Each week, our crack team in NFL Research breaks out more than 140 pages of research notes for our entire media group. Now they have generously decided to share some of their best nuggets with the players and coaches around the NFL. Here are 10 notes we'd send around the league:
- Note to Philip Rivers: Don't get too comfortable on the sidelines. The Raiders have gone three-and-out on 34.1 percent of their drives this season, the highest percentage in the NFL. Only three of their 44 drives have been 10 plays or longer, which is the fewest in the NFL.
- Note to Washington Redskins coach Jay Gruden: Keep faking the run. According to Pro Football Focus, Kirk Cousins has a 140.4 passer rating on play-action passes this season, which is the best in the NFL. On non-play-action passes, Cousins has a 77.9 passer rating.
- Note to St. Louis Rams fans: Don't get too optimistic about Monday night's game. The Rams have lost five straight games on Monday Night Football. The 49ers have won six straight games on MNF
- Note to the Bengals' defense: Look out for the deep pass. Cam Newton is completing half his passes that travel more than 15 yards in the air after only completing 28.8 percent of his deep passes a year ago. He has a 100.6 passer rating on deep passes.
- Note to Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle: Send two defenders at Jordy Nelson every play. Nelson has accounted for 44.6 percent of the Packers' receiving yards, 33.7 percent of receptions and 34.4 percent of targets, ranking first in the NFL in all of those categories. No other wideout is even close to dominating his team's yardage that much.
- Note to Tom Brady: Don't bother throwing deep. The Patriots QB has completed just 8.3 percent of passes of 20-plus air yards, the lowest of any quarterback in the league. The Bills, meanwhile, have allowed the lowest completion percentage of passes that have traveled 15-plus air yards. The Patriots' defense is also in the top three, meaning we shouldn't expect many big throws Sunday in Buffalo.
- Note to Earl Thomas: Force Tony Romo to throw to his right. Tony Romo is completing 75.6 percent of his passes to the middle of the field, with four touchdowns and no interceptions. He has one touchdown and five picks throwing to his right.
- Note to Dallas defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli: You'll have to get creative to get pressure on Russell Wilson. The Seahawks quarterback has the highest average time to throw in the NFL at 3.11 seconds, according to Pro Football Focus. That's a big change from last year. Even when pressure gets there, it's often not that effective: Wilson leads the league in "accuracy percentage" when he is under pressure.
- Note to Giants QB coach Danny Langsdorf: We apologize for mocking your stated goal of having Eli Manning complete 70 percent of his passes. He's completed 70.1 percent of his passes over the last three weeks, with eight touchdowns and one interception. Manning's career high is 62.9 percent.
- Note to Chip Kelly: Consider slowing down on the no-huddle offense. Nick Foles' completion percentage is 66.7 percent after a huddle, and 56.2 percent in the no-huddle. Four of Foles' five interceptions are from the no-huddle, and his yards-per-attempt is dramatically higher when huddling (9.2) than in the no-huddle offense.
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