The pace of play at the team level is instructive in fantasy football. The faster a team is, the more plays they will tend to run. The more plays a team tends to run, the more players on those teams tend to score. Using the RotoViz Pace Tool, we can see the tendencies of every team in these areas so far in 2023.

I toggled to neutral game scripts (-7 to +7 point differential, excluding the last two minutes of each half) and launched a quick investigation, and these are the results after Week 11.

We should remember that, even extrapolated over 18 weeks, the sample size of an NFL season is relatively small, but this data set is dangerously close to reliable. The information is already incorporated into the RotoViz Game Level Similarity Projections (GLSP). But I like to see this isolated in case I want to give this projection area a little extra weight.

The Los Angeles Chargers have finally climbed the mountaintop in neutral script seconds/snap. This seems like a realized prophesy, as both head coach Brandon Staley and offensive coordinator Kellen Moore have historically demonstrated that they prefer to play at a fast pace. The Saints and Browns, also standard entries at the top of the category, round out the top three. The Patriots, who have spent the most weeks at the top of the charts, fail to make the top three this week, which is something of a surprise.

Cleveland has maintained the same 75-play-per-game pace for several weeks, lapping the field in this category. Just below them are New Orleans and Detroit, the only other teams to top 70 plays. The Saints and Browns each make the top three in both statistical areas, cementing their reputation as a sturdy ball control unit that also likes to push the pace.

Specific game context is vital in a limited sample, so while these are evidential indicators, they are only partially predictive. In this selection, I’ll highlight three games that feature fast-paced teams and three that match up with slower-paced squads so far this season.

The two lists may diverge, so we won’t always see the teams that rank high or low in the neutral script seconds/snap necessarily end with a similar rank correspondence in total snaps/60 minutes. A lack of correlation in the two separate areas can be explained in the following ways:

1. A team chews up the clock with stick-moving drives that result in points, giving them a higher play total for an entire game without necessarily hurrying to hike the ball.
2. A team’s defense smothers its opponent, often earning the ball back after a short possession, giving its team more chances with the ball per game than its opponent.
3. A team spends very little time in a neutral script, so it compiles plays faster while chasing to get back into a game, plays that would not be reflected in data selectively collected out of a neutral script.

I’ve concentrated on the extreme outliers and games where the matchup ranks on the same half of the spectrum for both lists.

PLUS PACE MATCHUPS

LOS ANGELES CHARGERS VS. NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS

Notable Players: QB Justin Herbert, RB Austin Ekeler, WR Keenan Allen, WR Josh Palmer, WR Jalen Guyton, WR Quentin Johnston, TE Gerald Everett, TE Donald Parham (LAC); QB Mac Jones, QB Bailey Zappe, RB Rhamondre Stevenson, RB Ezekiel Elliott, WR Demario Douglas, WR DeVante Parker, WR JuJu Smith-Schuster, TE Hunter Henry, TE Mike Gesicki (NE)

The Chargers are the fastest team in the league in neutral script seconds/snap, and the Patriots are fourth. There is no comparison between this combination of teams and any other. The teams are average or below average in total snaps/60 minutes. The Patriots, in particular, are poor at keeping drives alive, ranking toward the bottom of the league in both turnovers and team first downs. Despite both teams pushing the pace, the game features a 40.5 over/under, which is below average.

CLEVELAND BROWNS VS. LOS ANGELES RAMS