Net Yards Per Play Report: Broncos, Saints, Jaguars Underperforming Through NFL Week 8

With another week in the books, the net yards per play standings have shifted in the NFL.

In order to calculate net yards per play, you simply take the amount of yards gained per play on offense, and then subtract the amount of yards given up per play on defense. The final number you get is net yards per play.

It serves as a great starting point to your handicapping, and gives you an overall sense of how teams are generally performing.

Here are the latest rankings in this stat, heading into Week 9 of the NFL season.

Broncos, Saints, and Jaguars are Underperforming

Of course there are more things to look at when evaluating a team beyond just net yards per play. Things like third down efficiency, red zone touchdown percentage, turnovers, penalties, etc.

With that being said, you can still point out some teams who are underperforming and overperforming. In terms of teams who aren't living up to their potential, the Denver Broncos, New Orleans Saints, and Jacksonville Jaguars come to mind.

All three of them rank in the top 10 in net yards per play, but yet all have losing records. The Broncos and Saints sit at 3-5, and the Jaguars sit at 2-6.

A big part of the Jaguars and Broncos woes are due to poor performance in the red zone. They rank 24th and 32nd in red zone touchdown scoring percentage. Meanwhile, it's largely turnovers that has causes the Saints losses. Their average turnover margin is -1.1, which is the worst in the NFL.

They're tied for last in giveaways per fame, and rank 27th in takeaways per game. Being on the wrong side of turnovers will cause close games to evolve into losses.

Vikings Most Fraudulent Team in NFL

If you're looking for a team that's overperforming, look no further than the Minnesota Vikings. Despite being 6-1, they rank 23rd in net yards per play at -0.5.

They rank 28th in opponent yards per play, sporting one of the worst defenses in the NFL. Meanwhile, their offense was supposed to be explosive this season, but they're only 17th in yards per play.

Expect regression from Minnesota in the coming weeks. They're 3.5-point favorites to the Washington Commanders in Week 9.

You can track Iain's bets on Betstamp here.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.