- The Ravens' offense reigned supreme: No offense was more effective on scripted plays than Baltimore's in 2024.
- New-look Chargers crack the top 10: Los Angeles' offense sneaks into the top 10, and the future looks promising.
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Estimated Reading Time: 11 minutes
Scripting plays has long been a part of game-planning for NFL offenses, a key piece of the 60-minute, four-quarter chess match that unfolds every Sunday. With that, offensive coordinators aim to gauge opposing defenses by piecing together entire drives and assessing how they’re defended.
Some of the best offenses in the NFL are those that lay out their game plan right in front of them, allowing it to catalyze the rest of the game.
We’re looking at the top 10 teams in EPA on scripted plays from 2024, using each team’s first 15 plays as a reference point.
1. Baltimore Ravens (0.197)
Unsurprisingly, one of the best offenses in the NFL is also the best offense on scripted plays. The Ravens' attack operated on another level in 2024, and it was often down to how well they started the game. A significant part of the offense's success was exerting its dominance in the running game — 52.0% of their scripted plays were rushes, the second-highest rate in the NFL. The offense relied heavily on the rushing ability of Derrick Henry, who earned a career-high 94.1 PFF overall grade in 2024.
The success in the running game also meant the Ravens used play action on scripted plays more than any other team, too, at 46.6%. The game plan was to try and manipulate defenses into stacked boxes and shallow coverages on early downs, and from there, offensive coordinator Todd Monken would conjure up a deep shot to take advantage of that space over the top. The Ravens attempted a deep pass on 13.9% of their scripted plays, the fifth-most in the NFL. Variety was the name of the game in Baltimore, and it worked.
2. Minnesota Vikings (0.197)
The Vikings were a surprising success story in 2024. The surprise, for the most part, came from the fact that the offense excelled with Sam Darnold at quarterback. Darnold earned a career-high 82.7 PFF overall grade during the 2024 regular season, and Minnesota's offense was one of the best in the league for long stretches. While Darnold played his part, a huge portion of the credit goes to Kevin O'Connell, who separated himself as one of the league’s best play-callers. And that showed up as the Vikings dominated on scripted plays.
The offense lived under center on scripted plays, with 54.9% coming from under center, the second-highest rate in the NFL. That allowed O'Connell to disguise and blend run and pass concepts through similar formations and groupings, but the Vikings passed on 60.3% of their scripted plays, which was the sixth-highest rate in the NFL. When they ran the ball, the Vikings usually stuck to outside-zone plays, which they called 41% of the time, or man/duo run concepts, which they deployed at the fourth-highest rate in the league.
Getting off to a hot start was key for the Vikings to game-plan the rest of the game, and they scored a touchdown on 39.6% of their scripted-play drives — the second-highest clip in the NFL.
3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0.193)
Like the Vikings, the Buccaneers benefited from having one of the best play-callers in the NFL in 2024. Liam Coen propelled Baker Mayfield, who logged a career-high 85.9 PFF overall grade while throwing 41 touchdowns, and the Tampa Bay offense to new heights, and their success on scripted plays played a big part. No team was more successful than the Buccaneers in terms of scripted plays ending with a score, with 65.8% of their such drives ending in points.
Much of Tampa Bay's success came through creating space and matchup advantages in the screen game — 12.6% of their scripted plays were screens, which was the fourth-highest rate in the NFL, and the offense also ranked sixth in pass rate. The Buccaneers' ability to create explosive plays on scripted plays was a huge bonus, too. Only the Ravens racked up more explosive plays than the Buccaneers’ 48 in 2024, though no team beat Tampa Bay's 35 explosive passing plays.
4. Cincinnati Bengals (0.167)
The Bengals' offense is always going to have an edge as long as Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins are on the field, but they benefited from exceptionally efficient starts to the game thanks to their scripted plays. Cincinnati operated mostly out of shotgun (74.5%), and the offense also ranked second in pass rate. The onus, as it always has been, was on Burrow to get the offense moving. That wasn’t a problem. He earned a career-high 93.9 PFF overall grade in 2024.
It doesn’t take a genius to know where the ball was going on those passing plays. Chase and Higgins combined for 52 catches for 561 yards and four touchdowns on scripted plays, and the Bengals placed seventh in touchdown rate on scripted plays. The offense's hot starts were paramount as the defense struggled in 2024, and they certainly held up their end of the bargain.
5. Detroit Lions (0.163)
Whenever you’re building a list of the best recent offenses in the NFL, Ben Johnson’s Lions always find a way into the top half. Can they stay there in a post-Johnson world? More than likely, but there’s no surprise they show up in the top five here. Detroit had the highest touchdown rate (48.8%) and the second-highest scoring rate (62.8%) on scripted plays in 2024.
The Lions' strength on offense, aside from the play-calling, was the run game and the offensive line, and naturally, Johnson looked to push the envelope early. The Lions placed fourth in run rate and seventh in play-action rate, and they ran outside zone at the sixth-highest clip on scripted plays. The majority of those snaps came from under center, too, which the Lions did at the highest rate in the NFL (55.3%).
The plan was simple: get Jared Goff under center, let the run game assert itself and then target big passing plays off play action. As always, the Lions feasted in 2024, and Ben Johnson’s influence was a major reason.
6. Buffalo Bills (0.126)
The Bills have often fielded one of the best offenses in the NFL, led by league MVP Josh Allen, but they showed a different, more physical side to their game in 2024. Buffalo has often been one of the league's pass-happiest teams, but the unit was far more balanced in 2024. The Bills' 47.3% run rate was the seventh highest in the league.
The run concepts were varied, with outside zone (35%), inside zone (20%), man (11%) and power concepts (10%) all showing up often, but what stood out was how often the Bills added a sixth offensive lineman to plays. No team used six offensive linemen on the field more than the Bills (13.4%), as the offense looked to get downhill and create rushing lanes for James Cook and Allen to attack. Leaning into an RPO-heavy offense contributed to that, as well, as no team ran more RPOs on scripted plays. It worked, with the Bills scoring on 53.5% of their scripted play drives.
The increase in RPOs and rushing didn’t take away from Allen’s work in the passing game. The Bills were still slinging it deep on scripted plays, with 13.7% of their attempts coming downfield. It was the perfect blend: utilize a strong rushing game and RPOs to force defenders into conflict, then let your superstar quarterback exploit the space.
7. Arizona Cardinals (0.115)
The Cardinals might surprise with their position on this list, but Drew Petzing has quietly been designing one of the better offenses in the NFL over the past two seasons. He could start to pick up some real head-coaching buzz if the Cardinals are playoff contenders in 2025. The Cardinals didn’t dominate in one particular area in 2024, but they found ways to be efficient across the board thanks to a strong running game, sound play-calling and their ability to create explosive plays on scripted plays.
James Conner was one of the most efficient running backs in the NFL on scripted plays, carrying the ball 81 times for 370 yards while averaging 4.6 yards per carry and earning a 69.3 PFF rushing grade. The Cardinals leaned heavily into gap-scheme rushes, ranking in the top 10, and led the league in counter run rate (22%).
Arizona's offense racked up the fourth-most explosive plays on scripted plays in 2024, and getting the ball to rookie receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. played a big part in that success. He tallied 14 receptions of 20 yards or more on scripted plays, and though his rookie season had its ups and downs, few receivers were more productive on scripted plays.
8. Atlanta Falcons (0.114)
The foundation of the Falcons' offense, especially on scripted plays, was pistol formations. No team ran more out of the pistol than the Falcons at 44.1%, with the next closest team being the Dolphins at 30.5%. From there, it was all about getting the ball to Bijan Robinson on outside-zone rushing plays. The Falcons have long been the major proponents of outside-zone concepts, and 65% of their rushing attempts on scripted plays fit into that bucket, which was the highest rate in the NFL. They were successful, too, with Robinson earning an 87.8 PFF rushing grade on scripted plays.
The offense also lived in bunch formations at the highest rate in the league and was a top-10 unit in motion usage. Creating lateral space and mismatches in the short and intermediate areas of the field was key, and then getting the ball to star receiver Drake London regularly followed. The Falcons didn’t score at a high rate off scripted plays, ranking just 18th in the NFL, but effectively moved the ball.
9. Green Bay Packers (0.104)
The Packers shifted toward a run-heavy offense in 2024, in part because of an early-season injury to quarterback Jordan Love, but the new identity proved to be successful. No team ran the ball more than Green Bay on scripted plays, with their 54.2% rushing rate surpassing even the Ravens. Free-agent signing Josh Jacobs generated more rushing yards than any other player in the league on those plays. Pairing Jacobs with Love, the Packers also utilized RPOs at the eighth-highest rate while trying to get Love into simplified reads to move the ball.
Creating explosive plays was a big part of the offense, too. The Packers notched the second-most explosive rushing plays on scripted plays in the NFL and were a top-12 unit in explosive passing plays. Overall, the offense was a strong unit on scripted plays, and considering that Matt LaFleur is one of the best offensive minds in the NFL, it should come as no surprise.
10. Los Angeles Chargers (0.102)
The signs of growth in year one of the Jim Harbaugh era were clear to see. The Chargers' defense was one of the best in the NFL, Justin Herbert looked comfortable in Greg Roman’s offense and rookie wide receiver Ladd McConkey enjoyed a strong start to his career, earning an 84.3 PFF overall grade. Roman wanted to set the tone early, putting the ball in Herbert’s hands often, leading to the Chargers' eighth-ranked pass rate on scripted plays.
Two things stuck out on their passing plays: Los Angeles used play-action on 44.4% of its scripted plays, and 12.2% of their passing plays were deep attempts. Pushing the ball downfield early and trusting Herbert’s arm talent was a big part of the offense, and it led to the Chargers racking up the second-most explosive pass plays on scripted plays.
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