Greetings to fans and followers of frenetic and fast football. Welcome to another edition of the Pace of Play report where we shine a light on the fastest teams in the NFL. We glare at the teams who play at a funereal pace. We look at matches in the coming weeks slate that should produce a lot of plays. This allows you to maximize (or minimize) your exposure to players in those contests. Because players need to run plays to score fantasy points, this is another useful tool to look at when making lineup choices or setting DFS lineups. No need to thank us, though. Just enjoy and absorb.
Pace of Play Rankings Through Week 4
Buccaneers On The Charge
The top ten contains most of the usual suspects, but there is one notable newcomer. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are now ranked No. 6 with a 2.119 mark. The Bucs have got faster and faster throughout the season after sitting at No. 27 following Week 1. It would appear that the more plays the Bucs call, the more passes they will throw. Especially with the No. 24 Game Script in the entire league. The Buccaneers are No. 31 in rushing yards this season, so speeding up would seem to be a good sign for the likes of Mike Evans and the returning Chris Godwin.
Tom Brady Passing Opportunity Stats 2022
Go Slow Steelers, Go Slow
Last week, the Pittsburgh Steelers were ranked No. 7 in the pace of play with a 2.126 mark. I mentioned that coach Mike Tomlin said that their pace of play was a week-to-week proposition. As such, it would be tough to bank on them going fast in every game. This became evident in incredibly quick time as the Steelers have fallen all the way to No. 32. Yes, even slower than the Tennessee Titans. This offense was tough to trust given the “uneven” play of Mitchell Trubisky. We can love and appreciate the wow play potential of George Pickens and the ability of Diontae Johnson to command targets. But the ancillary pieces of this offense are not pieces we can bank on moving forward.
The Week Ahead
The fastest match on the Week 5 slate is unquestionably the clash between the Arizona Cardinals and the 4-0 Philadelphia Eagles. The Cardinals are No. 5 with a 2.176 pace of play mark; the Eagles are no slouches at 2.073. That’s good for No. 9. Despite the Eagles’ stellar pass defense, Kyler Murray should be in for a decent fantasy outing this week especially if he continues to take to the air as often as he has been.
Kyler Murray Passing Opportunity Stats 2022
The NFC South matchup between the Buccaneers and the Atlanta Falcons should also feature plenty of plays with the Bucs doing the passing and the Falcons the running. The Falcons are No. 31 with 24.5 pass plays per game and sit No. 4 with 672 team rushing yards.
At the other end of the speed scale, Week 5 presents the Buffalo Bills and the Steelers. The Bills currently sit at No. 25 in the pace of play which is their highest mark of the season. They don’t go fast, but when they do call plays they like to sling the rock. The Bills average 42.5 pass plays per game. The Steelers AFC North rivals, the Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals go head to head in Week 5. This is another game that is likely to see plenty of plays with the play clock approaching 0:01.
See you in Week 6.
