For the sake of discussion, let’s say you go to rest one night and wake up the next morning in 1977. It does n’t take very long to figure out that you’ve tumbled through some kind of rift in the space-time continuum, for one thing, Gramma sure seems to be alive, and she’s knitting a sweater with Rocky Bleier’s face on it. The Health-Ed instructor spends a lot of the time before breakfast weighing the risks of Quaaludes, while the children on the school bus are all whizzing apart at their portable Mattel Electronic Football game. Folly is in the weather, except for on the griddle, where the NFL is grinding out a bone-bruising 287.8 rushing yards per game. And then the alarms on your phone catches you off guard because time travel is a myth. However, as you snooze in front of the Chargers-Steelers activity, you begin to suspect that you unintentionally brought some of the fantasy world again with you in 2024. This is 3-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust, gutbucket sports, and as you turn between the local feeds it becomes obvious that the pass-happy offensive techniques that have ruled the NFL for the last two years have fallen out of favor. Justin Herbert and the Chargers have almost let the heat out of the game in their first three games under Jim Harbaugh. LA is already averaging simply 125.7 flying feet per game, which marks a whopping 59 % reduction compared to the year-ago 308.7. While caveats abound— Harbaugh is a monster for the working activity, and Herbert’s been gimpy since suffering a high-ankle tear in Week 2—the pain change of methods is still pretty amazing. The Chargers may claim the NFL’s next most successful passing attack last season, but this year’s Bolts are at the opposite end of the spectrum, at No. 31. And it’s not just a Harbaugh/ Herbert thing. The league has the fewest flier miles since 2003 ( 200.4), with a 201.2 passing yards per game average and a 201.4 aerial gain of 9 % below the same stretch in 2023. Output, predictably enough, is also on the fade, the NFL regular of 1.2 passing touchdowns per activity is the lowest the metric’s been since 1993. In the midst of a devastating damage to his quarterback, at least one offensive coordinator in Miami will have to be without the services of$ 212 million male Tua Tagovailoa through at least Oct. 20 following his most recent trauma diagnosis; however, a number of healthy message visitors have seen their moving figures decline in 2024. Since Patrick Mahomes has seen his average depth of throw decline to 5.2 yards per toss from his year-ago of 6.5 yards and significantly off from his bombs-away rookie campaign ( 9.1 ), the ball is not traveling very far before it hits the receiver’s hands. The State Farm pitchman has had to rely on the little move as defenses keep showing him two-high protection if Mahomes’ shorter paths are a result of his lack of serious threats ( Tyreek Hill is long gone, and Travis Kelce is about to blow out 35 birthday candles ). The dink-and-dunk approach has eaten into Mahomes ‘ overall gains, and the defending Super Bowl champ are averaging 211.7 yards in the air compared to the year-ago of 275.7. Even though Mahomes ‘ quick release amounts to a death of 1, 000 cuts for the 11 guys on the other side of the line of scrimmage. Another backsliders include the Patriots, which are now last in the group with only 102 passing yards per activity, over from 235.7, and the Jaguars, which have been limited to 160.7 yards per game via the air, compared to 240.7 in the year-ago period. Among the few QBs who’ve managed to buck the trend are Buffalo’s mad bomber Josh Allen and Dallas ‘ Dak Prescott. Unfortunately for the Cowboys and their legion of fans, Dak’s gaudy passing stats ( he’s already amassed an NFL-best 851 yards ) are a matter of necessity, because Dallas ca n’t run the ball—with a meager average of 73.7 ground yards per game, they’re the third-worst rushing attack in the NFL—he has no choice but to let it rip. The NFL’s massive increases in TV deliveries have coincided with the explosive growth of the passing game, but the early defensive clampdown this season has n’t had a negative impact on the league’s ratings so far. Through Monday night’s twin bill on ABC and ESPN, NFL games are averaging 18.6 million viewers per telecast, good for a nine-year high. If the splashy aerial antics are in short supply, fans have been compensated with an audience-friendly slate of September football—one that’s been powered by three straight Chiefs appearances. Season-to-date, Mahomes &amp, Co. have served up 27.4 million impressions per outing, by way of comparison, the average primetime entertainment series in 2023-24 eked out 3.38 million viewers per episode. Fans may want to stifle their appetite for the aerial dogfights that have characterized the last 20 years of NFL Sundays until offensive coordinators find a way to counter Cover 2. That said, the faltering passing game is now almost impossible to overlook, and the upshot is splashed all over the scoreboard. With just three weeks on the books, NFL defenses are now giving up a stingy 21.2 points per game, down 6 % from the year-ago 22.5 and off another 10 % versus 23.6 points just three years ago.