by Vincent Verhei

Welcome to this week's edition of Quick Reads -- or, as it's quickly becoming known, This Week in Ben Roethlisberger. Seven days after putting up the best single-game DYAR total in our database against Indianapolis, Roethlisberger threw for another 340 yards and a half-dozen more scores against Baltimore, good enough to finish as the league's top quarterback for the second week in a row.

Roethlisberger has now put up 558 total DYAR in his last two games. Is that the best two-game stretch in the DVOA era? The answer to that question is an absolute, definitive "probably." Our data isn't set up in a way to answer that question in one day, but after dinking around with spreadsheets for a few hours on Monday afternoon, I couldn't find a two-game sample that topped it. I found six other examples of quarterbacks topping the 500-DYAR threshold in back-to-back games (I am certain there are others), and it's exactly the names you would think of: Peyton Manning has done it three times (against Jacksonville and Kansas City in 2004; against Washington and Denver in 2006; and against Philadelphia and Dallas last season), Tom Brady twice (an overlapping sample, against Dallas and Miami in 2007, and then Miami and Washington the next week), and Drew Brees once (against San Francisco and Jacksonville in 2007). (A quick aside on Manning's streak in '04: he went 52-of-83 against the Jaguars and Chiefs, averaging better than 10 yards per pass, with eight touchdowns and one interception -- and the Colts lost both games.) Brady's 2007 three-game streak of 783 DYAR is likely the best trio of games on record, and Roethlisberger will probably shatter it if he can throw six touchdowns again in Week 10. His opponent this Sunday: the New York Jets, the team that has given up a league-high 24 touchdowns passes (six more than any other team) with a league-low one interception. I am not a gambling man, but if I were, I can't imagine a point spread high enough to wager against Pittsburgh in this matchup.

But that's in the future. What can we say about Roethlisberger and the Steelers right now? Roethlisberger has accomplished a lot in his career: two Super Bowl rings, one Super Bowl loss, team records in every major passing statistic, a Rookie of the Year award, and a couple of Pro Bowls. However, he has never been a realistic MVP candidate, nor a reasonable choice as the best quarterback in football. He has never finished higher than seventh in DYAR (though he was in the top three in DVOA in 2004, 2005, and 2010). Thanks to his two-game surge, though, Roethlisberger is in the middle of the best year of his career. When our quarterback rankings are unveiled on Tuesday (spoiler!), Roethlisberger is going to sit in second in both categories behind Peyton Manning. Does he have a chance to surpass the Broncos quarterback over the next two months?

(Ed. Note: Actually, after his big MNF game, Andrew Luck will be third in DYAR.)

Roethlisberger's game against the Colts blows away anything that Manning has done this year, but on a consistent basis Manning has been the better player, with a higher DYAR five times in the eight weeks they have both played. Manning has not played a game with negative DYAR this season, but Roethlisberger has two: against Baltimore, of all teams, in Week 2, and then against Cleveland in Week 6. A week-by-week chart comparing the two shows that Manning has been the superior passer for most of the year, but Roethlisberger has made up ground in a hurry:

This chart also shows that Manning has already had a bye, in Week 4, while Roethlisberger hasn't. In Week 12, Roethlisberger will be at home on the couch, while Manning will be playing at home against the Dolphins. That will be a good chance for Manning to widen the gap between himself and Roethlisberger.

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That chart also shows that this week's 6-TD, 0-INT game for Roethlisberger was worth much less DYAR than the prior week's 6-TD, 0-INT game. Why is that?

Roethlisberger had fewer dropbacks against Baltimore (42, including two DPIs) than he did against Indianapolis (50, including one DPI). DYAR is a counting stat, and fewer dropbacks means fewer chances to pile up numbers.

The Colts failed to sack Roethsliberger, but the Ravens brought him down three times (on three straight plays!).

Roethlisberger was much less accurate against Baltimore, with 15 fewer completions and three more incompletions.

Roethlisberger converted 8-of-11 third- and fourth-down plays against the Colts, but went 7-of-13 against the Ravens. (Of course, four of those seven conversions were touchdowns...)

Roethlisberger had six failed completions against Baltimore, three of them failed third-down plays. He had five failed completions against Indianapolis (on 15 more total completions, remember), and only two of them on third downs

All in all, it was the best game of the week, but not even one of the top ten games of the year so far. But if Roethlisberger can match this production for the rest of the year? Yeah, the Steelers will happily take that.

Quarterbacks Rk Player Team CP/AT Yds TD INT Total

DYAR Pass

DYAR Rush

DYAR 1. Ben Roethlisberger PIT 25/37 340 6 0 186 196 -10 Roethlisberger went 5-of-8 on deep passes, with every completion going for a touchdown, for a total of 171 yards. 2. Ryan Tannehill MIA 24/34 288 3 0 148 143 5 Tannehill had 13 passes on his own half of the field against San Diego, but 11 passes in the red zone. That's a lot, but nothing special (Andrew Luck had 13 in Week 5). More telling is that those 11 red-zone plays came on six separate drives. Inside the 20, he went 7-of-11 for 44 yards with two touchdowns and another first down. 3. Tom Brady NE 34/53 333 4 1 116 117 -1 Brady also reached the red zone on six drives,though he was much more efficient there than Tannehill, going 6-of-8 for 28 yards with one sack and four touchdowns. 4. Andrew Luck IND 25/46 354 4 0 77 87 -10 5. Peyton Manning DEN 34/57 438 2 2 71 73 -2 A very good day overall, but Manning uncharacteristically struggled to finish drives. Inside the New England 40, he went 6-of-19 for 96 yards, with two touchdowns and two other first downs, plus one sack and two DPIs for 21 total yards. 6. Carson Palmer ARI 22/34 252 3 1 58 58 0 The deep ball has been the key to most of Arizona's offensive success this season, but not this week. Palmer threw only four deep balls against Dallas, with just one completion for 27 yards to Ted Ginn. 7. Alex Smith KC 21/31 199 2 0 50 50 0 Throwing to his tight ends, Smith went 7-of-8 for 91 yards. Six of those completions gained first downs, including a pair of scores. The seventh was a 10-yard gain on second-and-11. 8. Blake Bortles JAC 22/33 247 2 1 36 47 -11 First half: 8-of-13 for 42 yards and two first downs, with one sack. Second half: 14-of-20 for 205 yards with two touchdowns, ten other first downs, one interception, and one sack. 9. Michael Vick NYJ 21/28 196 1 0 32 47 -15 Only the New York Jets could turn an erratic highlight machine like Michael Vick into a dink-and-dunk machine. This was Vick's 110th game with at least 10 pass attempts, but only the fourth time he has completed at least 75 percent of his passes, and the 19th time he has been held to less than 10 yards per completion. 10. Teddy Bridgewater MIN 26/42 268 1 0 27 23 5 On third and fourth downs, Bridgewater went 9-of-11 for 95 yards and a touchdown, though that includes three failed completions. He was also sacked on third down once. 11. Andy Dalton CIN 19/31 233 2 2 18 14 4 Without Giovani Bernard, the Bengals don't have a good receiving option out of the backfield. Throwing to his running backs (Jeremy Hill, Cedric Peerman, and Rex Burkhead), Dalton went 5-of-8 for 41 yards with one first down and one interception. 12. Drew Brees NO 24/33 297 1 1 8 4 4 Brees was sacked four times against Carolina (all on first down, oddly), fumbling twice. He threw nine deep passes against the Panthers: one incompletion, one DPI for 32 yards, and seven completions for 143 yards. Rk Player Team CP/AT Yds TD INT Total

DYAR Pass

DYAR Rush

DYAR 13. Mike Glennon TB 17/33 260 2 2 5 9 -5 It was feast or famine for Glennon in scoring range. He had a pair of 24-yard touchdowns to Mike Evans, but otherwise inside the Cleveland 40, he went 1-of-8 for 3 yards with an interception and a sack. 14. Matt Simms NYJ 3/8 39 0 0 1 -2 3 All of Simms' passes came in the fourth quarter. His first two passes both picked up first downs, for 30 total yards. His next pass was a 9-yard gain on first-and-10. His last five passes were all incomplete. 15. Eli Manning NYG 27/52 359 2 0 0 -10 10 16. Nick Foles PHI 10/13 124 1 1 -4 1 -5 Short passing did not work for Foles. He threw five passes to targets within 3 yards of the line of scrimmage, completing two of them for 11 yards and no first downs. To targets 4 yards or deeper, though, he went 7-of-8 for 113 yards with a touchdown and five other first downs, though that one incompletion was intercepted and returned for a touchdown. 17. Mark Sanchez PHI 15/22 202 2 2 -5 0 -5 Sanchez had four completions of 20 yards or more in only three quarters against Houston. He only had four 20-yard gains in a game four times in 2012, his last year as a starter with the Jets. 18. Joe Flacco BAL 30/44 303 2 1 -20 -24 3 On third and fourth downs, Flacco went 5-of-9 for 49 yards, with nearly as many sacks (three) as first downs (four). 19. Robert Griffin WAS 18/28 251 1 1 -21 -11 -10 First and third quarters: 10-of-13 for 157 yards with one touchdown, seven other first downs, and four sacks. Second and fourth quarters: 8-of-15 for 94 yards with two first downs, one sack, and one interception. 20. Russell Wilson SEA 17/35 179 0 0 -28 -36 8 Inside the Oakland 40, Wilson went 4-of-10 for 33 yards and ony one first down, incuding an 0-for-4 performance inside the red zone. On deep passes, he gained 36 yards on one DPI, 20 yards on one completion, and zero yards on nine incompletions. 21. Ryan Fitzpatrick HOU 13/27 203 2 1 -61 -80 19 Fitzpatrick gained a total of 182 yards on his eight plays that picked up first downs, and a total of zero yards on his 23 plays that did not. He was sacked four times, fumbling once. 22. Brian Hoyer CLE 21/34 300 2 2 -66 -56 -10 Throwing to his left, Hoyer went 2-of-5 for 6 yards with no first downs and an interception. Rk Player Team CP/AT Yds TD INT Total

DYAR Pass

DYAR Rush

DYAR 23. Brandon Weeden DAL 18/33 183 1 2 -70 -60 -11 Throwing to his wide receivers, Weeden went 6-of-20 for 58 yards with one touchdown (which came with Dallas down by 18 in the final minutes of the game), three other first downs, and one interception, plus a 17-yard DPI. 24. Derek Carr OAK 24/40 194 2 2 -78 -83 5 Throwing to his wide receivers, Carr went 8-of-16 for 74 yards with three first downs and two interceptions, including a pick-six. 25. Austin Davis STL 13/24 105 1 2 -84 -87 3 On first downs, Davis went 2-of-6 for 24 yards with one first down and two interceptions. 26. Philip Rivers SD 12/23 138 0 3 -115 -109 -6 In the first quarter, Rivers had a 14-yard gain from the Miami 45, an incomplete pass on second down, and then a 16-yard gain on third-and-17. Those were his only plays on Miami's side of the field all day. 27. Colin Kaepernick SF 22/33 237 1 0 -137 -112 -26 Kaepernick was sacked eight times (five times in the second quarter alone), fumbling once. He also fumbled in the third quarter on an aborted snap, and as you might have heard, he fumbled on his only rushing attempt at the end of the game. 28. Cam Newton CAR 10/28 151 0 1 -139 -153 14 Almost all of Newton's success came on first down. On second and third downs, he went 4-of-17 for 34 yards with one first down, one interception, and three sacks, plus an 11-yard DPI.

Five most valuable running backs (Total) Rk Player Team Runs Rush

Yds Rush

TD Rec Rec

Yds Rec

TD Total

DYAR Rush

DYAR Rec

DYAR 1. Jeremy Hill CIN 24 154 2 1/1 9 0 61 55 6 Hill had five 10-yard runs against Jacksonville, the longest a 60-yarder. Counting his two scores, he had 10 first downs on the ground, including six straight carries in the third quarter. Meanwhile, he lost yards only twice. 2. Marshawn Lynch SEA 21 67 2 5/5 76 0 53 22 31 Slow and steady against Oakland for Lynch, whose longest run was just 11 yards. He was stuffed for no gain or a loss three times, but he had five first downs on the day, 11 of his carries gained 3 yards or more. He also led Seattle in catches and receiving yards, with three 10-plus-yard gains, capped off by a 39-yarder, and also had a 7-yard catch on third-and-5. 3. Matt Asiata MIN 10 26 3 4/5 31 0 42 30 12 Asaiata's three scores were his only first downs of the day, and his longest run was only 7 yards. His best reception was a 10-yard gain to convert a third-and-10. 4. Chris Polk PHI 8 50 1 0/0 0 0 40 40 0 Each of Polk's carries was a successful play, with five first downs, including a 22-yarder. 5. Lance Dunbar DAL 3 9 0 2/2 52 0 36 3 33 In limited action, Dunbar had a 40-yard catch on third-and-10 and a 12-yard catch on first-and-10, and he ran for a first down on third-and-2.

Five most valuable running backs (Rushing) Rk Player Team Runs Rush

Yds Rush

TD Rec Rec

Yds Rec

TD Total

DYAR Rush

DYAR Rec

DYAR 1. Jeremy Hill CIN 24 154 2 1/1 9 0 61 55 6 2. Chris Polk PHI 8 50 1 0/0 0 0 40 40 0 3. Matt Asiata MIN 10 26 3 4/5 31 0 42 30 12 4. Jamaal Charles KC 20 78 1 2/4 10 0 7 23 -16 Charles had as many 10-yard runs (two) as stuffs, and he converted three of his four short-yardage runs. His negative receiving value comes mostly from an incomplete pass on third-and-1 and a 2-yard loss on first down. 5. LeSean McCoy PHI 23 117 0 2/2 6 0 14 23 -9 Twelve of McCoy's runs gained 4 yards or more, including gains of 14 and 26. He gets extra credit for converting on fourth-and-1.

Least valuable running back (Total) Rk Player Team Runs Rush

Yds Rush

TD Rec Rec

Yds Rec

TD Total

DYAR Rush

DYAR Rec

DYAR 1. Ben Tate CLE 10 3 0 4/4 29 0 -29 -35 6 Three yards in ten carries works out to 0.3 yards per carry -- or, if you prefer, 10.8 inches per play. In the fourth quarter, Tate had a 4-yard run on first-and-goal from the five. That was his longest run of the day, and his only successful attempt. He was stuffed for a loss four times, including 3-yard losses on second-and-1 and second-and-5. This was the worst rushing DYAR any player has had since Week 3.He did gain two first downs as a receiver, but he also lost 2 yards on second-and-14.

Least valuable running back (Rushing) Rk Player Team Runs Rush

Yds Rush

TD Rec Rec

Yds Rec

TD Total

DYAR Rush

DYAR Rec

DYAR 1. Ben Tate CLE 10 3 0 4/4 29 0 -29 -35 6

Five most valuable wide receivers and tight ends Rk Player Team Rec Att Yds Avg TD Total

DYAR 1. Jeremy Maclin PHI 6 7 158 26.3 2 75 Six of Maclin's seven targets came on first down. Five of his receptions picked up first downs, including a conversion on third-and-9, plus gains of 52 and 59 yards. 2. Allen Hurns JAC 7 9 112 16.0 2 67 Hurns' first four targets were all on third down, resulting in two incompletions, two receptions (for 11 total yards) and no first downs. His last five targets: touchdowns of 40 and 18 yards, 4-yard gain to convert a third down, and 28- and 11-yard gains on first-and-10. 3. Odell Beckham NYG 8 11 156 19.5 0 60 4. Mike Evans TB 7 11 124 17.7 2 47 Evans had four catches of 24 or more yards. If you're the kind of person who believes receivers should get dinged for interceptions, it's worth noting that Evans was the target on both of Mike Glennon's turnovers. 5. Anquan Boldin SF 6 7 93 15.5 1 45 Five of Boldin's catches led to first downs. The sixth was an 8-yard gain on second-and-10.