Previously:
Baker Mayfield opened the game against Cincinnati with an interception on a deep pass to Odell Beckham Jr. It only got worse from there: Beckham tore his ACL trying to tackle a Bengals player on the return. Mayfield misfired on the rest of his passes in the first quarter, finishing the first frame 0-for-5.
Mayfield responded by then completing his next 21 passes for 273 yards and 4 touchdowns with no sacks. He threw for 14 first downs. His next pass was a spike to stop the clock; his next and final pass of the day was a 24-yard game winning touchdown throw to Donovan People-Jones. After going 0-for-5 in the first quarter, the Browns responded with a touchdown on their final 5 drives of the game (the Browns defense wasn’t very good, which is why Cleveland only had 8 drives in the game; Cincinnati had six different 10-play drives).
Mayfield went from zero to perfect, and in the process, posted the most efficient passing game of the week. Tom Brady, by virtue of having a heavier workload, ended up as the top passer of the week. Week 7 was another great week for passers: the average team completed 68% of their passes for over 270 yards. The league as a whole threw 50 TDs against 25 INTs. Sam Darnold, Nick Foles, and Drew Lock, however, all finished with 0 INTs and 2 INTs. The full week 7 passing stats below:
| Rk | Passer | Team | Opp | Result | Att | Yd | TD | INT | 1D | Sk | Yd | FL | AdjY/DB | DB | VALUE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tom Brady | TAM | LVR | W 45-20 | 45 | 369 | 4 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13.58 | 45 | 197 |
| 2 | Baker Mayfield | CLE | CIN | W 37-34 | 28 | 297 | 5 | 1 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15.79 | 28 | 185 |
| 3 | Aaron Rodgers | GNB | HOU | W 35-20 | 34 | 283 | 4 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13.59 | 34 | 149 |
| 4 | Matthew Stafford | DET | ATL | W 23-22 | 36 | 340 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 2 | 18 | 0 | 12.32 | 38 | 119 |
| 5 | Justin Herbert | LAC | JAX | W 39-29 | 43 | 347 | 3 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 11.86 | 44 | 117 |
| 6 | Teddy Bridgewater | CAR | NOR | L 24-27 | 28 | 254 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 12.66 | 29 | 100 |
| 7 | Kyler Murray | ARI | SEA | W 37-34 | 48 | 360 | 3 | 1 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10.44 | 48 | 60 |
| 8 | Jimmy Garoppolo | SFO | NWE | W 33-6 | 25 | 277 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 11.42 | 26 | 58 |
| 9 | Deshaun Watson | HOU | GNB | L 20-35 | 39 | 309 | 2 | 0 | 15 | 3 | 23 | 0 | 10.55 | 42 | 57 |
| 10 | Drew Brees | NOR | CAR | W 27-24 | 36 | 287 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 10.62 | 37 | 53 |
| 11 | Matt Ryan | ATL | DET | L 22-23 | 42 | 338 | 1 | 0 | 19 | 2 | 16 | 1 | 10.32 | 44 | 49 |
| 12 | Joe Burrow | CIN | CLE | L 34-37 | 47 | 406 | 3 | 1 | 23 | 4 | 35 | 1 | 10.12 | 51 | 47 |
| 13 | Carson Wentz | PHI | NYG | W 22-21 | 43 | 359 | 2 | 1 | 16 | 3 | 13 | 0 | 10.15 | 46 | 44 |
| 14 | Kyle Allen | WAS | DAL | W 25-3 | 25 | 194 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 10.48 | 27 | 35 |
| 15 | Jared Goff | LAR | CHI | W 24-10 | 33 | 219 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 10.00 | 34 | 27 |
| 16 | Patrick Mahomes | KAN | DEN | W 43-16 | 23 | 200 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 25 | 0 | 9.92 | 26 | 19 |
| 17 | Jarvis Landry | CLE | CIN | W 37-34 | 1 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28.00 | 1 | 19 |
| 18 | Tyler Boyd | CIN | CLE | L 34-37 | 1 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25.00 | 1 | 16 |
| 19 | Ryan Tannehill | TEN | PIT | L 24-27 | 30 | 220 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 9.50 | 32 | 10 |
| 20 | Derek Carr | LVR | TAM | L 20-45 | 36 | 284 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 3 | 13 | 0 | 9.13 | 39 | -3 |
| 21 | Easton Stick | LAC | JAX | W 39-29 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.00 | 1 | -5 |
| 22 | Chad Henne | KAN | DEN | W 43-16 | 2 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 6.33 | 3 | -9 |
| 23 | Brett Kern | TEN | PIT | L 24-27 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 | -9 |
| 23 | Taysom Hill | NOR | CAR | W 27-24 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 | -9 |
| 25 | Russell Wilson | SEA | ARI | L 34-37 | 50 | 388 | 3 | 3 | 21 | 2 | 16 | 0 | 8.83 | 52 | -19 |
| 26 | Josh Allen | BUF | NYJ | W 18-10 | 43 | 307 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 11 | 1 | 8.67 | 45 | -24 |
| 27 | Ben DiNucci | DAL | WAS | L 3-25 | 3 | 39 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 25 | 0 | 3.83 | 6 | -32 |
| 28 | Jarrett Stidham | NWE | SFO | L 6-33 | 10 | 64 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 4.36 | 11 | -53 |
| 29 | Gardner Minshew II | JAX | LAC | L 29-39 | 27 | 173 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 5 | 19 | 0 | 7.47 | 32 | -55 |
| 30 | Cam Newton | NWE | SFO | L 6-33 | 15 | 98 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 0.56 | 16 | -138 |
| 31 | Daniel Jones | NYG | PHI | L 21-22 | 30 | 187 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 22 | 1 | 4.97 | 33 | -139 |
| 32 | Andy Dalton | DAL | WAS | L 3-25 | 19 | 75 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 30 | 0 | 2.45 | 22 | -148 |
| 33 | Drew Lock | DEN | KAN | L 16-43 | 40 | 254 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 3 | 20 | 0 | 5.65 | 43 | -152 |
| 34 | Ben Roethlisberger | PIT | TEN | W 27-24 | 49 | 268 | 2 | 3 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.92 | 49 | -161 |
| 35 | Nick Foles | CHI | LAR | L 10-24 | 40 | 261 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 4 | 31 | 0 | 5.02 | 44 | -184 |
| 36 | Sam Darnold | NYJ | BUF | L 10-18 | 23 | 120 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 29 | 0 | 1.59 | 29 | -221 |
| Total | Total | Total | 997 | 7629 | 50 | 25 | 373 | 63 | 415 | 5 | 9.19 | 1060 | 0 |
Most weeks, if one team is much better at passing than its opponent, they usually win pretty easily. But the Pittsburgh/Tennessee game didn’t quite follow that script. The Titans won the turnover margin by 3 and also outgained Pittsburgh on a per play basis. From 2010 to 2020, teams that gained more yards per play than their opponent and won the turnover margin by 3 are now 276-1. So how did Pittsburgh win the game despite Roethlisberger having a much worse game — at least statistically — than Ryan Tannehill? In a throwback to old-time football, Pittsburgh won the game on… special teams!
- Pittsburgh did have a 57-yard punt return to set up a short field for a touchdown.
- Two of Roethlisberger’s interceptions really just negated bad Titans special teams play. Tennessee failed to convert on a fake punt just before the half, and Roethlisberger wound up throwing a pick on the final play of the half. Roethlisberger’s final interception cost Pittsburgh a chance to kick a field goal, but on the ensuing drive, Stephen Gostkowski missed the potential game-tying field goal.
- His third interception was bad, but it wound up not costing the Steelers.
As a result, Pittsburgh was able to win the game, in large part also due to a sparkling 13-for-18 conversion rate on third downs. In addition, Carolina/New Orleans. Carolina rushed for only 37 yards on 14 carries, while, the Saints had 28 carries for 139 yards. And make no mistake: even if Carolina had a slightly more efficient passing attack, the New Orleans offense was dominant. This was a game where both offenses were great and methodical, limiting possessions. But the Saints The Saints opened with a 75-yard touchdown drive that took 8:26; New Orleans next drive went for 78 yards and a touchdown. The third drive was doing well until it ended on a Brees strip sack, but after that, the Saints final drives went touchdown, two drives that took over 14 minutes and ended in field goals, and a run-out-the-clock drive to end the game.
The graph below shows the passing differential for each team in week 7.
Finally, a word about Cam Newton. There’s a good chance he just produced the worst game of the season, at least from an efficiency perspective. Newton’s 20% interception rate catapulted (sank?) his ANY/A to -2.81, which is so bad that it doesn’t even happen every year.