Previously:
Passing efficiency was way down in week 6. While passing stats were outstanding at the beginning of the season, the league-wide passer rating this week was just 85.4. There were only 46 touchdown passes and a whopping 28 interceptions along with 55 sacks, while completion percentage was just 61.3%. Nowhere was the efficiency drop more obvious than with Aaron Rodgers, who had arguably the worst game of his career. He averaged 0.72 ANY/A, the first time in his career he’s been under 1.0 ANY/A for a game since he became a starter. He and Joe Flacco battled it out for the worst performance of the week, with the Jets new starter only having the advantage of a higher number of below-average passing plays. Flacco also produced an unholy 15% passing first down rate, easily the worst mark of the week.
Matt Ryan, Deshaun Watson, and Jimmy Garoppolo were the top passers in a down week. Each averaged over 13.0 Adjusted Yards per Dropback, and Garoppolo in particular had a huge turnaround from his disastrous week five performance. The 49ers had the best passing first down rate of the week at 48%; San Francisco has been all over the map this season in terms of passing first down rate, including a 50% rate in week 3 and a 20% rate in week 5. Ryan was brilliant and had his 8th game with 4 TDs and 0 INTs; perhaps the most remarkable thing about that stat is this was just his fifth win in those games. As for Watson, more on him in a moment.
Below are the week 6 passing stats.
| Rk | Passer | Team | Opp | Result | Att | Yd | TD | INT | 1D | Sk | Yd | FL | AdjY/DB | DB | VALUE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Matt Ryan | ATL | MIN | W 40-23 | 40 | 371 | 4 | 0 | 17 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 13.33 | 42 | 228 |
| 2 | Deshaun Watson | HOU | TEN | L 36-42 | 37 | 335 | 4 | 0 | 17 | 2 | 15 | 0 | 13.26 | 39 | 209 |
| 3 | Jimmy Garoppolo | SFO | LAR | W 24-16 | 33 | 268 | 3 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13.48 | 33 | 184 |
| 4 | Philip Rivers | IND | CIN | W 31-27 | 44 | 371 | 3 | 1 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11.58 | 45 | 165 |
| 5 | Ryan Tannehill | TEN | HOU | W 42-36 | 41 | 364 | 4 | 1 | 20 | 2 | 26 | 1 | 10.86 | 43 | 127 |
| 6 | Patrick Mahomes | KAN | BUF | W 26-17 | 26 | 225 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 12.33 | 27 | 120 |
| 7 | Kirk Cousins | MIN | ATL | L 23-40 | 36 | 343 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 9.65 | 37 | 65 |
| 8 | Kyler Murray | ARI | DAL | W 38-10 | 24 | 188 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 10.48 | 25 | 64 |
| 9 | Joe Burrow | CIN | IND | L 27-31 | 39 | 313 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 2 | 13 | 0 | 9.29 | 41 | 57 |
| 10 | Tom Brady | TAM | GNB | W 38-10 | 27 | 166 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.96 | 27 | 56 |
| 11 | Julian Edelman | NWE | DEN | L 12-18 | 2 | 38 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28.00 | 2 | 40 |
| 12 | Lamar Jackson | BAL | PHI | W 30-28 | 27 | 186 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 3 | 13 | 0 | 9.13 | 30 | 37 |
| 13 | Matthew Stafford | DET | JAX | W 34-16 | 31 | 223 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8.71 | 31 | 25 |
| 14 | Ben Roethlisberger | PIT | CLE | W 38-7 | 22 | 162 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 20 | 0 | 8.25 | 24 | 8 |
| 15 | Tua Tagovailoa | MIA | NYJ | W 24-0 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 2 | 2 |
| 16 | Mason Rudolph | PIT | CLE | W 38-7 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.00 | 1 | -2 |
| 17 | Ryan Fitzpatrick | MIA | NYJ | W 24-0 | 27 | 191 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 7.76 | 29 | -4 |
| 18 | Blaine Gabbert | TAM | GNB | W 38-10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 | -8 |
| 18 | Randall Cobb | HOU | TEN | L 36-42 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 | -8 |
| 20 | Daniel Jones | NYG | WAS | W 20-19 | 19 | 112 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 7.30 | 20 | -12 |
| 21 | Case Keenum | CLE | PIT | L 7-38 | 10 | 46 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.40 | 10 | -15 |
| 22 | Nick Foles | CHI | CAR | W 23-16 | 39 | 198 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.44 | 39 | -18 |
| 23 | Tim Boyle | GNB | TAM | L 10-38 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 0 | -11.00 | 1 | -19 |
| 24 | Kyle Allen | WAS | NYG | L 19-20 | 42 | 280 | 2 | 1 | 16 | 3 | 29 | 1 | 7.16 | 45 | -34 |
| 25 | Jared Goff | LAR | SFO | L 16-24 | 38 | 198 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.74 | 38 | -44 |
| 26 | Josh Allen | BUF | KAN | L 17-26 | 27 | 122 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.00 | 27 | -51 |
| 27 | Drew Lock | DEN | NWE | W 18-12 | 24 | 189 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 25 | 0 | 5.27 | 26 | -68 |
| 28 | Teddy Bridgewater | CAR | CHI | L 16-23 | 29 | 216 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 4 | 25 | 0 | 5.24 | 33 | -88 |
| 29 | Baker Mayfield | CLE | PIT | L 7-38 | 18 | 119 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 20 | 0 | 3.36 | 22 | -100 |
| 30 | Gardner Minshew II | JAX | DET | L 16-34 | 44 | 243 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 1 | 12 | 1 | 5.47 | 45 | -110 |
| 31 | Cam Newton | NWE | DEN | L 12-18 | 25 | 157 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 24 | 0 | 3.66 | 29 | -123 |
| 32 | Carson Wentz | PHI | BAL | L 28-30 | 40 | 213 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 6 | 43 | 1 | 5.04 | 46 | -132 |
| 33 | Andy Dalton | DAL | ARI | L 10-38 | 54 | 266 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 3 | 19 | 0 | 5.32 | 57 | -147 |
| 34 | Aaron Rodgers | GNB | TAM | L 10-38 | 35 | 160 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 4 | 42 | 0 | 2.79 | 39 | -199 |
| 35 | Joe Flacco | NYJ | MIA | L 0-24 | 44 | 186 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 38 | 0 | 3.53 | 47 | -205 |
| Total | Total | Total | 949 | 6464 | 46 | 28 | 316 | 55 | 420 | 4 | 7.90 | 1004 | 0 |
In week 6, the better passing team went 13-for-14, with the lone loss coming in the Houston-Tennessee game. The Texans and Deshaun Watson were outstanding, and scored 36 points… but all that did was allow Tennessee to force overtime and then win it before Watson ever touched the ball again. Ryan Tannehill was great — he was the 5th best passer of the week, by these stats — but it was Derrick Henry who proved to be the difference maker in this quarterback duel. Watson’s running backs added little on the ground, while Henry rushed for over 200 yards. The Texans defense was a disaster — Tennessee missed two field goals and punted just one time in the game — as Henry, Tannehill, and company shredded the Titans for over 600 yards of offense.
As always, please leave your thoughts in the comments.