ARIZONA CARDINALS

Research & Doug: Interesting sports stats from Doug Franz and elsewhere

Oct 6, 2015, 10:46 AM

Every week as part of my show prep (and because I’m genuinely interested), I read through as many research notes as I can find. Sometimes I research my own stats to see if there’s a statistical trend that backs up what I think I’m seeing when I watch games. Unfortunately for my time efficiency, occasionally those stats show me nothing and I throw them out.

Here are the stats (or interesting tidbits) from the last week.

1) Rams running back Todd Gurley averaged 1.4 yards before contact through the first three quarters and almost nine yards before contact in the fourth quarter. — ESPN RESEARCH

2) Don Shula coached 100 more games for the Miami Dolphins than the eight men hired to replace him combined. — Darren Rovell, ESPN Sports Business Reporter

3) Six of the 128 teams in the FBS have had at least a 13-point lead in every game and five of them are 4-0, while Tennessee is 2-3. — @peteredmiston

4) Cowboys quarterback Brandon Weeden has lost his last ten games as a starter. — ESPN STATS & INFO

5) The Rams scored two red zone touchdowns in weeks one through three and three red zone touchdowns against the Cardinals this past Sunday. — ESPN RESEARCH

6) The Dolphins have spent $111 million dollars in guaranteed money on the defensive line for one sack and the worst rush defense in football. — ESPN STATS & INFO

7) The Steelers allowed 178 rush yards between the tackles Thursday night, the most they have allowed in a game since 2007. — ESPN STATS & INFO

8) Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill completed 11-of-32 passes with two interceptions against five or more pass rushers compared to 8-of-12 passes with two touchdowns against four or fewer pass rushers. — ESPN STATS & INFO

9) Baltimore is only the third road team to beat the Steelers in overtime. — ESPN STATS & INFO

10) The Dolphins led the last 10 minutes of a Week 1 win over the Redskins, which is the only time they’ve had a lead this year. — ESPN STATS & INFO

11) Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston has thrown a pick-six in every home game of his NFL career. — ESPN STATS & INFO

12) Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins has a turnover in all but three of his NFL starts, but two of those three are in Washington’s 2015 wins. — ESPN STATS & INFO

13) Arizona is no longer the worst defense against tight ends, as Oakland has given up league highs in receptions (34), yards (388) and touchdowns (6). — ESPN RESEARCH

14) Texans quarterback Ryan Mallett completed 44 percent of his passes against the Falcons. — ESPN RESEARCH

15) The Bengals offensive line gave up only two pressures of Andy Dalton, no sacks and Cincinnati running backs averaged 3.3 yards per carry BEFORE contact. — ESPN RESEARCH

16) Falcons running back Devonta Freeman is the only player since the merger to score three rushing touchdowns in each of his first two starts. — ESPN RESEARCH

17) In his last two games, 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick is completing just 31 percent of his passes that travel five yards or more beyond the line of scrimmage, with zero touchdowns and four interceptions. — ESPN RESEARCH

18) The Saints, Bears and 49ers scored six points combined off of Cardinals turnovers, while turnovers accounted for 17 of the Rams’ 24 points. — ESPN RESEARCH

19) The Broncos blitzed a defensive back on only five dropbacks in September for one sack, but did so eight times against Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, sacking him four times on those plays.  It’s the most such sacks any team has had in a game this season. –ESPN RESEARCH

20) Saints quarterback Drew Brees threw 399 touchdown passes without ever throwing one in overtime.  His 400th was in overtime to beat Dallas. — ESPN RESEARCH

21) Now former Nationals manager Matt Williams is the first manager to win a Manager of the Year award in his rookie year and be fired after his second. — ESPN STATS & INFO

22) The Nationals’ 23 blown saves were the most of any team with a winning record. — ESPN STATS & INFO

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Research & Doug: Interesting sports stats from Doug Franz and elsewhere