A new week and a new edition of the PFF Live Reaction Blog, focusing on all the games from Week 4!
Our analysts have been working around the clock to get the week’s games to you and here’s where you’ll get your first glimpse of the results.
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 a Premium subscription, but you’ll still see:
• The highest-graded players from every game – any make it to the PFF Page of Fame?
• Unique Signature Stats that offer more context than any box score number ever could.
• Snap numbers including routes run, pressured passes, slot coverage, and more.
• Analysis with a PFF twist on all the breaking news.
So bookmark the page and check back every half hour to be in the know.
16.30 – Patriots at Falcons Game Notes
– The three highest graded players were Nate Solder (+6.3), Matt Ryan (+5.2) and Aqib Talib (+5.1)
– The three lowest graded players were Peria Jerry (-3.1) and both Jonathan Babineaux and Jeremy Trueblood (-2.8)
– A better day for Tom Brady. He wasn’t perfect but did complete 7-of-13 passes over 10 yards and his receivers only dropped two of 22 catchable balls.
– The Falcons defense managed just six pressures between them on a collective 139 pass rushes.
– Seven times Matt Ryan threw at Aqib Talib. The end result was no completions, one pick and two pass break ups.
16.15 – Cowboys at Chargers Game Notes
– The three highest graded players were Nick Hardwick (+4.3), Philip Rivers (+4.2) and both Sean Lee and Tyron Smith (+2.8)
– The three lowest graded players were Donald Butler (-4.0), Morris Claiborne (-3.3) and Nick Hayden (-3.2)
– What made the performance of Rivers so special. He had 39 aimed passes, and completed 35 of them with one drop. That was good for an adjusted accuracy percentage of 92.3%.
– A game good on tackling. The Cowboys only missed six, yet the Chargers bettered this with just three missed tackles.
– We credited Sean Lee with an astonishing 16 tackles, with seven of those going for defensive stops.
16.00 – Redskins at Raiders Game Notes
– The three highest graded players were Jack Crawford (+3.9), Brian Orakpo (+3.6) and Trent Williams (+2.8)
– The three lowest graded players were Matt Flynn (-4.0), Logan Paulson (-3.0) and Tracy Porter (-2.7)
– Cementing the starting job for Terrelle Pryor, Flynn completed five passes on the 18 dropbacks he was pressured while taking a terrible seven sacks.
– A big day for Williams who added evidence to the case of him being one of the best left tackles in the league with a perfect performance in pass protection.
– With “just” nine missed tackles, yesterday was the first time the Redskins had missed fewer than 10 all season.
15.30 – Jets at Titans Game Notes
– The three highest graded players were Alterraun Verner (+4.2), Michael Roos (+3.2) and Sheldon Richardson (+2.8)
– The three lowest graded players were Vladimir Ducasse and Geno Smith (-6.3) and Chris Johnson (-2.5)
– What made it such a rough day for Smith? He struggled when pressured. On those 22 dropbacks he was sacked five times and completed just 43.8% of passes with one interception.
– With Kenny Britt out, Nate Washington led the team with 36 routes run, followed by Kendall Wright with 35. Up next was Damian Williams (24) while Justin Hunter ran just two and Mike Preston the one.
– Three more defensive stops for Sheldon Richardson. That puts him at 10 on the year, second to only J.J. Watt of 3-4 defensive ends.
15.00 – Colts at Jaguars Game Notes
– The three highest graded players were Andrew Luck (+6.6) and all of Will Blackmon, Anthony Castonzo and Cory Redding (+4.8)
– The three lowest graded players were John Cyprien (-4.5), Josh Evans (-4.4) and Will Rackley (-3.6)
– On his return to action Blaine Gabbert did a decent enough job on his intermediate and deep throws, going 6-of-10 on passes aimed over 10 yards in the air. He struggled when pressured, completing only 41.7% of passes on those 17 dropbacks and was let down by five dropped passes.
– Nice day for Vontae Davis. He was thrown at seven times, allowing just three completions for 10 yards while breaking up two passes and intercepting another.
– Denard Robinson was on the field for just two snaps and dropped a pass on the one ball targeted his way.
14.30 – Seahawks at Texans Game Notes
– The three highest graded players were J.J. Watt (+9.6), Cliff Avril (+5.4) and both Brandon Mebane and Michael Bennett (+4.3)
– The three lowest graded players were Daryl Sharpton (-5.2), J.R. Sweezy (-4.7) and Michael Bowie (-4.5)
– Watt wasn’t the only Texan defender to have a big game. It was a breakout day for Whitney Mercilus who finished with three sacks, one hit and five hurries on his 27 pass rushes.
– Russell Wilson only completed one pass over 10 yards in the air the entire game while also facing pressure on 16 of 34 dropbacks.
– In the battle for playing time at the receiver spot for Seattle, Golden Tate led the way with 28 routes run. In second spot was Sidney Rice (24), third Doug Baldwin (22), while Jermaine Kearse ran 14 routes and Stephen Williams ran three routes.
13:30 – Top Grades of The Week
Well our Team of the Week article will be up later today and updated tomorrow, but right now the top grades of the week belong to;
1. Joe Staley: +6.2
2. Ndamukong Suh: +5.7
3. Julius Peppers: +5.6
13.00 – Business Time!
If you tune into the blog on a weekly basis you'll know that round about now is when the games start flying in. We've already got eight up so far and it won't be long before we're completely up to date. In the mean time how about these little tidbits;
– Mike Glennon had a 0.0 QB rating when throwing at Patrick Peterson.
– No defensive tackle has graded better than Ndamukong Suh this year.
– Jerome Simpson is averaging 3 yards per route run on the year. In 2012 that number was at 1.03.
12.30 – ReFocused Articles
The blog is full of self awareness. It knows that many of you out there need more than Game Notes. You need ReFocused Articles. Well they're flying up as well so check out our reviews to get in the know. They're up just to the right of this article , with the remainder to go up today.
12.00 – Eagles at Broncos Game Notes
– The three highest graded players were Orlando Franklin (+5.4), Peyton Manning (+4.5) and both Demaryius Thomas and Chris Clark (+3.4)
– The three lowest graded players were Cary Williams (-3.8) and both Earl Wolff and Lane Johnson (-3.5)
– 35 dropbacks, just five of them with pressure on him. It didn’t hurt that on 65.7% of dropbacks Peyton Manning got rid of the ball under 2.5 seconds.
– The Broncos spent the afternoon in 11 personnel for 64.5% of plays. The league average is 48.4%.
– The four outside linebackers used by the Eagles rushed the passer a total 45 times. They had just the three quarterback hurries to show for it, with Connor Barwin and Casey Matthews drawing blanks.
11.30 – All The Grades, All The Time
Well at least for 365 days anywhere. You can get access to all the grades and all the unique stats we produce for just $26.99. Put some people in their place and arm yourself with PFF Premium today!
11.00 – Bears at Lions Game Notes
– The three highest graded players were Ndamukong Suh (+5.7), Julius Peppers (+5.6) and Louis Delmas (+3.7)
– The three lowest graded players were Jordan Mills (-5.0), Major Wright (-3.5) and Shea McClellin (-3.4)
– The Lions had Reggie Bush and Joique Bell on the field together for seven snaps. Bush managed 41 total snaps, while Bell was at 31.
– In the endless battle between Charles Tillman and Calvin Johnson, Megatron caught 3-of-5 balls when covered by Peanut for 25 yards and a touchdown. And yes Tillman was still following him around the field pre-snap.
– Suh added two sacks and three hurries to his quarterback disruptions total. He now has 26 already on the year, on pace to become the first defensive tackle to break the 100 mark.
10.30 – Bengals at Browns Game Notes
– The three highest graded players were Geno Atkins (+5.0), Andrew Whitworth (+4.5) and Mitchell Schwartz (+3.6)
– The three lowest graded players were Barkevious Mingo (-3.7), Andy Dalton (-3.5) and Adam Jones (-3.3)
– Brian Hoyer and Dalton combined to complete just 8 passes between them over 10 yards in the air as secondaries came out on top. This was despite the fact that combined they were only pressured on on 21 of 88 dropbacks.
– The Browns backfield has a new feel to it. In terms of who got the most playing time Chris Ogbonnaya led the way with 42 snaps, followed by 26 for Willis McGahee and 17 for Bobby Rainey.
– After a monster game last week Michael Johnson could only manage the one quarterback hit against the near flawless in pass protection Joe Thomas.
10.00 – Giants at Chiefs Game Notes
– The three highest graded players were Prince Amukamara (+5.3), Tamba Hali (+4.3) and Mike Patterson (+3.2)
– The three lowest graded players were Rodney Hudston (-5.1) and Brandon Myers, Geoff Schwartz and Donald Stephenson (-3.7)
– What was so good about the day of Amukamara. He didn’t allow a single pass into his coverage, broke up one pass and intercepted another and scored a positive in the run game.
– The Giants offensive line combined for a -8.4 grade with the best grade a -1.4 for Kevin Boothe. The transition from old to new isn’t going to be a smooth one at this rate.
– Alex Smith (+3.0) was more aggressive in this game, completing 8-of-13 passes aimed over 10 yards in the air.
09.30 – Steelers at Vikings Game Notes
– The three highest graded players were David Johnson (+4.2), Phil Loadholt (+3.9) and Brandon Fusco (+2.9)
– The three lowest graded players were Josh Robinson (-5.7), Vince Williams (-4.3) and Erin Henderson (-4.0)
– So is Cassel a better option than Christian Ponder? Is he more aggressive? Well on a small sample size 16% of his throws went over 20 yards in the air, with Ponder himself at 15%. But it’s also worth noting that on his 24 aimed passes only six of them went 10 yards in the air or more and 153 of the teams yards came after the catch. The jury needs to remain out.
– A rough day for the Steelers defense. They missed 17 tackles compared to the eight of the Vikings.
– On 58 pass blocking snaps Mike Adams was beat for seven total pressures. One letting a guy go unblocked, another on his inside shoulder and five on his outside. So a bad day with three of the plays ended up being sacks, but also worth noting that he was asked to pass block a lot which makes total quarterback disruptions allowed numbers higher than what you’d normally see.
09.00 – Cardinals at Buccaneers Game Notes
– The three highest graded players were Gerald McCoy (+5.5), Patrick Peterson (+5.0) and Matt Shaughnessy (+4.3)
– The three lowest graded players were Mike Glennon (-6.4), Davin Joseph (-3.8) and Rashard Mendenhall (-3.0)
– A tough debut for Glennon and no doubt where he struggled the most. 21 times the Cardinals blitzed him and it produced just seven completions, two sacks, two picks and a 23.2 QB rating.
– What rating did Glennon have when throwing at Patrick Peterson? A perfect 0.0. Peterson allowed just 13 yards into his coverage on eight targets while playing 45 coverage snaps.
– Personnel wise the Bucs offense spent 53.2% of their offensive snaps in 11 personnel, 20.3% in 21 personnel and 8.9% in 12 personnel.
08.30 – Ravens at Bills Game Notes
– The three highest graded players were Da’Norris Searcy (+3.9), James Ihedigbo (+3.7) and Aaron Williams (+3.5)
– The three lowest graded players were Joe Flacco (-7.5), Gino Gradkowski (-4.1) and E.J. Manuel (-3.0)
– The Bills used the Option on 11 of their rushing attempts. Out of it Manuel ran the ball four times and the back seven times. Manuel picked up 12 yards here, including one play where he fumbled and another that had yards taken off for a hold downfield.
– While it was a big day for Torrey Smith with 166 yards, it did take 54 routes to pick them up. That gave him 3.07 yards per route, a number bettered by Robert Woods who scored a 3.2. What’s more there was more for him on the field with some more accurate quarterback play.
– Providing small consolation for the Ravens was the play of Arthur Jones in run defense. With the Bills getting two bodies on Haloti Ngata for most of the game he took advantage of one against one work with a healthy five defensive stops against the run. His first five of the year.
08.00 – 49ers at Rams Game Notes
– The three highest graded players were Joe Staley (+6.2), NaVorro Bowman (+5.5) and Glenn Dorsey (+4.8)
– The three lowest graded players were Scott Wells (-6.7), Sam Bradford (-5.4) and Daryl Richardson (-4.1)
– What went wrong for Sam Bradford? He completed just six of 17 passes aimed over 10 yards in the air and achieved a 51.3 quarterback rating when the 49ers didn’t blitz him.
– With Aldon Smith out it was the duo of Dan Skuta and Corey Lemonier who got playing time. Skuta (32 snaps) played primarily in their base 3-4 front with Lemonier (45 snaps) coming in their nickel and at times dime package.
– While the shocking (at times) play of Bradford couldn’t be ignored, it’s easy to forget that Colin Kaepernick (-2.9) still had some issues telegraphing throws (including two dropped interceptions) and only completed four passes over 10 yards in the air. The pressure on him has been alleviated somewhat, but it’s still there.
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