NFL News & Analysis

5 PFF stats you need to know from NFL Week 11

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - NOVEMBER 20: Carson Palmer #3 of the Arizona Cardinals throws the ball away in the fourth quarter of the game against the Minnesota Vikings on November 20, 2016 at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)

Miss a moment of NFL Week 11 action? Here are the five key stats you need to know coming out of Sunday’s slate of games.

[Editor’s note: See the highest-graded players from every NFL Week 11 game here.]

1. In Minnesota's 30-24 win over Arizona, the Vikings pressured Cardinals QB Carson Palmer on 62.8 percent of his dropbacks.

That’s not only the highest rate in the league this week, but the highest pressure percentage any QB has been under all season long. Defensive ends Everson Griffen and Danielle Hunter tied for the team lead with nine QB pressures apiece (Griffen had three hits and six hurries; Hunter recorded two sacks, two hits, and five hurries). Cornerback Xavier Rhodes allowed a passer rating of 0.0 into his coverage, surrendering as many catches (two, for 16 yards) on seven targets as he had interceptions, one of which was a pick-six.

2. Washington's Kirk Cousins was the league's most-accurate quarterback on deep passes this week.

In the Redskins' impressive Sunday night win over the Packers, quarterback Kirk Cousins connected on three of four pass attempts traveling 20-plus yards in the air, notching 167 deep-passing yards and two touchdowns. Cousins was also one of four quarterbacks on Sunday to deliver an accurate pass on every attempt under pressure; on seven pressured dropbacks, Cousins was sacked twice, completed three passes, and threw two additional accurate passes that were dropped. The Redskins quarterback earned an 85.5 grade for the game, the highest mark among all QBs in Week 11.

3. In his first NFL start, Rams QB Jared Goff failed to complete a pass over 10 yards downfield.

Taking the field for the first time in the 2016 regular season, first-overall pick Jared Goff struggled to stretch the field against the Dolphins. On five pass attempts traveling 10 or more yards downfield, the rookie failed to connect with a receiver even once (although one pass was a Hail Mary attempt at the end of the game). On the day, Goff completed 17 of 31 pass attempts, with each completion coming within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage. The former Cal QB earned a 50.2 overall grade against Miami, 18th-highest among NFL quarterbacks so far this week.

4. On targets into Seahawks CB Richard Sherman's coverage, Eagles QB Carson Wentz recorded a 7.3 passer rating.

The Seahawks' secondary was not kind to rookie quarterback Carson Wentz, who earned his second-lowest game grade (48.5) of the season on Sunday. Wentz completed 23 of 45 pass attempts against Seattle for 218 total yards, with two touchdowns and two interceptions. When throwing into cornerback Richard Sherman's coverage, the rookie QB recorded just one completion on four attempts; Sherman, meanwhile, picked off one of Wentz's passes and broke up another.

5. Cowboys QB Dak Prescott earned a passer rating of 130.0 from a clean pocket in Dallas' win over Baltimore.

That’s the second-highest number of the week (behind Kirk Cousins' 153.8), and it fueled Dak Prescott's overall passer rating of 127.2, as well. Only Tom Brady and Matt Ryan have a higher passer rating from a clean pocket on the season than Prescott; the former Mississippi State QB's passer rating drops by nearly 50 points when under pressure (the average drop for a QB is 30 points), and his completion rate slips by 24 percentage points. Prescott continues to have an excellent rookie season, and the ability of his offensive line to prevent the opposing pass-rush from getting to him has been a major factor in that success.

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