24. Atlanta Falcons
(3-7. Last week: 28)
Give Falcons head coach Dan Quinn credit for doing all he could to improve a defense that was dragging his team down by the neck. Before the team’s Week 9 bye, Atlanta was 1-7, ranking 28th in the NFL in points allowed and 25th in total touchdowns allowed. The Falcons also were dead last in interceptions, and they had just eight sacks in eight games.
In an unusual twist, Quinn assigned linebackers coach Jeff Ulbrich to call first- and second-down defense, and assistant head coach/defensive backs coach Raheem Morris to call third-down defense. It’s worked like a charm. Over their past two games, the Falcons haven’t allowed a touchdown, they’ve picked off four passes, added 11 sacks to their team total, and they’re 2-0 with road wins against the Saints and Panthers. Atlanta’s 29-3 win over Carolina on Sunday won’t likely be enough to get Quinn’s team to the postseason, but it may save his job — and if this sticks, rightfully so. Panthers quarterback Kyle Allen was an easier out for this defense than Drew Brees was the previous week, but this defense looked dominant against both quarterbacks. Jameis Winston, who just threw four picks and took two sacks in a loss to New Orleans, had better watch out next Sunday.
23. Los Angeles Chargers
(4-7. Last week: 22)
For the second consecutive week in a prime time game, the Chargers had a credible chance to win a crucial game against a divisional opponent, and for the second straight time, Philip Rivers literally threw his team’s opportunities away with head-scratching interceptions, especially late in the game. This heave to Chiefs cornerback Rashad Fenton with 4:20 left in the game was a dagger, as the Chargers were down, 24-17, but had a legitimate chance to drive down the field with smarter throws from a quarterback whose throwing motion over the past few games suggests either an injury or an alternate career.
¡Nuestra defensa en este momento! #VamosChiefs pic.twitter.com/KZD1ApYMA5
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) November 19, 2019
The following interception to safety Daniel Sorenson with 24 seconds left was the real killer, as it ended any chance to win. Rivers finished the game with four interceptions, including the two that ended his team’s last two drives.
¡Dirty Dan! #VamosChiefs pic.twitter.com/yUKG39Omhp
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) November 19, 2019
This performance came one week after Rivers’ three-pick performance against the Raiders in a 26-24 loss that included one of the worst two-minute sequences by a quarterback in recent history. It makes one wonder if the Chargers need to think about other options in 2020 — when, based on his current contractual situation, Rivers will be a free agent.
22. Detroit Lions
(3-6-1. Last week: 23)
The Lions faced an interesting question in Sunday’s game against the Cowboys. Would they stick with their primary man coverages against a Dallas passing offense that has been highly effective against that kind of tight coverage this season? Only Seattle’s Russell Wilson has a higher passer rating this season against man coverage than Dak Prescott’s 110.5. So in the end, it was fairly predictable that a defense that wants to play man coverage most of the time and isn’t very good at it — Detroit has allowed seven touchdown passes to just one interception in man coverage this season — would find itself at Prescott’s mercy. Dallas’ quarterback completed 29 of 46 passes for 444 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions in a 35-27 win. Detroit’s offense couldn’t quite keep up, though backup Jeff Driskel played decently in place of Matthew Stafford, who could miss several weeks with a back injury. What becomes apparent is that Detroit’s desire to align itself with a specific defensive philosophy, and the abilities of their players to execute that philosophy, are at a distinct impasse.
21. Chicago Bears
(4-6. Last week: 21)
It’s entirely possible that Mitchell Trubisky had a hip injury that led Bears coach Matt Nagy to take his starting quarterback out of Sunday night’s game against the Rams late in the fourth quarter in favor of Chase Daniel. It’s also entirely possible that Nagy had seen Trubisky throw enough off-target balls, and was desperate to see a passing game that was at least functional. Trubisky completed 24 of 43 passes for 190 yards, one touchdown and one interception in a 17-7 loss. A 4.4 yards-per-attempt average isn’t ever going to get it done, and Trubisky was unable to hit his receivers even when he wasn’t pressured.
That said, Nagy, as the offensive play-caller, bears some responsibility in all this. The Bears have steadfastly refused to let Trubisky do the two things he’s good at this season — designed runs and boot-action throws. Per Sports Info Solutions, Trubisky has completed eight of nine passes for 111 yards and 85 air yards when running boot-action — which cuts the field in half for the quarterback and makes his reads easier. Kirk Cousins came into Week 11 with the NFL’s most boot-action attempts (41), and it’s inexcusable that Nagy and his staff are trying to make Trubisky a pocket passer when he’s anything but.
20. Jacksonville Jaguars
(4-6. Last week: 20)
Doug Marrone’s decision to replace rookie Gardner Minshew with veteran Nick Foles when Foles was fully recovered from the collarbone injury that had him out since Week 1 and gave Minshew an unexpected chance to shine was clearly based on the idea that the Jaguars had not really seen the quarterback they signed to a four-year, $88 million contract in the offseason. Perhaps it’s a matter of blowing the rust off, as Foles was average in a 33-13 loss to the Colts in which he completed 33 of 47 passes for 296 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Given Minshew’s struggles when his first read is closed, Marrone made the right call in the short term. A far more pressing issue for the franchise is a defense that allowed the Colts to have two 100-yard rushers in a single game (Marlon Mack, Jonathan Williams) for the first time since 1985.
19. Arizona Cardinals
(3-7-1. Last week: 18)
Whatever Kyler Murray has on the 49ers’ defense, he should bottle it and sell it to other teams. The Cardinals lost a close one in Santa Clara on Sunday, falling 36-26 to Kyle Shanahan’s team after Jimmy Garoppolo connected with running back Jeff Wilson Jr. on a 25-yard touchdown pass with 31 seconds left in the game. The subsequent defensive touchdown was in response to Arizona’s desperate lateral derby as time expired, but let’s get back to Murray against his division opponent. This season, all other quarterbacks facing the 49ers have completed 56.8% of their passes for 165.5 yards per game, six touchdown passes to 11 interceptions, and a passer rating of 62.0. Murray is the only quarterback to post a passer rating over 100 against this defense, and he’s done it twice — once in a 28-25 Week 9 loss, and in this game, when he completed 24 of 33 passes for 150 yards, two touchdowns and no picks. In those two games, Murray has a 71.9% completion rate, 195.5 yards per game, four touchdown passes and no interceptions, and a passer rating of 114.0. He also has the only rushing touchdown by a quarterback against San Francisco this season. The Cardinals have experienced some agonizingly close losses this season, but they’re on the right track, and Murray is a primary reason why. Not bad for a rookie.
18. Los Angeles Rams
(6-4. Last week: 18)
Incredibly, the Rams came into their Sunday night game against the Bears without having scored an offensive touchdown in 19 straight drives. Things didn’t get any better on their first drive, when Todd Gurley fumbled on his team’s first play from scrimmage. Jared Goff ended the Rams’ second drive with a truly awful interception to linebacker Roquan Smith on a sideline throw. Sean McVay’s offense finally broke the streak on their fifth drive of the evening, when Gurley scored on a 1-yard touchdown run. The Rams kept their postseason hopes alive with a 17-7 win, but not all is well with that offense. Per Next Gen Stats, Jared Goff was pressured on just one of his 18 dropbacks, but he was able to complete just 11 passes in 18 attempts for 173 yards, no touchdowns, that really bad pick, and a couple of decent throws called back by penalties. The heat map shows a quarterback who can’t carry the offense on his back, and the dropback total reveals a coaching staff well aware of that fact.
Jared Goff was pressured only once on 18 dropbacks (6% pressure rate), the lowest pressure rate Goff has faced in a game in his career.
The @RamsNFL are now 14-0 under Sean McVay when Goff is pressured less than 22% of dropbacks (16-18 in all other games).#CHIvsLAR | #LARams pic.twitter.com/3TOU797fhl
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) November 18, 2019
17. Pittsburgh Steelers
(5-5. Last week: 17)
Though Mason Rudolph would have preferred not to have Myles Garrett whack him upside the head with his own helmet last Thursday night, the net positive from the incident is that at least we weren’t talking about Rudolph’s four-interception performance in a 21-7 loss to the Browns. Rudolph came into this game with just four picks, but everything fell apart when he was asked to make tight-window throws downfield. At this point in his career, Rudolph is a late processor — he will put his receivers in disadvantageous situations because he doesn’t see what defenses are doing in time to take advantage of it. It’s a common problem among young quarterbacks — you could say the same thing of Jared Goff — but until and unless Rudolph is able to speed up his internal clock, the Steelers will continue to struggle with serious inconsistencies in the passing game.