A rebound performance from the Buffalo Bills in their 26-16 win over the Denver Broncos on Sunday shook up the league leaderboard a bit. Let’s see where everybody stands just shy of the quarter point of the year.
Passing
Passing yards have never been Tyrod Taylor’s strong suit, but it’s still odd to see him drop to 26th in the NFL after one of the better overall performances of his career. He’s a step behind Cam Newton and a little ahead of Case Keenum (who has only started twice) in that category.
Taylor is one of nine quarterbacks in the top 20 in passing touchdowns with only zero or one interceptions. His four touchdown passes have him in a five-way tie for 15th, a group that includes next week’s opponent, Matt Ryan of the Falcons. Taylor and Ryan are also tied in quarterback rating, as both have a 99.2 figure heading into their Week 4 matchup (tied for 13th in the NFL).
Rushing
Another poor showing on the ground from LeSean McCoy has him falling further down the leaderboard. Shady now sits at 23rd in the NFL with 140 rushing yards, and at this point he’s even looking up at his former backup, Mike Gillislee (who has 145).
Even Mike Tolbert is starting to catch up. With a team-high 41 yards against the Broncos, the Toldozer is tied with Corey Grant of the Jaguars at 41st in the NFL with 88 yards (although Grant only needed seven carries to Tolbert’s 26). Between the two running backs is Taylor, whose 106 yards is 37th in the NFL and second among quarterbacks to Texans rookie Deshaun Watson.
Receiving
Jordan Matthews didn’t have a monster game against the Broncos, but his 61 receiving yards were enough to boost him from 56th in the NFL to 39th, just behind another former Bill, Chris Hogan. The next-highest Bill is McCoy, whose 131 yards is currently tied for 58th in the league with Jordy Nelson (who has three touchdown catches to McCoy’s zero).
McCoy is faring a bit better on the receptions chart. His team-high of 18 is in a four-way tie for 12th that includes three running backs (McCoy, Christian McCaffrey, and Ty Montgomery) and a tight end (Jason Witten). Only the Bears’ Tarik Cohen (20) has more receptions among running backs. Next up on the Bills is tight end Charles Clay, whose 13 catches put him in a huge logjam at 36th that includes yet another former Bill in Sammy Watkins.
McCoy has also overtaken Clay as the team leader in targets, with 20. That puts him tied for 36th with Brandon Marshall of the Giants. Clay’s 18 targets have him in a six-way tie for 45th in the league right now, a group that includes Brandin Cooks of the Patriots.
Defense
Ramon Humber had another strong game with eight tackles, but Zach Brown and Demario Davis knocked him from second in the NFL to fourth. He’s only one behind them (32 to 31). Preston Brown’s team-high 10 tackles against Denver vaulted him into a tie for 33rd with, among others, former All-Pro Luke Kuechly of the Panthers.
Lorenzo Alexander and Shaq Lawson both notched their second sacks of the year on Trevor Siemian, putting them in a four-way tie for the team lead alongside Jerry Hughes and Jordan Poyer. That’s good for 22nd in the league but still well behind league-leader Demarcus Lawrence’s 6.5 sacks.
Tre’Davious White and E.J. Gaines joined Poyer and Micah Hyde as Bills who have intercepted a pass this year. None of those players have two, which is where the nine league leaders at the moment stand.
Special Teams
Brandon Tate’s return to the field saw him return two kickoffs and two punts. His kick return average of 21.3 is 25th in the NFL, while his 9.2 yards per punt return put him in a tie for 15th. Plenty of room for improvement there.
Stephen Hauschka’s monster game had a lot to do with the Bills win, and it helped give him a boost among the leaders as well. Hauschka is only tied for 25 in the NFL in scoring with 20 points, but he’s one of four kickers who’s hit from 50 multiple times in the young season. The team record for 50-year field goals in a season is six, set by Dan Carpenter in 2014.
Colton Schmidt’s gross average of 45.9 yards per punt is 17th in the NFL, while his net average of 39.2 ties for 24th in the league (both figures among players with more than one punt). It’s a slight drop from last week, and it more or less confirms Schmidt’s stature as an average punter who is occasionally capable of a great performance.