Let’s get to the week 8 Game scripts! The Raiders and Redskins stood out as pass-happy this week, as Derek Carr and Kirk Cousins kept passing in losing efforts. They were the two most pass-happy teams without accounting for Game Scripts in week 8, at 78% (Oakland) and 74% (Washington), respectively. But even after accounting for Game Script, both team’s pass-heavy nature stands out.
The Washington-Dallas game was competitive most of the way, but Cousins had 43 dropbacks while the team had just 15 rushing attempts. Meanwhile, the Raiders called 49 pass plays against just 15 rushing plays, although that may have been due to Marshawn Lynch being suspended and both backup running backs underwhelming. This was just the second time in the last five years the Raiders passed on 77% of more of their plays.
The full Game Scripts data from week 8, below:
| Team | H/R | Opp | Boxscore | PF | PA | Margin | Game Script | Pass | Run | P/R Ratio | Op_P | Op_R | Opp_P/R Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BAL | MIA | Boxscore | 40 | 0 | 40 | 16.6 | 22 | 40 | 35.5% | 47 | 19 | 71.2% | |
| PHI | SFO | Boxscore | 33 | 10 | 23 | 11.4 | 35 | 31 | 53% | 40 | 24 | 62.5% | |
| KAN | DEN | Boxscore | 29 | 19 | 10 | 11.4 | 33 | 26 | 55.9% | 39 | 31 | 55.7% | |
| BUF | OAK | Boxscore | 34 | 14 | 20 | 8 | 27 | 37 | 42.2% | 49 | 14 | 77.8% | |
| NOR | CHI | Boxscore | 20 | 12 | 8 | 7.6 | 30 | 30 | 50% | 34 | 31 | 52.3% | |
| CAR | @ | TAM | Boxscore | 17 | 3 | 14 | 6.8 | 32 | 31 | 50.8% | 41 | 22 | 65.1% |
| NWE | LAC | Boxscore | 21 | 13 | 8 | 2.7 | 50 | 32 | 61% | 31 | 21 | 59.6% | |
| DAL | @ | WAS | Boxscore | 33 | 19 | 14 | 2.3 | 24 | 39 | 38.1% | 43 | 15 | 74.1% |
| MIN | @ | CLE | Boxscore | 33 | 16 | 17 | 2 | 44 | 34 | 56.4% | 37 | 22 | 62.7% |
| PIT | @ | DET | Boxscore | 20 | 15 | 5 | 1.9 | 31 | 29 | 51.7% | 47 | 22 | 68.1% |
| CIN | IND | Boxscore | 24 | 23 | 1 | -0.6 | 32 | 21 | 60.4% | 43 | 28 | 60.6% | |
| SEA | HOU | Boxscore | 41 | 38 | 3 | -1.2 | 43 | 21 | 67.2% | 35 | 34 | 50.7% | |
| ATL | @ | NYJ | Boxscore | 25 | 20 | 5 | -1.3 | 30 | 32 | 48.4% | 36 | 22 | 62.1% |
In the Washington-Dallas game — which again, was pretty close most of the way — the disparity was even more stark on the other side of the ball. Dallas passed on just 38% of plays, the second-lowest pass ratio of the week — only Baltimore with a +16.6 Game Script ran more often. How the Cowboys play without Ezekiel Elliott (33-150-2 against the Redskins) will be fascinating to watch.
And then we have the Broncos. Denver finished with a Game Script of -11.4, and trailed 14-0 in the first quarter and never cut the lead to less than seven. Trevor Siemian had a rough game, finishing as one of the four worst passers of the week. As a result, Denver running backs still had 29 carries in a game that wasn’t very competitive; in that context, it’s not too surprising that Brock Osweiler is now starting. Over the last four weeks, only the Browns had a worse team passer rating than the Broncos.