How Football ChangedFourth down and beyond
The Endangered Punter
NFL teams punted 3.55 times a game in 2025, almost a third fewer than in 1999. Offenses score more, turn it over less and go for it more. The punts that remain are among the best of the 27 seasons on record, by net yards and by how often they pin teams deep.
By Edgehalla ResearchPublished 6 min read
More takeaways below
- Punts from opponent territory fell 54%, and 59% of that drop came before the 2018 fourth-down boom.
- The punts left are better: net average rose from 35.5 to 41.4 yards, and 39.3% were downed or caught inside the 20 (from 28.2%).
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Down almost a third since 1999
NFL teams punted 3.55 times per game in 2025. In 1999 they punted 5.19 times. That is a 31.6% drop, and 2025 was the lowest season in 27 years of play-by-play.
Punts per team-game, 1999–2025
Regular season. Blocked punts count; fake punts and punts wiped out by penalties do not.
punts
Show data
| Year | Punts per team-game |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 5.19 punts |
| 2000 | 4.96 punts |
| 2001 | 5.00 punts |
| 2002 | 4.78 punts |
| 2003 | 4.97 punts |
| 2004 | 4.92 punts |
| 2005 | 4.90 punts |
| 2006 | 4.86 punts |
| 2007 | 4.60 punts |
| 2008 | 4.51 punts |
| 2009 | 4.79 punts |
| 2010 | 4.82 punts |
| 2011 | 4.86 punts |
| 2012 | 4.82 punts |
| 2013 | 4.94 punts |
| 2014 | 4.66 punts |
| 2015 | 4.77 punts |
| 2016 | 4.56 punts |
| 2017 | 4.77 punts |
| 2018 | 4.32 punts |
| 2019 | 4.22 punts |
| 2020 | 3.71 punts |
| 2021 | 3.82 punts |
| 2022 | 4.06 punts |
| 2023 | 4.16 punts |
| 2024 | 3.76 punts |
| 2025 | 3.55 punts |
- Fourth-down boom: 2018 to 2025
- 2020: 2020: 3.71
- 2025: 2025: 3.55
The decline was slow until 2017, when teams still punted 4.77 times a game. It sped up after 2018, the year the fourth-down boom began. The 2021–25 average was 3.87.
How drives end now
How NFL drives end, 1999 vs 2025
Share of all regular-season drives, by nflverse fixed_drive_result.
Show data
| 1999 | 2025 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Punt | 41.7% | 33.4% | −8.3 pts |
| Touchdown | 17.0% | 23.1% | +6.1 pts |
| Field goal | 12.2% | 16.2% | +4.0 pts |
| Turnover | 14.8% | 10.7% | −4.1 pts |
| End of half | 6.7% | 7.4% | +0.7 pts |
| Downs | 3.8% | 6.3% | +2.5 pts |
| Missed FG | 3.5% | 2.7% | −0.8 pts |
In 1999 a drive was 2.5 times as likely to end in a punt as a touchdown. In 2025 it was 1.4 times. Field goals rose too, from 12.2% to 16.2% of drives.
Turnovers on downs went the other way, from 3.8% to 6.3%. That is the cost of going for it more: some of the old punts became failed fourth downs.
Fewer drives, and fewer that stall
Why punts fell: fewer drives or fewer drives ending in a punt?
Change in punts per team-game, 1999 to 2025, split into its two parts.
Of the 1.63 fewer punts per team-game, 0.95 came from a smaller share of drives ending in a punt and 0.68 from fewer drives.
Teams had 12.36 drives per game in 1999 and 10.56 in 2025. They also ran fewer plays: 60.3 scrimmage plays a game in 2025 against 62.1 in 1999. Possessions got fewer and longer.
The kickoff rules changed in 2024 and 2025, moving touchbacks to the 30 and then the 35. That shifts where drives start, and it overlaps the record-low 2025 punt rate. We did not test how much it matters.
But the bigger part is that drives stall less often. Even holding the number of drives fixed, the lower punt share alone removes 0.95 punts a game.
The punts that disappeared
The punts that disappeared first
Per team-game: punts from the opponent side of midfield, and punts on 4th-and-1 or 4th-and-2.
punts
Show data
| Year | Opponent side | On 4th-and-1/2 |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 1.02 punts | 0.75 punts |
| 2000 | 1.00 punts | 0.70 punts |
| 2001 | 1.04 punts | 0.74 punts |
| 2002 | 1.00 punts | 0.66 punts |
| 2003 | 1.01 punts | 0.71 punts |
| 2004 | 0.97 punts | 0.69 punts |
| 2005 | 0.91 punts | 0.69 punts |
| 2006 | 0.93 punts | 0.70 punts |
| 2007 | 0.87 punts | 0.65 punts |
| 2008 | 0.82 punts | 0.65 punts |
| 2009 | 0.87 punts | 0.68 punts |
| 2010 | 0.93 punts | 0.66 punts |
| 2011 | 0.80 punts | 0.71 punts |
| 2012 | 0.82 punts | 0.74 punts |
| 2013 | 0.80 punts | 0.72 punts |
| 2014 | 0.77 punts | 0.69 punts |
| 2015 | 0.79 punts | 0.64 punts |
| 2016 | 0.68 punts | 0.63 punts |
| 2017 | 0.70 punts | 0.62 punts |
| 2018 | 0.69 punts | 0.51 punts |
| 2019 | 0.62 punts | 0.41 punts |
| 2020 | 0.54 punts | 0.39 punts |
| 2021 | 0.56 punts | 0.43 punts |
| 2022 | 0.57 punts | 0.53 punts |
| 2023 | 0.54 punts | 0.45 punts |
| 2024 | 0.50 punts | 0.38 punts |
| 2025 | 0.47 punts | 0.37 punts |
- 2018: Fourth-down boom
The steepest drops are in the punts with the least to gain: short fourth downs and punts from the opponent's side of the field. Both were already sliding before 2018 and then fell faster.
In 2025 a team punted from opponent territory 0.47 times a game, about once every two games. In 1999 it happened 1.02 times a game.
The punter got better as the job shrank
Fewer punts, but better ones
Average gross and net yards per punt (blocked punts excluded). Net = gross minus return yards, minus 20 on touchbacks.
yards
Show data
| Year | Gross | Net |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 41.9 yards | 35.5 yards |
| 2000 | 41.8 yards | 35.2 yards |
| 2001 | 42.1 yards | 35.5 yards |
| 2002 | 41.3 yards | 34.9 yards |
| 2003 | 41.3 yards | 35.1 yards |
| 2004 | 41.9 yards | 36.0 yards |
| 2005 | 42.5 yards | 36.8 yards |
| 2006 | 43.4 yards | 37.1 yards |
| 2007 | 43.4 yards | 37.3 yards |
| 2008 | 43.9 yards | 37.5 yards |
| 2009 | 44.0 yards | 38.3 yards |
| 2010 | 43.6 yards | 37.5 yards |
| 2011 | 45.2 yards | 39.0 yards |
| 2012 | 45.9 yards | 39.9 yards |
| 2013 | 45.3 yards | 39.6 yards |
| 2014 | 45.2 yards | 39.9 yards |
| 2015 | 45.4 yards | 40.1 yards |
| 2016 | 45.5 yards | 40.4 yards |
| 2017 | 45.6 yards | 40.8 yards |
| 2018 | 45.3 yards | 40.4 yards |
| 2019 | 45.4 yards | 41.3 yards |
| 2020 | 45.9 yards | 40.8 yards |
| 2021 | 45.9 yards | 40.8 yards |
| 2022 | 47.0 yards | 41.7 yards |
| 2023 | 47.4 yards | 41.8 yards |
| 2024 | 47.6 yards | 41.8 yards |
| 2025 | 47.4 yards | 41.4 yards |
Net punting rose by 5.9 yards a kick. Part of that is mix: fewer punts from short fields, where a long kick would roll into the end zone. We did not split mix from better kicking.
Pinned, caught, or into the end zone
What happens to a punt
Share of non-blocked punts. Fair catches and inside-20 punts can overlap.
Show data
| Year | Inside the 20 | Fair catch | Touchback |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 28.2% | 20.2% | 9.6% |
| 2000 | 29.0% | 22.8% | 9.7% |
| 2001 | 30.4% | 18.1% | 10.2% |
| 2002 | 30.2% | 19.6% | 9.5% |
| 2003 | 28.5% | 20.4% | 8.0% |
| 2004 | 29.9% | 20.2% | 8.9% |
| 2005 | 29.4% | 20.4% | 8.6% |
| 2006 | 30.6% | 19.1% | 10.2% |
| 2007 | 32.6% | 18.0% | 9.0% |
| 2008 | 31.7% | 19.1% | 10.0% |
| 2009 | 34.2% | 21.3% | 8.1% |
| 2010 | 33.7% | 21.6% | 7.9% |
| 2011 | 31.6% | 23.5% | 7.7% |
| 2012 | 35.8% | 23.7% | 7.4% |
| 2013 | 34.2% | 25.4% | 7.7% |
| 2014 | 34.6% | 27.3% | 7.4% |
| 2015 | 34.9% | 24.3% | 6.6% |
| 2016 | 37.0% | 27.8% | 6.6% |
| 2017 | 36.3% | 25.7% | 5.9% |
| 2018 | 38.1% | 27.3% | 6.9% |
| 2019 | 39.5% | 28.2% | 5.2% |
| 2020 | 36.6% | 29.8% | 7.3% |
| 2021 | 36.3% | 26.1% | 6.5% |
| 2022 | 37.2% | 27.7% | 7.3% |
| 2023 | 36.7% | 28.5% | 7.4% |
| 2024 | 41.6% | 27.6% | 7.6% |
| 2025 | 39.3% | 27.1% | 7.7% |
More punts are now fair-caught: 27.1% in 2025. Add touchbacks and punts downed or kicked out of bounds, and fewer than half are returned: 43.0% in 2025, down from 48.0% in 1999. The punt return is shrinking along with the punt.
The teams that barely punted
| Team-season | Games | Punts | Per game |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 Chiefs | 17 | 40 | 2.35 |
| 2025 Cowboys | 17 | 41 | 2.41 |
| 2019 Ravens | 16 | 41 | 2.56 |
| 2020 Bills | 16 | 41 | 2.56 |
| 2023 Cowboys (tied) | 17 | 44 | 2.59 |
| 2002 Texans | 16 | 116 | 7.25 |
| 2002 Cowboys | 16 | 113 | 7.06 |
| 2012 Cardinals | 16 | 112 | 7.00 |
| 2025 Browns | 17 | 93 | 5.47 |
| 2025 Titans | 17 | 78 | 4.59 |
The 2021 Chiefs punted 40 times in 17 games, the fewest per game in the data. At the other end, the 2002 Texans, in the franchise's first season, punted 116 times counting 2 blocked punts (Chad Stanley's 114 tied the NFL record).
Bad offenses still punt plenty. The 2025 Browns punted 93 times, 5.47 a game, well above the 2025 league average of 3.55.
Show the work
- Tests written down
- Not in advance (exploratory)
- Results computed
Every regular-season punt and drive in nflverse play-by-play, 1999–2025: 63,458 punts, 161,177 drives, 6,964 games. Descriptive only.
| Test | Result | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| Start in 2000 instead of 1999 | 4.96 → 3.55 (-1.41 a game) | Smaller but same story |
| Count punts from drive results instead of punt plays | 5.16 vs 5.19 (1999); 3.52 vs 3.55 (2025) | Agree |
| Five-season averages | 4.98 (1999–2003) vs 3.87 (2021–25) | Decline holds |
| Decomposition: fewer drives vs lower punt share | -0.68 vs -0.95 of -1.63 | Punt share is the bigger part |
Frequently asked questions
How many times does an NFL team punt per game?
3.55 times per game in the 2025 regular season, the fewest since at least 1999. In 1999 the average was 5.19.
Why are NFL teams punting less?
Mostly because fewer drives stall: 33.4% of drives ended in a punt in 2025 against 41.7% in 1999. Teams also have fewer drives per game, and they go for it more on fourth down.
What share of NFL drives end in a touchdown?
23.1% in 2025, up from 17.0% in 1999. Another 16.2% ended in a made field goal.
Which team punted the least in a season?
The 2021 Chiefs: 40 punts in 17 games, 2.35 per game, the lowest rate of any team-season from 1999 to 2025.
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Sources and method
Research and analysis, not betting advice. Past results do not guarantee future returns; bet only what you can afford to lose.