Odd statistical fact of the day. Using the fantasy scoring system of 6 points for touchdowns and 1 point for every 10 yards, none of the teams that have posted the best rushing numbers in the last 10 years have ranked in the top 5 the previous year. Weird.

We’re busy putting the magazine together, and I apologize for not posting more stuff on the web recently. I’ve been busy.

But I posted the little chart on defenses on Saturday, showing the fluctuation at that position. So I thought I’d try the same with offenses. Specifically, comparing rushing and passing.

I stuck with teams, rather than individual players, to get out of the arena of injuries.

I took the top 5 rushing offenses for each year for the last 10 years, then look at how they did the next year. (This is using the scoring system of 6 points for touchdowns and 1 for every 10 yards). Then I did the same for passing offenses.

Main conclusion is that passing offenses have been more consistent.

Overall, the rushing offenses declined from 2,389 to 2,067 yards (a drop of 14 percent) and from 20.1 to 15.1 touchdowns (a drop of 25 percent). With passing offenses, they declined from 4,612 to 4,347 yards (down 9 percent) and from 33.8 to 29.2 touchdowns (14 percent).

Of the 50 passing offenses, 8 came back the next year and ranked No. 1 in passing. So the pass wins 8-0 in that category.

For ranking in the top 5, passing wins 22-17.

For ranking in the top 10, passing wins 36-30.

For categories had 12 units finish between 11th and 20th the next year.

And for crashing and burning (finishing outside the top 20) it happened to only two passing offense but occurred eight times with running teams.

This supports the idea that there’s some merit to going after quarterbacks like Andrew Luck and Aaron Rodgers. Passing is more solid. We know which teams are going to jack up a bunch of passing yards and touchdowns. We know that Jay Cutler, Teddy Bridgewater, Andy Dalton and Colin Kaepernick won’t be top-5 quarterbacks. Almost all of the stud passers will be guys that everyone sees coming.

But at running back, there is some ability to find and manufacture production. There will be some guys coming out of the woodwork – like C.J. Anderson and Jeremy Hill putting up top-5 numbers in the second half of last year.

On charts below, if an offense has a black dot, it ranked in the top 10. Two black dots means top 5. If it’s in bold, then it was outside the top 20.

HOW TOP-5 RUSHING OFFENSES HAVE FARED
YearTeamYardsTDPointsRk
2005•• Kansas City2,38226394.23
2005•• Atlanta2,54617356.64
2005•• Pittsburgh2,22321348.35
2005• San Diego2,07222339.26
2005NY Jets1,32810192.829
2006•• Atlanta2,9399347.93
2006• Kansas City2,14317316.36
2006• Pittsburgh1,99216295.210
2006Denver2,15212287.213
2006Seattle1,9238240.322
2007•• Jacksonville2,39118347.12
2007•• San Diego2,03919317.93
2007• New England1,84917286.96
2007Dallas1,74614258.614
2007Atlanta1,5207194.029
2008•• NY Giants2,51819365.83
2008•• Tennessee2,19924363.94
2008• Minnesota2,33215323.27
2008Jacksonville1,77417279.414
2008San Diego1,72613250.621
2009•• Tennessee2,59219373.22
2009•• Carolina2,49818357.83
2009•• Baltimore2,20022352.05
2009Atlanta1,87615277.612
2009NY Giants1,83714267.714
2010• NY Jets2,37414321.47
2010Tennessee1,72713250.714
2010Baltimore1,83111249.115
2010Carolina1,8467226.621
2010Miami1,6438212.326
2011•• Houston2,44818352.82
2011•• Philadelphia2,27620347.63
2011• Oakland2,11016307.07
2011Jacksonville1,9709251.019
2011Kansas City1,8935219.324
2012•• Minnesota2,63416359.43
2012• Carolina2,08821334.86
2012• Houston2,12319326.37
2012Denver1,83212255.217
2012Philadelphia1,87410247.418
2013•• Minnesota2,08123346.12
2013•• San Francisco2,20118328.13
2013•• New England2,06519320.55
2013• Seattle2,18814302.88
2013• Washington2,16414300.49
2014• Philadelphia1,99216295.26
2014• San Francisco2,17610277.610
2014Minnesota1,80412252.417
2014New England1,72713250.718
2014Buffalo1,4827190.227
HOW TOP-5 PASSING OFFENSES HAVE FARED
YearTeamYardsTDPointsRk
2005•• Indianapolis4,19131605.11
2005• Green Bay3,96420516.48
2005• Philadelphia3,90321516.39
2005Kansas City4,01417503.412
2005Minnesota3,44918452.919
2006•• Indianapolis4,39731625.71
2006•• St. Louis4,32824576.84
2006•• Cincinnati4,06628574.65
2006• New England3,59025509.09
2006Arizona3,92417494.411
2007•• New Orleans4,42328610.35
2007• Indianapolis4,17232609.26
2007• Cincinnati4,13126569.18
2007Philadelphia4,00524544.511
2007St. Louis3,56119470.119
2008•• New Orleans5,06934710.91
2008•• Arizona4,87531673.52
2008• Dallas3,98829572.87
2008• Green Bay4,04428572.48
2008• New England3,79021505.010
2009•• Indianapolis4,60534664.51
2009•• New Orleans4,49034653.03
2009• San Diego4,50629624.66
2009Arizona4,20027582.012
2009Denver3,82521508.515
2010•• Indianapolis4,70033668.01
2010•• New Orleans4,63633661.62
2010•• Green Bay4,35531621.55
2010• Houston4,37024581.09
2010Minnesota3,32714416.729
2011•• New Orleans5,50546826.51
2011•• Green Bay5,16151822.12
2011•• New England5,25739759.73
2011• San Diego4,62427624.47
2011Indianapolis3,22314406.329
2012•• New Orleans5,18743776.71
2012•• New England4,84434688.43
2012•• Green Bay4,34240674.24
2012• Detroit5,13922645.97
2012NY Giants3,96726552.712
2013•• Denver5,57255887.21
2013•• New Orleans5,16239750.22
2013• Dallas4,22633620.68
2013• Green Bay4,53825603.810
2013New England4,34325584.313
2014•• Denver4,66140706.12
2014•• New Orleans4,76433674.44
2014San Diego4,09831595.811
2014Chicago3,79230559.212
2014Detroit4,03022535.014