2016 NFL Week 6 Stats: Adjusted Net Yards Per Passing Attempt Differential

Week 7 of the 2016 NFL regular season got underway Thursday night and I forgot to pass along the ANY/A (adjusted net yards per passing attempt) differential stats ahead of that first game taking place. Below are the numbers through the first six weeks of the season along with a few observations.

With 6 weeks now behind us, we are starting to get a good look at which teams are really excelling on offense and defense against the pass. As far as the differential numbers go, if you look back at the last two seasons, only one team with a differential number of lower than -1.25 after the first six weeks went on to make the playoffs. That team was the Washington Redskins, who won the NFC East with a 9-7 record. With that said, the Green Bay Packers, Oakland Raiders and Indianapolis Colts are currently below that number and at least one could ultimately still make the playoffs and maybe even all three.

As for the Pittsburgh Steelers, they now have a defensive ANY/A number of 6.82 heading into their week 7 game against the New England Patriots. That’s a higher number than they had after the first six weeks of the 2014 and 2015 seasons as well. As mentioned, they will host the Patriots on Sunday and they currently have the league’s second-best offensive ANY/A number. In other words, the Steelers defense could be in for long day against Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.

If there is a positive heading into Sunday’s game, it’s the fact that the Patriots defensive ANY/A number isn’t all that great. They only have 11 sacks on the season, which is just 3 more than the Steelers defense currently has.