Fromm, Giants, Dominate Worst Games of 2021

NFL Week 18 – With the 2021 regular season over, it’s time to look back at the best and worst games of the year, with full-strength final opponent adjustments. Later this week, I’ll be back with a rundown of the best and worst players of the season by DYAR, rather than analysis of Week 18.

Quarterbacks

Best Games

• Tom Brady, Week 5 vs. MIA, 283 DYAR
• Lamar Jackson, Week 5 vs. IND, 272 DYAR
• Dak Prescott, Week 6 vs. NE, 255 DYAR
• Justin Herbert, Week 5 vs. CLE, 244 DYAR
• Josh Allen, Week 16 vs. NE, 230 DYAR

First question: what was in the NFL’s water in Week 5? That’s when Tom Brady, Lamar Jackson, and Justin Herbert posted the best, second-best, and fourth-best quarterback games of the year, all within 36 hours or so (the Ravens game was on Monday night). Brady and Herbert had their big games on my birthday, so maybe their big games were meant as personal gifts to me, in which case, thanks guys!

The Brady game referenced here is the one in which he threw for 411 yards and five touchdowns in a 45-17 win over Miami. It’s also the game that pushed him ahead of Peyton Manning in career DYAR, and if you’re going to move into first place, might as well do it big. Jackson’s best game came in a 31-25 overtime win against the Colts. Baltimore actually trailed 22-3 in that game before Jackson threw three touchdowns (and two two-point conversions!) to the game at 25-25 and send it into overtime, where he threw a game-winning score to Marquise Brown. Herbert also led a rally as the Chargers trailed Cleveland 27-13 in the third quarter and 42-35 with less than five minutes to go. Herbert and L.A. then produced a touchdown, a Browns three-and-out, and another touchdown to take the lead, then made one more defensive stop to win 47-42. Herbert finished with 398 yards and four touchdowns.

A week later, Dak Prescott and the Cowboys beat the Patriots 35-29 in overtime in a game that included nine lead changes or ties, five of them in the fourth quarter or later. Prescott threw for 445 yards and three touchdowns. Only one late-season game made our list, and it also came against New England: Josh Allen’s 314-yard, three-touchdown passing game in a 33-21 win in Week 16. Allen also ran 12 times for 64 yards in that game.

Worst Games

• Mike Glennon, Week 17 vs. CHI, -265 DYAR
• Ian Book, Week 16 vs. MIA, -207 DYAR
• Daniel Jones, Week 6 vs. LAR, -204 DYAR
• Davis Mills, Week 4 vs. BUF, -184 DYAR
• Ryan Tannehill, Week 11 vs. HOU, -179 DYAR

So, uh, how about those New York Giants? Mike Glennon’s 24-yard, two-interception, four-sack game from last week’s 29-3 loss to the Bears winds up as the 15th-worst quarterback game in our books since 1983. Daniel Jones finishes third-worst this season; he did throw for 242 yards in a 38-11 loss to L.A., but it took him 51 passes to get there, and he gave up three interceptions and four sacks along the way. If we stretched this out to a bottom 10 instead of a bottom five, Jake Fromm would show up twice, with exactly -172 DYAR in both a 34-10 loss to Philadelphia in Week 16 and a 22-7 loss to Washington in Week 18. Fromm’s combined numbers in those two games: 21-of-48, 128 yards, one touchdown, three interceptions, four sacks. Oh, and let’s not forget that Glennon relieved Fromm in Week 16 and added (subtracted?) -68 more passing DYAR; combine the two, and the Giants would finish in first, second, and fourth place on this list. All told, Giants quarterbacks finished in the bottom five in Quick Reads nine times this season, including four finishes in last place.

Elsewhere, Ian Book looked every bit like a fourth-string quarterback in a 20-3 loss to Miami on Monday night in Week 16, picking up 135 yards while giving up two interceptions and eight sacks. And Ryan Tannehill had an awful day in a 22-13 loss to Houston in Week 11, throwing four interceptions and being sacked twice as Houston took a 19-0 lead in the third quarter.

Running Backs

Best Games

• Jonathan Taylor, Week 11 vs. BUF, 125 DYAR
• Austin Ekeler, Week 4 vs. LV, 98 DYAR
• Cordarrelle Edmonds, Week 4 vs. WAS, 93 DYAR
• Jonathan Taylor, Week 5 vs. BAL, 88 DYAR
• Jamaal Williams, Week 1 vs. SF, 72 DYAR

Yes, it was a good year for Jonathan Taylor. He ran for 185 yards and four touchdowns in a 41-15 win against the Bills, a game that finishes eighth in total DYAR and third in rushing DYAR in our database. He only ran for 53 yards in a 31-25 overtime loss to the Ravens, but added 116 more as a receiver, with two total touchdowns.

Two running backs had big games in Week 4: Austin Ekeler had 117 yards in only 15 carries in a 28-14 win over the Raiders, while Cordarrelle Patterson caught five passes for 82 yards and three touchdowns in a 34-30 loss to Washington. And way back in Week 1, Jamaal Williams had 54 yards on nine carries and 56 on eight catches in Detroit’s 41-33 loss to the 49ers.

Worst Games

• D’Andre Swift, Week 10 vs. PIT, -71 DYAR
• Dalvin Cook, Week 15 vs. CHI, -51 DYAR
• Darrell Henderson, Week 7 vs. DET, -51 DYAR
• Myles Gaskin, Week 6 vs. JAX, -50 DYAR
• Joe Mixon, Week 13 vs. CIN, -39 DYAR

D’Andre Swift barely sneaks into the bottom 20 for his 130-rushing yard, 5-receiving yard day in a 16-16 tie with Pittsburgh with Week 10. (You can click the link for details, but Swift’s 130 yards came on 33 carries, and only eight of those carries counted as successful plays.) He’s the first player to hit -40 rushing DYAR and -20 receiving DYAR in the same game since the Rams’ Steven Jackson in 2010.

The next four games here are less surprising. You’ve got Dalvin Cook’s 91 yards from scrimmage on 31 carries and targets in a 17-9 win over Chicago; Darrell Henderson’s 64 on 21 in a 28-19 win over Detroit; Myles Gaskin’s 14 on 11 in a 23-20 win over Miami; and Joe Mixon’s 54 on 20 in a 41-22 loss to the Chargers.

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

Best Games

• Ja’Marr Chase, Week 17 vs. KC, 126 DYAR
• Tyreek Hill, Week 4 vs. PHI, 110 DYAR
• Deebo Samuel, Week 10 vs. LAR, 106 DYAR
• Justin Jefferson, Week 11 vs. GB, 105 DYAR
• Tee Higgins, Week 16 vs. BAL, 103 DYAR

Chase’s 12-11-266-3 statline in last week’s 34-31 win against Kansas City puts him 13th all-time among wide receivers in total DYAR in a single game, and 11th place in receiving DYAR. For his part, Tyreek Hill put up a 12-11-186-3 line in a 42-30 in over Philadelphia. Justin Jefferson went 10-8-169-2 in a 34-31 win over Green Bay, while Tee Higgins went 12-13-194-2 in a 41-21 win over Baltimore.

You’ll note we skipped over Deebo Samuel. That’s because his game in San Francisco’s 31-10 win over the Rams requires a little explanation. He had 57 receiving DYAR for going 5-5-97-1, but added 50 rushing DYAR for his five carries for 36 yards. That latter mark is an all-time record for wide receivers who had at least 80 combined DYAR in a game, surpassing the 40 rushing DYAR that the Giants’ Jerrel Jernigan had for his two carries for 57 yards and a touchdown against Washington in 2013. As you’ll see later, Samuel’s Week 18 game, which was even more diverse, nearly qualified for this table too.

The best tight end game of the year was George Kittle’s 74-DYAR day in San Francisco’s 30-23 loss to Seattle in Week 13. Kittle went 12-9-181-2 as a receiver that day, adding one carry for 5 yards.

Worst Games

• Gabriel Davis, Week 18 vs. NYJ, -74 DYAR
• Marquise Brown, Week 10 vs. MIA, -68 DYAR
• Ja’Marr Chase, Week 9 vs. CLE, -65 DYAR
• Gerald Everett, Week 13 vs. SF, -63 DYAR
• Robby Anderson, Week 6 vs. MIN, -56 DYAR

Congratulations to Buffalo’s Gabriel Davis, who made it just under the gun for the worst wide receiver game of the year! Davis only caught three of 14 passes in Buffalo’s 27-10 win against the Jets. Those three receptions: 14-yard gain on second-and-10; 27-yard gain on first-and-10; 2-yard loss on second-and-goal from the 3.

Special attention also goes to Seattle’s Gerald Everett, whose -63 DYAR in Seattle’s 30-23 win over San Francisco is a new record for worst game ever by a tight end, surpassing Mark Andrew’s, uh, mark of -58 DYAR against Kansas City last season. Everett caught four of six passes against the 49ers … for a total of 7 yards, with more fumbles (two) than first downs (zero).

Our bottom five is rounded out by Marquise Brown (13-6-37-0 in a 22-10 loss to Miami), Ja’Marr Chase (13-6-49-0 in a 41-16 loss to Cleveland), and Robby Anderson (11-3-11-1 in a 34-28 overtime loss to Minnesota).