The NFL made some key rule changes (extra points moved back) and new emphasis on old rules (interference and contact on receivers). The end result was the second-highest touchdown total in NFL history.
This season, NFL teams scored 1,318 total touchdowns (including defense and special teams), up from 1,293 a year ago, but still short of the record-setting 2013 season (1,338 total touchdowns).
Here is the year-by-year scoring in the NFL since the league expanded to 32 teams.
Cork Gaines/Business Insider
Things look a little different if we consider the average number of touchdowns scored by team and look all the back to the AFL-NFL merger in 1970.
This season, the average NFL team scored 41.2 touchdowns, the fourth-straight season with teams scoring more than 40 touchdowns on average. However, that rate is not unheard of as teams regularly averaged 39-42 touchdowns per season from 1979 through 1986 (note: 1982 was a strike-shortened season).
Cork Gaines/Business Insider