Mike Tomlin Offers Theory To Explain Week 1's Record-breaking Offensive Explosion Across The Nfl

If you thought Week 1 in the NFL was explosive, you thought right.

Per multiple metrics, Sunday's Week 1 slate and the entire set of games leading up to Sunday night were historic in terms of scoring.

Entering "Sunday Night Football" between the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants, Week 1 was the highest scoring in the NFL since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger by average with 50.1 combined points per game.

Per NBC, Sunday's slate alone marked the highest-scoring Week 1 Sunday since the merger.

Leading the way was the barn-burner between the Bears and Panthers in which Chicago secured a 59-37 win over Carolina in Charlotte. That matchup set the single-game scoring record for a Week 1 game when Chicago held a 52-37 lead with 4:00 remaining. Chicago's final touchdown was just gravy.

Mike Tomlin explains his theory on offensive explosion

So what's the reason behind the offensive explosion? Mike Tomlin has a theory.

The recently retired Pittsburgh Steelers head coach continues to shine his in new role as an analyst for NBC's game broadcasts. He offered his reasoning for the offensive fireworks during halftime of Sunday night's matchup between the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants.

"I think how we practice and how we prepare our teams today really kind of lends itself to offenses starting faster than they have historically," Tomlin told host Maria Taylor. "What I mean by that is there is less violence in team development. There are less padded practices. Even the drills that they do are more geared to skill development — 7 on 7 and things of that nature.

"Defenses spend less time shedding blocks and tackling than they used to 25 years ago when I came into the league."

Does Tomlin's theory hold water?

That seems a reasonable theory. And it's based on Tomlin's first-hand experience as an NFL head coach, coordinator and assistant for 25 seasons before this one.

Tomlin's theory suggests that scoring will go down. Per Tomlin, defenses aren't as prepared for Week 1 as offenses. But with each week of game experience and regular-season practice, defensive players and units will hone their craft, physicality and skills, and, theoretically, even the playing field with their offensive counterparts.

Only time will tell if that theory holds up. But until proven otherwise, it suggests that we should continue to anticipate high-scoring games early in the season.