Week 17 Quick Reads

by Vincent Verhei

Traditionally, for the last week of the year, Quick Reads is a rundown of the best and worst players of the season by DYAR, rather than analysis of Week 17. I'll be writing that article for Wednesday, later this week. For now, here's a list of the best and worst games of the 2017 season with final opponent adjustments:

Quarterbacks

Best Games

• Jared Goff, Week 4 vs. MIN, 303 DYAR
• Ryan Fitzpatrick, Week 1 vs. NO, 289 DYAR
• Drew Brees, Week 11 vs. PHI, 268 DYAR
• Ben Roethlisberger, Week 10 vs. CAR, 261 DYAR
• Mitchell Trubisky, Week 4 vs. TB, 256 DYAR

It's been a while since Week 4, so you may have forgotten that Jared Goff and Mitchell Trubisky combined for 11 touchdowns and more than 800 yards with nary an interception against the Vikings and Buccaneers. Goff finishes higher here due to opponent adjustments -- he gains about 30 DYAR due to playing Minnesota, while Trubisky loses about 30 for playing Tampa Bay. As for the others, the season in Tampa Bay started with FitzMagic and ended with the coach being fired; Drew Brees threw four touchdowns in a 48-7 destruction of the Eagles; and Ben Roethlisberger threw five touchdowns with only three incompletions in the Thursday night game that started Carolina's seven-game losing streak.

Goff's game is one of the top ten of all time; Fitzpatrick also makes the top 20.

If you're looking for Patrick Mahomes, he narrowly missed the list twice -- his Week 9 game against Cleveland was in sixth place, and his Week 2 game against Pittsburgh was seventh. Mahomes had seven games in the top 50, second only to Brees, who had eight.

Worst Games

• Josh Allen, Week 4 vs. GB, -275 DYAR
• Josh Rosen, Week 7 vs. DEN, -225 DYAR
• Josh Rosen, Week 15 vs. ATL, -223 DYAR
• Sam Darnold, Week 9 vs. MIA, -204 DYAR
• Mark Sanchez, Week 14 vs. NYG, -198 DYAR

So, uh, how about those rookies, am I right? Josh Allen's seven-sack outing against the Packers makes the bottom five games on record. The other rookie named Josh had his own troubles -- a half-dozen sacks in each of two games against the Broncos and Falcons. Sam Darnold was only sacked four times by the Dolphins, but he also threw four interceptions. Mark Sanchez, in his first and only start since 2015, lasted barely more than a half and failed to pick up a single first down. He was soon replaced by Josh Johnson, a scenario that seemed unimaginable when the season began.

Running Backs

Best Games

• Ezekiel Elliott, Week 4 vs. DET, 110 DYAR
• Derrick Henry, Week 14 vs. JAX, 94 DYAR
• Isaiah Crowell, Week 5 vs. DEN, 87 DYAR
• James Conner, Week 9 vs. BAL, 85 DYAR
• Todd Gurley, Week 6 vs. DEN, 76 DYAR

Ezekiel Elliott's 110 DYAR against Detroit was the best game for a running back since Kansas City's Jamaal Charles caught eight passes for 195 yards and four touchdowns in Week 15 of 2013. Derrick Henry's big game against Jacksonville was highlighted by just the second 99-yard run in NFL history. Opponent adjustments are included in DYAR, so it's just coincidence that Isaiah Crowell and Todd Gurley had back-to-back monster games against the Broncos in October. Those four players each had at least 225 yards from scrimmage. James Conner's totals against Baltimore were more modest (107 on the ground, 56 through the air), but his DYAR numbers almost double after opponent adjustments thanks to the mighty Ravens defense.

Worst Games

• David Johnson, Week 14 vs. DET, -69 DYAR
• Joe Mixon, Week 7 vs. KC, -63 DYAR
• Ezekiel Elliott, Week 7 vs. WAS, -55 DYAR
• Wendell Smallwood, Week 6 vs. NYG, -54 DYAR
• Phillip Lindsay, Week 15 vs. CLE, -44 DYAR

David Johnson had eight catches for 9 yards against the Lions, the worst receiving DYAR for a running back in a game since John L. Williams gained 45 yards on 15 catches for the 1992 Seahawks. Within a few hours of Week 7, Joe Mixon and Ezekiel Elliott gained a total of 93 yards from scrimmage on a combined 28 runs and 11 targets. Wendell Smallwood gained only 51 yards in 18 carries in Week 6; he had only 44 carries over 10 games after that. Phillip Lindsay's 14 carries against Cleveland gained only 24 yards, and his six targets only added 20 more.

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

Best Games

• Calvin Ridley, Week 3 vs. NO, 114 DYAR
• Amari Cooper, Week 14 vs. PHI, 106 DYAR
• T.Y. Hilton, Week 11 vs. TEN, 96 DYAR
• DeAndre Hopkins, Week 15 vs. NYJ, 95 DYAR
• Corey Davis, Week 12 vs. HOU, 90 DYAR

By receiving DYAR alone, Calvin Ridley (seven catches in eight targets for 146 yards and three touchdowns against the Saints) and Amari Cooper (10-13-217-3) are neck-and-neck at the top, but Ridley gets a rushing boost from his one carry for 9 yards. There's not a ton to say about the big days for T.Y. Hilton (9-9-155-2), DeAndre Hopkins (10-11-170-2), or Corey Davis (4-4-96-1, plus one carry for 39 yards) except that they were very good.

Worst Games

• Stefon Diggs, Week 7 vs. NYJ, -86 DYAR
• Chris Godwin, Week 14 vs. NO, -85 DYAR
• Randall Cobb, Week 3 vs. WAS, -75 DYAR
• Nelson Agholor, Week 4 vs. TEN, -72 DYAR
• Jarvis Landry, Week 6 vs. LAC, -66 DYAR

When Chris Godwin had one catch for 13 yards in ten targets against New Orleans, we wrote that it was the worst game for a wide receiver on record. That's still true … if you look at receiving DYAR only. If you include rushing DYAR, it's second-worst behind Stefon Diggs' nightmarish outing against the Jets -- his 15 targets resulted in eight catches for 33 yards, and his two carries combined to lose 7 yards. The updated list of terrible wide receiver games is riddled with games from this year. When teams pass as frequently and efficiently as they did in 2018, the bad games really stand out in comparison.

And now, the Week 17 numbers: