Here was Matt Ryan’s stat line in week 3: 26 completions on 35 attempts, 359 passing yards, 5 TDs, 0 INTs, 146.3 passer rating, 12.08 ANY/A.
Somehow, Ryan’s Falcons lost. There have been 93 teams in NFL history to average at least 9.0 net yards per pass attempt, throw for 300 passing yards, and have a passer rating of at least 145. Those teams are now 91-2, with Atlanta on the winning side of things in a game against Pittsburgh in 2006.
Or how about this stat: what do you think the record is of quarterbacks who average 10 yards per pass attempt, with 5 TDs, and 0 INTs? Try 50-2, with Ryan now joining Dan Marino in one of his crazy games against the ’80s Jets.
Or what about this: 300 passing yards, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 145? Teams were 117-0 when their quarterbacks did that, until Ryan became the first one to ever lose such a game on Sunday.
So yeah, Matt Ryan had a remarkable game on Sunday, but his Falcons somehow lost. The reason? They were facing Drew Brees, who was nearly as good. This was the second time in three weeks that Brees and the quarterback facing the Saints were two of the best three quarterbacks of the week. If we want to play with a bunch of endpoints, consider: there have been 5 games this season, where a quarterback threw for 370 yards and 3 TDs, with a passer rating of at least 115 and a completion percentage of at least 73%. Four of those five games came with the Saints on the field.
In between the best (Ryan) and 3rd best (Brees) performances of the week was Ryan Tannehill. The Dolphins star had a wonderful game, even if his numbers were inflated a bit by a 74-yard touchdown “pass” and an 18-yard touchdown “pass” where the ball traveled about one foot from Tannehill’s hands each time. Add in an Albert Wilson touchdown pass — he had a remarkable game, too — and it was one of the most efficient passing games in Miami history.
As for the league as a whole? It was a less remarkable passing week than the historic numbers we saw in week 2, but it was still pretty darn efficient. The league averaged 6.38 ANY/A, a passer rating of 94.6, and 257 passing yards per game. The table below shows the full week 3 results:
| Rk | Quarterback | Tm | Opp | Result | Att | Yds | TD | Int | Sk | Yds | ANY/A | VALUE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Matt Ryan | ATL | NOR | L 37-43 | 35 | 374 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 15 | 12.08 | 217 |
| 2 | Ryan Tannehill | MIA | OAK | W 28-20 | 23 | 289 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 14.17 | 187 |
| 3 | Drew Brees | NOR | ATL | W 43-37 | 49 | 396 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 9.02 | 132 |
| 4 | Jared Goff | LAR | LAC | W 35-23 | 36 | 354 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 9.86 | 129 |
| 5 | Patrick Mahomes | KAN | SFO | W 38-27 | 38 | 314 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 9.18 | 112 |
| 6 | Eli Manning | NYG | HOU | W 27-22 | 29 | 297 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 32 | 9.24 | 94 |
| 7 | Deshaun Watson | HOU | NYG | L 22-27 | 40 | 385 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 17 | 8.44 | 89 |
| 8 | Ben Roethlisberger | PIT | TAM | W 30-27 | 38 | 353 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 18 | 8.54 | 88 |
| 9 | Alex Smith | WAS | GNB | W 31-17 | 20 | 220 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10.75 | 87 |
| 10 | Albert Wilson | MIA | OAK | W 28-20 | 1 | 52 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 72 | 66 |
| 11 | Philip Rivers | LAC | LAR | L 23-35 | 30 | 226 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 8.45 | 64 |
| 12 | Jimmy Garoppolo | SFO | KAN | L 27-38 | 30 | 251 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 23 | 7.88 | 51 |
| 13 | Russell Wilson | SEA | DAL | W 24-13 | 26 | 192 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 7.93 | 43 |
| 14 | Baker Mayfield | CLE | NYJ | W 21-17 | 23 | 201 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 8.04 | 40 |
| 15 | Cam Newton | CAR | CIN | W 31-21 | 24 | 150 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 7.48 | 28 |
| 16 | Josh Allen | BUF | MIN | W 27-6 | 22 | 196 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 32 | 7.36 | 25 |
| 17 | Joe Flacco | BAL | DEN | W 27-14 | 40 | 277 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 6.79 | 17 |
| 18 | Matthew Stafford | DET | NWE | W 26-10 | 36 | 262 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 6.76 | 14 |
| 19 | Jacoby Brissett | IND | PHI | L 16-20 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -6 |
| 19 | JK Scott | GNB | WAS | L 17-31 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -6 |
| 21 | Derek Carr | OAK | MIA | L 20-28 | 39 | 345 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 20 | 6.07 | -13 |
| 22 | Ryan Fitzpatrick | TAM | PIT | L 27-30 | 50 | 411 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 19 | 5.98 | -21 |
| 23 | Aaron Rodgers | GNB | WAS | L 17-31 | 44 | 265 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 25 | 5.83 | -26 |
| 24 | Marcus Mariota | TEN | JAX | W 9-6 | 18 | 100 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 4.84 | -29 |
| 25 | Blaine Gabbert | TEN | JAX | W 9-6 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 17 | -1.8 | -41 |
| 26 | Sam Bradford | ARI | CHI | L 14-16 | 19 | 157 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 18 | 4.05 | -51 |
| 27 | Carson Wentz | PHI | IND | W 20-16 | 37 | 255 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 28 | 4.81 | -66 |
| 28 | Josh Rosen | ARI | CHI | L 14-16 | 7 | 36 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | -2 | -67 |
| 29 | Tom Brady | NWE | DET | L 10-26 | 26 | 133 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 3.39 | -84 |
| 30 | Blake Bortles | JAX | TEN | L 6-9 | 34 | 155 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 3.92 | -91 |
| 31 | Mitch Trubisky | CHI | ARI | W 16-14 | 35 | 220 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 26 | 3.92 | -93 |
| 32 | Andrew Luck | IND | PHI | L 16-20 | 40 | 164 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 23 | 3.83 | -107 |
| 33 | Case Keenum | DEN | BAL | L 14-27 | 34 | 192 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 19 | 3.46 | -108 |
| 34 | Tyrod Taylor | CLE | NYJ | W 21-17 | 14 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 22 | -0.18 | -111 |
| 35 | Andy Dalton | CIN | CAR | L 21-31 | 46 | 352 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 22 | 3.96 | -116 |
| 36 | Kirk Cousins | MIN | BUF | L 6-27 | 55 | 296 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 18 | 4.29 | -123 |
| 37 | Sam Darnold | NYJ | CLE | L 17-21 | 31 | 169 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 2.15 | -140 |
| 38 | Dak Prescott | DAL | SEA | L 13-24 | 34 | 168 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 31 | 1.72 | -182 |
| Total | 1108 | 8234 | 54 | 26 | 84 | 540 | 6.38 | 0 |
On the other side, we have Tyrod Taylor, Dak Prescott and Sam Darnold. The veteran Browns quarterback became the first quarterback since 2006 to lose more yards on sacks than gain yards on pass attempts, among passers with at least 14 pass attempts. In other words, the Browns offense under Taylor would have been better if he spiked the ball every play than doing what he did, which was lose 3 yards on 17 dropbacks.
Prescott has now had a miserable 18-game stretch where he’s averaged just 5.33 ANY/A; the Cowboys passing attack looks hopelessly lost, and the weapons are just not very good.
As for Darnold? The Jets rookie was the star of week one, but the goat of week three. Since the start of 2009, the Jets have now had a remarkable 19 games where the team had a passer rating below 39.6, which is the passer rating one achieves by throwing an incomplete pass.