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Last week, I took a crack at looking at run/pass totals and how Jeff Fisher's teams' run/pass ratio stacked up against the NFL. Today, let's take a look at the yards per lines and how those stack up.
First up, the numbers:
| Year | QB | RB | W | L | T | Yds/Run | Yds/Pass | NFL Yds/Run | NFL Yds/Pass | NFL Yds/Run High | NFL Yds/Pass High | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Austin Davis | Tre Mason | 6 | 10 | 0 | 4.14 | 6.60 | 4.16 | 6.78 | 5.26 | Seattle (12-4) | 8.42 | Dallas (12-4) |
| 2013 | Sam Bradford | Zac Stacy | 7 | 9 | 0 | 4.11 | 6.18 | 4.17 | 6.65 | 5.13 | Philadelphia (10-6) | 8.67 | Philadelphia (10-6) |
| 2012 | Sam Bradford | Steven Jackson | 7 | 8 | 1 | 4.18 | 6.37 | 4.26 | 6.66 | 5.42 | Minnesota (10-6) | 8.29 | Washington (10-6) |
| 2010 | Kerry Collins | Chris Johnson | 6 | 10 | 0 | 4.25 | 6.55 | 4.21 | 6.57 | 5.43 | Philadelphia (10-6) | 8.72 | San Diego (9-7) |
| 2009 | Vince Young | Chris Johnson | 8 | 8 | 0 | 5.19 | 6.37 | 4.24 | 6.57 | 5.19 | Tennessee (8-8) | 8.68 | San Diego (13-3) |
| 2008 | Kerry Collins | Chris Johnson | 13 | 3 | 0 | 4.33 | 6.22 | 4.20 | 6.55 | 5.02 | New York Giants (12-4) | 8.39 | San Diego (8-8) |
| 2007 | Vince Young | LenDale White | 10 | 6 | 0 | 3.88 | 6.20 | 4.06 | 6.44 | 5.33 | Minnesota (8-8) | 8.29 | New England (16-0) |
| 2006 | Vince Young | Travis Henry | 8 | 8 | 0 | 4.72 | 5.81 | 4.16 | 6.40 | 5.47 | Atlanta (7-9) | 8.04 | Dallas (9-7) |
| 2005 | Steve McNair | Chris Brown | 4 | 12 | 0 | 3.84 | 6.06 | 4.01 | 6.33 | 4.79 | Atlanta (8-8) | 8.19 | Pittsburgh (11-5) |
| 2004 | Billy Volek | Chris Brown | 5 | 11 | 0 | 4.45 | 6.14 | 4.14 | 6.59 | 5.10 | Atlanta (11-5) | 8.98 | Indianapolis (12-4) |
We talked about the turnover as a chief takeaway last time, but honestly the bigger surprise here was that Fisher's teams didn't outperform the league average on running yards per.
In five seasons (2005, 2007 and the three seasons with the Rams), Jeff Fisher's teams had a worse yards per rush than the league line. In all ten seasons, his teams performed under the NFL bar.
Perhaps also surprising were that the only two seasons of the last 10 in which a Jeff Fisher team finished with a winning record (ew) were not the two seasons in which they ran the ball far more effectively than the league median.
Also of note? Two Fisher teams, the 2005 and 2007 Titans, have run the ball for less than 4 yards per carry. Just one, the 2009 Titans, ran above a 5 per rate. And don't miss that 2006 Titans team that passed the ball for less than 6 yards per attempt. Ugh.
I guess my main takeaway from this is that the end of his tenure with the Titans and these last three seasons have been the best passing teams of the last decade. And his run with McNair always had a stronger passing attack. So for all the talk of a run-heavy attack, it certainly butts up against his recent history as well as his most successful years.
Chart time. Here's Fisher's teams in yards per:
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And here's the league center:
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Notice the continued rise in yards per pass attempt since 2005. In fact, the trendline for the league matches up pretty nicely with Fisher's last decade.
The question for me is if we've hit a fork where the two separate in 2015.