Week 1 NFL passing stats plummet from previous seasons

The NFL is back, but what's up with the starting quarterbacks? 

Week 1 of the 2024 season saw a dramatic downturn in passing stats compared to the past five seasons. Passing touchdowns and yardage decreased overall, while the number of starting quarterbacks who threw for fewer than 200 yards increased. 

In Week 1, only two quarterbacks threw for more than 300 yards — Matthew Stafford of the Los Angeles Rams (317 yards) and Tua Tagovailoa of the Miami Dolphins (338 yards) — while five QBs did so in Week 1 last season. Only five seasons ago, in 2019, 13 quarterbacks threw for at least 300 yards in Week 1 — nearly half the league.

In Week 1 this season, the number of quarterbacks who failed to reach 200 passing yards dwarfed the 2019 total of 300-yard passers. Last week, 17 quarterbacks threw for fewer than 200 yards (with 93 passing yards, rookie Caleb Williams of the Bears was the only starting signal-caller to not surpass 100 yards.)  In 2019, only eight QBs threw for fewer than 200 yards in Week 1.

Among the stars playing in Week 1, Aaron Rodgers (167 yards) of the New York Jets, Dak Prescott (179 yards) of the Dallas Cowboys, Joe Burrow (164 yards) of the Cincinnati Bengals and Kyler Murray (162 yards) of the Arizona Cardinals failed to reach 200 yards passing. The average passing yardage figure for starting quarterbacks was 202 in Week 1, down eight yards from last season. 

Not only was the ball not traveling through the air as much, but it wasn't finding the end zone either, as the below post from NFL analyst Steve Palazzolo makes clear.