It’s not every week that Bryce Young leads the NFL in passing yards. Jacoby Brissett also holds the record for most completions. But it’s Week 11 and things are starting to get weird. Let’s lean into the unusual performances — the ones where the stats belie what’s actually happening. Let’s dive beneath the surface-level box scores.In these QB rankings, I’m focused on monitoring the fluctuations of a quarterback’s performance throughout the season. No one — not even Matthew Stafford — is safe at the top. No one — not even Justin Fields — is stuck at the bottom. There is room for quick ascent — and rapid decline. It is important to ask yourself: what have you done recently for your team? Over that span, coach Matt LaFleur fielded a question about whether he feels he’s playing for his job. Over that span, the Packers are 1-2.Over that span, I remain rooted in my belief that Love is among the NFL’s best quarterbacks.He is a microcosm of counting stats versus advanced stats. He is tied with Drake Maye for the top spot in the NFL when it comes to EPA/play. I’m not saying the Packers are going to make the deep playoff run that many expected following the Micah Parsons trade. I’m just saying that Love is a major part of why they’re still winning games.This isn’t the guy who was missing easy throws like he did last year. His incompletions are, on occasion, more impressive than most middling QB’s completions. Watch the game. You’ll have a great time watching Love. You’ll have a great time watching Love.He completed 37.8% of his passes for … 255 yards?There are a lot of parts about this game that feel inexplicable — and hard to reconcile in terms of analyzing where the Lions go from here. But let’s start with a few truths from this game:Goff looked hurried on the vast majority of his dropbacks and it had catastrophic results. He had a completion percentage over expected of -33.6% (against pressure). Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams each had at least one drop that ended drives. Cooper DeJean did incredibly well in coverage against St. Brown. He had a completion percentage over expected of -33.6% (against pressure).Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams each had at least one drop that ended drives.Cooper DeJean did a very, very nice job in coverage against St. Brown.The Eagles’ defensive line batted five passes at the line of scrimmage.The weather was cold and blustery, which are notoriously difficult conditions for Goff.So … now what?There are elements of this game that the Lions can address — and then turn into an outlier. The Eagles seemed to get unsustainably lucky (with all the tipped passes) and the Lions got unlucky (with drops).There was one element they cannot chalk up as an outlier: Goff’s issue with pressure is a common theme this year. And frankly, every year.It’s one thing for a quarterback to struggle under pressure. Patrick Mahomes does. Tom Brady did. Each QB does. It’s another thing for that pressure to single-handedly take down the offense. That’s what happened Sunday night for the Lions.This year is worse than other years for Goff.In 2025, Goff has completed 45.8% of his passes (44/96) against pressure. His completion rate over expected is -5.1%. He has an EPA of -.48 per dropback and a success rate of 31.1%. These are all career-lows for pressure. To make matters worse, the Lions are surrendering pressure on 35.5% of Goff’s dropbacks, the second-highest rate of his Detroit tenure. More or less, there’s more pressure than ever and he’s handling it worse than ever.It will be on head coach Dan Campbell — who’s doubling as the offensive playcaller — to figure out how to 1) help his OL prevent pressure and then 2) help Goff handle that pressure more comfortably. Because it might just be the Lions offense’s single biggest problem.What quarterback controversy?Purdy did what Purdy is supposed to do — feed his playmakers. No turnovers. Three touchdowns. Plus a completion rate of +7% above expectations. Squeaky clean efficiency — so clean that there might not be any mention of Mac Jones until the offseason, when he’ll inevitably get entrenched in trade rumors.For the first time in what feels like forever, Purdy, Christian McCaffrey and George Kittle are healthy at the same time. Ricky Pearsall also is healthy. We’re just waiting for Brandon Aiyuk — but don’t hold your breath (and it probably won’t matter that much). Purdy seemed to be the fast-moving and quick thinking point guard the 49ers needed. That’s not even the best news. The best news is that, even without him for the bulk of the season, they’re 7-4 and have an 87% chance of making the postseason, per the New York Times simulator. Purdy doesn’t have to worry about the pressure. The team is in good health. Purdy was unable to lead the team last year because of the pressure. San Francisco is actually on the rise. Around this time last season, I wondered whether the 49ers’ window of opportunity to win a championship was closing. People wondered, at this time last season, if John Lynch, the GM, and/or coach Kyle Shanahan would end up in another team by 2027. Purdy’s likely to be replaced as well.) Nope. Not happening.This isn’t to say it’s going to be all roses and the 49ers are going to win the Super Bowl. But it’s refreshing to see the 49ers’ best players healthy and playing together. We’ll perhaps see what this 2025 club is really made of in the final three weeks of the season, when the Niners close out at Indianapolis, and then at home versus the Bears and the Seahawks. We’ll know then whether they can make a deep run in the NFC.Yes, this does happen every year.Darnold is the king of meltdown games. Although he is now a reliable NFL starting quarterback, Darnold still has a tendency to produce a catastrophic performance once a year. In his career he’s had six games of three interceptions, and three of four. The only season when he has not thrown three or more interceptions in a single game was in 2023 (backup in San Francisco) and 2022 (initially a backup, only to start six games in Carolina).But this wasn’t just a Darnold-will-be-Darnold game.He fell right into the Rams’ plan to trigger the meltdown. Darnold and Rams’ defensive coordinator Chris Shula share the same type of relationship as Bill Belichick did with Darnold. Darnold famously confessed to “seeing spirits” in an interview. Shula isn’t playing cat and mouse with Darnold — they’re playing predator and prey, with the DC operating one step ahead of the QB. The last time they squared off, Darnold took nine sacks in the Vikings’ playoff defeat to the Rams. It was clear Darnold’s priority this past Sunday was not to take all those sacks. Shula may or may not have known this at first, but he and the rest of his defense figured it quickly. They did not blitz Darnold, instead forcing him to process the movements of the seven defensive backs in coverage — but with that ticking clock in the back of his head. You could almost hear Darnold wondering: How long until Jared Verse gets home?”The rush contains him, and he wants to get rid of the ball, and he’s flinching up,” Rams safety Kam Kinchens said, via The Athletic. “He don’t want to get sacked. He’s just trying to get the ball out of his hands, so that’s when I knew there was an opportunity.”Ironically, it would’ve been better if Darnold had just taken the sacks. Because all four of his turnovers were his fault and if he’d taken those sacks, the Seahawks probably would’ve won because of better field position.OK, now I’m about to head into left field, so bear with me. There’s a saying about World War II, which was that the Allies struggled at the outset because they were fighting the last war (World War I). They thought the Germans would arrive with a similar plan of warfare. The Germans had new ideas. Football It is not a war. But hopefully, you see my point: You can’t win your next game by simply fixing the mistakes of your previous one.Darnold cannot expect Shula to return with the same plan, if these two teams see each other again. Darnold won’t rectify his problems by taking the sacks. He and OC Klint Kubiak need to play catch-up with a Rams defense that’s multiple steps ahead.Best quote of the year goes to … Adam Trautman. Tight end. Broncos.”First off, if you’re talking s— about Bo online, you’re a coward. Absolute coward. But – I just want to say that, and guard him a little bit,” Trautman told reporters this past Sunday. “He forgets, and we discussed it this week. We don’t care what other people think. We know what we have in the building, and we know what he’s made of, and we don’t really care what people have to say. So, DragonSlayer69, with the 7-Eleven Slurpee in his mom’s basement, I don’t give a s— what he has to say, right? And Bo doesn’t either.”Perfect. That means I — DragonSlayer69 — am now free to evaluate Nix. But it’s too bad he and Trautman aren’t reading (even though… they must be reading if they know people are criticizing). Nix is a system-quarterback. He’s only as good at his playcaller. About halfway through the third-quarter, Sean Payton realized how to maximize both his quarterback and his offense. Payton dialed plays to let Nix uncork his downfield passing. Payton dialed in receiver, tight end and running back screens. He asked Nix not to throw at the defense. The Chiefs’ middle defense was just too good. It worked. Nix ran downfield to get chunk plays. The YAC off-screens allowed his pass catchers to keep the offense in time. The Broncos defense did its part. So Denver beat the Chiefs and took control of the AFC West.It must’ve been hard for Nix to wait and let the game come to him. It did come. He seized his opportunities.The great part about Young’s performance was how much help he got. That’s been the systemic problem in Carolina, with no supporting cast from coach to receivers to offensive line. That’s how Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold cruised through the organization without realizing their potential. That’s how Young could easily exit the organization without ever realizing his.But we saw him throw for 448 passing yards and three touchdowns largely off the merits of others. Young looked like what I originally thought J.J. McCarthy would look like — a young, smaller point-guard passer whose supporting cast elevates him.Young made a few high-difficulty throws, whether it was the tight-window throw rolling left and zipping it into the hands of Xavier Legette — or the pinpoint deep ball to Legette for a touchdown. According to Next Gen Stats, Young only attempted tight-window passes on 11% of his total passes. This is the fourth lowest number this season. Young also had receivers wide open on 31,1% of his throws, which is the second-highest percentage of the season. Dave Canales’ game plan was the most important. It allowed Legette to play well, Tetairoa MacMillan and Rico Dowdle also played well, as did Tommy Tremble. It’s not new, per se. We’ve seen him have a steady hand for one-game spurts — and even eight-game runs (looking at the second half of last year). What we haven’t seen is a greater body of consistent work for a whole season. He won’t put up these kinds of numbers every week, obviously, but this is the style of play that he needs to demonstrate through the season and, perhaps, into the playoffs.Or someone else will be the Panthers’ QB next year. Can Tua Tagovailoa continue his Miami career with a strong season’s end? Shedeur Sands is set to start his first NFL game this weekend, replacing an injured Dillon Gabriel. (Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images). Will this go better than Sanders’ relief appearance in week 11? Henry McKenna was a Patriots reporter and columnist for USA TODAY Sports Media Group, Boston Globe Media and USA TODAY Sports Media Group before joining FOX Sports. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images). Follow him on Twitter at @henrycmckenna.Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? To receive personalized daily newsletters, create or log into your FOX Sport account and follow teams, leagues and players!
2025-11-18 17:01:10
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