Let’s get to the week 9 Game scripts! Yes, these are a week late: my apologies, as well, other topics wound up being covered last week.
The biggest stories of week 9 were the blowout wins by Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and New Orleans. The Rams and Saints followed that up with another pair of blowout wins in week 10, while the Eagles were on bye. But before turning to week 10, let’s review some of the biggest outliers from week nine.
In week 9, the Jets and Panthers were very run-heavy. Lest you forget, the Jets beat the Bills on Thursday night in week 9, and while quarterback Josh McCown did have 5 carries, the running backs combined for 36 carries, while McCown had just 21 attempts. The Jets blew out Buffalo, but consider that the Lions had a similar Game Script and passes on 50% of plays.
Carolina beat Atlanta in a close game where the Panthers trailed for most of the first half. Still, behind Cam Newton and his 9 carries, Carolina wound up passing just 25 times while running 38 times! That’s really run-heavy.
The full Game Scripts data below:
| Team | H/R | Opp | Boxscore | PF | PA | Margin | Game Script | Pass | Run | P/R Ratio | Op_P | Op_R | Opp_P/R Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LAR | @ | NYG | Boxscore | 51 | 17 | 34 | 18.8 | 22 | 39 | 36.1% | 40 | 26 | 60.6% |
| PHI | DEN | Boxscore | 51 | 23 | 28 | 17.9 | 30 | 37 | 44.8% | 41 | 19 | 68.3% | |
| NOR | TAM | Boxscore | 30 | 10 | 20 | 14.6 | 28 | 32 | 46.7% | 32 | 25 | 56.1% | |
| DET | @ | GNB | Boxscore | 30 | 17 | 13 | 9.4 | 34 | 33 | 50.7% | 41 | 17 | 70.7% |
| NYJ | BUF | Boxscore | 34 | 21 | 13 | 9 | 21 | 41 | 33.9% | 47 | 22 | 68.1% | |
| JAX | CIN | Boxscore | 23 | 7 | 16 | 7.1 | 38 | 40 | 48.7% | 20 | 17 | 54.1% | |
| ARI | @ | SFO | Boxscore | 20 | 10 | 10 | 6.9 | 30 | 43 | 41.1% | 56 | 17 | 76.7% |
| TEN | BAL | Boxscore | 23 | 20 | 3 | 6 | 31 | 21 | 59.6% | 54 | 22 | 71.1% | |
| IND | @ | HOU | Boxscore | 20 | 14 | 6 | 6 | 33 | 28 | 54.1% | 46 | 21 | 68.7% |
| DAL | KAN | Boxscore | 28 | 17 | 11 | 4 | 34 | 31 | 52.3% | 36 | 19 | 65.5% | |
| OAK | @ | MIA | Boxscore | 27 | 24 | 3 | 3.2 | 31 | 27 | 53.4% | 43 | 18 | 70.5% |
| WAS | @ | SEA | Boxscore | 17 | 14 | 3 | 2.3 | 37 | 23 | 61.7% | 47 | 28 | 62.7% |
| CAR | ATL | Boxscore | 20 | 17 | 3 | 0.4 | 25 | 38 | 39.7% | 40 | 18 | 69% |
C.J. Beathard wound up taking 56 dropbacks — which seems like way too many for C.J. Beathhard — in a loss to the Cardinals. He completed just 24 of those passes, while the 49ers had only 17 runs (including three by Beathard). Things have changed quickly for San Francisco since then: the 49ers traded for Jimmy Garoppolo, and Beathard had a great performance in the 49ers first win of the season against the Giants. Against New York in week ten, 12 of his 25 dropbacks went for first downs; against the Cardinals, 13 of his 56 dropbacks picked up a first down.