The coach most responsible for the decline in NFL scoring hasn’t called a single play this season.
Two years after the league set a new high-water mark when teams combined to average 49.6 points per game, the number has dipped to 44. An informal survey of people in and around the NFL asking for reasons as to the interruption to the annual offensive eruption produced two main theories: An unprecedented amount of starting quarterbacks jumping from one team to another combined with the struggles of some all-time greats, and the popularization of the Vic Fangio-style defense.
Since Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson, Matt Ryan and others are dissected enough as it is, Post Sports+ sought a crash course in the defense that is about to drop scoring to a five-year low. After teams averaged 43.4 points in 2017, the year-end totals were 46.7, 45.6, 49.6 and 46, over the next four seasons, respectively.
Currently, Fangio is taking a gap year after he was fired in January as Broncos head coach, but the five-time NFL defensive coordinator (of the Panthers, Colts, Texans, 49ers and Bears, dating as far back as 1995) surely will get a sixth job calling plays unless he is holding out for another shot to be the boss. He has direct disciples overseeing defenses with the Chargers and Vikings, and his tree extends to the Packers, Bears and more. In all, about 10-15 teams use his principles, sources estimate.
