Thorman: 2026 Pace Preview

With minicamps in the rearview and the calm before the training-camp storm upon us, it’s again time to examine which offenses will be laced with pace, who will forgo tempo, and a handful of teams we haven’t fully figured out.

Every offseason brings tales of teams wanting to play faster, and there is no shortage of recent soundbites to that effect. Words are wind, my friends. Lately, it seems the only thing play-callers enjoy more than cramming extra tight ends is a creeping tempo.

Pace and pass rates are sinking. The Shanification of the league has more offenses burning time with frequent pre-snap motion. Average target depth is down, and completion rates are up — spawning “long handoffs” that exacerbate already worsening between-plays clock-grinding.

Along with additional kickoff returns resulting in better field position and shorter drives the last two years, plus more accurate field goal kickers capping drives from longer ranges, it’s taken a toll on play volume.

Do not despair. There are bright spots in several cities, and we will detail them first as we identify which teams will — and which will not — play games in 2026 on fertile fantasy soil.

Up In Pace | Slow-Paced Sloggers | Pace-Based Questions

Up In Pace

Cincinnati Bengals

Why not kick off Up in Pace with a technically slow offense? The Bengals have never ranked faster than 19th in neutral pace over seven seasons with Zac Taylor — or higher than 22nd in neutral no-huddle rate. Usually, they finish much lower. It simply doesn’t matter because Taylor will again have Joe Burrow chucking the piss out of the ball. Starting with Taylor’s first season as head coach and play-caller, Cincinnati ranked sixth, eighth, seventh, second, third, first, and second in situation-neutral pass rate — despite Burrow not joining the team until 2020 or being a stranger to the injury report.

Bengals contests are voluminous more often than not, having ranked top 10 in combined plays three of the last four years — with Burrow missing nearly half his games that fourth year. Their matchups will continue to produce mountains of points and plays so long as they remain chock-full of pass attempts. While the defense is projected to improve, potentially leading to fewer sideways game scripts …it’s the Bengals. The only thing in Cincinnati as bankable as Skyline-chili heartburn are incessant Burrow dropbacks. If those continue — and they will — nothing else matters from a pace perspective.

Dallas Cowboys

This is the easiest projection every single year. Thank you, Dak Prescott. Whether Mike McCarthy is getting rid of Kellen Moore or getting replaced himself, the Cowboys will play fast. Whether Dallas has a high pass rate or a low one — which regularly occurred not long ago — the Cowboys will play fast. Whether they use a ton of no-huddle or ditch it, the Cowboys will play fast. Prescott is the constant, and his presence has led to an abundance of play volume, both for the Cowboys and their opponents.

Since Moore took over play-calling for Scott Linehan in 2019, the Cowboys have ranked sixth, second, second, eighth, third, third, and second in overtime-adjusted plays per game. Their contests have been top five in combined offensive snaps for six of those seven seasons. Dallas’ situation-neutral seconds-per-snap pace finishes were third, second, first, second, first, fifth, and first. That unrelenting consistency has come under three different head coaches and three different play-callers. As long as Prescott remains upright, the Cowboys’ offense runs faster than Jerry Jones to a gloryhole.

Denver Broncos

There has been a lot of smoke around the Broncos operating faster with Sean Payton ceding play-calling to Davis Webb. While that sounds wonderful, they already moved quicker each season since Payton arrived. The only thing holding Denver back from league-topping tempo is their coach’s fetish for constantly fluctuating personnel. Even back in his Saints days, Payton’s sidelines looked like a rush-hour subway platform between plays. Yet, Denver doesn’t often compound the delays by burning time with pre-snap motion — and the offensive pace, play volume, and no-huddle rate have increased dramatically with Bo Nix behind center.

Denver’s second-year quarterback thrived from the no-huddle last year, with significant spikes in yards per attempt (7.1 versus 6.3) and passer rating (94.9 versus 86.8). Using tempo repeatedly sparked the Broncos’ offense when they needed it down the stretch. If Webb can shorten the time between plays with quicker calls that allow for faster-exiting huddles — or fewer huddles at all — pairing a streamlined Denver offense with its demonic defense repeatedly regaining possession would birth a play-volume behemoth that offsets Payton’s perverse rotational instinct.

Indianapolis Colts

This is a Shane Steichen-inspired leap of faith. The Colts played relatively slowly in 2025, while scrapping the no-huddle and ranking 21st in plays per game. Still, when Daniel Jones suffered a hairline fibula fracture in practice during their Week 11 bye, the Indianapolis offense was coming off a month-long stretch in which it ranked second in PROE and was picking up the pace. Jones’ designed rushes had already cratered — even before he broke his leg and blew an Achilles — so that elevated pass rate stands a chance to remain. For the season, Indianapolis had the slowest Steichen offense since he became Eagles OC in 2021 — yet it still ranked 10th fastest in neutral seconds per snap and Colts games