10 Most Important Stats From Week 10 in the NFL: Kicking Foibles, Red Zone Problems, & Will the Saints Set a Record?
By Jason McIntyre
0: The Tampa Bay Bucs made it into the red zone five times against the Redskins Sunday, and didn’t score one touchdown. The 0-for-5 in the red zone including two field goal misses and one interception. If you toss in a fumble – when the Jacquizz Rodgers had run inside the 20-yard line – it was a complete debacle for Tampa Bay, which fell to 3-6, and their season is over.
4: Cody Parkey, Chicago’s embattled kicker, hit the upright four times Sunday in the win over Detroit. He clanged two extra points, and two field goal attempts. If the Lions were even a decent team, and won because Parkey kicked poorly, he might be looking for a job today.
6: NFL record for most 40-point games this season, which was accomplished by the 2013 Denver Broncos. Well the 2018 New Orleans Saints could threaten that mark. After hanging 51 on the Bengals, the Saints now have five games with 40 or more points (including the opener, which they lost). Considering some of the defensively-challenged teams they’ll play – the Eagles next week at home, the Falcons, two more against the Panthers – the Saints should shatter Denver’s mark.
9: The Saints scored on their first nine drives of the game against the Bengals in one of the biggest beatdowns of the season so far. New Orleans led 35-7 at half and won, 51-14.
9.7: Yards per carry for Aaron Jones, the Packers running back. He carried only 15 times, but gained 145 yards, and if Green Bay is going to make a run toward a playoff spot, they’re going to need a lot more from Jones. He did lose a costly fumble vs the Patriots in Week 9, but it was the long fumble of his young career.
20.48: In one of the truly staggering stats of the season, Raiders punter Johnny Townsend ran at a top speed of 20.48 MPH on a fake punt against the Chargers. That’s faster than Alvin Kamara or Kareem Hunt have run this season.
31: With two TD passes in a win over the Cardinals, Pat Mahomes set a Chiefs single-season record with 31 TD passes. He’s got six games left in the season to extend his own record.