The 5 NFL Teams That Declined Most in 2016

5. Seattle Seahawks

2015 nERD: 10.17
2016 nERD: 3.32
Change: -6.85

Not bad, eh? The Seattle Seahawks did have one of the five largest declines in nERD this season but still managed to finish seventh overall by our metrics. They were the second-best squad in the NFL last year, based on nERD.

The pass defense dropped in efficiency, as they ranked 15th in Adjusted Defensive Passing Net Expected Points (NEP) per play in 2016 after finishing 5th in 2015. In all, they dropped from fourth to seventh in defensive efficiency, per our metrics.

On the offensive end, Seattle dropped from 6th to 15th in Adjusted NEP per play. A big reason why was the running game, which ranked 6th in 2015 but 23rd in 2016. The passing offense wasn't faultless, though. Russell Wilson and company finished 3rd in Adjusted Passing NEP per play in 2015 but were 14th in 2016.

By record, they were nearly the same team (10-6 in 2015 to 10-5-1 in 2016) and actually won the NFC West this season, but by nERD and point differential (+146 in 2015 to +62 in 2016), they declined significantly.