More Passing Game Context

Sorry about breaking this thread, but I can't load this picture into the comments of the previous post.

Something to consider in the whole discussion of how much the wide receivers get used where is the historical context of this offense.  I didn't update this chart for the 2008 season, but the percentage number for the wide receiver is about 55 percent.  One of the criticisms from the Domo/Quick school of thought is that the wide receivers are underused in the redzone because they fall from 60 percent elsewhere to about 50 percent of the passing game in the red zone.

However, if you look back at the last few years, you can see that the 55 percent figure is actually a continuation of a recent trend (click for full size):

  

No add-on to the chart, but to compare, here are the numbers for the three groups this year:

Wide receivers - 197 REC - 54.4% 
Tight ends - 67 REC - 18.5%  
Running backs - 98 - 27.1%

For all the crap the tight ends get, it was actually the running backs who were down a bit in this year's offense, presumably because we had to chuck the screen game out the window the second half of the year.

Anyway, no, I don't have historical red zone numbers and no, I'm not planning to dig them up, but all these data are interesting for different reasons.

Here's one:  Is the Eagles' screen game permanently disabled due to the evolution of opposing defensive schemes -- which would be a really bad development -- or is it really all about missing Shawn Andrews?