One of the stranger records in NFL history is the team scoring mark of 23.6 points per game during the 1948 season.

As explosive as today's game has gotten through specific rule changes designed to push scoring into the stratosphere, the modern NFL still hasn't been able to crack that record set in 1948.

One of the key factors behind that 72-year-old mark was a 10-team league playing only 12 games in a season that featured three of the worst defenses in NFL history. That year, the Lions (33.9), Giants (32.3) and Boston Yanks (31.0) each surrendered more than 30 points a game.

The NFL came close to topping the mark in 2013 but fell just short at 23.4. That's the year Denver scored a record 606 points as Peyton Manning threw 55 touchdown passes en route to the last of his five league MVP awards.

Seven years later, the NFL is off to its highest-scoring start ever through three games.

Teams combined to score 281 touchdowns, 2,446 points and a 25.5 average per game. The Packers, led by Aaron Jones' five touchdowns, are averaging a league-best 40.7 points per game while five other teams — Seattle (37.0), Buffalo (31.0), Baltimore (30.3), Kansas City (30.3) and Atlanta (30.0) — are averaging at least 30 points.

Unfortunately for the Falcons, they are the worst of eight teams giving up at least 30 points per game (36.0). The other seven are the Vikings (34.0), Cowboys (32.3), Texans (31.7), Saints (31.3), Jets (31.3), Lions (30.7) and Raiders (30.0).

The Falcons defense faces the Packers offense on "Monday Night Football."

MARK CRAIG