Remember playing football in a vacant lot or open field as a kid? Every drive led to a touchdown. The winner pretty much was the last team with the ball before moms called the kids to come home for supper.

Touchdowns are thrilling, but only if they mean something. We worry the National Football League will develop the problem the National Basketball Association has — games won’t mean much until the final quarter.

NFL teams set a record in 2011 for points with 11,356. That’s 44.36 per game. The mark surpassed the 11,283 points of 2010.

There were three quarterbacks who surpassed the 5,000-yard mark this season. Eli Manning had 4,933 yards. Amazingly, his total would’ve been third all-time, but he is fourth this season alone.

The reason for the prolific scoring? New rules limit the five-yard chuck and punish those old-school intimidating hits. This helps receivers get open and be fearless. No more hearing footsteps. Combine those factors with a clear unwillingness to call holding on linemen and quarterbacks have more time in the pocket. This is the age of the aerial attack.

The Green Bay Packers and New England Patriots had high-scoring offenses but lousy defenses. They earned home-field advantage in the playoffs.

The best defense this past season is a good offense that can stay on the field and keep the ball out of the hands of the other team. The worst defense is a three-and-out offense (witness the second-half collapses of the Minnesota Vikings under ex-QB Donovan McNabb).

Is all the scoring a fluke? Let’s hope so. It might garner TV ratings now, but in the long run the game could lose its luster if touchdowns become too easy. Call it the NBA effect.

The funny thing about football strategy is that new defenses seems to evolve faster than new offenses. We are betting that once defensive coaches find ways to adjust to the new rules environment, they once again will gain the upper hand — at least until the NFL rules committee stacks the deck against them again.