One fact for every NFL team. Some might say it's truly a great day to be great.

Special thanks to TruMedia, PFF, Pro Football Reference, and Next-Gen Stats for all referenced metrics.

Arizona Cardinals

  • Question: Is Trey McBride the most reliable receiver in the NFL?

Something like that! Only eight players have at least 50 targets this season without being charged with a single drop.

Most targets without a drop this season (PFF):

Sadly, McBride also leads the league in most targets without catching a TD. Sigh.

Atlanta Falcons

  • Question: Who leads the league in targets that result in an interception?

Just five players have been targeted at least five times this season and had that very pass caught by the bad guys: Drake London (7), Diontae Johnson (5), CeeDee Lamb (5), Elijah Moore (5), and Garrett Wilson (5).

This doesn't mean it's the receiver's fault necessarily, but yeah: The answer is Mr. London.

Baltimore Ravens

  • Question: Who are the best teams at running the ball despite the defense usually devoting plenty of resources to stopping just that?

Several teams have been highly efficient despite facing plenty of loaded boxes (49ers, Eagles, Cardinals), and others have put together great rushing attacks (probably) in part because of their willingness to exploit lighter boxes (Lions, Buccaneers, Packers, and Commanders).

Still, nobody has been better than the Ravens in terms of raw yards per carry this season, and they've done it despite defenses regularly playing them with eight-plus defenders in the box.

Buffalo Bills

  • Question: Does Josh Allen get tougher to tackle as the season goes on?

Seemingly. Just look at his career per-game rushing splits by month:

  • September: 30 rush yards per game, 6.3 carries per game
  • October: 32, 6.6
  • November: 41.4, 7.2
  • December: 43, 6.9
  • January: 53, 8.6

Allen picks up more yardage and runs more often as the weather gets colder and the games get more important. Makes sense!

Yes, the same applies to Mr. Derrick Henry. Here's to hoping we get a snowy duel in January!

Carolina Panthers

  • Question: Is Bryce Young playing the best football of his career?

Basically. Now, the bar was low, but Young has managed to produce positive EPA on his dropbacks in three of his last four starts after managing to do so just twice across his first 19 starts.

 

Next up is an Eagles defense that has allowed just 241 total yards per game since returning from their Week 5 bye. The next-best defense in that stretch? The Lions … at 306. Good luck, Bryce!

Chicago Bears

  • Question: How good has Caleb Williams been since Thomas Brown took over?

We're only dealing with a three-game sample size here, but hey, the 2024 NFL Draft's No. 1 overall pick has at least more closely resembled an average to above-average professional QB during it!

Williams among 31 QBs with 50-plus dropbacks since Week 11:

  • EPA per dropback: +0.135 (11th)
  • Completion percentage over expected: -0.2% (20th)
  • PFF pass grade: 74.1 (17th)
  • Passer rating: 99.2 (11th)
  • Yards per attempt: 7.1 (16th)

The biggest problem continues to be sacks. Overall, Williams has taken three-plus sacks in 10 separate games this season–nobody else has more than eight such games. His league-high 49 sacks on the season have the rookie on pace to take a nice 69 on the year, a mark which would trail only 2002 David Carr (76) and 1986 Randall Cunningham (72) in NFL history.

Cincinnati Bengals

  • Question: Are the Bengals the NFL's most entertaining team to watch?

Maybe not for, you know, Bengals fans, but otherwise? Pretty close!

Most combined points for and against per game this season:

  1. Ravens (53.9)
  2. Bengals (51.9)
  3. Commanders (51.7)
  4. Buccaneers (48.5)
  5. Texans (45.9)

The Bengals' offense is largely an unstoppable force, while their defense has continuously proven to be a very moveable object. The result has been plenty of points and yards–a Red Zone addict's delight!

Cleveland Browns

  • Question: Is Jameis Winston the league's most willing downfield passer?

Almost! Colts QB Anthony Richardson (13.3 average target depth) is this year's most downfield-oriented gunslinger, but if you want to go ahead and include Winston's history: Yes.

Jameis Winston's average target depth by year:

  • 2024: 10.1 yards (2nd)
  • 2023: 12.7 (1st)
  • 2022: 12 (1st)
  • 2021: 9.5 (5th)
  • 2019: 10.9 (2nd)
  • 2018: 11.3 (2nd)
  • 2017: 11 (1st)
  • 2016: 10.8 (2nd)
  • 2015: 10.4 (5th)

Just keep those prayers coming and hopefully those pesky pick-sixes will go away soon.

Dallas Cowboys

  • Question: Do the Cowboys have the best return groups in the NFL?

Kick return, yes. Punt return, they're up there. Only the Lions and Chargers have arguably put forward better versions of both.

 

Shoutout to Cowboys returner KaVontae Turpin, who is second in the league in yards per kick return (36.3) and sixth in yards per punt return (11.8). He also boasts the fastest ball carrier speed at 22.36 miles per hour. Speed kills.

Denver Broncos

  • Question: Has Bo Nix steadily gotten better as the season has gone on?

Yup! The chart below denotes his EPA per dropback by game along with the weekly rank and opponent.

 

Top-11 efforts in five of his last six games is pretty darn good if you ask me–particularly considering the Broncos aren't exactly surrounding the rookie with the world's greatest supporting cast.

Detroit Lions

  • Question: Is Jahmyr Gibbs' ability to create big plays and limit negative ones basically unmatched?

Yes. Pre-Thursday night football …

Just please be a bit more careful on social media!

Green Bay Packers

So far, yes.

NFL WR with the most rushing yards:

What's even more amazing is that Reed has only needed 13 carries to earn this crown. He's now averaged a ridiculous 10.3 yards per carry on 24 career rush attempts–good for the fourth-highest mark in NFL history among all players with at least … 20 career rush attempts.

Houston Texans

  • Question: Is Nico Collins the most efficient WR in football?

You could say that. Nobody has averaged more yards per target than Collins (11.8) over the past two seasons among 103 players with triple-digit targets.

However, it's Collins' yards per route run mark that is especially mesmerizing.

Most yards per route run in a season since 2010 (min. 50 targets):

  1. 2023 Tyreek Hill (3.82)
  2. 2024 Nico Collins (3.38)
  3. 2024 A.J. Brown (3.32)
  4. 2022 Hill (3.2)
  5. 2024 Puka Nacua, 2023 Cooper Kupp, 2016 Julio Jones (3.12)

Absolute king shit.

Indianapolis Colts

You could say that. Overall, nobody has a larger increase in EPA per dropback from the first three quarters to the final 15 minutes and overtime than Richardson (+0.61). While the second-year talent's -0.29 EPA per dropback during the first three quarters of games is 41st among 42 qualified QBs (only better than Deshaun Watson, yikes), he's tied for ninth with none other than Patrick Mahomes during the final 15 minutes of games and into overtime. Hell yeah!

Jacksonville Jaguars

Yes! Especially considering his ability to rack up bunches of yards after the catch with a high average target depth. A lot of the league leaders in YAC often benefit from shorter, designed targets meant to get things going after the catch, but not the Jaguars' stud rookie WR.

 

Overall, Thomas joins Zay Flowers, Nico Collins, and A.J. Brown as the only WRs averaging at least 5.5 yards after the catch per reception *with* a double-digit average target depth. Pretty solid company if you ask me.

Kansas City Chiefs

  • Question: Is Kareem Hunt's lack of explosion a problem?

You could say that. No RB has a lower explosive run play rate (10+ yards) than Hunt (3.7%) among 32 RBs with 100-plus carries this season. Now, the veteran deserves some credit for seldom getting stuffed for a loss or no gain (14.8%, 9th), and his 56.8% success rate is the best mark of his career and up there with guys like Derrick Henry (57.1%) and Saquon Barkley (55.7%).

But man oh man: Would it kill the guy to break off a big run one of these days?

Most carries without a run of 20-plus yards this season:

  1. Kareem Hunt (162)
  2. Nick Chubb (82)
  3. Jaylen Warren (78)
  4. Cam Akers (76)
  5. Zach Charbonnet (75)

Las Vegas Raiders

  • Question: Is this the worst short-yardage run game in football?

Basically. No team has a lower rate of achieving a first down or touchdown on 3rd or 4th and 3 yards or fewer to gain than the Raiders (43.5%). Hell, no other run game is below 50%!

Los Angeles Chargers

Arguably! McConkey leads the way in yards per route run, while only Malik Nabers and Adonai Mitchell (on a much smaller sample) have managed to demand targets more consistently this season.

 

Please injury Gods make McConkey's knee issue okay. PLEASE.

Los Angeles Rams

  • Question: Are the Rams struggling to run the ball when it matters?

They sure are. Looking specifically at their backfield …

Rams RB yards per carry by quarter:

  • 1st quarter: 5.2 (5th)
  • 2nd quarter: 4.3 (14th)
  • 3rd quarter: 4.2 (23rd)
  • 4th quarter/OT: 3.1 (31st)

Overall, the Rams are the league's only offense with an RB yards per carry mark that goes down after every quarter.

If I had to guess why: Sean McVay and company remain quite awesome at scheming up an early script to create some running lanes, but the team's offensive line (PFF's 18th-ranked group entering Week 14) remains limited and has been getting exposed later in games when defenses become more willing to sell out against the run. That said: I am NOT a doctor.

Miami Dolphins

  • Question: Is De'Von Achane doing a great job protecting the football?

Better than anyone else!

Most combined carries and targets this season without a drop or fumble:

  1. De'Von Achane (203)
  2. Kareem Hunt (188)
  3. Zach Charbonnet (111)
  4. Tyler Allgeier (103)

I apologize in advance for inevitably jinxing all parties involved.

Minnesota Vikings

  • Question: Is Sam Darnold randomly very clutch at running in key spots?

Yup! Somehow, Darnold is 10 for 10 in achieving first downs on rush attempts on 3rd or 4th down with five or fewer yards to go. Eight of these have been sneaks, giving Darnold the second-highest successful sneak rate behind only … new Vikings QB Daniel Jones!

New England Patriots

  • Question: How productive has Drake Maye been on the ground since getting the starting job?

Very! In fact, Maye leads all QBs in rushing yards (333) since taking over under center in Week 6. More than Jalen Hurts (322), Lamar Jackson (315), and Jayden Daniels (290) in the same amount of games.

Naturally, Maye's average of 38.3 rush yards per game stacks up awfully favorably among rookie QBs to start at least eight games in the Super Bowl era: Only 2012 Robert Griffin (54.3), 2018 Josh Allen (52.6), 2024 Jayden Daniels (45.4), and 2011 Cam Newton (44.1) have him beat. Madness.

New Orleans Saints

  • Question: Is Alvin Kamara getting fed the rock more than ever?

Yes. The Saints' longtime swaggy stud RB is on pace to rack up 375 touches this season–pretty far removed from his previous career-high mark of 287 set back in 2021. However, the extra work doesn't seem to be overly impacting Kamara just yet; his average of 5.1 yards per touch is better than what he managed in 2021 (4.7), 2022 (5), and 2023 (4.5).

New York Giants

  • Question: Is the "Saquon has more rushing yards than all Giants RBs combined" propaganda even fair?

Not really and I'm annoyed by it at this point. Guess what: Saquon's 1,499 rushing yards are more than 29 of 31 RB rooms; only Lions and Ravens RBs have collectively managed to out-rush Mr. Barkley this season.

Would the Giants be better if they still had Saquon? Yup. Would he manage to lift the league's 32nd-ranked offense to contender-level heights? I very much doubt it.

New York Jets

  • Question: Has the Davante Adams trade worked out even a little bit?

Not really. Hell, Allen Lazard has posted a 30-412-5 receiving line on 44 targets compared to 31-344-2 on 58 targets for Adams. The ex-Packer/Raider's 58.3% catch rate ranks 43rd among 53 WRs with at least 25 targets since Week 7. His average of 11.2 yards per reception ranks 39th among that same sample.

While Adams deserves some of the blame, only the Bears (23.4%), Colts (22.4%), Titans (20.8%), and Panthers (19.8%) have a worse "Bad throw rate" than the Jets (18.8%) per Pro Football Reference. Sad!

Philadelphia Eagles

Very. This season Barkley has reached a speed of 20-plus miles per hour on eight carries–twice as many as second-place RBs Derrick Henry and Joe Mixon. Barkley's top speed (21.93 MPH) is the fastest mark of his career! Only Lions speedster Jahmyr Gibbs (22.03) has topped it this season among all RBs.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Pretty much. Nobody has more receiving yards than Pickens (260) on go routes and their other variations (slant and go, out and up, etc.). He's second in receptions (8) and has also drawn 66 defensive pass interference yards on these routes (3rd most).

Of course, Russell Wilson's moon ball deserves a lot of credit too: His average of 13.6 yards per attempt on these go routes is the fourth-highest mark in the league behind only C.J. Stroud (19.7), Patrick Mahomes (14.6), and Jayden Daniels (14.2).

San Francisco 49ers

  • Question: Who is fantasy football's most efficient pass-catcher in terms of turning targets into PPR points?

Answer: George Kittle! Nobody has averaged more PPR points per target than Kittle (2.67) among all WRs and TEs with 50-plus targets. The likes of Mark Andrews (2.63), Jayden Reed (2.57), Terry McLaurin (2.5), and Ja'Marr Chase (2.49) round out the top five.

The worst? Elijah Moore (1.3), Wan'Dale Robinson (1.31), Rome Odunze (1.33), Diontae Johnson (1.35), and Dontayvion Wicks (1.37). Step it up, guys.

Seattle Seahawks

He is! Each of JSN's top-four career performances in PPR points have come in 2024, and three of those have come in three of his last four games.

 

Consider: Smith-Njigba has gained at least 65 yards receiving in five consecutive games after having *zero* such contests as a rookie. Now let's try to get the man more than four targets next time out!

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

  • Question: Where does Liam Coen's excellent play-calling really stand out?

On passes behind the line of scrimmage. Obviously the team's pass-catchers deserve credit for doing a great job at making the most out of their opportunities, but yeah: No offense has been better at converting these short passes into positive gains.

Bucs on passes thrown at or behind the line of scrimmage:

  • Yards per attempt: 7.1 (1st)
  • Passer rating: 104.3 (3rd)
  • Touchdowns: 4 (tied for 3rd)
  • Yards: 818 (1st)

The top-six offenses in passer rating on these throws: Dolphins, Packers, Bucs, Bills, Lions, and Ravens. Pretty, pretty, pretty good company to be in, wouldn't you say?

Tennessee Titans

Batshit crazy-level wild. NWI joins former Chiefs WR Marc Boerigter (in 2002) as the only players to catch at least eight TDs with a TD per target rate under five. Hell, the only other guys with a rate south of six are 2014 Julius Thomas (5.2), 2020 Robert Tonyan (5.4), 2001 Bubba Franks (5.4), 2015 Tyler Eifert (5.7), and 2010 Rob Gronkowski (5.9).

Things get even more ridiculous when looking at Westbrook-Ikhine's TD per reception rate of 2.5: He's one of just six players in NFL history with a rate this low.

Due to regress? Or the greatest WR of his generation? I'll let you decide.

Washington Commanders

  • Question: Does Jayden Daniels do an especially good job limiting negative plays?

He sure does. The modest six INTs and 1.7% turnover-worthy play rate (tied for 3rd) are nice, but one particularly low-key way in which he accomplishes this is by not losing too many yards on sacks. Overall, Daniels has averaged just 5.14 yards lost per sack this season–good for the second-lowest career mark among 155 QBs to start at least 10 games since 2000.

Meanwhile, C.J. Stroud (8.33) and Bo Nix (8.32) have the two worst marks in the sample. Overly meaningful for their future success? I don't know. Cool? Yes!