Patriots on pace for all-time NFL scoring mark

If you think the New England offense has looked pretty sharp this season, you're missing the big picture.

 

It looks like the greatest offense in NFL history.

 

We broke out the UNIVAC version of our beer-bottle cap abacus Sunday night and discovered that the 2007 Patriots, following their 49-28 win over the Dolphins earlier in the day, are now on pace to become the most prolific offense in NFL history.

 

That's right, folks. The most prolific offense in the entire history of the league. Not since the AFL-NFL merger. Not in the Super Bowl Era. We're talking No. 1 in the entire 88-season history of the league.

 

The 2007 Patriots, through Week 7, average a mind-boggling 39.86 PPG (279 points in 7 games).

 

The current record is held by the 1950 Rams, who scored 38.83 PPG (466 points in 12 games). The list of every offense that's scored 30 or more points per game can be found below.

 

Just 45 teams in history have scored 30 or more points per game, yet New England is one more good game away from surpassing 40.0 PPG. And even those numbers don't quite put the pace in perspective.

Given those parameters, New England's scoring pace of nearly 40.0 PPG is truly remarkable. Much more about the great NFL offenses can be found below this chart (including a look at the greatest offense just in the Super Bowl Era; a mere 21 teams have scored 30.0 PPG or more in the Super Bowl Era).

 

Give a great deal of credit to the Randy Moss Factor when studying New England's success so far.

 

The gifted wide receiver, who hauled in two spectacular TD catches Sunday, has a chance to be a part of the two greatest scoring offenses of the Super Bowl Era.

 

The 1998 Vikings currently boast the greatest scoring offense of the Super Bowl Era (34.75 PPG). Moss was a rookie on that team, and caught 17 TD passes.

 

The L.A. Rams of the 1950s are one of the great offensive forces in the history of the NFL. Cold, Hard Football Facts contributor Mike Carlson wrote an awesome profile of these star-studded Rams teams last year.

 

They were certainly one of the more interesting teams in NFL history.

 

But should be noted that there were some unusual circumstances behind the record scoring pace of that legendary 1950 Rams team, as there so often are anytime you see a statistical anomaly. The NFL in 1950 absorbed three teams from the All-America Football Conference, the Browns, Baltimore Colts and 49ers. The AAFC's N.Y. Bulldogs, meanwhile, merged with the NFL's N.Y. Yankees and were renamed the N.Y. Yanks for the 1950 season.

 

The Yanks, Colts and 49ers each ended up in the newly renamed National Conference with the Rams. The Yanks and Colts proceeded to field two of the worst defenses in the entire history of the NFL. The Colts surrendered 462 points that season. The Yanks surrendered 367. The 49ers, in their first year in the NFL, struggled to a 3-9 record and fielded the worst offense in football that year (213 points).

 

The Rams played five of their 12 games against these three teams.

 

The Colts were so bad that they folded immediately after the 1950 season (but returned in 1953). The Yanks folded after the 1951 season, never to return to the NFL.

 

Basically, the Rams were able to pad their stats against these three teams, and pad they did. The Rams scored 158 points in their three games against the Colts and Yanks teams, including a 70-27 win over the Colts (third most points in a game in NFL history), and another 63 against the expansion 49ers.

 

Certainly, New England has had some weak opponents on its slate this year, such as the Dolphins. But at least every team they've played is a legitimate, long-existing NFL franchise.