5 NFL Red Zone Trends to Monitor for Week 2

Play-Calling Trends

Again, we don't want to overreact to one week of data, but looking at Week 1's red zone play-calling trends can give us an idea of which situations to keep an eye on moving forward, more quickly identifying which teams are likely to be especially run- or pass-heavy inside the 20.

All 32 teams ran at least 1 red zone play last week, with the spread ranging from 18 (Baltimore, Houston) all the way down to 1 (Denver). 15 teams ran double-digit red zone snaps, which is way up from the 9 that did so in Week 1 last year.

Among the teams that ran 10-plus, all of them called at least 4 pass plays and at least 1 run play. The most extreme pass-heavy distribution belonged to the Detroit Lions (nine passes and one run), while the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers tied for the most run-heavy (1:2 pass-to-run ratio) approach. The Indianapolis Colts were also quite pass-heavy, with a 4:1 ratio.

Once we get below 10, there are 3 teams that failed to run snaps of both types. The Broncos' lone play was a pass, the Los Angeles Chargers had four passes and zero runs, and the Dallas Cowboys flipped that with zero passes and four runs.

The Jacksonville Jaguars (1:3), Oakland Raiders (2:5) and Philadelphia Eagles (1:2) were the only other teams to call at least twice as many runs as passes.

The Seattle Seahawks (4:1), Green Bay Packers (4:1), Arizona Cardinals (3:1), New England Patriots (8:3), Kansas City Chiefs (5:2), Chicago Bears (7:3), Atlanta Falcons (11:5) and New Orleans Saints (11:5) all ran at least twice as many passes as runs.