NFL DFS Quick Hits - Week 6
Welcome to the second edition of NFL Quick Hits, which will be a fast and easy read for those looking to pick up on some stats that most of the general public may be overlooking.
This column will operate much like the Harper’s Index – I’ll list one interesting stat per team, and most of these nuggets aren’t easily found by simply landing on one of our stat pages. I won’t be making start/sit recommendations here, so you’ll have to make decisions on your own based on the information listed below.
Let’s get into the Week 6 breakdown…
- Los Angeles – The Lions are the only team yet to allow a rushing touchdown, but that’s due for some major regression considering they rank 10th in rush yards per game allowed to RBs and 28th in run-defense DVOA.
- Detroit – Every QB to face the Lions this year has had a QB rating over 100 – 129 for Aaron Rodgers, 120 for Brian Hoyer, 119 for Andrew Luck, 103 for Carson Wentz, 102 for Marcus Mariota.
- Cincinnati – Despite ranking third in passing yards, Andy Dalton ranks 22nd in passing TDs. 24% of his production has come via TDs, second-lowest among QBs.
- New England – Rob Gronkowski more than doubled his season total in routes run last week with 35. He had 17 total in his first two games of the season. On the contrary, LeGarrette Blount saw by far his lowest snap percentage of the season (38%) in Brady’s first game back.
- Pittsburgh – Miami ranks dead last in time of possession per game (24:38) by a fairly wide margin (a minute and 44 seconds), and have predictably allowed a league-high of 180 rushing plays this season. They’ve been whipped by the Patriots’, Titans’, and Browns’ rushing attacks already this season.
- Miami – The Dolphins offense has run just 41 and 43 plays in their last two games. Those are the lowest two totals for any team in any game this season.
- Baltimore – Julian Edelman and John Brown (38 apiece) are the only players with more targets than Dennis Pitta (37) that have also yet to score a touchdown. Pitta leads TEs in routes run over the past two games with 82 – Greg Olsen is second on the list at 69.
- New York Giants – Joe Flacco leads the league in pass completions (and attempts), but ranks 2nd to last in yards per attempt at 5.9. Only Blaine Gabbert has been worse in that regard.
- Cleveland – The Browns are allowing an average line of 8.6 receptions, 100.2 yards and 1.0 TDs per game to opposing TEs on 10.8 targets.
- Tennessee – DeMarco Murray has accounted for nearly 35% of the Titans offensive production. Only David Johnson has accounted for a higher percentage of his team’s offense among RBs.
- New Orleans – The Panthers rank 30th in QB hits with 19, while Drew Brees has thrown for at least three TDs in each of his last seven home games. The Saints scored 13.8 more points per game at home last season than on the road, by far the largest margin in the league.
- Carolina – Greg Olsen is the clear leader in targets per game among TEs (10.6). Over his last three meetings with the Saints, Olsen has racked up 27/335/3, giving him an average line of 9/112/1.
- San Francisco – Blaine Gabbert led all QBs in rushing attempts and rushing yards (39 and 172) through five weeks, and the 49ers offense will now be handed over to the more fleet-footed Colin Kaepernick.
- Buffalo – The 49ers have allowed four straight 100-yard rushers; Fozzy Whittaker (16-100-0), Christine Michael (20-106-2), Ezekiel Elliot (23-138-1) and David Johnson (27-157-2) have all feasted on this defense. Buffalo has gained 44.8% of their offensive production through the ground game, the highest mark in the league.
- Jacksonville – Ezekiel Elliot has more rushing yards before contact than the Jaguars have in total rush yards (301) this season.
- Chicago – Besides Kyle Rudolph (who is on a bye), Zach Miller leads the NFL in target share inside the ten-yard line at 57.1%. Only seven other players hold at least a 50% rate.
- Philadelphia – Despite only seeing real action in three games this year, Ryan Mathews is 4th with 10 goal-to-go carries on the season. David Johnson leads the league with 13 in five games played.
- Washington – The Redskins have allowed at least 100 yards rushing in six straight weeks, and have allowed a league-high 5.3 YPC this season.
- Kansas City – Oakland has allowed the third-most passing yards of all time through five games (1,653). To be fair, four other teams (NYJ, PIT, IND and SD) have also set franchise records in passing yards allowed through five games.
- Oakland – The Chiefs have gotten next to no pressure on opposing QBs, ranking dead last in QB hits (15) and second to last in sacks (5). Only the Giants have fewer sacks (4).
- Dallas – The Packers are the only NFL team to not allow a single rusher to gain more than 40 yards in a game this season.
- Green Bay – Jordy Nelson and T.Y. Hilton are the only receivers that have seen at least 25% of their team’s targets through five weeks.
- Atlanta – Seattle is allowing 3.3 YPC to opposing RBs this season – only Green Bay has a better rate (2.2).
- Seattle – Despite allowing the 3rd fewest rushing attempts per game over the last month, the Falcons have allowed the 5th most FPPG to RBs. Christine Michael saw his highest snap percentage of the season (71%) in the Seahawks last game before the bye.
- Indianapolis – The Texans have allowed a league-low 195.6 passing yards per game this season, and rank 8th in the league in sacks. The Colts have allowed a league-high 20 sacks and rank 2nd worst with 40 QB hits allowed.
- Houston – Houston is the only team in the league still without a rushing TD. Lamar Miller has averaged 20.2 carries (23 total touches) per game, and 40.8% of running plays against the Colts have resulted in at least five yards, worst in the league.
- New York Jets – The Jets are allowing 10.1 adjusted yards per pass attempt this season, compared to 9.7 for the 2015 Saints. If you streamed every QB against the Saints last season, you would have ended up with the sixth-highest scoring fantasy QB of all time.
- Arizona – No QB has attempted more down-field passes than Carson Palmer. Almost a quarter of his pass attempts have traveled at least 15 yards. The Jets have allowed the second-most passes of at least 40 yards (8) and have allowed the sixth-most passing plays of at least 20 yards (19).