ENFORCING RULE MISSES POINT OF RAISING SCORES.

Byline: BILLY WITZ

After passing yards hit an 11-year low and the Patriots defensive backs all but performed a cavity search on the Colts receivers on the way to the Super Bowl, the NFL's competition committee did not stand by idly.

Officials were instructed this season to vigilantly enforce the rule prohibiting defensive players from having making with receivers once they are beyond five yards downfield.

This would encourage passing, provide more big plays, increase scoring, boost television ratings and generally make everyone happy - except defensive backs, who wondered if the next step was simply to make them play with a hand tied behind their backs.

So, three weeks into the season, passing yards have increased by more than 21 yards per game, pass plays of 40 yards or more have increased 30 percent, and scoring is on pace to hit ... an 11-year low.

Huh?

``It is surprising,'' said Buccaneers reserve linebacker Ryan Nece, who is in his third season out of UCLA. ``They put that rule in to help the offense. Anybody who plays a Tampa cover two (defense), you're trying to knock receivers off their route so the pass rush gets home. If you can't do that, it makes it a lot tougher.''

Yet if it's easier on offenses, you wouldn't know it by looking at the scoreboard.

NFL games are averaging just 38.5 points, on pace to dip below 40 for the first time since 1993. Scoring per game is down 3.2 points from last season and 4.8 from 2002.

More noticeable than the numbers, though, are the games - to those who can bear watching.

Last week, half of the 28 teams that played failed to score a touchdown in the first half. The Chiefs and Rams, whose offenses were among the NFL's most entertaining, have become pedestrian.

And that's only half the story of this offensively-challenged start to the season. Of the 46 games that have been played, no team that has trailed by more than seven points has rallied to win.

These are not good signs for a league that has marketed itself on a foundation of unpredictability and excitement.

Art Shell, the NFL's director of football operations, declined to discuss the subject, saying through a spokesman that it is too early to draw any conclusions.

There seems to be few obvious explanations why scoring is dipping.

The emphasis on illegal contact seems to be working. Passing yards have jumped from 400.9 yards per game last season to 422.4. Also, there have been 48 pass plays of 40 yards or more, compared with 37 through three weeks last season.

Other factors that might slow scoring would be turnovers or red-zone efficiency, but those don't apply. Turnovers are down slightly for the fourth year in a row, and the percentage of red-zone trips that result in touchdowns is virtually the same (down a mere .008).

The spate of injuries to some of the NFL's top playmakers - Deuce McAllister, Kellen Winslow Jr., Steve Smith, Stephen Davis and Tyrone Calico - hasn't helped.

There also is a preponderance of young quarterbacks in the NFL. Eleven quarterbacks 25 and under have started a game this season, which might explain why the Cardinals, with Josh McCown, have scored 25 points in three games and why the Jaguars, with Byron Leftwich, have managed just 36.

What it doesn't explain is how Drew Brees and Kyle Boller have directed their teams to more points than Jeff Garcia or Steve McNair, last year's co-MVP.

Perhaps it is the influence of all the defensive coordinators who've been hired as head coaches - John Fox, Marvin Lewis, Jack Del Rio, Jim Mora Jr. and Lovie Smith among them. Then again, Bills coach Mike Mularky, an offensive coordinator with the Steelers, has watched his team score 20 points in two games.

All hope is not lost. For one, it's still early in the season and there is always the chance this trend corrects itself.

Also, there still are the Colts. They have invested 80 percent of their salaries on offense and it shows - they lead the NFL in points scored and are last in yards allowed.

They scored 28 points against the Packers in the first quarter last week - or more than the hapless Dolphins and Cardinals have scored all season. The Colts passed the ball on their first 22 snaps.

So Indianapolis has a chance today to do more than move into first place in the AFC South. The Colts, who are a goal-line fumble away from being unbeaten, can strike a blow for entertaining, creative offensive football when they venture to Jacksonville.

The Jaguars, meanwhile, are the anti-Colts. They've gone 3-0 thanks to a stout defense, clutch plays and catching the right breaks. In three victories, Jacksonville is averaging 12 points per game.

In the NFL, where imitation isn't considered flattery but a formula, this could have unfortunate consequences if it's allowed to continue. It would surely send the competition committee back into caucus next winter searching for new rules to even (and up) the score.

CAPTION(S):

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Photo:

no caption (Tim Brown)

Paul Sakuma/Associated Press

Box:

(1) ON THE GRIDIRON

By Matthew Kredell

(2) NFL WEEK 4