by Vincent Verhei

Sunday's game against Seattle was not a stellar one for the Miami offense. The Dolphins' first ten drives resulted in 46 plays, seven punts, five three-and-outs, six first downs, and only 145 yards of offense. And that total is grossly skewed by one 50-yard reception -- Miami averaged 2.1 yards on their other 45 plays in that stretch. The 11th drive was much better, gaining 86 yards and a touchdown that actually put the Dolphins ahead because Seattle's offense was hardly doing any better. But after Russell Wilson answered with a go-ahead touchdown drive of his own, Miami piddled away, finishing the game with an incompletion, two sacks, and a fumble.

How bad was it for Miami? Ryan Tannehill had the worst DYAR of any quarterback on Sunday, while Arian Foster had the third-worst DYAR among any running back. That's in total DYAR though, and Foster was the man who produced Miami's 50-yard catch-and-run. In rushing DYAR alone, Foster was the worst running back on Sunday. His longest run went only 9 yards, and that was his only first down on the ground in 13 carries. Meanwhile, he was hit for no gain four times and also had a fumble. This all means that going into the Monday night games, the Dolphins had the worst passer and the worst runner of the week.

Now, there are quite a few caveats to that. First of all, as I'm writing this, the 49ers are playing the Rams, and it's quite likely that Case Keenum or Blaine Gabbert (or both) will end up surpassing Tannehill at the bottom of the tables. Even if they don't, though, keep in mind that this is Week 1, and opponent adjustments are not included. It's safe to assume that Seattle will have one of the league's best defenses when all is said and done, which means if we go back and revisit this game at the end of the year, the numbers for Tannehill and Foster will look a lot better. For now, though, the Dolphins have pulled off a very rare double-play.

(And as it turns out, Keenum did have a worse game than Tannehill, and he was the worst quarterback of the week. And due to a subtle change in league-wide baselines, Foster's day got a little bit better, which means the worst rusher this week was actually Miami's old running back, Lamar Miller. That doesn't mean this piece is totally irrelevant though, because Todd Gurley also had a terrible game Monday night, and finished third-to-last in total value behind Miller and Adrian Peterson. So we can add the 2016 Rams to the list of bullet points at the end of this article. In fact, I'll do that right now. Just do me a favor and pretend for a thousand words that Tannehill and Foster were worst at passing and running this week. Cool? Cool. I owe you a solid.)

Is the first time a team has had the lowest-rated passer and runner in a given week? Unfortunately, we don't have our database set up in a way to quickly answer that question. A look back at recent years didn't find anyone else who pulled it off, but enough players came close that we can guess that some poor offense has done so in the past 25-plus years. The Houston Texans nearly pulled it off three times in 2013. In Week 6, T.J. Yates was the lowest-ranked quarterback, while Ben Tate was fourth-worst among running backs in rushing DYAR. (It's too bad that offense was so bad, becauses "Yates and Tate" would have been a great nickname for a successful attack.) In Week 12, Houston had a new quarterback finish in last place: Case Keenum. (Speak of the devil, and the devil appears.) Tate was the fifth-worst runner of that week. And then in nearly happened again in Week 15, when Keenum was again the lowest-ranked quarterback and Tate was fifth-worst in rushing.

One other combo came close to being the worst passer and worst runner in a given week. In Week 13 of 2014, Oakland's Derek Carr was the lowest-rated quarterback, while Marcel Reece was third-worst in rushing. The Raiders lost 52-0 that day to a Rams team whose leaders in passing, rushing, and receiving were Shaun Hill, Tre Mason, and Stedman Bailey, and that finished ninth in defensive DVOA. Those Raiders had a lot of problems.



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If we look at running backs by total value instead of just rushing value, then we can find a worst quarterback/worst running back combo exactly one year ago: in Week 1 of 2015, Baltimore's Joe Flacco finished last among quarterbacks, while teammate Justin Forsett was last among running backs. That game actually had a lot in common with this Seahawks-Dolphins contest -- it was also a low-scoring slugfest in which the terrible quarterback/running back combo had a chance to win all the way to the end. And just like Tannehill and Foster, Flacco and Forsett were playing an excellent defense -- in their case, the Denver Broncos, who turned out to be an all-time great defense capable of winning the Super Bowl even without a lot of points from its offense. Fans in the northwest can only hope that this year's Seahawks share the same ultimate feat with last year's Broncos.

We found one other quarterback/running back combo that finished at the bottom of their respective rankings. In Week 14 of 2014, Zach Mettenberger of the Tennessee Titans was the lowest-ranked quarterback, while teammate Bishop Sankey was the lowest-ranked running back. That game was nothing like our first two examples -- the Titans were blown out 36-7 by a Giants team that finished 24th in defensive DVOA While our Dolphins and Ravens duos were at least partly the victims of unfortunate scheduling, Mettenberger and Sankey have nobody to blame for their struggles but themselves. (And their teammates.) (And coaches.) (Look, there has been a lot of blame to go around in Tennessee lately.)

No other QB/RB combos have finished last in total value in recent seasons, but a number have come close. That's not entirely surprising -- quarterbacks at the bottom of the tables produce a lot of incomplete passes and failed completions, and running backs are often the targets on those throws.

Here's a list of other teams from 2013 to 2015 whose quarterback finished last in Quick Reads, and had a running back in the bottom five:

2013

Week 9: Oakland Raiders' Terrelle Pryor and Darren McFadden (fifth-worst running back)

Oakland Raiders' Terrelle Pryor and Darren McFadden (fifth-worst running back) Week 14: Buffalo's EJ Manuel and C.J. Spiller (second-worst)

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2014

2015

Week 3: San Francisco's Colin Kaepernick and Mike Davis (third-worst)

2016

Week 1: Los Angeles Rams' Case Keenum and Todd Gurley (third-worst)

Quarterbacks Rk Player Team CP/AT Yds TD INT Sacks Total

DYAR Pass

DYAR Rush

DYAR Opp 1. Matthew Stafford DET 31/39 340 3 0 1 197 194 4 IND Stafford finished this game on fire, completing eight of his last nine passes for 114 yards. Seven of those completions gained at least 10 yards and a first down, including a go-ahead touchdown. The eighth was a 9-yard gain on first-and-10. Over and over, he and the Lions exploited the Colts' vulnerable underbelly for catch-and-run gains. He went 7-of-8 on passes over the middle for six first downs and 108 yards -- 39 through the air, 69 after the catch. Stafford was fantastic when throwing to his running backs, but we'll save that for the next table. 2. Drew Brees NO 29/40 423 4 0 1 195 196 -1 OAK In addition to the numbers listed here, Brees threw for DPIs of 11, 17 and 23 yards -- all of them in the fourth quarter. Brees was very good on first and second downs, but he had about as bad a day on third downs as you'll ever see from a quarterback this high in the tables. He went 3-of-5 on third downs for 18 yards, but only one conversion. His other two third-down plays were a 13-yard loss on an intentional grounding foul, and a sack-fumble. Brees also had one fourth-down play: a 1-yard touchdown to Willie Snead. 3. Andrew Luck IND 31/47 385 4 0 2 150 138 12 DET Luck went deep often and usually connected, going 8-of-14 for 219 yards and two touchdowns on passes that traveled more than 15 yards beyond the line of scrimmage. 4. Jameis Winston TB 23/33 281 4 1 0 148 153 -4 ATL First quarter: 3-of-7 for 15 yards, no first downs, one interception, one DPI for 25 yards. Second quarter: 14-of-17 for 136 yards, two touchdowns, and five other first downs. Third quarter: 5-of-7 for 125 yards, with two touchdowns and two other first downs. Fourth quarter: 1-of-2, 5 yards, one first down. 5. Derek Carr OAK 24/37 319 1 0 0 132 126 6 NO Carr looked to his left and found a weakness in the New Orleans defense and attacked it, going 9-of-11 for 163 yards and a touchdown on throws in that direction. Only one of those nine completions failed to pick up a first down. 6. Aaron Rodgers GB 20/33 199 2 0 1 106 89 17 JAC Rodgers was terrible at the beginning of this game, completing two of his first seven passes for 11 yards and no first downs. And he was terrible at the end, going 5-of-9 for 20 yards and one first down, with a sack. But he was very good in between, going 13-of-17 for 168 yards and two touchdowns, with seven other first downs, plus a 30-yard DPI. 7. Matt Ryan ATL 27/39 334 2 0 3 96 95 2 TB 8. Andy Dalton CIN 23/30 366 1 1 7 75 72 3 NYJ Dalton really missed Tyler Eifert in scoring range. Inside the Jets' 40, he went 5-of-8 for 32 yards with no touchdowns, one first down, and two sacks. 9. Carson Wentz PHI 22/37 278 2 0 2 70 91 -21 CLE Wentz's best friends against Cleveland were his tight ends. On seven throws to Zach Ertz and one to Brent Celek, he went 7-of-8 for 69 yards and five first downs. 10. Philip Rivers SD 25/36 243 1 0 1 66 61 5 KC Effective station-to-station football. Eighteen of Rivers' completions gained less than 10 yards, but only four of those were unsuccessful plays. 11. Shaun Hill MIN 18/33 236 0 0 0 58 60 -2 TEN Hill moved the ball well enough until he got into scoring range, and then he was almost totally useless. Inside the Tennessee 40, he went 1-of-8 for just 13 yards. 12. Dak Prescott DAL 25/43 227 0 0 0 58 56 2 NYG While the focus after the game was on Terrance Williams' failure to get out of bounds and stop the clock to set up a potential game-winning field goal, none of that might have mattered if Prescott had done better on the Giants' side of the field. Once he crossed the 50, the Dallas rookie went 11-of-19 for only 72 yards, with four first downs and no completions of 10 yards or more. Rk Player Team CP/AT Yds TD INT Sacks Total

DYAR Pass

DYAR Rush

DYAR Opp 13. Carson Palmer ARI 24/37 271 2 0 3 51 50 1 NE In 2015, Palmer completed 60 deep passes for 1,656 yards, both the highest numbers in the NFL. On Sunday night, the Patriots took away his deep pass. He completed only 2-of-9 deep throws for 57 yards. One of those completions was an 18-yard gain on third-and-23. 14. Ben Roethlisberger PIT 27/37 300 3 1 1 42 42 0 WAS Most of Roethlisberger's success came on throws to his left, where he went 13-of-15 for 181 yards and three touchdowns, with four other first downs and one interception. 15. Alex Smith KC 34/48 363 2 1 3 37 30 7 SD Smith's numbers were remarkably similar pre- and post-comeback. First three quarters: 15-of-22 for 180 yards, but only five first downs (including a touchdown), plus three sacks. Fourth quarter and overtime: 16-of-22 for 163 yards, but 12 first downs (including another touchdown) and no sacks. 16. Jimmy Garoppolo NE 24/33 264 1 0 2 37 35 2 ARI Garoppolo got a lot of praise for his performance in this game, but really he was very ordinary after New England's opening drive. On that opening possession, he threw for 75 yards and four first downs (including the scoring play). On their next eight drives (not counting an end-of-game kneeldown), he threw for 177 yards and seven first downs. 17. Marcus Mariota TEN 25/41 271 2 1 2 30 25 5 MIN 18. Blaine Gabbert SF 22/35 170 1 0 0 24 13 11 LARM Gabbert was his usual terrible self for three quarters, then poured it on once the game was out of reach. In the fourth quarter, when he always had a lead of at least 14 points, he went 6-of-9 for 89 yards, plus DPIs of 12 and 5 yards. That was good enough for seven first downs in the quarter (including his touchdown), after only throwing for five in the game's first 45 minutes. Gabbert entered the season with the worst total passing DYAR on record, so it is only fitting that when he completed a pass to himself in this game, the play lost 16 yards. According to Pro Football Reference, that was the most yards lost on a reception in the last seven years. 19. Blake Bortles JAC 24/39 320 1 1 3 18 19 -1 GB Bortles had four passes on fourth down in this game, converting three of them. Yes, that's a lot. Ryan Tannehill led the NFL with 16 fourth-down pass plays in 2015; Eli Manning led the league with nine conversions. We'll see if Jacksonville is this aggressive all year. 20. Brock Osweiler HOU 22/35 231 2 1 2 17 11 7 CHI 21. Eli Manning NYG 19/28 207 3 1 2 10 10 0 DAL 22. Kirk Cousins WAS 30/43 329 0 2 0 -2 -2 0 PIT A bad day in the red zone, where Cousins went 1-of-6 with an interception. That one completion was a 6-yard gain on first-and-goal from the 9. Cousins threw the pick two passes later. Rk Player Team CP/AT Yds TD INT Sacks Total

DYAR Pass

DYAR Rush

DYAR Opp 23. Russell Wilson SEA 27/43 258 1 1 3 -4 -6 2 MIA 24. Joe Flacco BAL 23/34 258 1 0 4 -25 -25 0 BUF Nobody ever said Flacco had a weak arm. He went 5-of-6 on deep passes against Buffalo, for 160 yards and a touchdown. 25. Ryan Fitzpatrick NYJ 19/35 189 2 1 1 -27 -35 8 CIN 26. Cam Newton CAR 18/31 194 1 1 3 -28 -39 11 DEN Newton threw only one incomplete pass on third down, though he was also sacked twice. His 10 third-down completions produced eight conversions and 118 yards. 27. Trevor Siemian DEN 18/26 178 1 2 2 -53 -66 13 CAR Denver called a very conservative game plan for their young quarterback, having him throw only one deep pass all night. And they were right to be conservative -- that one deep pass was intercepted. 28. Tyrod Taylor BUF 15/22 111 0 0 2 -60 -41 -20 BAL Buffalo's screen game was not working against Baltimore. Taylor threw six passes to receivers at or behind the line of scrimmage, completing four of them for 6 total yards (not a typo) and no first downs. 29. Jay Cutler CHI 16/29 216 1 1 5 -79 -79 0 HOU 30. Robert Griffin CLE 12/26 190 0 1 3 -94 -98 4 PHI Griffin's first pass of the second half was a completion to Corey Coleman. It was the last first down for Griffin on the day (and perhaps of the year). From that point forward, he went 2-of-10 for 14 yards with three sacks and a fumble. 31. Ryan Tannehill MIA 16/29 186 0 0 5 -120 -122 2 SEA Tannehill's fourth pass of the game was a 50-yard completion that Arian Foster caught 2 yards behind the line of scrimmage. It was the last first down Tannehill would produce until the fourth quarter. In between, he went 6-of-14 for 29 yards. Starting with his first pass of the second quarter and ending with his first pass of the fourth, he produced this amazing sequence: incompletion; sack; 10-yard gain on third-and-18; five incompletions in a row; 6-yard gain on third-and-15; sack; 6-yard gain on third-and-16; 1-yard gain on first-and-10; three incompletions in a row. Our leading quarterback this week, Matt Stafford, had a success rate of 63 percent on all dropbacks. Tannehill had a success rate of 44 percent on his completions. 32. Case Keenum LARM 17/35 130 0 2 2 -177 -182 5 SF Keenum didn't even get to attempt a pass in the red zone. On the 49ers' half of the field, he went 2-of-10 for 20 yards (hey, at least they both went for first downs), with an interception. On third downs, he went 5-of-12 for 38 yards with three first downs and two sacks. And as bad as Los Angeles' wide receivers are (foreshadowing!), their running backs and tight ends might be even worse, at least in the passing game. Throwing to his backs and tight ends, Keenum went 6-of-12 for 27 yards with no first downs and two interceptions.

Five Best Running Backs by DYAR (Total) Rk Player Team Runs Rush

Yds Rush

TD Rec Rec

Yds Rec

TD Total

DYAR Rush

DYAR Rec

DYAR Opp 1. Spencer Ware KC 11 70 1 7/8 129 0 92 32 61 SD Four of Ware's runs went for 10 yards or more, he converted both of his third-down carries, and he was hit for no gain just once. One of his targets came on third-and-3 (he converted with a 5-yard gain), but the rest were all on first-and-10. He turned four of those into first downs, on gains of 12. 20, 28, and 45 yards. 2. Theo Riddick DET 7 45 1 5/5 63 1 67 18 49 IND As usual, Riddick's runs provided some boom (21-yard touchdown, 12-yard gain on first-and-10) and some bust (losses of 1 and 4 yards). Four of his five completions went for first downs, with a long gain of 19 yards. Only of those receptions was caught behind the line of scrimmage; the others were caught 2 to 5 yards downfield. 3. Ameer Abdullah DET 12 63 0 5/5 57 1 60 19 41 IND Abdullah's three first downs on the ground came on gains of 13, 10, and 9 yards, while he was hit for a loss just once. Four of his receptions produced first downs, including an 18-yard gain on second-and-3 and a 13-yard gain on third-and-9. 4. Matt Forte NYJ 22 96 0 5/7 59 0 35 15 19 CIN Though his longest run gained only 14 yards, Forte had five first downs on the ground, 14 runs of 3 yards or more, and only three stuffs for no gain or a loss. He added three first downs as a receiver, including two conversions on second-and-10. 5. Mark Ingram NO 12 58 0 2/2 29 0 32 14 18 OAK Ingram ran for gains of 17 and 12 yards while adding a 3-yard gain on second-and-1 and getting stuffed for no gain or a loss twice. His two receptions: a 9-yard gain on second-and-10 and a 20-yard gain on second-and-6.

Five Best Running Backs by DYAR (Rushing) Rk Player Team Runs Rush

Yds Rush

TD Rec Rec

Yds Rec

TD Total

DYAR Rush

DYAR Rec

DYAR Opp 1. DeAngelo Williams PIT 26 143 2 6/9 28 0 30 74 -43 WAS Williams had an amazing 22 runs of 3 yards or more, with nine total first downs and two third-down conversions. He was hit for no gain only three times. 2. Spencer Ware KC 11 70 1 7/8 129 0 92 32 61 SD 3. David Johnson ARI 16 89 1 4/6 43 0 31 29 3 NE Johnson only had one 10-yard gain against New England, but at 45 yards it was longer than all but one run the Patriots gave up in 2015. He also converted four of his five power runs while getting hit for no gain or a loss just twice. 4. Danny Woodhead SD 16 89 0 5/7 31 1 32 26 5 KC What? What is this guy doing in the rushing tables? Woodhead's 16 carries were a career high, and his 89 yards on the ground were his most since 2010. Thirteen of those carries gained 3 yards or more, including gains of 21 and 12 yards, with just one stuff for no gain. 5. Melvin Gordon SD 14 57 2 0/0 0 0 23 23 0 KC Yeah, Kansas City might have some run defense issues. Gordon converted three out of four short-yardage opportunities, added a 17-yarder, and was stuffed just twice.

Worst Running Back by DYAR (Total) Rk Player Team Runs Rush

Yds Rush

TD Rec Rec

Yds Rec

TD Total

DYAR Rush

DYAR Rec

DYAR Opp 1. Adrian Peterson MIN 19 31 0 0/2 0 0 -43 -30 -13 TEN A long run of 9 yards, only two first downs (with came with 1 and 2 yards to go), and five runs that lost yardage.

Worst Running Back by DYAR (Rushing) Rk Player Team Runs Rush

Yds Rush

TD Rec Rec

Yds Rec

TD Total

DYAR Rush

DYAR Rec

DYAR Opp 1. Lamar Miller HOU 28 106 0 4/4 11 0 -42 -33 -9 CHI A long run of 12 yards, and that came on third-and-24. Only four first downs. Four runs for no gain or a loss, and one of those was fumbled.

Five Best Wide Receivers and Tight Ends by DYAR Rk Player Team Rec Att Yds Avg TD Total

DYAR Opp 1. Willie Snead NO 9 9 172 19.1 1 73 OAK Snead was so dominant that he leads all receivers this week even though he fumbled on one of his receptions. (It came at the end of a 43-yard gain, which was still a negative-DYAR play thanks to his butterfingers.) Eight of Snead's receptions led to first downs. The other was a 6-yard gain on second-and-7. 2. A.J. Green CIN 12 13 180 15.0 1 68 NYJ Only five first downs in 12 receptions, but those five first downs netted 137 yards by themselves. 3. Antonio Brown PIT 8 11 126 15.8 2 56 WAS Six total first downs, including five conversions in six targets on third and fourth down. Average distance to go on those plays: 3.7 yards. Average gain: 16.7 yards. 4. Larry Fitzgerald ARI 8 10 81 10.1 2 52 NE First five targets: three receptions, 20 yards, only one first down (though that was a touchdown). Last five targets: five receptions, 61 yards, five first downs (including another score). 5. Brandin Cooks NO 6 9 143 23.8 2 51 OAK Cooks only had three receptions for first downs against Oakland, but that included touchdowns of 15 and 98 (!) yards, and he had a fourth first down on a 17-yard DPI.