5 NFL Red Zone Trends to Monitor for Week 9

Play-Calling Trends

There is a massive range in how many red zone snaps teams are running this year. The first-ranked Saints are averaging 15.7 per game, while the Los Angeles Rams are the only other team with 100-plus red zone snaps, averaging 14.5 per game. The Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles are each averaging 12.0, tied for third.

On the opposite end of things, the Arizona Cardinals and Buffalo Bills are both averaging only 5.5 (tied for the league's second-fewest), and the Miami Dolphins are averaging a ridiculously low 4.75.

Because of that huge gap, it's more useful to look at ratios than at total plays to break down play-calling trends. For context, the league-average pass-to-run ratio in the red zone is 1.29-to-1.00.

The five most pass-heavy teams inside the 20 have been the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1.84-to-1.00), Jacksonville Jaguars (1.94), New York Giants (2.16), Green Bay Packers (2.17) and Minnesota Vikings (2.39).

Dropping down to the other side for the most run-heavy, we get the Carolina Panthers (0.90-to-1.00), Buffalo Bills (0.83), Los Angeles Rams (0.81), New York Jets (0.81) and Washington (0.73).