4th down aggressiveness increasing rapidly across NFL
By JOSH DUBOW
AP Pro Football Writer
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The trend of NFL teams becoming more aggressive on fourth down is showing no signs of abating halfway through the 2021 season. Coaches across the league are more willing than ever to keep the offense on the field instead of kicking on fourth down, even in their own territory or in situations their predecessors never would have contemplated. Fourth-down tries jumped more than 10% from 2019 to 2020 and are up an additional 16% through nine weeks this season. Tries are up more than 73% over 2017 when coach Doug Pederson’s fourth-down aggressiveness helped Philadelphia win the Super Bowl.