Welcome once again to our look into the world of speed. This is the Pace of Play Report: Week 12. The season is approaching its end point, yet there are still some teams for whom speed is not a constant. There are teams speeding up and teams slowing down. Is it doing them any good? Is it helping the fantasy appeal of their players? Let’s take a look.
Leaderboard
The Pace of Play Leader Board 2022
Big Changes
The Denver Broncos continue to step on the gas and operate at a faster pace. They are up to No. 11 after Week 12 with a pace of play mark of 2.124. In the first six weeks of the season, the Broncos were never higher than No. 25 while dropping as low as No. 28 on occasion. This emphasis on speed has done precious little for them offensively, and it should be noted. The Broncos are No. 32 in points scored and No. 32 in the percentage of drives ending with points at 26.6-percent. Luckily, they don’t have the mother of all albatrosses in a contract for their misfiring quarterback. Oh, hang on…
Russell Wilson Contract Breakdown courtesy of Over The Cap
The Carolina Panthers are down at No. 21 after 12 weeks, which is their lowest point in the whole season. They did benefit from a positive game script against the hapless Broncos in Week 12, which clearly helped them in taking their foot off the gas. The nice and slow approach might also be something they go with to prevent Sam Darnold from having much chance to hurt them on offense. So it’s something worth monitoring in the weeks ahead.
Sam Darnold Passing Productivity Stats 2021
The Indianapolis Colts jumped seven spots on the leaderboard and sit at No. 9 after Week 12. This is still a far cry from the start of the season when they were among the pace setters in terms of…erm, setting the pace. They sat at No. 4 and No. 5 after the first two weeks of the season, but before this week had only a single week when they were higher than No. 10 on the list. There is a chance they could play even faster if their interim head coach understood clock management.
Image courtesy of WRTV Indianapolis on Twitter (@wtrv)
The Week Ahead
There are several eye-catching matchups on the Week 13 slate of games from a pace point of view. The Minnesota Vikings and New York Jets clash in particular with both sides inside the top ten on the pace of play leaderboard. The Jets’ offense looks so much more efficient and effective with Zach Wilson out of the way. This newfound efficiency, allied with a brisk pace of play rate, makes their playmakers attractive fantasy propositions.
The Dallas Cowboys and Colts match is another one with two top-ten sides going head to head. The Cowboys certainly run a lot of plays and run them quickly, but their 1.07 pass-to-run ratio severely limits the fantasy ceiling of the side. We can like CeeDee Lamb in the passing game, but then it’s pretty much Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard. The Colts pass the ball a hell of a lot more than the Cowboys. But they are not exactly talent-rich at the receiver spot. So we find ourselves hoping, waiting, and praying for the Michael Pittman explosion game.
Until next time.
