Last week, the Bears and Steelers were two of the most run-heavy teams in the league. That repeated itself in week 7, as Chicago and Pittsburgh finished with the two lowest pass ratios of the week.
The Bears ran just 37 plays on Sunday against the Panthers, the fewest by any NFL team in a game since 2010. So while the headlines may have been that Chicago threw just 7 passes (plus four sacks), to be fair to the Bears, that represented a 30% pass ratio, higher than what the team did last week. Chicago had two long return touchdowns, which limited the offense to just 9 drives, six of which were three-and-outs. But the Bears are clearly looking to throw as infrequently as possible, making them the most run-happy team in the NFL.
In Pittsburgh, Le’Veon Bell had over 30 carries for the second straight week. The Steelers had a Game Script of +7.3, but consider that they had a lower run rate than the Cowboys or Jaguars, who both had nearly 20-point Game Scripts! Pittsburgh finished the day with 25 runs and 43 pass attempts. The Steelers defense limited the Bengals to just 18 yards on 6 second-half drives (two of which ended on interceptions); with that dominant a performance, expect Pittsburgh to continue to rely on the ground game.
| Team | H/R | Opp | Boxscore | PF | PA | Margin | Game Script | Pass | Run | P/R Ratio | Op_P | Op_R | Opp_P/R Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DAL | @ | SFO | Boxscore | 40 | 10 | 30 | 19.2 | 27 | 43 | 38.6% | 43 | 22 | 66.2% |
| JAX | @ | IND | Boxscore | 27 | 0 | 27 | 18.2 | 28 | 38 | 42.4% | 47 | 20 | 70.1% |
| LAR | ARI | Boxscore | 33 | 0 | 33 | 15.2 | 38 | 40 | 48.7% | 35 | 12 | 74.5% | |
| LAC | DEN | Boxscore | 21 | 0 | 21 | 11.2 | 29 | 26 | 52.7% | 40 | 19 | 67.8% | |
| NWE | ATL | Boxscore | 23 | 7 | 16 | 11.1 | 31 | 36 | 46.3% | 34 | 22 | 60.7% | |
| CHI | CAR | Boxscore | 17 | 3 | 14 | 11 | 11 | 26 | 29.7% | 39 | 30 | 56.5% | |
| PIT | CIN | Boxscore | 29 | 14 | 15 | 7.3 | 25 | 43 | 36.8% | 34 | 17 | 66.7% | |
| MIN | BAL | Boxscore | 24 | 16 | 8 | 4.8 | 31 | 33 | 48.4% | 44 | 20 | 68.8% | |
| PHI | WAS | Boxscore | 34 | 24 | 10 | 4.3 | 28 | 33 | 45.9% | 44 | 18 | 71% | |
| BUF | TAM | Boxscore | 30 | 27 | 3 | 1.9 | 34 | 33 | 50.7% | 45 | 25 | 64.3% | |
| TEN | @ | CLE | Boxscore | 12 | 9 | 3 | 1.7 | 36 | 32 | 52.9% | 41 | 26 | 61.2% |
| SEA | @ | NYG | Boxscore | 24 | 7 | 17 | 0.7 | 40 | 31 | 56.3% | 40 | 17 | 70.2% |
| NOR | @ | GNB | Boxscore | 26 | 17 | 9 | -2.3 | 39 | 36 | 52% | 26 | 24 | 52% |
| OAK | KAN | Boxscore | 31 | 30 | 1 | -2.7 | 52 | 21 | 71.2% | 37 | 23 | 61.7% | |
| MIA | NYJ | Boxscore | 31 | 28 | 3 | -5.2 | 40 | 25 | 61.5% | 30 | 22 | 57.7% |
On the flip side, the Giants and Raiders were both pass-heavy in week 7, which is kind of weird. New York has been decimated at wide receiver, with Odell Beckham and Brandon Marshall out for the season and Sterling Shepard also on the sidelines in week 7 with an ankle injury. But the Giants still called 40 pass plays! New York wide receivers Roger Lewis, Travis Rudolph, and Tavarres King combined to see 15 targets but gained just 45 yards; TE Evan Engram had 12 targets and gained 60 yards, while backup TE Rhett Ellison also saw one target. The RBs — Shane Vereen, Wayne Gallman, and Orleans Darkwa — combined for 29 yards on 10 targets. Running may not have been a great strategy against the Seahawks defense, as Giants running backs combined for 54 yards on 16 carries, but I don’t know that passes to Roger Lewis are any better.
Meanwhile, Oakland passed on over 70% of plays, the most of any winning team in week 7. Derek Carr wound up throwing 52 passes (no sacks) against the Chiefs, and was mightily effective: he picked up 417 yards and 3 TDs with no interceptions. Meanwhile, DeAndre Washington and Jalen Richard combined for 18 carries and 64 yards, after Marshawn Lynch (2 carries, 9 yards) was ejected early in the game.