Fourth down attempts on record pace

Teams have been going for it, and converting, on fourth down at an unprecedented rate this season in the NFL.

There have been few games where fourth-down decisions had as big an impact as last Sunday night in Seattle, when the Seahawks used two fourth-down conversions after stopping the Vikings on fourth-and-1 to win 27-26.

In all, teams have gone for it on fourth down 188 times this season with 108 conversions, the most through five weeks since at least 1991.

The 57.4% conversion rate is second highest in that span to the 58.7% in2012.

The increase is a sign of greater influence from analytics, which show teams should go for it on fourth down at a much higher rate than they do.

The numbers pointed in favor of the Vikings’ decision to bypass a short field goal that would have put them up by eight points in favor of trying to convert and run out the clock. According to Edj Sports, the decision increased the Vikings’ chances of winning by 2.1percentage points.

The move backfired, especially when Russell Wilson converted two fourth downs on the game-winning drive for the Seahawks, who became the second team in the last four seasons to convert two fourth downs on a game-winning drive that overcame a deficit in the final five minutes of a game.

The Seahawks joined the Bengals, who did it against the Falcons in 2018.

While going for it when behind late in the fourth quarter is typical, some of the other decisions haven’t been.

The Buccaneers became the second teamto go for it from inside their own 20-yard line in the first half of a game.

In all, teams have gone for it 56 times on fourth downin the first half this season, converting 35 of them for a 62.5% clip.