Mathis takes down Manning.

Since the sack became an official statistic in 1982, the record for percentage of team sacks by an individual player was set by right outside linebacker Tim Harris on the 1989 Packers. Green Bay ran a 3-4 defense under Hank Bullough, and Harris had 19.5 of the team’s 34 sacks.  That means 57.4% of all sacks by Packers players that year came from Harris; no other Green Bay player had more than three sacks.

Aldon Smith had 19.5 sacks, too, playing on the 2012 49ers. Last year, San Francisco recorded 38 team sacks, meaning Smith — playing that same ROLB position in the 3-4 defense — had 51.3% of his team’s sacks.  Two other players recorded exactly half of their team’s sacks.  In 1984, when Mark Gastineau (playing at left defensive end in New York’s 4-3 defense) set the sack record, he recorded 22 of the Jets 44 total sacks. Fifteen years later, Football Perspective All Underrated star Simeon Rice (who lined up at right defensive end) had 16.5 of the Cardinals 33 sacks.

Mathis was a star 4-3 defensive end, but he’s already matched his single-season career high in sacks. He’s having perhaps his best season playing as rush linebacker in the system devised by Greg Manusky and Chuck Pagano. And his numbers look even better as a percentage of team sacks. Below are the top 50 leaders from 1982 to 2012 in percentage of team sacks, which is a cut-off deep enough to bring in another Robert Mathis season:
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Luck leads the league with three fourth-quarter comeback wins.

The first game involved Chip Kelly’s blitzkrieg offense. Nick Foles threw for seven touchdowns against the Raiders in one of the most lopsided (and surprising) games of the season. The Eagles held a 28-13 lead at halftime and 49-13 at the end of the third quarter; over the course of the game, Philadelphia held an average lead of 21.3 points.

At the other end of the spectrum, we have yet another Andrew Luck comeback victory. The Texans led 14-0 after the first quarter and 21-3 at halftime; on average, Houston held an 11-point lead throughout the game, but a 15-0 edge in the fourth quarter gave Indianapolis the win. That’s the highest Game Script of any team to lose a game in 2012, replacing…. Houston’s victory over the Chargers on opening week, when the Texans had a Game Script of -7.7 points.

In addition to the Colts-Texans game, the crazy comeback in Seattle now gives each of the Seahawks and the Bucs two of the five biggest comebacks/giveaways of the year. In week four, Seattle won in overtime against Houston despite trailing by, on average, 7.7 points in regulation. That was probably an even more crazy game than the win against Tampa Bay, where Seattle came back from a 21-0 deficit but only outscored the Bucs by 10 points in the fourth quarter. As for Tampa Bay, this was the fourth game of the season where the team lost despite having a 95% win probability at some point in the game. This was also the second time the Bucs lost a game with a Game Script of over 6.0 points, joining the come-from-ahead loss to Arizona.

Without further ado, the table below shows the week 9 Game Scripts data:
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There are seven teams that have two or fewer losses this year. But that doesn’t mean those teams are without weakness: this week at the New York Times, I look at the biggest concern for each of the top teams in the NFL:

Seattle Seahawks (8-1)

Seattle has the best record in the N.F.C. and may have the most talented team in the N.F.L. The defense has allowed just 5.0 net yards per pass attempt and is tied for the lead league with 13 interceptions, thanks to a dominant secondary. A punishing running game is complemented by one of the game’s brightest stars at quarterback, Russell Wilson, who is 12-0 at home.

But … the offensive line could cost the team home-field advantage. The Pro Bowl left tackle Russell Okung has played in two games this year after injuring his foot; he is scheduled to come back at the end of the month. Right tackle Breno Giacomini, with a knee injury, should come back in December. The team’s other Pro Bowl lineman, center Max Unger, missed two games with an arm injury and left the game last week with a concussion. As a result, the Seahawks have been sacked on 10.2 percent of their pass plays this season, the third-worst rate in the league.

New Orleans Saints (6-2)

As long as Sean Payton and Drew Brees are around, the Saints will be defined by their offense. Tight end Jimmy Graham leads the league with 10 touchdowns despite playing with a partly torn plantar fascia for the last month. Darren Sproles and Marques Colston are battling injuries, but the long-term outlook is positive for both. Brees has thrown 21 touchdown passes, second in the league behind Peyton Manning. But that’s business as usual in the bayou. More notable is a revitalized defense that ranks fifth in points allowed per game.

But … New Orleans is allowing 4.9 yards per carry, the second-worst rate in the league. The defensive coordinator Rob Ryan can confuse quarterbacks, but he cannot cure the Saints’ tackling woes. The Jets rushed for 198 yards Sunday, providing a blueprint for Saints opponents. A path to the Super Bowl probably requires beating Seattle or San Francisco, or both, two of the league’s best rushing teams. And trouble may be just around the corner: the Saints have only a one-game lead in the N.F.C. South over the resurgent Panthers. In 2012, Carolina rushed for 492 yards in two victories against New Orleans; the Saints’ defense does not seem any better equipped to stop the Panthers this year.

You can read the full article here.

Let’s start with the SRS ratings through nine weeks, excluding the Green Bay/Chicago Monday Night Football game:

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Jameis Wins a ton.

Of course, FSU is still on the outside looking in when it comes to the BCS. If Oregon and Alabama remain undefeated, that’s your national championship game, a matchup college football fans have been pining for each of the past few seasons. Obviously an undefeated FSU team would deserve to be in the title game, just like an undefeated Alabama and undefeated Oregon would, too. Such is life in (thankfully, the last year of) college football’s two-team playoff system. But if we’re forced to split hairs, is FSU better than Alabama and/or Oregon? And what do we make of an Ohio State team that’s now 21-0 under Urban Meyer?

Let’s start with the SRS ratings through ten weeks. As a reminder, you can read about the methodology here. As always, thanks to Dr. Peter Wolfe for providing the final scores for every college football game.
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Every week, I publish my college football ratings for FBS teams. To generate those ratings – using this methodology — my program also generates ratings for non-FBS teams. Since there is less interest in those numbers, I rarely publish them, but here are the ratings through ten weeks for all non-FBS teams.
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After defeating the Saints 26-20, the Jets now own a 5-4 record. New York was ranked 32nd by ESPN in their pre-season power rankings, a fact Rex Ryan brings up during every other press conference. But while the record is a pleasant surprise, the Jets aren’t necessarily playing well. Or, at least, they play really, really badly in their losses. In fact, the Jets have the worst points differential of any team with a winning record after nine games in NFL history:
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The Browns reloaded in the first round of the 2012 Draft.

Least Valuable Player: Tie: Blaine Gabbert, Jacksonville Jaguars and Brandon Weeden, Cleveland Browns; Dishonorable mention: Carson Palmer, Matt Schaub, Eli Manning, Josh Freeman

Blaine Gabbert has just 1 touchdown pass against 7 interceptions, and his awful 1.21 ANYA average puts him in the company of Caleb Hanie, Keith Null, Ken Dorsey, rookie Alex Smith, Kurt Kittner, and Spergon Wynn. On the other hand, Gabbert has thrown just 86 passes, so Brandon Weeden — who has been slightly better — has been arguably more not valuable due to accumulating more than twice as many pass attempts. The Jaguars have looked much better with Chad Henne at quarterback, while Cleveland’s offense looks much worse with Weeden than behind either Brian Hoyer or Jason Campbell. Gabbert and Weeden are former first round picks who appear to earn playing time out of obligation or hope rather than merit.

Really Offensive Player of the First Half (non-QB edition): Chris Johnson, Tennessee Titans. Dishonorable mention: Mike Wallace ($); Kenny Britt (brain); Jermaine Gresham (run blocking)

Johnson is the second most expensive running back in the NFL, and has produced the following stat line:

Johnson has not run for a touchdown this season. He’s run for one first down on third down all season. His yards per carry average is embarrassing for any runner, much less a player who is supposed to be one of the most explosive in the game. Tennessee invested heavily in the offensive line in the offseason, drafting Chance Warmack with the ninth pick in the draft and throwing big money at Andy Levitre. Jake Locker has progressed this season, but Johnson has held the offense back. Even Jackie Battle and Shonn Greene (40 runs for 146 yards) have higher YPC averages than Johnson.  The former 2,000-yard runner has rushed for fewer than 40 yards in each of his past four games.

Really Offensive Defensive Player of the First Half: DeMeco Ryans, Dishonorable mention: Cortland Finnegan (terrible against the run and the pass), Quinton Coples (former first round pick has disappeared in year three), Julius Peppers (little production, $16M cap value)

Ryans is one of the highest paid inside linebackers in the league, but he’s Pro Football Focus’ 2nd worst inside linebacker this year. The worst is his Eagles teammate, Mychal Kendricks, and the duo is one of several reasons the Eagles have struggled defensively this year. PFF has Ryans 5th in the league with 7 missed tackles (Kendricks is first), and he continues to be well-below average in both pass coverage and pass rushing. Ryans is the fifth highest paid Eagle, and with a base salary of $6.8M next year, it’s hard to imagine him returning in 2014.

Worst Offensive Coordinator: Tie: Mike Sullivan (Tampa Bay), Kevin Gilbride (New York Giants). Dishonorable mention: Todd Haley (just because), Brian Schottenheimer (have you watched the Rams?)

Sullivan learned under Gilbride for years in New York, and the Bucs and Giants run similar offensive systems. A lot of deep passes, one-on-one routes where you expect your wide receiver to beat their defensive back, and option routes where the quarterback and wideout have to be on the same page. That leads to a high-variance outcome on offense — think the opposite of what’s happening in Kansas City – and right now, the two teams are 2-15 in large part because of the struggles of their respective offenses. The Giants lead the league in interceptions, while the Bucs have the lowest completion percentage in the league.

Worst Defensive Coordinator: Tie: Alan Williams (Minnesota), Bob Babich (Jacksonville). Dishonorable mention: Mike Nolan (Falcons), Jim Haslett (Redskins).

Babich isn’t working with much, but the Jaguars defense is so far below the baseline that you can’t justify those results. Opposing passers have a 106 passer rating against Jacksonville, while the Jaguars also rank 32nd in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns allowed (and 31st in yards per carry allowed). Jacksonville has allowed 210 points through the first three quarters of games this year, the most of any team since the merger. The Vikings defense isn’t as devoid of talent, but has been only slightly better. The Vikings are 31st in PFR’s Expected Points Added metric, and the Vikings rank in the bottom three in both points and yards allowed.  Minnesota ranks dead last in first downs allowed, too, a year after posting some pretty respectable defensive numbers.

Worst Head Coach: Greg Schiano, Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Dishonorable mention: Leslie Frazier (Vikings); Tom Coughlin (Giants)

One could spend hours reciting the career of Schiano in Tampa Bay, but that parade of horribles is too depressing to review on a Sunday. Tampa Bay is 0-7, Schiano has lost control of the team, and the only thing left to do is figure out when he will be fired. A week nine trip to Seattle should be a disaster, but this team is talented enough to put together a 2013 Chiefs run next year under new management. Relieved of his duties, Schiano will now be available to testify as an expert witness on how not to handle your quarterback situation.

Offensive Rookie: Three-way tie: Eric Fisher, Chiefs; Luke Joeckel, Jaguars; Lane Johnson; Eagles. Dishonorable mention: Tavon Austin (St. Louis)

Offensive tackles aren’t sexy picks, but they occasionally work their way into the top five because of how “safe” they are. This year, Fisher and Joeckel were the first two picks in the draft, while Johnson was the third offensive player selected, going fourth overall after Dion Jordan went to Miami. If you didn’t watch football, you might think Fisher is having a great year, as the number one overall pick went to a 2-14 team that has started 8-0. In reality, he’s been a disaster even at right tackle. He’s the third-lowest graded offensive tackle by Pro Football Focus, while Branden Albert has solidified the left tackle spot. Joeckel was playing poorly in Jacksonville at right tackle and then went down with a season-ending injury, proving that nothing can go right for the Jaguars this year. Johnson has allowed 7 sacks and 29 hurries this year according to PFF, and both marks put him in the bottom five among offensive tackles.

Defensive Rookie: Dee Milliner, New York Jets. Dishonorable mention: Barkevious Mingo (Cleveland), Jarvis Jones (Pittsburgh)

Milliner has been arguably the worst cornerback in the league this season. The Jets have seen much more bad (his play) and ugly (the multiple benchings) than good from the former Alabama star. In my preseason preview, I said that we shouldn’t expect much from Milliner right away, as Football Outsiders has pointed out several times that even the best rookie cornerbacks tend to struggle. Still, Milliner has been horrible through eight weeks, even if his future may still be bright (Kareem Jackson was another great Crimson Tide corner who was a disaster as a rookie, and has turned into a solid cornerback in Houston). For a top ten pick, there’s still a minimum amount of production one should expect, and being outplayed by undrafted free agent Darrin Walls falls below that bar.

Johnson was tackled twice at the 1 against Dallas.

Johnson has the most receptions in the league over that time frame, but Wes Welker is only one catch behind him… and he has just one reception where he was tackled at the one-yard line. Of course, that’s only for data over the last year and a half.

Since 1999, 25 players have had at least seven receptions where they were tackled at the one-yard line. As it turns out, Brian Finneran fantasy owners have been the most unlucky, as Finneran was tackled seven times at the 1-yard line on 238 career receptions.
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Not too surprising, I suppose. This includes all rushing touchdowns, including in the postseason, but does not include rushing touchdowns for 2013, not that it matters very much for Chris Johnson. :rimshot:

All players with at least 30 rushing touchdowns are included since 1940.
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