What Yds per play offense (allowed) is

Yards per play allowed: total yards allowed divided by plays faced. Efficiency rather than volume — it survives differences in tempo and in how often the defense was on the field.

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

In 2019 the 49ers led at 0.29; the league average was 0.35.

League snapshot — 2019

League leader

SF · 0.29

League average

0.35

Best to worst

0.10

All 32 teams, lower is better.

Rank	Team	Value	Games
1	SF	0.29	16
2	NE	0.30	16
3	PIT	0.30	16
4	BUF	0.31	16
5	NYJ	0.32	16
6	CHI	0.32	16
7	TB	0.32	16
8	MIN	0.32	16
9	DAL	0.33	16
10	LAR	0.33	16
11	BAL	0.33	16
12	NO	0.34	16
13	KC	0.34	16
14	DEN	0.34	16
15	LAC	0.34	16
16	TEN	0.34	16
17	PHI	0.35	16
18	GB	0.36	16
19	IND	0.36	16
20	WAS	0.36	16
21	NYG	0.36	16
22	CLE	0.36	16
23	CAR	0.37	16
24	ATL	0.37	16
25	DET	0.37	16
26	LV	0.37	16
27	ARI	0.38	16
28	SEA	0.38	16
29	MIA	0.38	16
30	JAX	0.38	16
31	HOU	0.39	16
32	CIN	0.39	16

At a glance — 2019

Where the 32 teams sit on this stat this season.

League leader

SF · 0.29

League laggard

CIN · 0.39

League average

0.35

Spread (max − min)

0.10

Rank	Team	Value	Δ vs avg	Percentile
1	SF	0.29	-0.06	100%
2	NE	0.30	-0.05	96.8%
3	PIT	0.30	-0.05	93.5%
4	BUF	0.31	-0.04	90.3%
5	NYJ	0.32	-0.03	87.1%
6	CHI	0.32	-0.02	83.9%
7	TB	0.32	-0.02	80.6%
8	MIN	0.32	-0.02	77.4%
9	DAL	0.33	-0.02	74.2%
10	LAR	0.33	-0.02	71%
11	BAL	0.33	-0.02	67.7%
12	NO	0.34	-0.01	64.5%
13	KC	0.34	-0.01	61.3%
14	DEN	0.34	-0.01	58.1%
15	LAC	0.34	0.00	54.8%
16	TEN	0.34	0.00	51.6%
17	PHI	0.35	0.00	48.4%
18	GB	0.36	0.01	45.2%
19	IND	0.36	0.01	41.9%
20	WAS	0.36	0.01	38.7%
21	NYG	0.36	0.02	35.5%
22	CLE	0.36	0.02	32.3%
23	CAR	0.37	0.02	29%
24	ATL	0.37	0.02	25.8%
25	DET	0.37	0.03	22.6%
26	LV	0.37	0.03	19.4%
27	ARI	0.38	0.03	16.1%
28	SEA	0.38	0.03	12.9%
29	MIA	0.38	0.04	9.7%
30	JAX	0.38	0.04	6.5%
31	HOU	0.39	0.04	3.2%
32	CIN	0.39	0.05	0%

Does Yds per play offense (allowed) matter against the spread?

Run as a one-stat algorithm against the closing line, this stat went 812–766–37 ATS (51.5%) across 2020–2025, #206 of 296 ranked.

Its best season was 2020 (149–105, 58.7%); its worst 2023 (119–139, 46.1%).

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

Season	Games	ATS record	ATS %
2020	256	149–105–2	58.7%
2021	272	129–141–2	47.8%
2022	271	132–132–7	50.0%
2023	272	119–139–14	46.1%
2024	272	135–128–9	51.3%
2025	272	148–121–3	55.0%

Yds per play offense (allowed) in 2019 vs 2018

49ers lead at 0.29 — they ranked #13 last year. Bengals are last at 0.39 — #29 last year.

The league average is 0.35, down 0.01 from 0.35 last year.

Biggest riser: Buccaneers, #31 → #7. Biggest faller: Jaguars, #5 → #30.

Spread between first and last: 0.10; 20 teams are within 0.03 of the average.

Year-over-year — 2019 vs 2018

Biggest movers from last season.

Biggest riser

JAX · +0.06

Biggest faller

TB · −0.07

Most consistent

WAS · +0.00

League trend 2019 vs 2018

▼ -0.01

Rank	Team	2019	2018	Δ
1	JAX	0.38	0.33	+0.06
2	HOU	0.39	0.34	+0.05
3	ARI	0.38	0.34	+0.04
4	BAL	0.33	0.30	+0.03
5	CHI	0.32	0.30	+0.02
6	DET	0.37	0.36	+0.01
7	IND	0.36	0.35	+0.01
8	MIN	0.32	0.31	+0.01
9	CLE	0.36	0.35	+0.01
10	SEA	0.38	0.37	+0.01
11	TEN	0.34	0.34	+0.01
12	CIN	0.39	0.39	+0.00
13	LAC	0.34	0.34	+0.00
14	GB	0.36	0.35	+0.00
15	WAS	0.36	0.36	+0.00
16	BUF	0.31	0.31	−0.00
17	NYG	0.36	0.37	−0.00
18	MIA	0.38	0.39	−0.01
19	ATL	0.37	0.38	−0.01
20	CAR	0.37	0.38	−0.01
21	DAL	0.33	0.34	−0.01
22	PHI	0.35	0.37	−0.02
23	NO	0.34	0.36	−0.02
24	LV	0.37	0.40	−0.03
25	DEN	0.34	0.36	−0.03
26	KC	0.34	0.36	−0.03
27	PIT	0.30	0.33	−0.04
28	NYJ	0.32	0.36	−0.05
29	LAR	0.33	0.38	−0.05
30	SF	0.29	0.35	−0.06
31	NE	0.30	0.36	−0.07
32	TB	0.32	0.39	−0.07

Multi-year context

7-year window (2020–2026)

Multi-year leader

SEA · 0.39

Multi-year laggard

CAR · 0.49

Biggest improver

SEA · +0.05/yr

Biggest decliner

CAR · +0.12/yr

Rank	Team	Avg	Slope/yr	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025	2026
1	SEA	0.39	+0.05	0.34	0.32	0.33	0.33	0.32	0.27	0.84
2	SF	0.40	+0.07	0.32	0.30	0.30	0.29	0.31	0.33	0.94
3	LAR	0.41	+0.07	0.29	0.31	0.33	0.32	0.34	0.31	0.96
4	NYJ	0.41	+0.06	0.37	0.35	0.29	0.27	0.30	0.34	0.94
5	GB	0.41	+0.06	0.34	0.32	0.34	0.32	0.31	0.30	0.95
6	MIN	0.41	+0.05	0.39	0.33	0.35	0.31	0.31	0.28	0.93
7	CLE	0.42	+0.07	0.35	0.30	0.32	0.27	0.34	0.29	1.05
8	NE	0.42	+0.07	0.37	0.30	0.30	0.28	0.32	0.31	1.04
9	PHI	0.42	+0.08	0.35	0.31	0.28	0.32	0.28	0.29	1.08
10	BAL	0.42	+0.07	0.32	0.36	0.31	0.27	0.31	0.33	1.04
11	DEN	0.42	+0.07	0.36	0.32	0.30	0.35	0.29	0.26	1.08
12	HOU	0.43	+0.06	0.40	0.35	0.34	0.31	0.30	0.28	1.00
13	BUF	0.43	+0.09	0.34	0.27	0.32	0.31	0.33	0.31	1.11
14	TB	0.43	+0.08	0.32	0.30	0.31	0.32	0.32	0.34	1.08
15	LAC	0.43	+0.07	0.35	0.33	0.35	0.33	0.32	0.30	1.04
16	ATL	0.43	+0.07	0.39	0.33	0.34	0.30	0.33	0.31	1.01
17	NO	0.43	+0.09	0.32	0.30	0.29	0.31	0.34	0.29	1.17
18	PIT	0.43	+0.08	0.31	0.33	0.33	0.32	0.32	0.32	1.11
19	TEN	0.44	+0.08	0.37	0.32	0.32	0.31	0.31	0.35	1.07
20	WAS	0.44	+0.09	0.31	0.34	0.31	0.35	0.32	0.36	1.11
21	MIA	0.44	+0.08	0.37	0.32	0.32	0.31	0.31	0.34	1.14
22	NYG	0.45	+0.09	0.34	0.32	0.34	0.33	0.34	0.35	1.14
23	JAX	0.45	+0.08	0.40	0.33	0.32	0.32	0.35	0.29	1.12
24	KC	0.45	+0.09	0.35	0.35	0.30	0.28	0.31	0.31	1.26
25	LV	0.46	+0.09	0.38	0.31	0.34	0.31	0.32	0.30	1.24
26	IND	0.46	+0.10	0.34	0.33	0.31	0.31	0.33	0.32	1.27
27	ARI	0.46	+0.10	0.34	0.32	0.33	0.34	0.33	0.34	1.23
28	DET	0.46	+0.08	0.40	0.35	0.37	0.33	0.34	0.32	1.14
29	CIN	0.46	+0.08	0.39	0.33	0.34	0.36	0.32	0.37	1.15
30	CHI	0.47	+0.10	0.34	0.32	0.37	0.32	0.35	0.35	1.25
31	DAL	0.47	+0.10	0.37	0.33	0.30	0.30	0.35	0.37	1.30
32	CAR	0.49	+0.12	0.36	0.30	0.32	0.30	0.36	0.33	1.45

Multi-year heatmap

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

Team	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025	2026
SEA	0.34	0.32	0.33	0.33	0.32	0.27	0.84
MIN	0.39	0.33	0.35	0.31	0.31	0.28	0.93
SF	0.32	0.30	0.30	0.29	0.31	0.33	0.94
NYJ	0.37	0.35	0.29	0.27	0.30	0.34	0.94
GB	0.34	0.32	0.34	0.32	0.31	0.30	0.95
LAR	0.29	0.31	0.33	0.32	0.34	0.31	0.96
HOU	0.40	0.35	0.34	0.31	0.30	0.28	1.00
ATL	0.39	0.33	0.34	0.30	0.33	0.31	1.01
LAC	0.35	0.33	0.35	0.33	0.32	0.30	1.04
NE	0.37	0.30	0.30	0.28	0.32	0.31	1.04
BAL	0.32	0.36	0.31	0.27	0.31	0.33	1.04
CLE	0.35	0.30	0.32	0.27	0.34	0.29	1.05
TEN	0.37	0.32	0.32	0.31	0.31	0.35	1.07
DEN	0.36	0.32	0.30	0.35	0.29	0.26	1.08
TB	0.32	0.30	0.31	0.32	0.32	0.34	1.08
PHI	0.35	0.31	0.28	0.32	0.28	0.29	1.08
PIT	0.31	0.33	0.33	0.32	0.32	0.32	1.11
WAS	0.31	0.34	0.31	0.35	0.32	0.36	1.11
BUF	0.34	0.27	0.32	0.31	0.33	0.31	1.11
JAX	0.40	0.33	0.32	0.32	0.35	0.29	1.12
NYG	0.34	0.32	0.34	0.33	0.34	0.35	1.14
MIA	0.37	0.32	0.32	0.31	0.31	0.34	1.14
DET	0.40	0.35	0.37	0.33	0.34	0.32	1.14
CIN	0.39	0.33	0.34	0.36	0.32	0.37	1.15
NO	0.32	0.30	0.29	0.31	0.34	0.29	1.17
ARI	0.34	0.32	0.33	0.34	0.33	0.34	1.23
LV	0.38	0.31	0.34	0.31	0.32	0.30	1.24
CHI	0.34	0.32	0.37	0.32	0.35	0.35	1.25
KC	0.35	0.35	0.30	0.28	0.31	0.31	1.26
IND	0.34	0.33	0.31	0.31	0.33	0.32	1.27
DAL	0.37	0.33	0.30	0.30	0.35	0.37	1.30
CAR	0.36	0.30	0.32	0.30	0.36	0.33	1.45

Yds per play offense (allowed) since 2018

Leaders since 2018: 2018 Bears (0.30), 2019 49ers (0.29).

The best season on record is 49ers 2019 at 0.29; the worst Raiders 2018 at 0.40.

Distribution

How the 32 teams cluster for 2019.

About this stat

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