Did You Know?
Red Zone Troubles - Cam Newton, Eli Manning, Russell Wilson and Andy Dalton have a combined 17 completions inside the 10 yard line this year. That's still 8 less than Drew Brees, who has 25 on his own.
What a difference a year makes - Last year Melvin Gordon had 5 carries inside the 10 yard line. This year he has 19. Only David Johnson (20) has more. Only one other Chargers player has a carry inside the 10, Dexter McCluster has one carry.
Masters of the end-around - The Steelers have 84 yards rushing by wide receivers in 5 attempts, averaging 16.8 yards per carry.
Both sides of the fumble spectrum - Tennessee is the only team to not have a forced fumble on defense. On the opposite side of the spectrum is Washington, who has forced 14 fumbles.
Don't cross midfield - Raiders RB Jalen Richard averages 8.1 YPC on 22 rushes on the Raiders own side of the 50 yard line. Once he crosses midfield, his average drops to 2.8 YPC in 14 rushes.
Other notable backs with poor YPC Avg after they cross the 50 include
- Rashad Jennings 1.7 YPC
- David Johnson 3.2 YPC
- Matt Forte 2.9 YPC
- Giovani Bernard 2.8 YPC
- Carlos Hyde 2.9
- Lamar Miller 3.2
- Jacquizz Rodgers 2.6
- Charcandrick West 2.6
A gift to opposing defensive coordinators - Julio Jones has 43 receptions this year. Only 5 have come on 3rd or 4th down. Out of shear curiosity, I wanted to see who leads the Falcons in 3rd/4th down catches and the answer is a tie between Jacob Tamme and Mohamed Sanu with 9.
In the clutch - Jordan Reed and Amari Cooper lead all players with 17 receptions on 3rd/4th down. Bilal Powell and Duke Johnson Jr lead all Running Backs with 15 3rd/4th down catches.
Running Back efficency - 66 running backs have at least 25 carries. Of those 66 players, 14 average at least 5.0 yards per carry.
Of those 14...
3 have over 100 carries - Ezekiel Elliott, Spencer Ware and LeSean McCoy
4 have more than 2 rushing touchdowns - LeSean McCoy (6), Jay Ajayi (5), Ezekiel Elliott (5), Mike Gillislee (3)
4 have not scored a rushing touchdown - Fozzy Whittaker, DeAndre Washington, Alfred Blue and Eddie Lacy
Players with the most games of multiple touchdowns
3 games
- Matt Forte, NYJ
- Melvin Gordon, SD
- David Johnson, ARI
2 games
- LeGarrette Blount, NE
- Antonio Brown, PIT
- Larry Fitzgerald, ARI
- Carlos Hyde, SF
- LeSean McCoy, BUF
- Christine Michael, SEA
- DeMarco Murray, TEN
- Theo Riddick, DET
- Jonathan Stewart, CAR
1 game
- Davante Adams, GB
- Jay Ajayi, MIA
- Danny Amendola, NE
- C.J. Anderson, DEN
- Cameron Artis-Payne, CAR
- Cole Beasley, DAL
- Odell Beckham, NYG
- Kelvin Benjamin, CAR
- Travis Benjamin, SD
- Martellus Bennett, NE
- Cameron Brate, TB
- Kenny Britt, LA
- Sammie Coates Jr, PIT
- Corey Coleman, CLE
- Tevin Coleman, ATL
- Brandin Cooks, NO
- Michael Crabtree, OAK
- Jack Doyle, IND
- Ezekiel Elliott, DAL
- Mike Evans, TB
- Coby Fleener, NO
- Devonta Freeman, ATL
- Todd Gurley, LA
- Andrew Hawkins, CLE
- Jeremy Hill, CIN
- Marvin Jones, DET
- John Kuhn, NO
- Brandon LaFell, CIN
- Ryan Mathews, PHI
- Lamar Miller, HOU
- Zach Miller, CHI
- Latavius Murray, OAK
- J.J. Nelson, ARI
- Jordy Nelson, GB
- Terrelle Pryor, CLE
- Brian Quick, LA
- Jordan Reed, WAS
- Allen Robinson, JAC
- Emmanuel Sanders, DEN
- Mike Wallace, BAL
- Terrance West, BAL
- James White, NE
- DeAngelo Williams, PIT
Red Zone "Looks" by team (rushes & targets)
- ARI - David Johnson 40
- ATL - Devonta Freeman 34
- BAL - Terrance West 17
- BUF - LeSean McCoy 18
- CAR - Jonathan Stewart 15
- CHI - Jordan Howard 22
- CIN - Jeremy Hill 19 (Bernard 18)
- CLE - Isaiah Crowell 18
- DAL - Ezekiel Elliott 22
- DEN - C.J. Anderson 25 (Booker 20)
- DET - Theo Riddick 13
- GB - Jordy Nelson, Ty Montgomery 14
- HOU - Lamar Miller 20
- IND- Frank Gore 17
- JAC - Allen Robinson 12
- LA - Todd Gurley 30
- KC - Spencer Ware 16
- MIN - Matt Asiata 13
- MIA - Jay Ajayi 17
- NO - Mark Ingram 21
- NE - LeGarrette Blount 32
- NYG - Shane Vereen 10 (Beckham 9)
- NYJ - Matt Forte 33
- OAK - Latavius Murray 14
- PHI - Ryan Mathews 19
- PIT - DeAngelo Williams 9
- SD - Melvin Gordon 42
- SF - Carlos Hyde 25
- SEA - Christine Michael 21
- TB - Jacquizz Rodgers 13
- TEN - DeMarco Murray 36
- WAS - Matt Jones 18
Leaders in defensive interceptions
- 11 KC
- 9 MIN, ARI, SD
- 8 DEN, BAL
- 7 CIN, OAK, CAR
- 6 ATL, BUF, CLE, TEN, NYG, NYJ, PHI
- 5 GB, NE, SF, SEA, WAS
- 4 CHI, DAL, DET, LA, TB
- 3 MIA, NO, PIT, JAC, HOU
- 2 IND
Leaders in defensive sacks
- 26 BUF, DEN
- 22 TEN, PHI, SEA, WAS
- 21 ARI
- 20 CHI, MIN, CAR
- 19 GB
- 18 ATL, DET, SD
- 17 HOU
- 16 CIN, MIA, BAL
- 15 NYJ, TB
- 14 CLE, DAL, IND, KC
- 13 NE, SF, JAC
- 11 OAK
- 10 LA, NO
- 9 NYG
- 8 PIT
Leaders in defensive fumble recoveries
- 8 DEN
- 7 MIN, PHI
- 6 BUF, DAL, OAK, LA, NO, ARI, SD, SF, TB
- 5 IND, KC, PIT, WAS, BAL
- 4 NE
- 3 CHI, CIN, DET, GB, MIA, CAR, HOU
- 2 ATL, CLE, NYJ, SEA, JAC
- 1 TEN, NYG
Questions, suggestions and comments are always welcome to haseley@footballguys.com