It’s been several weeks since we took a look at offensive trends in the CFL, so let’s not waste any time updating how things stand through (almost) the first third of the season.
Points are on a slight downward trend from a season-high average of 56.3 per game in Week 4, though they’ve remained at or above the average of 52.5 points from Week 1 over that timespan. Scoring fell by 2.3 percent from Week 5 to Week 6, a difference of 1.1 points per game.
The number of punts per game reached a new season-high of 13.3 this past week, an increase of 30.1 percent from Week 5. This spike was largely caused by Saturday’s game between the Ottawa Redblacks and Hamilton Tiger-Cats, which featured a season-high 19 punts.
Offensive yardage continues to have a relatively inverse correlation with points, as this week’s total dipped to a near season-low of 691 per game. This was a 9.0 percent decrease from Week 5 and a 6.2 percent decrease from the opening week of the season. The lowest average offensive yardage output of the season came in Week 4 at 689 yards.
Passing yardage remained essentially flat from Week 5, though it remains on a downward trend from the start of the season. Offences have struggled to throw the ball as effectively over the past three weeks of the season with passing yardage dropping 12.6 percent compared to the first three weeks of the season.
Rushing yardage dropped 27.3 percent from Week 5 to Week 6, reversing a positive trend that started after ground production reached a season-low in Week 3.
Scoring for the 2022 season now sits at 50.8 points per game, which is up 15.2 percent from 2021. This number is exactly on par with the 2018 season and 1.4 percent above the league’s average dating back to 2010.
Despite this week’s spike, punting the ball remains down 14.6 percent from 2021 and the lowest it’s been in over a decade.
Offensive yardage has increased by 7.9 percent from 2021 and has reached its highest level since 2017. This year’s offensive production currently sits 4.4 percent above the league’s average dating back to 2010.
Production through the air has increased by 7.7 percent from 2021 to 2022 and perfectly matches the league’s average of 543 yards per game from 2019. Passing this season is up 0.8 percent from the league’s average dating back to 2010.
Rushing yardage remains at its lowest level over the past ten seasons at 187 per game. This is down 6.0 percent from 2021, 8.6 percent from the league’s recent average, and 20.4 percent from a single-season high of 235 rushing yards in 2010.
The CFL offensive output report was created by 3DownNation’s John Hodge to track how a number of critical statistics change throughout the year following the league’s rule changes designed to make the game more entertaining. It will run semi-weekly through the regular season on Tuesday mornings.
