Did You Know?
Tom Brady has some shoes to fill - Jimmy Garoppolo has a 71.2% completion percentage, he has a 119 QB rating and has one touchdown pass every 10 completions. And the Patriots lead the league in rushing too. Whoa!
The Awesome NFC South - NFC South quarterbacks have 28 touchdown passes in three games. The next closest division has 20 (NFC North) then it's all down hill after that.
It's all about the defense baby! The Vikings are dead last in rushing yards (51 per game) and 29th in passing yards (214.3 per game), yet they are 3-0. They have scored via punt return, fumble return, interception return and safety - and we're only entering Week 4. Oh and they have the highest kick return average of 30.2 yards.
Speaking of kick return yards - The average kick return yards per team is 21.2 yards. No return of course would start at the 25 yard line. Perhaps not returning kickoffs is the way to go? Just ask the Buccaneers, they have returned only two kickoffs for a mere 15.5 yards.
No Tom Brady? Just run the ball - LeGarrette Blount leads all running backs in the following categories - 75 carries, 298 rushing yards, 4 rushing touchdowns.
More on Blount - Blount has 0 receptions so far. The next most rushing yards by a running back without a catch is Wendell Smallwood (96 yards) followed by his teammate Kenjon Barner (86 yards).
In case you're wondering (because I was wondering too) - Philadelphia has 11 receptions to running backs. 10 to Darren Sproles and 1 to Ryan Mathews.
Scoring problems - Kirk Cousins is 1 for 12 inside the 10 yard line this season with 2 interceptions. Gah!
Scoring success - Drew Brees is 10 for 12 inside the 10 yard line with 5 touchdowns and 0 interceptions.
Pass-catching backs getting it done - Spencer Ware is averaging 18.5 yards per catch on 10 catches and Tevin Coleman is averaging 16.7 yards per catch on 10 catches.
They can do even better - Terrelle Pryor and Tavon Austin both have the most receptions (14) with a sub-50% reception percentage.
Age is just a number - Only one player in the Top 10 in receptions is over age 30 (Larry Fitzgerald - 33)
I had to do a double take on this one - Isaiah Crowell is tied for 2nd in the league in rushing yards with 274.
Reception Margins for each team
Green = +10 margin and higher
Yellow = +6 to +9 margin
Arizona - Larry Fitzgerald (20) +10 over David Johnson
Atlanta - Jacob Tamme (14) +3 over Mohamed Sanu
Baltimore - Dennis Pitta (18) +2 over Steve Smith
Buffalo - Robert Woods (11) +0 over LeSean McCoy
Carolina - Greg Olsen (18) +5 over Kelvin Benjamin
Chicago - Zach Miller (15) +1 over Alshon Jeffery
Cincinnati - A.J. Green (22) +6 over Giovani Bernard
Cleveland - Terrelle Pryor (14) +2 over Duke Johnson Jr
Dallas - Cole Beasley (20) +6 over Jason Witten
Denver - Emmanuel Sanders (17) +2 over Demaryius Thomas
Detroit - Marvin Jones (18) +2 over Theo Riddick
Green Bay - Jordy Nelson (17) +5 over Randall Cobb
Houston - DeAndre Hopkins (16) +4 over Will Fuller
Indianapolis - T.Y. Hilton (18) +5 over Jack Doyle
Jacksonville - Allen Robinson (16) +2 over T.J. Yeldon
Kansas City - Travis Kelce (17) +2 over Jeremy Maclin
Los Angeles - Tavon Austin (14) +0 over Kenny Britt
Miami - Jarvis Landry (24) +13 over Devante Parker
Minnesota - Stefon Diggs (20) +6 over Kyle Rudolph
New Orleans - Michael Thomas (17) +2 over Brandin Cooks
New England - Julian Edelman (18) +8 over Martellus Bennett
NY Giants - Odell Beckham (19) +3 over Sterling Shepard
NY Jets - Quincy Enunwa (17) +5 over Brandon Marshall
Oakland - Michael Crabtree (19) +4 over Amari Cooper
Philadelphia - Jordan Matthews (15) +4 over Nelson Agholor
Pittsburgh - Antonio Brown (24) +10 over DeAngelo Williams
San Diego - Travis Benjamin (17) +6 over Tyrell Williams
Seattle - Doug Baldwin (20) +10 over Jimmy Graham
San Francisco - Jeremy Kerley (12) +3 over Quinton Patton
Tampa Bay - Mike Evans (21) +3 over Adam Humphries
Tennessee - DeMarco Murray (17) +3 over Tajae Sharpe
Washington - Jordan Reed (16) +0 over Jamison Crowder
Most Targets for running backs
- 21 DeAngelo Williams
- 20 Giovani Bernard
- 19 DeMarco Murray
- 19 Theo Riddick
- 18 T.J. Yeldon
- 17 Duke Johnson Jr
- 17 David Johnson
- 16 Charles Sims
- 16 Travaris Cadet
- 14 C.J. Anderson
- 14 Matt Forte
- 14 Justin Forsett
Most Targets for wide receivers
- 40 Antonio Brown
- 38 Mike Evans
- 35 Jarvis Landry
- 34 T.Y. Hilton
- 32 A.J. Green
- 32 Larry Fitzgerald
- 31 Allen Robinson
- 31 Terrelle Pryor
- 30 Odell Beckham Jr
- 29 Jeremy Maclin
- 29 Emmanuel Sanders
- 29 Amari Cooper
- 29 Marvin Jones
- 29 Tavon Austin
Most Targets for Tight Ends
- 27 Greg Olsen
- 26 Kyle Rudolph
- 25 Jordan Reed
- 24 Dennis Pitta
- 23 Coby Fleener
- 21 Travis Kelce
- 20 Jacob Tamme
- 20 Jason Witten
- 20 Eric Ebron
- 18 Zach Miller
- 17 Julius Thomas
- 17 Cameron Brate
- 17 C.J. Uzomah
Questions, suggestions and comments are always welcome to haseley@footballguys.com