Previously:
Buffalo and Jacksonville played a remarkably run-heavy game in week 12. The two teams combined for 393 rushing yards and just 267 passing yards. That means 59.5% of the total yards in this game came on the ground, making it the first time in a non-December game since 2012 that such a high percentage of yards came on the ground. Josh Allen had 101 yards on the ground prior to kneels, and Blake Bortles added 39 yards rushing. These are two of the best running quarterbacks in the league, although the Bortles experiment may be ending in Jacksonville.
If this is the end for Bortles, he won’t be remembered as one of the best running quarterbacks ever, but perhaps he should be. He’s one of just six players in NFL history to average over 6 yards per carry and 20 rushing yards per game in his career (minimum 200 carries):
| Games | Rushing | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Player | From | To | Draft | Tm | Lg | G | GS | Att | Yds | Y/A | TD | Y/G |
| 1 | Michael Vick | 2001 | 2015 | 1-1 | TOT | NFL | 143 | 115 | 873 | 6109 | 7.00 | 36 | 42.7 |
| 2 | Bobby Douglass | 1969 | 1978 | 2-41 | TOT | NFL | 91 | 53 | 410 | 2654 | 6.47 | 22 | 29.2 |
| 3 | Blake Bortles | 2014 | 2018 | 1-3 | JAX | NFL | 73 | 72 | 273 | 1735 | 6.36 | 8 | 23.8 |
| 4 | Randall Cunningham | 1985 | 2001 | 2-37 | TOT | NFL | 161 | 135 | 775 | 4928 | 6.36 | 35 | 30.6 |
| 5 | Colin Kaepernick | 2011 | 2016 | 2-36 | SFO | NFL | 69 | 58 | 375 | 2300 | 6.13 | 13 | 33.3 |
| 6 | Robert Griffin | 2012 | 2018 | 1-2 | TOT | NFL | 43 | 40 | 275 | 1670 | 6.07 | 10 | 38.8 |
Speaking of running quarterbacks, the Ravens once again run with a very run-heavy approach under Lamar Jackson, who had 9 carries for 73 yards (before kneels). This formula can work for Baltimore as long as they have a positive Game Script; we’ll see what happens when they don’t.
Below are the week 12 Game Scripts:
| Team | H/R | Opp | Boxscore | PF | PA | Margin | Game Script | Pass | Run | P/R Ratio | Op_P | Op_R | Opp_P/R Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CLE | @ | CIN | Boxscore | 35 | 20 | 15 | 16.9 | 26 | 33 | 44.1% | 47 | 19 | 71.2% |
| LAC | ARI | Boxscore | 45 | 10 | 35 | 12.5 | 36 | 30 | 54.5% | 21 | 24 | 46.7% | |
| NOR | ATL | Boxscore | 31 | 17 | 14 | 11.6 | 24 | 31 | 43.6% | 53 | 16 | 76.8% | |
| TAM | SFO | Boxscore | 27 | 9 | 18 | 8.6 | 39 | 31 | 55.7% | 36 | 17 | 67.9% | |
| HOU | TEN | Boxscore | 34 | 17 | 17 | 8.2 | 28 | 34 | 45.2% | 29 | 23 | 55.8% | |
| DAL | WAS | Boxscore | 31 | 23 | 8 | 5.8 | 35 | 34 | 50.7% | 41 | 20 | 67.2% | |
| BUF | JAX | Boxscore | 24 | 21 | 3 | 4.2 | 19 | 35 | 35.2% | 26 | 39 | 40% | |
| BAL | OAK | Boxscore | 34 | 17 | 17 | 3.8 | 26 | 43 | 37.7% | 37 | 19 | 66.1% | |
| NWE | @ | NYJ | Boxscore | 27 | 13 | 14 | 2.6 | 31 | 36 | 46.3% | 47 | 15 | 75.8% |
| MIN | GNB | Boxscore | 24 | 17 | 7 | 2.1 | 40 | 29 | 58% | 32 | 19 | 62.7% | |
| DEN | PIT | Boxscore | 24 | 17 | 7 | 1.5 | 30 | 23 | 56.6% | 60 | 16 | 78.9% | |
| CHI | @ | DET | Boxscore | 23 | 16 | 7 | 0.4 | 42 | 15 | 73.7% | 40 | 24 | 62.5% |
| SEA | @ | CAR | Boxscore | 30 | 27 | 3 | -1.5 | 33 | 28 | 54.1% | 30 | 27 | 52.6% |
| IND | MIA | Boxscore | 27 | 24 | 3 | -2.3 | 39 | 26 | 60% | 26 | 25 | 51% | |
| PHI | NYG | Boxscore | 25 | 22 | 3 | -5.8 | 31 | 29 | 51.7% | 39 | 18 | 68.4% |
The Eagles won with a -5.8 Game Script, the 7th-worst Game Script by a winning team this season.
What stands out to you?