Football Red Zone Efficiency

What is Red Zone Efficiency?

Red zone scoring percentage in football is the measure of efficiency in which a team scores the football while in the red zone. The red zone is the area from the 20 yard line to the nearest goal line. The red zone scoring percentage does not take into account field goals, only touchdowns.

How is Red Zone Percentage Calculated?

Red Zone Scoring Percentage, also sometimes called Red Zone Efficiency, is calculated by dividing the total number of touchdowns in the red zone by the total number of appearances in the red zone by the team.

For example, if a team has been in the Red Zone three times during the game and they only scored one touchdown during those three attempts, their Red Zone Scoring Percentage is 33% (1 / 3 = .33). This statistic is often criticized as it does not consider Field Goals, a vital part of scoring in the game of football.

Some scoring metrics account for all scores while in the red zone, including field goals. Though this is not the official metric for NFL statistics, broadcasting stations may use this variant metric for simplicity. However, the NCAA does account for all scores in their red zone scoring percentage metric, including field goals.