A look at this weekend’s NFL action through the eyes of the football stat experts at Coldhardfootballfacts.com.
Making life tough for QBs
Winning in the NFL is all about passing well on offense and stifling opposing QBs. One way we measure the latter at Cold, Hard Football Facts is with defensive passing yards per attempt. It takes into account the impact of sacks.
Pittsburgh, despite a slow start, has a defense built for the playoffs. High-powered New England, meanwhile, has a critical weak link on ‘D’ that’s likely to snap in the postseason.
Some notable teams in defensive passing yards per attempt:
1. Pittsburgh (4.5 YPA)
2. Baltimore (5.19 YPA)
3. Detroit (5.22 YPA)
8. N.Y. Jets (5.9 YPA)
9. San Francisco (6.0 YPA)
14. N.Y. Giants (6.3 YPA)
18. Philadelphia (6.5 YPA)
21. Green Bay (7.1 YPA)
32. New England (7.9 YPA)
Ffchamps.com’s ‘Start and Sit’
Start him
Bears QB Jay Cutler has been as hit-or-miss as a Nicolas Cage movie, but Chicago’s field general is coming off a two-TD effort against Minnesota. We expect Cutler to put in a strong encore performance against Tampa Bay’s 26th-ranked pass defense at Wembley Stadium.
Sit him
Jets QB Mark Sanchez averaged just 162 passing yards with a total of three TD passes over the last three weeks as the Jets committed more to the ground attack. He’s not a good bet to do much.
