Weekly ANY/A – FootballPerspective.com

Week 17 Passing Stats: Kirk Cousins Is The Best Quarterback In The Most Irrelevant Game

Chase Stuart — Thu, 07 Jan 2021 20:57:40 +0000

Previously:

Week 17 was understated this year; with several playoff spots locked up, many teams rested starters and treated this like the final week of the preseason. With nothing to play for, the Eagles benched their starting quarterback midway through the game, putting in third stringer Nate Sudfeld. P.J. Walker, Chad Henne, and Mason Rudolph, saw significant action this week, while the Rams and Cardinals played one of the few meaningful games but with John Wolford and Chris Streveler as the starting quarterbacks. Remarkably, it was still a pretty good passing week for the NFL: the league averaged 6.30 ANY/A and a 91.8 passer rating in week 17.

The 5-10 Lions faced the 6-9 Vikings in a true meaningless game that turned out to be the most entertaining game of the early window. Kirk Cousins threw for over 400 yards and had a passer rating over 125; that happened only 6 times in the entire decade of the ’90s, but was the fifth time it happened in the 2020 season.

Perhaps just as impressive was Aaron Rodgers in the afternoon game; he threw for a first down on 52% of his dropbacks, including four touchdown passes, in an easy win over the Bears.

Rk	Passer	Team	Opp	Result	Att	Yd	TD	INT	1D	Sk	Yd	FL	AdjY/DB	DB	VALUE
1	Kirk Cousins	MIN	DET	W 37-35	40	405	3	0	20	3	22	0	13.86	43	220
2	Tom Brady	TAM	ATL	W 44-27	41	399	4	1	20	1	8	0	13.57	42	202
3	Aaron Rodgers	GNB	CHI	W 35-16	24	240	4	0	13	1	3	0	15.92	25	179
4	Justin Herbert	LAC	KAN	W 38-21	31	302	3	0	16	3	21	0	13.47	34	160
5	Drew Lock	DEN	LVR	L 31-32	41	339	2	0	15	2	15	0	11.19	43	105
6	Matthew Stafford	DET	MIN	L 35-37	31	293	3	1	12	1	5	0	12.00	32	104
7	Deshaun Watson	HOU	TEN	L 38-41	39	365	3	1	16	4	24	0	11.00	43	97
8	Josh Allen	BUF	MIA	W 56-26	25	224	3	1	13	1	11	0	12.23	26	90
9	Cam Newton	NWE	NYJ	W 28-14	30	242	3	0	14	3	23	0	11.45	33	89
10	Matt Barkley	BUF	MIA	W 56-26	13	164	1	1	6	0	0	0	14.15	13	70
11	Chad Henne	KAN	LAC	L 21-38	32	218	2	0	13	1	1	0	10.79	33	67
12	Ryan Tannehill	TEN	HOU	W 41-38	27	216	1	0	10	2	12	0	10.52	29	51
13	Mason Rudolph	PIT	CLE	L 22-24	39	315	2	1	13	1	8	0	10.03	40	51
14	Derek Carr	LVR	DEN	W 32-31	38	371	2	2	13	3	12	0	9.95	41	49
15	Drew Brees	NOR	CAR	W 33-7	32	201	3	0	11	2	10	0	9.50	34	25
16	Baker Mayfield	CLE	PIT	W 24-22	27	196	1	0	13	4	30	0	9.48	31	23
17	Daniel Jones	NYG	DAL	W 23-19	25	229	2	1	13	2	18	1	9.44	27	19
18	Kyler Murray	ARI	LAR	L 7-18	11	87	0	0	5	2	16	0	8.92	13	2
19	Matt Ryan	ATL	TAM	L 27-44	44	265	2	0	17	1	7	1	8.51	45	-11
20	Lamar Jackson	BAL	CIN	W 38-3	18	113	3	1	5	0	0	0	8.11	18	-12
21	C.J. Beathard	SFO	SEA	L 23-26	37	273	1	0	14	3	31	1	8.23	40	-21
22	Philip Rivers	IND	JAX	W 28-14	27	164	1	1	9	0	0	0	7.81	27	-25
23	Sam Darnold	NYJ	NWE	L 14-28	34	266	1	2	14	3	27	0	7.73	37	-38
24	Chris Streveler	ARI	LAR	L 7-18	16	105	1	1	5	2	10	0	5.89	18	-52
25	Russell Wilson	SEA	SFO	W 26-23	36	181	2	0	11	2	22	0	7.37	38	-53
26	John Wolford	LAR	ARI	W 18-7	38	231	0	1	12	2	8	0	7.15	40	-64
27	Mitchell Trubisky	CHI	GNB	L 16-35	42	252	0	1	12	1	4	0	7.23	43	-65
28	Mike Glennon	JAX	IND	L 14-28	42	261	2	0	15	6	31	1	7.02	48	-83
29	Teddy Bridgewater	CAR	NOR	L 7-33	23	176	0	2	5	1	10	0	5.04	24	-89
30	Tua Tagovailoa	MIA	BUF	L 26-56	58	361	1	3	19	1	9	0	6.76	59	-118
31	Jalen Hurts	PHI	WAS	L 14-20	20	72	0	1	3	1	5	0	2.33	21	-135
32	Alex Smith	WAS	PHI	W 20-14	32	162	2	2	8	3	17	0	4.26	35	-157
33	Phillip Walker	CAR	NOR	L 7-33	14	95	0	3	4	2	15	0	-1.19	16	-159
34	Andy Dalton	DAL	NYG	L 19-23	47	244	0	1	16	6	45	0	5.62	53	-166
35	Nate Sudfeld	PHI	WAS	L 14-20	12	32	0	1	1	2	16	1	-5.00	14	-193
36	Brandon Allen	CIN	BAL	L 3-38	21	48	0	2	1	0	0	0	-1.57	21	-217
	Total	Total	Total		1117	8203	59	31	411	72	496	5	8.76	1189	0

In terms of the passing battle, the better passing teams won all the games where there was a clear advantage. Some games were closer, and the less efficient passing team wound up winning. For example, in Tennessee, Derrick Henry and Ryan Tannehill rushed 40 times for 289 yards and 4 touchdowns! That was enough to give the Titans the win, even if Tannehill was slightly less efficient as a passer than Deshaun Watson. The Raiders/Broncos game was a little weirder: the Raiders somehow won despite losing the turnover battle 4-0! But Denver had a turnover on downs, and missed a long field goal from 56 yards (in addition to missing two really long field goals from 63 and 70 yards at the end of both halves). There were some small advantages that stacked in the Raiders favor, like in the punting game and by holding the ball in the final minute of both halves. And, of course, Las Vegas went for two in the final minute and converted to win by 1 point.

The full week 17 passing differential stats below.

What stands out to you? And thank you for joining this season!

Week 16 (2020) Passing Stats: Brady Hits Peak Performance

Chase Stuart — Thu, 31 Dec 2020 14:57:38 +0000

Previously:

Was this the best game of Tom Brady‘s career? Blaspehmy, you say. Given the year and the opponent, that’s probably true. Against Miami in 2007, Brady had a game where he went 21 for 25 for 354 yards with 6 touchdowns and no interceptions and one sack, putting up a perfect 158.3 passer rating and averaging 17.85 ANY/A. That went down as the 17th highest single-game ANY/A performance since 1970. New England opened that game with touchdowns on each of their first four drives, and five out of their first six.

But this may have been, statistically speaking, Brady’s second most efficient performance ever, at least without any opponent or era adjustments. Against the Lions, Brady completed 22 of 27 passes for 348 yards and 4 touchdowns, with no interceptions and just one sack. One of about 100 games since 1970 where a quarterback averaged at least 15 ANY/A on 20+ passes. The Bucs scored a touchdown on 5 of their first 6 drives, picking up a whopping 405 yards. That was all in the first half, which was more than enough: Brady did not return to the game after halftime, with the Bucs ahead 34-0.

The full week 16 passing stats below.

Rk	Passer	Team	Opp	Result	Att	Yd	TD	INT	1D	Sk	Yd	FL	AdjY/DB	DB	VALUE
1	Tom Brady	TAM	DET	W 47-7	27	348	4	0	17	1	7	0	19.21	28	289
2	Brandon Allen	CIN	HOU	W 37-31	37	371	2	0	18	0	0	0	15.00	37	226
3	Josh Allen	BUF	NWE	W 38-9	36	320	4	0	17	0	0	0	14.36	36	197
4	Andy Dalton	DAL	PHI	W 37-17	30	377	3	1	13	2	15	0	14.59	32	182
5	Ryan Fitzpatrick	MIA	LVR	W 26-25	13	182	1	0	6	0	0	0	19.00	13	131
6	Derek Carr	LVR	MIA	L 25-26	34	336	1	0	15	3	22	0	12.43	37	131
7	Deshaun Watson	HOU	CIN	L 31-37	33	324	3	0	14	1	2	1	12.68	34	129
8	Aaron Rodgers	GNB	TEN	W 40-14	25	231	4	1	14	1	17	0	13.04	26	108
9	Drew Brees	NOR	MIN	W 52-33	26	311	0	2	13	0	0	0	13.00	26	107
10	Matt Ryan	ATL	KAN	L 14-17	35	300	2	0	17	4	23	0	11.59	39	105
11	Ben Roethlisberger	PIT	IND	W 28-24	49	341	3	0	18	1	9	0	10.54	50	82
12	Mitchell Trubisky	CHI	JAX	W 41-17	35	265	2	1	18	1	2	0	11.17	36	82
13	Kirk Cousins	MIN	NOR	L 33-52	41	291	3	0	17	2	17	0	10.70	43	77
14	Blaine Gabbert	TAM	DET	W 47-7	15	143	2	0	5	1	7	0	12.69	16	61
15	Justin Herbert	LAC	DEN	W 19-16	33	253	1	0	12	2	26	0	9.89	35	35
16	C.J. Beathard	SFO	ARI	W 20-12	22	182	3	0	11	3	11	1	10.12	25	31
17	Taylor Heinicke	WAS	CAR	L 13-20	19	137	1	0	6	1	7	0	9.75	20	17
18	Lamar Jackson	BAL	NYG	W 27-13	26	183	2	0	10	0	0	1	9.42	26	14
19	Patrick Mahomes	KAN	ATL	W 17-14	44	278	2	1	14	0	0	0	8.66	44	-10
20	Russell Wilson	SEA	LAR	W 20-9	32	225	1	0	10	5	28	0	8.05	37	-31
21	Sam Darnold	NYJ	CLE	W 23-16	32	175	2	0	10	2	16	0	7.97	34	-31
22	Jarrett Stidham	NWE	BUF	L 9-38	11	44	0	0	2	1	2	0	5.00	12	-47
23	Daniel Jones	NYG	BAL	L 13-27	41	252	1	0	16	6	37	0	7.87	47	-48
24	Jalen Hurts	PHI	DAL	L 17-37	39	342	1	2	12	3	16	1	7.26	42	-69
25	Cam Newton	NWE	BUF	L 9-38	10	34	0	0	1	2	20	0	1.92	12	-84
26	David Blough	DET	TAM	L 7-47	10	49	0	1	1	1	10	0	0.27	11	-95
27	Teddy Bridgewater	CAR	WAS	W 20-13	28	197	1	1	11	4	30	1	5.69	32	-103
28	Chase Daniel	DET	TAM	L 7-47	18	86	0	0	3	3	29	0	4.00	21	-103
29	Philip Rivers	IND	PIT	L 24-28	34	270	1	1	10	5	32	1	6.26	39	-103
30	Jared Goff	LAR	SEA	L 9-20	43	234	0	1	15	3	18	0	6.65	46	-103
31	Tua Tagovailoa	MIA	LVR	W 26-25	22	94	1	0	4	3	23	0	4.72	25	-104
32	Mike Glennon	JAX	CHI	L 17-41	37	211	2	2	10	1	8	0	5.92	38	-113
33	Ryan Tannehill	TEN	GNB	L 14-40	24	121	1	2	9	2	17	0	4.08	26	-125
34	Drew Lock	DEN	LAC	L 16-19	47	264	0	2	15	2	1	0	6.29	49	-128
35	Kyler Murray	ARI	SFO	L 12-20	50	247	0	1	9	3	17	0	5.02	53	-206
36	Dwayne Haskins	WAS	CAR	L 13-20	28	154	0	2	4	2	6	1	1.47	30	-223
37	Baker Mayfield	CLE	NYJ	L 16-23	53	285	0	0	12	4	31	2	4.60	57	-245

Baker Mayfield was the worst passer of the week, but there’s a decently large asterisk there: the Browns were down two starters on the offensive line (including the team’s first round pick, left tackle Jedrick Wills), and the team’s top four wide receivers Jarvis Landry, Rashard Higgins, Donovan Peoples-Jones, and KhaDarel Hodge — in addition to Odell Beckham. So for Mayfield, his top two wide receivers were Marvin Hall and Ja’Marcus Bradley, who both played nearly every snap in their first game ever in a Browns uniform. The results were not very good.

The other notable event of the week was Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs losing the passing efficiency battle and still winning, something that is very rare in Kansas City these days. But sometimes it does come down to the kicking game, and for Kansas City, Harrison Butker hit a 53-yarder in the 4th quarter while Younghoe Koo missed a 39-yard field goal in the final seconds that would have forced overtime. The Chiefs also had a decided advantage in the rushing game, picking up 9 first downs on 20 carries to Atlanta’s four on 21 attempts.