32 Teams, 32 Observations, Week 1

By popular demand, the 32 teams, 32 observations piece is back!
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For those who missed it last year, here’s where we offer an interesting bit from each team with some stat you may not have known or some trend you may not have noticed.
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If you love football trivia then you’ve come to the right place.
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AFC EAST
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Buffalo Bills: The Bills are a team that wasn’t able to take advantage of the new kickoff rule, with only one off Rian Lindell’s eight kickoffs resulting in a touchback.

Miami Dolphins: The player who lined-up most often in the slot this week was Davone Bess who did so 59 times.

New England Patriots: Over the course of the game, Tom Brady accumulated a PFF pass rating of +15.0, higher than any quarterback in any game in the four years we’ve been rating players.

New York Jets: The Jets managed to not have a penalty called on them all game long. Rare feat.
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AFC NORTH
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Baltimore Ravens: The Ravens were able to get to Ben Roethlisberger early and often, achieving a sack or a hit on him on 21% of pass plays.

Cincinnati Bengals: The two quarterbacks with the worst pocket presence score this week were Bruce Gradkowski and Andy Dalton who had ratings of 35.7 and 27.8 respectively. The next worst was 15.6.

Cleveland Browns: Second year star Joe Haden set the tone for the season with five passes deflected, giving him a quick and commanding lead.

Pittsburgh Steelers: Lawrence Timmons jumped out to top the league's list for stops by inside linebackers with 10 – nearly double the next highest total.
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AFC SOUTH
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Houston Texans: The transition to a 3-4 linebacker role started exceedingly well for Mario Williams who brought pressure on 42% of his pass rushes.

Indianapolis Colts: On 22 plays where Kerry Collins was under pressure, 13 resulted in incompletions, six in completions, and three in sacks.

Jacksonville Jaguars: Speaking of playing under pressure, Luke McCown was better under pressure than not, with 8.1 yards per attempt under pressure, and 6.9 when not.

Tennessee Titans: Their leading receiver Kenny Britt led all receivers in deep targets with five, but he only managed one catch on those targets.
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AFC WEST
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Denver Broncos: Over half the kickers in the league had five or more kickoffs, but Matt Prater was one of two to have every one of them touched back.

Kansas City Chiefs: While a lot went wrong for the Chiefs on Sunday, their pass blocking wasn’t one of them. They allowed one sack, zero hits and three pressures as a team.

Oakland Raiders: Safety Jerome Boyd was targeted more than any other safety with nine balls thrown his way.

San Diego Chargers: No player at any position was thrown to more than Antonio Gates; the target of 14 passes.
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NFC EAST
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Dallas Cowboys: No inside linebacker allowed more passing yards this week than Sean Lee, but he helped make up for it with an interception.

New York Giants: Moving to left guard didn’t help David Diehl’s pass blocking. He allowed three sacks this week, and only 18 guards allowed more than that all of last season.

Philadelphia Eagles: With 97 rushing yards on 11 attempts, Michael Vick took an early lead to the best rushing quarterback title with a rating of +4.5, tripling all other competitors.

Washington Redskins: Part of the Redskins' victory came from nice punting, where four of Saverio Rocca’s six kicks left the Giants starting inside their 20.
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NFC NORTH
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Chicago Bears: Tied for the lead in Yards per Pass Route Run for running backs is Matt Forte with a solid 4.29.

Detroit Lions: Nate Burleson was the only wide receiver to catch every ball thrown his way while being thrown at five or more times.

Green Bay Packers: Aaron Rodgers was a perfect 19 for 19 on passes of 10 yards or less.

Minnesota Vikings: The linebacker who was thrown at the most in Week 1 by far was Chad Greenway, with 13 targets. To no surprise, he also allowed the most catches with 11.
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NFC SOUTH
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Atlanta Falcons: The leader in stops for outside linebackers is Atlanta’s own Sean Weatherspoon with eight.

Carolina Panthers: After one week, Cam Newton is the leader in the PFF Quarterback Rating with a mark of 117.3. The five passes he had dropped factored in.

New Orleans Saints: The clear leader in Elusive Rating after one week is Pierre Thomas with a rating of 311.11. On just five runs and four receptions, he forced seven missed tackles.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Both outside linebackers Quincy Black and Geno Hayes allowed more than 80 receiving yards against the Lions; second- and third-most in the league for outside linebackers.
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NFC WEST
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Arizona Cardinals: Over one third of the passing yards the Cardinals allowed came from Kerry Rhodes in coverage, with his 153 yards allowed leading all safeties.

St Louis Rams: A total of 13 different players from the Rams defense had at least one pressure last week, tied for the most in the league.

San Francisco 49ers: No other quarterback was more accurate than Alex Smith this week, who on 20 attempts had 15 completions, and two passed dropped resulting in an 85% Accuracy Percentage.

Seattle Seahawks: Of the players who ran at least 30 pass routes, Golden Tate was the worst in Yards per Pass Route Run with 0.25. Ben Obomanu wasn’t far behind with 0.34.
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Follow Nathan on Twitter: @PFF_NateJahnke and check out our main Twitter feed too: @ProFootbalFocus
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