Five years ago, I posted one of my favorite graphs, which shows how passing has changed in the NFL since 1950. A picture is worth at least 1,000 words in this case. I have updated the graph for the last few years of data and also to include first downs.

With one chart, you can see what has happened, on average, on each pass play (sacks plus pass attempts) for each season in pro football history. The graph below shows the number of interceptions per dropback (red), sacks per dropback (purple), non-INT incomplete passes per dropback (in yellow), non-first down completions per dropback (green), and then first downs on completed passes per dropback (blue). Of course, a dropback is simply a pass attempt or a sack. The information is stacked on top of each other for ease of viewing.

Pretty fun!