Stat Analysis

Only a few offenses these days use fullbacks regularly -- which can yield some unusual results for those teams' defenses.

The I formation is not dead! The Patriots won the Super Bowl while using a lot of James Develin, while Kyle Juszczyk was a key player for San Francisco. We look at which teams still rely on fullbacks and which don't, how teams are changing in this regard.

To blitz, or not to blitz, that is the question: whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of unpressured passers, or to take arms against a sea of blockers and by sheer numbers end them.

The Khalil Mack trade, as you can imagine, had major effects on the defenses in Chicago and Oakland. Which defenses got the most pressure in 2018? Which coach has a track record out of getting the most out of his teams' pressures?

Patrick Mahomes was the best quarterback under pressure in 2018. He was also the best quarterback without pressure, becoming the first quarterback on record to lead the league in both categories in the same year.

Base defenses continue to be comically misnamed, as nickel remains the standard NFL defense. Will dime packages be then next big thing? Will the defensive coordinator musical chairs change much in 2019? And is base actually better than nickel, after all?

It's well known that football coaches are too conservative on offense, but are they overly conservative on defense too? Guest columnist John Shirley breaks down the results of Cover-0 blitzes and finds that they're not nearly as risky as you might think.

The never-ending march of 11 personnel continues, as Sean McVay ponders if a team could go an entire year without substituting.

The best defensive playmaker of last year has been terrorizing the NFC South for a long, long time. Other standouts include L.A.'s Defensive Player of the Year (of course) and New York's dominant young safety.

Our annual look at YAC+ reveals an unlikely new team atop the all-time leaderboards. Plus, a good year for rookie receivers, a weakness in the Seattle passing game, and a Farewell to Gronk.