There was just one 4th quarter comeback in week nine, and it came in the Lions/Vikings game. Trailing 13-9 with 4:14 left, Minnesota embarked on a 19-play, 79-yard drive for a touchdown to take a 16-13 lead. That would have been the only 4th quarter comeback of the week, but Matthew Stafford completed two passes for 35 yards to put Detroit in position for a field goal to tie the game. Matt Prater connected from 58 yards, and the Lions won in overtime.
But the Lions led for most of that game, and finished with a Game Script of +2.3. Only one other winning team in week nine had a fourth quarter score to take the lead: Miami, who returned a kickoff for a touchdown against the Jets. But Miami led 14-13 at halftime, and 20-13 at the end of the third quarter; the Dolphins finished with a Game Script of +2.3.
So there were no teams that won games in week nine with a negative Game Script. Below are the full results:
| Team | H/R | Opp | Boxscore | PF | PA | Margin | Game Script | Pass | Run | P/R Ratio | Op_P | Op_R | Opp_P/R Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DAL | @ | CLE | Boxscore | 35 | 10 | 25 | 13 | 28 | 42 | 40% | 31 | 13 | 70.5% |
| NOR | @ | SFO | Boxscore | 41 | 23 | 18 | 9.8 | 40 | 42 | 48.8% | 40 | 17 | 70.2% |
| IND | @ | GNB | Boxscore | 31 | 26 | 5 | 9.4 | 38 | 28 | 57.6% | 46 | 19 | 70.8% |
| ATL | @ | TAM | Boxscore | 43 | 28 | 15 | 8.8 | 36 | 33 | 52.2% | 51 | 19 | 72.9% |
| NYG | PHI | Boxscore | 28 | 23 | 5 | 8.7 | 37 | 24 | 60.7% | 49 | 25 | 66.2% | |
| OAK | DEN | Boxscore | 30 | 20 | 10 | 8 | 33 | 43 | 43.4% | 39 | 12 | 76.5% | |
| BAL | PIT | Boxscore | 21 | 14 | 7 | 7.3 | 33 | 29 | 53.2% | 47 | 18 | 72.3% | |
| SDG | TEN | Boxscore | 43 | 35 | 8 | 7.2 | 34 | 39 | 46.6% | 43 | 19 | 69.4% | |
| KAN | JAX | Boxscore | 19 | 14 | 5 | 6.2 | 35 | 22 | 61.4% | 43 | 32 | 57.3% | |
| CAR | @ | RAM | Boxscore | 13 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 37 | 24 | 60.7% | 50 | 17 | 74.6% |
| SEA | BUF | Boxscore | 31 | 25 | 6 | 4 | 30 | 12 | 71.4% | 44 | 38 | 53.7% | |
| DET | @ | MIN | Boxscore | 22 | 16 | 6 | 2.3 | 37 | 25 | 59.7% | 41 | 25 | 62.1% |
| MIA | NYJ | Boxscore | 27 | 23 | 4 | 1.9 | 30 | 30 | 50% | 33 | 21 | 61.1% |
Denver, Los Angeles, and Seattle stood out this week for being extremely *pass* happy, which is pretty odd given how those teams have fared recently. After all, you can envision the Rams and Broncos with their struggling quarterbacks putting together a run-heavy game plan, while arguably no team has been as run-heavy as the Seahawks over the past few years.
But in week nine, the Seahawks passed on 71% of all plays, far more than any other winning team in week nine. Russell Wilson had 30 pass plays, while the team’s running backs (C.J. Prosise and Christine Michael) combined for just 8 carries and 10 rushing yards.
In losing efforts, the Broncos and Rams both passed on about 75% of plays, despite being in relatively competitive games. For Los Angeles, Todd Gurley had 12 carries for 48 yards, while Case Keenum had 50 dropbacks and picked up 280 yards. Again, that ratio doesn’t seem like it makes a ton of sense, and this was a game that was 7-0 entering the first quarter. For the Broncos, Devontae Booker and Kapri Bibbs had just 12 carries for 33 yards. Denver was trailing for most of the game, but Trevor Siemian was a disaster for most of it (39 dropbacks, 266 yards). Through three quarters, Siemian completed 15 passes on 30 dropbacks for 174 yards and only six first downs.