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 2021 the Bills led at 0.27; the league average was 0.32.

League snapshot — 2021

League leader

BUF · 0.27

League average

0.32

Best to worst

0.08

All 32 teams, lower is better.

Rank	Team	Value	Games
1	BUF	0.27	17
2	CLE	0.30	17
3	NO	0.30	17
4	SF	0.30	17
5	CAR	0.30	17
6	NE	0.30	17
7	TB	0.30	17
8	LV	0.31	17
9	PHI	0.31	17
10	LAR	0.31	17
11	NYG	0.32	17
12	TEN	0.32	17
13	MIA	0.32	17
14	DEN	0.32	17
15	SEA	0.32	17
16	GB	0.32	17
17	CHI	0.32	17
18	ARI	0.32	17
19	PIT	0.33	17
20	DAL	0.33	17
21	IND	0.33	17
22	CIN	0.33	17
23	LAC	0.33	17
24	ATL	0.33	17
25	MIN	0.33	17
26	JAX	0.33	17
27	WAS	0.34	17
28	KC	0.35	17
29	NYJ	0.35	17
30	HOU	0.35	17
31	DET	0.35	17
32	BAL	0.36	17

At a glance — 2021

Where the 32 teams sit on this stat this season.

League leader

BUF · 0.27

League laggard

BAL · 0.36

League average

0.32

Spread (max − min)

0.08

Rank	Team	Value	Δ vs avg	Percentile
1	BUF	0.27	-0.05	100%
2	CLE	0.30	-0.02	96.8%
3	NO	0.30	-0.02	93.5%
4	SF	0.30	-0.02	90.3%
5	CAR	0.30	-0.02	87.1%
6	NE	0.30	-0.02	83.9%
7	TB	0.30	-0.02	80.6%
8	LV	0.31	-0.01	77.4%
9	PHI	0.31	-0.01	74.2%
10	LAR	0.31	-0.01	71%
11	NYG	0.32	-0.01	67.7%
12	TEN	0.32	0.00	64.5%
13	MIA	0.32	0.00	61.3%
14	DEN	0.32	0.00	58.1%
15	SEA	0.32	0.00	54.8%
16	GB	0.32	0.00	51.6%
17	CHI	0.32	0.00	48.4%
18	ARI	0.32	0.00	45.2%
19	PIT	0.33	0.00	41.9%
20	DAL	0.33	0.00	38.7%
21	IND	0.33	0.01	35.5%
22	CIN	0.33	0.01	32.3%
23	LAC	0.33	0.01	29%
24	ATL	0.33	0.01	25.8%
25	MIN	0.33	0.01	22.6%
26	JAX	0.33	0.01	19.4%
27	WAS	0.34	0.02	16.1%
28	KC	0.35	0.03	12.9%
29	NYJ	0.35	0.03	9.7%
30	HOU	0.35	0.03	6.5%
31	DET	0.35	0.03	3.2%
32	BAL	0.36	0.03	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 2021 vs 2020

Bills lead at 0.27 — they ranked #11 last year. Ravens are last at 0.36 — #7 last year.

The league average is 0.32, down 0.03 from 0.35 last year.

Biggest riser: Raiders, #26 → #8. Biggest faller: Commanders, #2 → #27.

Spread between first and last: 0.08; 22 teams are within 0.02 of the average.

Year-over-year — 2021 vs 2020

Biggest movers from last season.

Biggest riser

WAS · +0.03

Biggest faller

BUF · −0.07

Most consistent

KC · −0.00

League trend 2021 vs 2020

▼ -0.03

Rank	Team	2021	2020	Δ
1	WAS	0.34	0.31	+0.03
2	BAL	0.36	0.32	+0.03
3	LAR	0.31	0.29	+0.02
4	PIT	0.33	0.31	+0.02
5	KC	0.35	0.35	−0.00
6	IND	0.33	0.34	−0.01
7	NYJ	0.35	0.37	−0.01
8	NO	0.30	0.32	−0.01
9	ARI	0.32	0.34	−0.01
10	TB	0.30	0.32	−0.02
11	LAC	0.33	0.35	−0.02
12	SF	0.30	0.32	−0.02
13	NYG	0.32	0.34	−0.02
14	CHI	0.32	0.34	−0.02
15	GB	0.32	0.34	−0.03
16	SEA	0.32	0.34	−0.03
17	DEN	0.32	0.36	−0.04
18	PHI	0.31	0.35	−0.04
19	HOU	0.35	0.40	−0.04
20	DAL	0.33	0.37	−0.04
21	DET	0.35	0.40	−0.05
22	MIN	0.33	0.39	−0.05
23	CLE	0.30	0.35	−0.05
24	TEN	0.32	0.37	−0.05
25	MIA	0.32	0.37	−0.06
26	CAR	0.30	0.36	−0.06
27	CIN	0.33	0.39	−0.06
28	ATL	0.33	0.39	−0.06
29	NE	0.30	0.37	−0.06
30	JAX	0.33	0.40	−0.07
31	LV	0.31	0.38	−0.07
32	BUF	0.27	0.34	−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
BUF	0.34	0.27	0.32	0.31	0.33	0.31	1.11
CLE	0.35	0.30	0.32	0.27	0.34	0.29	1.05
NO	0.32	0.30	0.29	0.31	0.34	0.29	1.17
SF	0.32	0.30	0.30	0.29	0.31	0.33	0.94
CAR	0.36	0.30	0.32	0.30	0.36	0.33	1.45
NE	0.37	0.30	0.30	0.28	0.32	0.31	1.04
TB	0.32	0.30	0.31	0.32	0.32	0.34	1.08
LV	0.38	0.31	0.34	0.31	0.32	0.30	1.24
PHI	0.35	0.31	0.28	0.32	0.28	0.29	1.08
LAR	0.29	0.31	0.33	0.32	0.34	0.31	0.96
NYG	0.34	0.32	0.34	0.33	0.34	0.35	1.14
TEN	0.37	0.32	0.32	0.31	0.31	0.35	1.07
MIA	0.37	0.32	0.32	0.31	0.31	0.34	1.14
DEN	0.36	0.32	0.30	0.35	0.29	0.26	1.08
SEA	0.34	0.32	0.33	0.33	0.32	0.27	0.84
GB	0.34	0.32	0.34	0.32	0.31	0.30	0.95
CHI	0.34	0.32	0.37	0.32	0.35	0.35	1.25
ARI	0.34	0.32	0.33	0.34	0.33	0.34	1.23
PIT	0.31	0.33	0.33	0.32	0.32	0.32	1.11
DAL	0.37	0.33	0.30	0.30	0.35	0.37	1.30
IND	0.34	0.33	0.31	0.31	0.33	0.32	1.27
CIN	0.39	0.33	0.34	0.36	0.32	0.37	1.15
LAC	0.35	0.33	0.35	0.33	0.32	0.30	1.04
ATL	0.39	0.33	0.34	0.30	0.33	0.31	1.01
MIN	0.39	0.33	0.35	0.31	0.31	0.28	0.93
JAX	0.40	0.33	0.32	0.32	0.35	0.29	1.12
WAS	0.31	0.34	0.31	0.35	0.32	0.36	1.11
KC	0.35	0.35	0.30	0.28	0.31	0.31	1.26
NYJ	0.37	0.35	0.29	0.27	0.30	0.34	0.94
HOU	0.40	0.35	0.34	0.31	0.30	0.28	1.00
DET	0.40	0.35	0.37	0.33	0.34	0.32	1.14
BAL	0.32	0.36	0.31	0.27	0.31	0.33	1.04

Yds per play offense (allowed) since 2018

Leaders since 2018: 2018 Bears (0.30), 2019 49ers (0.29), 2020 Rams (0.29), 2021 Bills (0.27).

The best season on record is Bills 2021 at 0.27; the worst Jaguars 2020 at 0.40.

The league average has fallen from 0.35 in 2018 to 0.32 in 2021.

Distribution

How the 32 teams cluster for 2021.

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.