Statistically Speaking: Week 16

With only two games remaining on the schedule, the Atlanta Falcons headed west to face the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs. The now 4-11 Falcons were considered heavy underdogs, and they actually made it a competitive game down to the wire. Even in a loss, it felt like the team had something to build on heading into the offseason.

For now though, all we can do is try to enjoy the games and look for some optimism, if any is to be found. This won’t be a deep dive into the analytical side of the numbers put up, but more of a broad outlook on random stats and factoids, and any records that may have been broken over the weekend.

Without further ado, lets get started.

Calvin Ridley is having a terrific season

One of the few brightspots in 2020 is the emergence of wide receiver Calvin Ridley. Ridley has been good in the past, but he’s clearly taken a leap this season. With Julio Jones missing several weeks due to a lingering hamstring injury, Ridley has picked up and ran with the mantle of being the team’s WR1. In Sunday’s loss, Ridley became the seventh player in NFL history to have 200+ receptions for 3,000+ yards and 26+ touchdowns within a player’s first three seasons. The game also marked his fourth straight game of having 100+ receiving yards, it’s really a shame he wasn’t selected to the Pro Bowl, but he’s having a phenomenal season regardless.

Chiefs have a points streak ended

As mentioned above, the Falcons played the Chiefs very tough. If it wasn’t for a dropped interception and missed game-tying field goal, the Falcons could have very well won this game. Against a dominant offense like the Chiefs, it may be a shocker that the team has scored 22+ points in every game this season, until they played the Falcons that is. The Falcons held the Chiefs to only 17 points which in part broke a Chiefs’ 28 game streak of scoring at least 20 points in a game.

Matt Ryan has the 8th most passing yards in a career on the road

Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan continues to climb records ladders even in a down year for the team. On Sunday, Ryan passed Eli Manning for the 8th most passing yards on the road in a career. Ryan’s 300-yards against the Chiefs on Sunday put him at 28,168 road passing yards surpassing Manning’s respectable 27,896.

Younghoe Koo still remains the NFL’s leading kicker in 2020

Even though he missed a 39-yard field goal on Sunday which would’ve tied up the game, Younghoe Koo still leads the NFL in kicking with 35 field goals made. This is also in part to the Falcons’ offense normally stalling in the red zone, but it still remains impressive nonetheless. Hopefully Koo will get another opportunity down the road to prove himself and make a clutch kick.