The Jaguars used the fourth overall pick on LSU RB Leonard Fournette. The addition of Fournette was supposed to change the team’s identity, and it seems… to have worked? Fournette finished with 28 carries for 181 yards and 2 TDs, although the last of those carries was a 90-yard touchdown run when the game was over. Still, the Jaguars finished with 37 carries against just 16 pass plays: that’s a 30% pass rate, easily the lowest of the week. Jacksonville has a great defense and seems to have figured out its running game, and that may be the formula for success for this team.
Blake Bortles completed just 8 passes on his 16 dropbacks for only 5 first downs, but that was enough given that the Jaguars forced five interceptions and returned two of those for touchdowns. The Raiders and Bears were the other teams that showed up as run-happy this week, which probably isn’t surprising given that both teams were starting new quarterbacks in week five. For Oakland, EJ Manuel had 29 dropbacks but gained just 137 yards, while the running game had 25 carries for 108 yards and a touchdown (Manuel had two carries for 15 yards). For Chicago, Mitch Trubisky picked up just 108 yards on 26 dropbacks, while the running game had 115 yards on 29 attempts (with Trubisky picking up 22 yards on the ground on three carries).
Below are the week 5 Game Scripts data:
| Team | H/R | Opp | Boxscore | PF | PA | Margin | Game Script | Pass | Run | P/R Ratio | Op_P | Op_R | Opp_P/R Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PHI | ARI | Boxscore | 34 | 7 | 27 | 16.2 | 31 | 33 | 48.4% | 46 | 14 | 76.7% | |
| BAL | @ | OAK | Boxscore | 30 | 17 | 13 | 11.5 | 26 | 39 | 40% | 29 | 25 | 53.7% |
| KAN | @ | HOU | Boxscore | 42 | 34 | 8 | 9.7 | 37 | 35 | 51.4% | 34 | 23 | 59.6% |
| CAR | @ | DET | Boxscore | 27 | 24 | 3 | 6 | 36 | 28 | 56.3% | 41 | 15 | 73.2% |
| NWE | @ | TAM | Boxscore | 19 | 14 | 5 | 4.4 | 43 | 23 | 65.2% | 48 | 21 | 69.6% |
| JAX | @ | PIT | Boxscore | 30 | 9 | 21 | 4.3 | 16 | 37 | 30.2% | 57 | 20 | 74% |
| MIA | TEN | Boxscore | 16 | 10 | 6 | 3.9 | 28 | 31 | 47.5% | 38 | 20 | 65.5% | |
| CIN | BUF | Boxscore | 20 | 16 | 4 | 3 | 37 | 27 | 57.8% | 43 | 24 | 64.2% | |
| IND | SFO | Boxscore | 26 | 23 | 3 | 2.5 | 38 | 35 | 52.1% | 48 | 22 | 68.6% | |
| NYJ | @ | CLE | Boxscore | 17 | 14 | 3 | 1.8 | 33 | 18 | 64.7% | 37 | 33 | 52.9% |
| MIN | @ | CHI | Boxscore | 20 | 17 | 3 | 0.9 | 36 | 31 | 53.7% | 26 | 29 | 47.3% |
| LAC | @ | NYG | Boxscore | 27 | 22 | 5 | -0.4 | 44 | 29 | 60.3% | 41 | 25 | 62.1% |
| SEA | @ | LAR | Boxscore | 16 | 10 | 6 | -0.7 | 41 | 25 | 62.1% | 49 | 22 | 69% |
| GNB | @ | DAL | Boxscore | 35 | 31 | 4 | -4 | 33 | 25 | 56.9% | 37 | 35 | 51.4% |
When it comes to being pass happy, the Patriots, Steelers, and Cardinals stood out the most in week five. New England threw on 65% of passes, the most of any winning team in week five and despite a +4.4 Game Script. This despite Patriots running backs rushing for 108 yards on 21 carries.
Meanwhile, Pittsburgh and Arizona were the two most pass-friendly teams of the week. Arizona running backs rushed for 17 yards on on 13 carries, which is probably why Carson Palmer dropped back 46 times (that, and the -16.2 Game Script). It’s no surprise that the Cardinals were willing to take a chance and trade for Adrian Peterson this week. Pittsburgh had a whopping 57 dropbacks, in part because of the Game Script and in part because the passing game just wasn’t very efficient.