The Kansas City Chiefs finished with 565 points, the third most in a season in NFL history. But the Chiefs did it off fewer snaps than most teams.
Kansas City Chiefs fans have already heard the national media praise the team’s high-powered offense. The Chiefs finished with almost 426 yards per game while putting up 35.3 points per game, leading the league in both categories.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes conducted the potent offense with 50 touchdown passes and threw for more than 5,000 yards this year. He joins Peyton Manning in 2013 as the only quarterbacks to join the 50-5,000 single-season club.
In addition, Brady’s Patriots in 2007 have the second highest scoring offense in NFL history with 589 while Manning’s Broncos in 2013 own the record with 606 in a season. The Chiefs put up 565, which is now the third most in NFL history.
To no one’s surprise, the three quarterbacks to be part of the 50-5,000 club are part of the three highest scoring teams in league history.
The Chiefs ran 996 plays in 2018 to achieve the 565 points, the third highest scoring feat ever, while leading the league in total yards. You might think 996 plays is a lot. But it isn’t.
The most impressive part about Kansas City’s 2018 stout offense is that they were 23rd in the NFL in scrimmage plays. To give you an idea, the Baltimore Ravens had the most scrimmage yards with 1,135 plays. The Patriots were second with 1,073 this season.
When it comes to scrimmage plays among all 12 playoff teams, they are ranked first, second, third, fourth, seventh, eighth, 11th, 14th, 15th, 17th, 23rd and 28th. As mentioned before, the Chiefs hold the 23rd spot while the Chargers are last among the 12 playoff teams at 28th in this category.
Comparing to the top two high-scoring NFL teams, the 2007 Patriots ran 1,058 scrimmage plays, which was second that season. The Broncos in 2013 ran 1,156 plays, which led the league that year.
Andy Reid’s offense has been known to do a lot of different things this season that not many teams have been able to do. Putting up 565 points in just 996 plays is another unconceivable task to add to the list.
If you need another reason as to why Mahomes should win the MVP (you shouldn’t), you can say that the Chiefs explosive offense, led by Mahomes in all 16 games, did its job in just 996 plays.