The Big Lead

The 8 Most Important Stats Week 12 in the NFL: Vanishing Saquon Barkley & Unstoppable Andrew Luck

By Jason McIntyre

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1: Number of times Andrew Luck was sacked by the Dolphins Sunday. This is relevant because Luck had not been sacked in the five previous games. Miami’s sack was by Cameron Wake, who forced a fumble on the play. It didn’t matter – Luck led another 4th quarter comeback, and the Colts won, 27-24.

3: Number of sacks on consecutive plays by Baltimore lineman Matt Judon. It happened in the 4th quarter, just as the Ravens were pulling away, and then Judon did this:

5: Number of touches for Giants rookie Saquan Barkley in the 2nd half. Barkley was dominant in the 1st half, with 131 total yards as the Giants raced out to a 19-3 lead. The Eagles cut it to 19-11 at the half, but in the second half, the Giants forgot about Barkley. He had just five touches for 11 yards and New York lost, 25-22.



7: For the first time in seven appearances at QB for the Bucs, Jameis Winston didn’t throw an interception. He looked like … an NFL starter! Winston was 29-of-38 (76%!) for 312 yards and two touchdowns.



9: Adam Thielen of the Vikings passed Randy Moss for the franchise record of most 100 yard receiving games. Thielen has firmly established himself as one of the seven best receivers in the NFL.

25: Philip Rivers tied the NFL record for most complete passes to start a game in a 45-10 win over the Cardinals. On Rivers’ 26th pass, which would have set the record, he was under pressure and tried to dump a pass off to Austin Ekeler, who couldn’t haul it in. Rivers finished 28-of-29 for 259 yards with three TDs.

97: Ben Roethlisberger found Juju Smith-Schuster on a 97-yard touchdown pass – the second time they’ve connected on one that long this season. Sunday’s was one of the prettiest plays of the season, from Roethlisberger throwing the pass off his back foot while a defender dove at him. The pass hit Juju in stride, and then there was a menacing block by Antonio Brown, and a fierce stiff-arm by Smith-Schuster. Too bad the Steelers lost.



229: Christian  McCaffrey was the 1st Panthers player ever to go over 100 yards rushing and 100 yards receiving, and the running back finished with a total of 229 yards from scrimmage. The Panthers were 3-for-7 in the red zone, and missed a late field goal, and lost, 30-27.