It’s Week 14 in the NFL and that means the PFF Live Reaction Blog is back.
All through the day we’ll be dropping PFF Premium-style nuggets designed to give you information you simply can’t get anywhere else. Naturally you won’t get all of the info you’d get from PFF Premium, but you’ll still see:
– The highest-graded players from every game
– Unique PFF Signature Stats that offer more context than any of the box score numbers out there
– Snap numbers including wide receivers routes run
– Analysis on all the breaking news
So bookmark the page and check back every half hour to be in the know.
17:00 Dolphins Claim Binns
Life in the NFL can be something of a rollercoaster. One minute Armon Binns is a starter for the Cincinnati Bengals, the next he's looking work. Well technically he was never looking for work as the Dolphins claimed him on waivers, and on the surface it looks a good move for the former undrafted free agent. In the first six weeks of the season he played the majority of snaps opposite A.J. Green, but as the Bengal rookies became acclimatized to life in the NFL he saw his playing time dwindle, hitting the field for just 17 snaps since Week 6. There hasn't been much to suggest he'll offer a big upgrade even to one of the weakest wide receiver rosters in the NFL like Miami.
16:45 Dez Bryant Done for the Year?
That's the word coming out of Dallas with Richie Witt reporting that he's torn ligaments in his hand. Despite all of the drama around him Bryant has earned a 119.7 QB rating for his quarterback when throwing to him, second highest in the league even if the eight drops and two fumbles had hurt his team. It likely means more balls for Jason Witten and Miles Austin, and an increased role for both Dwayne Harris and Kevin Ogletree. Harris was on the field for 36 snaps against the Bengals with Ogletree down at 13. It's a big blow to the postseason prospects of Dallas.
16:30 Chargers at Steelers Analysis!
– There's a near wall of green on our premium page for a San Diego defense that has all of the teams' best performance. Standing out are Cam Thomas (+5.9), Eric Weddle (+4.5) and Demorrio Williams (+3.5).
– So relentless was the Chargers pass rush they ensured that Ben Roethlisberger faced pressure on 50% of his dropbacks. The worrying thing for Pittsburgh is how much came up the gut with Thomas (six), Corey Liuget (six) and Kendall Reyes (four) have multiple QB disruption days.
– Another day for Philip ‘I throw the ball away a lot' Rivers to do what he does. Seven more throwaways means he's up to 35 on the year with the next most in the league being 24.
– A rough day for Pittsburgh would have been a lot worse if not for Ben Roethlisberger (+5.8). Other than him Larry Foote (+3.3) and Brett Keisel (+2.8).
– The worrying thing for Pittsburgh? They got pressure on just 13 of the 43 dropbacks Philip Rivers had. Against that makeshift line you expected more.
– Including plays nullified by penalty Jonathan Dwyer led the backfield rotation with 24 snaps, with Chris Rainey at 21 and Isaac Redman at 17.
16:10 RG3 suffers mild sprain of right LCL
The incredible year of RG3 continues. After picking up that nasty looking injury we wondered if he would be back this year, now we're wondering if he will be back this year. The Luck or Griffin debate will go on for years (at this stage it's one where there are no losers) but for are money the Redskin QB has been leagues ahead of Luck and looks set to win our Rookie of the Year. You rarely see quarterbacks at any level exhibit the level of playmaking of an RG3 with the limited number of mistakes, and it's reflected in our adjusted accuracy percentage signature stat. He finds himself just behind Aaron Rodgers in second spot right now.
16:00 Why Is Brandon Jacobs So Mad?
For some people collecting a pay check while playing for arguably the leagues' best team would be more than enough. Not so for Brandon Jacobs. His 10 snaps as a 49er clearly have left him perturbed after managing 373 last year. In fact last year, after missing two games, he managed more than 10 snaps in every single game (post season included) of the Giants Super Bowl run. How the mighty have fallen.
15:30 Saints at Giants Analysis!
– For New Orleans Brian De La Puente (+2.9) earned the highest grade. Following him were Joe Morgan (+2.7) and Drew Brees (+2.7).
– A rough day for Jabari Greer. He gave up 7-of-10 for 87 yards and a touchdown into his coverage.
– Marques Colston led the team running 40 routes, ahead of Devery Henderson (30), Lance Moore (25) and Joe Morgan (19).
– Jason Pierre-Paul (+6.0) had the highest grade for the Giants. After him came Victor Cruz (+4.3) and Martellus Bennett (+3.3).
– Eli Manning faced pressure on just 9 of 35 dropbacks. Usual PFF punching bag David Diehl gave up just one hit and two hurries on 41 pass blocks.
– What made the grade of JPP so big? The hit and eight hurries, as well as two defensive stops he picked up.
15:00 Games Up!
We'll be providing some feedback on both of them soon enough, but NO @ NYG and SD @ PIT are both up on the premium section of the site right now.
14:30 McClain Reinstated!
Well nobody saw this coming, ourselves included. It seemed for all intents and purposes that the Raiders were going to part company with Rolando McClain and we even broke it down here. But such is life and the Raiders have got him back on the active roster. Is this a conciliatory move, or just a final goodbye before they do away with him in the offseason. Only time will tell.
14:00 Rams at Bills Analysis!
– In a breakout performance Michael Brockers (+6.8) had the highest grade for any Ram. Following him were Brandon Gibson (+3.8) and Quintin Mikell (+3.7).
– Another game that raises questions about Sam Bradford. He wasn't helped by four drops and did throw the ball away three times, but completing 3-of-12 passes when under pressure isn't really good enough.
– What made Brockers day so special? Two sacks, two hits, a hurry and four defensive stops in the run game. Eye opener.
– For Buffalo George Wilson (+4.1) led the way with the ever reliable Kyle Williams (+3.8) and improving Marcell Dareus (+2.9) behind.
– If we're going to mention the struggles of one quarterback under pressure it's only fair we look at another. Ryan Fitzpatrick was pressured on 15 of 41 dropbacks, completing 4-of-9 passes, taking five sacks and throwing one pick. His NFL QB rating? 17.1.
– Lee Smith has now caught all four balls thrown his way this year with two of them going for touchdowns.
13:45 Owen Schmitt Released
Ron Bartell wasn't the only one to get ditched by the Raiders. Fullback Owen Schmitt has been sent packing in a move that you would think signifies Marcel Reese moving back to the FB position full time, which is a shame given he flashed something as a lead back. Schmitt was only used on 91 snaps this year compared to the 174 he was used in Philadelphia in 2011 and 352 the year before. He's trending downwards, though his play looked a lot better in those 91 snaps than it did during his time as an Eagle or in Seattle.
13:30 Jackson Done For Season
The news of season ending injuries, with three games left, always sounds more dramatic than it is. Still Buffalo will miss Fred Jackson if reports are confirmed that he's sprained his MCL. Jackson hasn't got back to his 2011 best but hasn't embarrassed himself either. That said his presence has denied us a chance to get more of a look at one of the most explosive players in the league, C.J. Spiller. The former first round pick went into the week our second ranked running back and was the owner of the highest elusive rating in the league. We're interested to see him get more carries.
13:00 Wilson Out in Arizona?
It's that time of the year where veterans start to feel a bit unloved as the coaches around them work them out of certain packages to get a fresh look at some newer guys. Step forward Adrian Wilson, one of the most accountable guys out there in the league. He's not playing as well as he was in 2011 but then who in Arizona is? Instead he's seen his playing time drop considerably (he'd played 84.1% of snaps heading into yesterday's game) and there's a feeling that this could be his last year in Arizona. Given where this team appears to be heading (nowhere fast) he might consider that a blessing in disguise.
12:30 Raiders Release Bartell!
More change in Oakland as one of the few free agents they had the cap room to bring in, Ron Bartell, has been let go. It's not terrible surprising with the former Ram our 91st rated corner in the league this year having surrendered four touchdowns and allowing 64.3% of balls into his coverage to be complete. Philip Adams, who has impressed in his 146 snaps, is likely to get an extended look. He has a +3.9 grade on the year so far.
12:00 Chiefs at Browns Analysis!
– The highest grade on the Chiefs roster belonged to Ryan Lilja (+2.9), with Tysyn Hartman (+1.9) second and Derrick Johnson (+1.7) third.
– With a sack and a hurry Tyson Jackson now has seven QB disruptions in his past four games. He managed zero in his previous 13. Baby steps.
– 57.6% of Jamaal Charles' yards came on two carries.
– For Cleveland the highest graded players all came on the offensive line. Shawn Lauvao (+3.9) led the way followed by Joe Thomas (+3.1) and Mitchell Schwartz (+2.6).
– The Chiefs only managed seven quarterback disruptions all game. One was unblocked, three on Brandon Weeden and two were on Ben Watson. The line gave up just one piece between them. Incredible.
– The Browns only missed four tackles with no player missing more than one.
11:45 Ravens Fire Cam Cameron!
This one seems to have been coming for some time. Unimpressed with the usage of Ray Rice (we can imagine) Baltimore have turned to Jim Caldwell to try and get the best out of the offense and out of Joe Flacco. It can't have escaped anyone's attention that Flacco hasn't delivered on his comments after the 2011 season though he looked better against Washington. He's currently our 25th ranked quarterback, while Ray Rice is our third ranked running back.
11:30 Defensive Player of the Year Watch
It was another fine week for the contenders with just J.J. Watt left to play tonight. Von Miller got the show off to a bang with his sack, hit and three hurries on 26 pass rushes on Thursday Night before Geno Atkins enhanced his reputation with a bruising sack, two hit and six hurry display (along with two tackles for a loss) against the Cowboys. Then we had Aldon Smith add two more sacks to his total, so even if he's not in our Defensive Player of the Year race (there's more to life than sacks), we understand why many have him in theirs. Let us know via our twitter (@PFF) who you think deserves the nod!
11:00 Mularkey Calls Out Elliot!
And it's easy to see why. He dropped two balls against the Jets bringing his season total to five. That's not a terrible number until you consider he's only caught 10 balls all year. The 2012 undrafted free agent is walking a very fine line but can take heart from how Cecil Shorts dropped three balls and only caught two in his rookie year.
10:30 Titans at Colts Analysis!
– Despite the defeat there were a series of big performances from Titans players. The highest grades belong to Sen'Derrick Marks (+6.5), Derrick Morgan (+5.6) and Karl Klug (+5.1).
– Where did it go wrong for Jake Locker. Well he completed 16-of-22 passes when he wasn't blitzed, and just 6-of-13 when he was.
– Tennessee had four players (Morgan, Marks, Klug and Jarius Wynn) who recorded at least four quarterback pressures, yet Kamerion Wimbley managed just the one.
– Anthony Castonzo (+6.4) had the highest grade for all Colts, with Vick Ballard (+3.3) and Vontae Davis (+2.2) following him up.
– Andrew Luck faced pressure on a ridiculous 23-of-39 dropbacks, where he completed just 5-of-18 passes. That interior of the line isn't helping him.
– The Colts missed six tackles. Three of them by Cassius Vaughn.
10:00 Sig Stat Teaser!
Of the quarterbacks analyzed so far from the week let's take a look at the best adjusted accuracy percentages.
1st. Colin Kaepernick – 86.4%
2nd. Joe Flacco – 80%
3rd. Andy Dalton – 78.1%
At the other end of the scale Andrew Luck is last with 59.4%, ahead of Chad Henne (61.5%) and Ryan Tannehill (65.5%). Plenty more games to come in for this to change however.
09:30 Jets at Jaguars Analysis!
– The stars of the Jets show were Muhammad Wilkerson (+4.5), Brandon Moore (+4.5) and Nick Mangold (+4.0).
– Mark Sanchez attempted just seven passes over 10 yards in the air. He completed three of them while the Jets line ensured he only faced pressure on three dropbacks.
– Another day, another 30 pass rushes for Calvin Pace. The outcome being just the one quarterback hit. He has just 23 quarterback disruptions on the year. Maybe this is the year the Jets address their edge rush?
– For Jacksonville the best grades were earned by Eugene Monroe (+3.9), Cameron Bradfield (+3.4) and Jason Babin (+2.8).
– The possibility of drafting another quarterback looms large with the struggles of Chad Henne in this one. He had some problems when pressured, completing just 2-of-15 attempts for 21 yards and throwing two picks in the process.
– Jeremy Mincey got paid after a fine 2011. Unfortunately he's struggled this year. He picked up a one hit and no other pressure, though it did end a slump of three games without managing any quarterback disruptions.
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09:00 Stand Out Performances!
It's early in the week but with six games already up a few performances are already catching our attention.
– Some of the highest grades belong to Anthony Castonzo (+6.4), Derrick Morgan (+5.6), Von Miller (+6.2), Geno Atkins (+8.5) and Sen'Derrick Marks (+6.5).
08:30 Cowboys at Bengals Analysis!
– For Dallas the highest grades went to Anthony Spencer (+4.3), Jason Witten (+3.4) and Brandon Carr (+3.2).
– Tough day for Tony Romo who completed 45% of passes on the 23 dropbacks he was under pressure, with three sacks, one interception and three more dropped picks.
– Anthony Spencer managed a defensive stop on 33.3% of the running plays he was in on (six on 18 snaps).
– For Cincinnati Geno Atkins (+8.5) led the way, with Andre Smith (+4.3) and Domata Peko (+2.9) following.
– What could have been for Carlos Dunlap. He had a hit and three hurries, but twice missed tackles on Tony Romo.
– A.J. Green led the receivers by running 38 pass routes. He was followed by Marvin Jones (36), Andrew Hawkins (32), Ryan Whalen (3) and Brandon Tate (1).
08:00 ReFocused Articles
Just a reminder you can catch all of our ReFocused articles here as they go live. The first of the Sunday games is up, with Dallas @ Cincinnati broken down.
07:30 Ravens at Redskins Analysis!
– For Baltimore the stars of the show were Paul Kruger (+4.7), Cary Williams (+2.5) and Ray Rice (+2.1).
– Have you ever seen Ed Reed play so badly? Three missed tackles and a touchdown given up. Ouch. Still there's plenty of blame to go around. The Ravens missed 17 total tackles.
– Big day for Paul Kruger. He picked up two sacks and seven hurries on just 33 pass rushes.
– Ryan Kerrigan (+4.1) was the star of the show for Washington. After him the next best grades went to Trent Williams (+2.8) and Chris Chester (+2.5).
– RG3 completed 8-of-12 passes on ball aimed over 10 yards in the air.
– Pierre Garcon led the team with 33 pass routes run, followed by Santana Moss (21), Josh Morgan (20), Leonard Hankerson (15) and Aldrick Robinson (five).
07:00 Signature Stats!
We like to talk about our signature stats quite a lot in this blog, so if you're not familiar you better get to be. Check out the run down on what they all mean here.
06:30 Dolphins at 49ers Analysis!
– The star performers for the Dolphins were Cameron Wake (+2.5), Randy Starks (+2.3) and Mike Pouncey (+1.6).
– Tough day for Reshad Jones. The All Pro candidate missed three of the nine tackles the Dolphins were charged with.
– Seven times Ryan Tannehill went deep and in the end he completed just one pass for 28 yards.
– For San Francisco the highest grades went to Aldon Smith (+4.3), Joe Staley (+3.9) and Patrick Willis (+3.7).
– With one dropped pass and one throw away Colin Kaepernick had an adjusted accuracy percentage score of 86.4%. He did however only attempt seven balls over 10 yards in the air.
– A.J. Jenkins got introduced to the NFL. He ran five routes though wasn't targeted once.
06:00 Tweet Us!
Curious to see how a player performed? Want more information on what we do? Well you need only tweet us @PFF and ask ask and we'll do our best to get back to you promptly. Stay tuned because up next we'll be breaking down the numbers and analysis from the Dolphins trip to San Francisco.
05:30 Broncos at Raiders Analysis
– Where better to start? The three highest grades for the Broncos were Von Miller (+6.2), Peyton Manning (+3.9) and Ryan Clady (+3.2).
– Manning went 8-for-8 on passes between 10 and 19 yards in the air.
– While Miller turned his 26 pass rushes into a sack, hit and three hurries, Elvis Dumervil managed nothing on 30 attempts to get at the QB.
– It wasn't all bad for Oakland. The highest graded performances was by Jared Veldheer (+4.4), Philip Adams (+2.9) and Lamarr Houston (+1.8).
– A tough day for Carson Palmer going deep. He went 3-of-11 on passes aimed over 10 yards in the air.
– Nobody ran more routes for the Raiders than the 30 of Darrius Heyward-Bey. After him it was Denarius Moore (29), Rod Streater (27) and Juron Criner (8).
05:00 Welcome!
It's a new day and after a fantastic slate of games in Week 14 the PFF team is busy bringing all the news and analysis to you. We have four games up already with all of them to follow. So stay tuned as the first pieces of analysis are coming up shortly.
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