NFL Week 15 by the Numbers

Two weeks left, baby! Loads of teams got their souls crushed this week while a few others punched their tickets to play some playoff pigskin.

You know what this is all about, right? These teams are fighting to play in front of dozens and dozens of screaming fans in balmy Tampa, Florida this February.

Week 15 was full of interesting matchups, accolade chases, and postseason intrigue. Let’s get into it.

11

The total number of teams eliminated from playoff contention following Week 15 action.

Before this week, the Bengals, Jets, Jaguars, Texans, Chargers, Falcons, and Panthers were playing for nothing. Joining that list after this Sunday are the Denver Broncos, Detroit Lions, San Francisco 49ers, and New England Patriots.

Fans of the Lions, Broncos, and 49ers are not too crushed. Their teams held extremely slim chances – needing to win out AND receive plenty of help just to sneak into the 7 seed.

Patriots fans will not be in great moods on Monday – so be sure to rub it in if you happen to work or live with some. Opportunities like these don’t come around often and we – fans of the other 31 teams – need to rally together and put New Englanders in their place when we can.

Although the Patriots’ path to the postseason was murky, Bill Belichick has this imperturbable air about him which leads his followers to believe that anything is possible. Have you heard the gambling mantra “all you need is a chip and a chair”? Well, all football fans need is Belichick and at least 1 scenario that sees them getting in.

2020 is officially the first NFL season since 2008 in which the Patriots will not be featured in the postseason. New England was snubbed with an 11-5 record that year. Before that, you have to rewind to 2002 when the Patriots also missed the playoffs with a 9-7 record.

The best record New England can hope for this year is 8-8. One more loss guarantees a losing record. The last losing season in Foxborough was 2000. The Pats were 5-11 that year.

5

The number of consecutive games the Tennessee Titans have scored 30+ points and gained 420+ yards.

Tennessee handled the visiting Lions 46-25 in Week 15 action Sunday afternoon. The Titans’ offense gained 468 yards to the Lions’ 430.

Only 4 other NFL football teams in history have recorded such a streak.

From where are these points and yards coming? For one, quarterback Ryan Tannehill is having a career year. Check out the next blurb for more on him.

The main weapon in Tennessee’s offense is the 6’3 238 beast in the backfield out of Alabama – Derrick Henry. Henry led the NFL in rushing last season with 1540 yards in 15 games – an average of 102.7 per game.

This year, Henry is blowing that total out of the water – recording 1679 rushing yards so far in 14 games. This is an average of 119.9.

Tennessee needs just 1 more win to clinch a playoff berth, so Henry may see some rest in Week 17 if the Titans opt to go without him having already clinched. Let’s say Henry plays a major role in each of Tennessee’s remaining 2 games. What is possible for the big fella?

The all-time record for rushing yards in a single season is Eric Dickerson with 2105 yards in 1984. Henry would need to average 213 rushing yards per game, which doesn’t seem plausible.

Forget the all-time record, what about the 2000-yard club? No rusher has reached this plateau since Adrian Peterson in 2012. Only 7 backs in history have scampered for 2000 yards in a single season. Henry has an outside shot at becoming the 8th. He would need 160.5 yards in each of his last 2 games, which is doable but not likely.

This may not be a year for accolades, but that doesn’t change the fact the Titans possess one of the league’s best offenses and will be a tough out in January. After their Week 15 win over Detroit, Tennessee holds a 98% chance of making the playoffs and a 60% chance of winning the AFC South.

31

The number of passing touchdowns this season by Titans QB Ryan Tannehill.

The 32-year-old Tannehill is in his 8th NFL season – his 2nd with Tennessee – and has never thrown for more than 27 TDs in one year.

With 2 regular season games to go, Tannehill is just 5 TD passes of the all-time single-season record for the Titans/Oilers franchise. George Blanda set the mark in 1961 with 36. Warren Moon reached 33 in 1990.

This puts Tannehill 3rd on the all-time franchise list. The Titans’ final 2 games are against Green Bay and Houston – both on the road.

Green Bay boasts the league’s 11th-best pass defense – allowing 227.6 yards per game through the air. Houston ranks in the bottom-10 of team pass defense. Green Bay ranks 13th and Houston 22nd in passing touchdowns allowed per game.

So who are Tannehill’s favorite targets? 25-year-old Western Michigan-product Corey Davis is the Titans’ leading receiver this season. Davis has caught 60 passes for 945 yards and 5 touchdowns.

Davis is not Tannehill’s first option in the red zone, however. That distinction goes to 23-year-old Ole Miss-product A.J. Brown. Brown is right up there with Davis in terms of catches and yards – hauling in 56 throws for 891 yards. A.J. has 10 touchdown catches – which ranks top-5 in the NFL.

25-year-old tight end out of FIU – Jonnu Smith – is Tannehill’s other favorite red zone target. Smith has caught 37 passes this season – 7 of them being touchdown throws. 7 receiving TDs puts Smith behind just Travis Kelce and Robert Tonyan for most receiving TDs by a tight end this season.

3

The number of consecutive victories by the Baltimore Ravens – improving their record to 9-5.

Lamar-doubters were yelling “Told You!” after the Ravens dropped 3-straight and fell to 6-5 after Week 12. At the time, Baltimore was behind Cleveland, Las Vegas, Buffalo, Indy, and Tennessee, was losing the H2H tiebreaker to New England and was headed in the opposite direction as Miami.

“Teams have figured out Lamar,” doubters were saying. “His skills just don’t translate to the NFL” … oops. Those doubters are now straining to grab their feet and get them out of their mouths as the Ravens have beaten the Cowboys, Browns, and Jaguars in consecutive weeks.

Oh c’mon – the Cowboys and Jags? That’s not impressive! Maybe not if they’re squeaking by, but Baltimore throttled these teams. The Birds put the lickin’ on Dallas 34-17 and killed Jacksonville this Sunday 40-14. This is exactly what good teams are supposed to do to bad teams.

That middle game of the streak – the 47-42 MNF win over Cleveland – was the game of the year so far in 2020 and proved that Baltimore could beat top opponents, too.

The Ravens have scored 34, 47, and 40 in their streak. That’s an average of 40.3 per contest. I’m not even going to look it up – I’m 100% confident that no other team has averaged over 40 points over their last 3 games – even Kansas City. Oh shoot … forgot about Kansas City. They totally could have averaged 40 … now I have to look it up … ok, good! Not even close. I was right.

How did Baltimore flip a switch and re-earn their prolific offense status? Turns out the key is having Jackson throw fewer passes.

Against Dallas in Week 13, Jackson attempted just 17 passes. In the weeks prior, Jackson had thrown 29, 34, 23, and 28 passes.

Jackson completed 12 of his 17 attempts for 107 yards and 2 TDs. Of course, Lamar has legs too! He turned in his 2nd-best rushing performance of the season to-date against Dallas – scrambling 13 times for 94 yards and a score.

The following week against Cleveland, the Ravens repeated the recipe. Jackson once again threw just 17 passes – completing 11 of them for 163 yards and a TD.

This time, Jackson decided to have his best rushing day of the season – scrambling 9 times for 124 yards and a couple of touchdowns.

The gameplan changed a bit in Week 15 against Jacksonville, but Baltimore could have whipped up anything on their locker room whiteboard and put up 40 against the lousy Jags.

Jackson threw 22 times for 243 yards and 3 TDs. On the ground, Jackson kept himself out of harm’s way and only picked up 35 yards (he scored once on the ground, though).

Following their Week 15 win, Baltimore now owns a 91% chance of making the playoffs – although they don’t control their own destiny which is always scary.

4

The number of safeties in Week 15 action Sunday. This is the most in one day of NFL play since September of 2014 (Week 3). There were 5 safeties on that day.