusted points-allowed number — not the same as points per opponent drive.

Lower is better. It is shown per game, so a team's number does not depend on games played. Source: P + N.

In 2022 the 49ers led at 0.09; the league average was 0.12.

League snapshot — 2022

League leader
SF · 0.09
League average
0.12
Best to worst
0.06

All 32 teams, lower is better.

At a glance — 2022

Where the 32 teams sit on this stat this season.

League leader
SF · 0.09
League laggard
CHI · 0.15
League average
0.12
Spread (max − min)
0.06

Does Points/drive (allowed) matter against the spread?

Run as a one-stat algorithm against the closing line, this stat went 878–700–37 ATS (55.6%) across 2020–2025, #49 of 296 ranked.

Its best season was 2020 (161–93, 63.4%); its worst 2025 (143–126, 53.2%).

For picks, this is a strong signal. One stat is not a recipe — the algorithms combine many.

SeasonGamesATS recordATS %
2020256161–93–263.4%
2021272147–123–254.4%
2022271143–121–754.2%
2023272139–119–1453.9%
2024272145–118–955.1%
2025272143–126–353.2%

Points/drive (allowed) in 2022 vs 2021

49ers lead at 0.09 — they ranked #9 last year. Bears are last at 0.15 — #24 last year.

The league average is 0.12, down 0.01 from 0.12 last year.

Biggest riser: Jets, #32 → #2. Biggest faller: Seahawks, #8 → #24.

Spread between first and last: 0.06; 21 teams are within 0.01 of the average.

Year-over-year — 2022 vs 2021

Biggest movers from last season.

Biggest riser
ARI · +0.02
Biggest faller
NYJ · −0.06
Most consistent
TB · +0.00
League trend 2022 vs 2021
▼ -0.01

Multi-year context

7-year window (2020–2026)

Multi-year leader
MIN · 0.14
Multi-year laggard
CAR · 0.20
Biggest improver
MIN · +0.00/yr
Biggest decliner
DAL · +0.05/yr

Multi-year heatmap

32 teams across 7 seasons. Cells colored by quintile within each season; click a column header to jump to that year.

Team2020202120222023202420252026
SF0.130.110.090.100.140.130.36
NYJ0.160.160.100.100.140.160.36
BAL0.110.120.100.080.120.130.43
WAS0.110.140.100.150.130.160.51
DAL0.160.110.100.110.140.170.59
BUF0.130.090.100.100.130.120.52
DEN0.150.110.110.130.100.100.42
NE0.140.100.110.110.140.110.35
TB0.120.110.110.100.120.130.41
PHI0.140.130.110.140.100.110.42
NO0.120.100.110.100.130.130.57
TEN0.160.110.110.120.140.150.44
PIT0.100.120.110.100.110.130.38
CIN0.150.120.110.120.140.160.44
JAX0.180.150.110.110.140.100.29
CAR0.150.120.110.140.170.130.59
LAC0.150.150.120.120.100.110.43
KC0.140.130.120.100.110.110.44
GB0.140.120.120.120.110.130.39
NYG0.130.130.120.120.130.150.40
CLE0.160.120.120.100.130.110.37
MIN0.170.130.120.120.100.110.23
HOU0.180.140.120.110.110.090.41
SEA0.130.110.130.130.110.090.34
LAR0.100.120.130.120.130.110.42
IND0.130.120.130.120.130.140.50
MIA0.120.120.130.120.120.140.56
ATL0.150.150.130.110.140.130.43
ARI0.130.120.140.150.130.170.58
DET0.190.150.140.120.110.130.56
LV0.170.140.140.110.130.140.44
CHI0.130.130.150.120.120.130.36

Points/drive (allowed) since 2018

Leaders since 2018: 2018 Bears (0.10), 2019 Patriots (0.07), 2020 Rams (0.10), 2021 Bills (0.09), 2022 49ers (0.09).

The best season on record is Patriots 2019 at 0.07; the worst Lions 2020 at 0.19.

The league average has fallen from 0.13 in 2018 to 0.12 in 2022.

Distribution

How the 32 teams cluster for 2022.

About this stat
Stat ID
def_drives_pts_drive
Side
defensive
Family
Drive Averages
Data source
P + N
Polarity
lower is better
Display grain
count
Algorithm eligibility
Algorithm-eligible: this stat can be picked in the Algorithm Builder.