Super Bowl Matchup: Passing Offenses

Super Bowl Preview Pieces:
Rushing Offense
Rushing Defense

So after looking at the rushing offenses and defenses, Seattle has the decided advantage. Now let's check out the passing game, starting with the offenses.

PASS OFFENSE
	Passes	Rank	Yards	Rank	YPA	Rank	25+ Yard Pass	Rank
New England	609	7	4291	11	7.05	20	27	17
Seattle	454	32	3492	26	7.69	6	27	17

The Patriots (unsurprisingly) put up much better counting statistics in the passing game. As well they should, they threw the ball 155 times more than the Seahawks did. But when you look at efficiency, Seattle threw for more than half-a-yard more per attempt than the Patriots did. And chunk plays? These two teams finished with the exact same amount of explosive passes. 

Note: The bolded teams are the ones who defeated the Patriots/Seahawks. The Highlighted YPC numbers show where the opponent held the Patriots/Seahawks to a lower YPC than that team's average YPC given up on the season. 

	PASS OFFENSE
	Passing Defense: Season			Passing Defense: Matchup
	Attempts	Yards	YPA	Attempts	Yards	YPA
@ Miami	537	3557	6.62	56	226	4.04
@ Minnesota	534	3572	6.69	21	142	6.76
Oakland	538	3810	7.08	37	221	5.97
@ Kansas City	545	3252	5.97	30	215	7.17
Cincinnati	608	3888	6.39	35	285	8.14
@ Buffalo	559	3292	5.89	37	346	9.35
New York Jets	538	3746	6.96	37	260	7.03
Chicago	548	4230	7.72	38	365	9.61
Denver	641	3607	5.63	53	332	6.26
@ Indianapolis	543	3669	6.76	30	257	8.57
Detroit	592	3706	6.26	53	349	6.58
@ Green Bay	564	3623	6.42	38	348	9.16
@ San Diego	524	3427	6.54	44	310	7.05
Miami	537	3557	6.62	35	287	8.20
@ New York	538	3746	6.96	35	146	4.17
Buffalo	559	3292	5.89	33	144	4.36
Baltimore	595	3979	6.69	51	408	8.00
Indianapolis	543	3669	6.76	35	220	6.29
Seattle	507	2970	5.86
Schedule Average	10550	68592	6.50	698	4861	6.96
NFL Average	17879	128898	7.21

A few interesting notes about the above numbers:

• The Patriots were held below their opponent's average YPA-against 5 times. Those 5 games included 2 of the Patriots' 4 losses, 2 one-score wins, and the blowout win over Indianapolis. 
• The Patriots faced just 1 team on their schedule that was below average as a pass defense. And they shredded Chicago for 9.61 YPA. 
• In their 18 games, New England's passing offense performed worse against their opponent than the average team did just 5 times. 

	PASS OFFENSE
	Passing Defense: Season			Passing Defense: Matchup
	Attempts	Yards	YPA	Attempts	Yards	YPA
Green Bay	564	3623	6.42	28	191	6.82
@ San Diego	524	3427	6.54	25	180	7.20
Denver	641	3607	5.63	35	255	7.29
@ Washington	519	3990	7.69	24	178	7.42
Dallas	558	4031	7.22	28	126	4.50
@ St. Louis	540	3861	7.15	36	292	8.11
@ Carolina	562	3645	6.49	32	191	5.97
Oakland	538	3810	7.08	35	177	5.06
New York Giants	522	3850	7.38	17	160	9.41
@ Kansas City	545	3252	5.97	32	168	5.25
Arizona	579	4152	7.17	22	169	7.68
@ San Francisco	551	3531	6.41	22	222	10.09
@ Philadelphia	591	4238	7.17	37	252	6.81
San Francisco	551	3531	6.41	24	138	5.75
@ Arizona	579	4152	7.17	32	329	10.28
St. Louis	540	3861	7.15	25	222	8.88
Carolina	562	3645	6.49	22	248	11.27
Green Bay	564	3623	6.42	30	203	6.77
New England	574	3837	6.68
Schedule Average	10604	71666	6.76	506	3701	7.31
NFL Average	17879	128898	7.21

A few interesting notes about the above numbers: 

• The Seahawks were held below their opponent's average YPA-against 7 times. Those 7 games included 2 of their 4 losses, 2 one-score wins, and 3 two-score wins. 
• The Seahawks faced just 2 teams on their schedule that were below average as a pass defense. They achieved 7.42 YPA against the Redskins and 9.41 YPA against the Giants. 
• In their 18 games, Seattle's passing offense performed worse against their opponent than the average team did 7 times.  

Both of these teams faced a difficult slate of pass defenses. 

The takeaway here is about what you'd expect: the Patriots get theirs through the air while Seattle's passing attack is much more uneven. But even when the Patriots get theirs, they simply aren't an explosive passing offense: they cracked 8 ypa 7 times in 18 games. By contrast, when Seattle gets going they really get going. They cracked 8 ypa 6 times in 18 games, but in half of those 6 games they cracked 10 ypa.