by Vincent Verhei

Last week, we introduced some new metrics intended to measure players' ability to pick up big chunks of real estate in one play, to find the stars of the game who make the highlight reels by flipping field position in just one snap. Today we're going to look at the NFL's defenses and see which teams are best at preventing plays like this, not producing them, but first I want to respond to some of the feedback we got last week.

Here's a quick look at what I wrote about this idea seven days ago:

The basic concept is to divide all offense yardage into two categories: those yards that move a team towards (or, in the cases of sacks, stuffs, and penalties, pull a team away from) the first down, and those that are accumulated after the first-down line has been crossed. I like to call these extra yards. So a 2-yard gain on third-and-1 has 1 extra yard. A 15-yard gain on third-and-5 includes 10 extra yards. A 9-yard gain on first-and-10 is a good play, but it produces zero extra yards. All incompletions and sacks also produce zero extra yards. By this definition, there can never be negative extra yardage on a play -- extra yards either happen or they don't, and once gained they don't go away.

This seems like a reasonable method for counting the total yardage gained on big plays, but we still need a concrete definition of what is and is not a big play if we want to measure their frequency. Rather than arbitrarily set a designation at 10 or 20 or 30 yards, I propose this definition: a play counts as a big play when it gains a first down, then gains enough yardage after that to effectively grant the offense at least one more first down on top of that. In other words, all plays that gain at least 10 extra yards count as big plays, because by their nature they basically produce two first downs at once.

As some of the reader comments pointed out, the terminology and methodology don't exactly match up here. A 1-yard gain can certainly be a big play if it comes on fourth-and-goal in the fourth quarter -- just ask any Patriots fan who watched the final minutes of the Sunday night game against Seattle.

Another reader said this could be solved simply using the term "explosive plays" instead of "big plays." This makes total sense, and even better, it leads to more similar terms and abbreviations. We can now say that yards gained after the first down line are called extra yards (XY), and by using XY we can tally the total number of explosive plays (XP).

Is this methodology perfect? No it is not. This will still result in things like a 21-yard gain on third-and-20 not counting as XP and producing barely any XY. I'm satisfied in that for now though, because those plays are rare. We got one suggestion that we simply count all yards gained on first-down plays as explosive, but for what I'm looking to measure here, I'd rather throw out the dozens of 2-yard gains on third-and-1, than include the occasional extra-long third-down conversion.

So we've got all that worked out. Now, let's look at the defenses that have fared the best at preventing explosive plays this season. (Unfortunately, we are still having data collection issues that are stopping us from getting numbers from each week's games analyzed overnight, so all numbers here include only Weeks 1 through 9.) We'll start with the run, since explosive rushes (I almost typed "explosive runs" right there, but if your team is having trouble with explosive runs, then you need more help than this website can provide) are naturally less frequent than explosive pass plays. And no defense this year has been better and preventing explosive running plays than the team that beat New England Sunday night.

Best Defenses, Preventing Explosive Rushes, Weeks 1-9, 2016 Team Runs XP% Rank XY/Run Rank SEA 221 0.9% 1 0.69 1 MIN 180 1.7% 2 1.04 11 CAR 179 1.7% 3 0.83 4 BUF 231 1.7% 4 0.79 3 NYG 202 2.5% 5 0.78 2 CHI 197 2.5% 6 0.86 5 NE 191 2.6% 7 0.98 8 JAC 221 2.7% 8 1.08 13 DET 214 2.8% 9 1.40 28 BAL 173 2.9% 10 1.07 12 WAS 201 3.0% 11 1.33 23 TEN 199 3.0% 12 1.03 10 DEN 254 3.1% 13 1.14 16 TB 221 3.2% 14 0.95 6 NO 189 3.2% 15 1.37 25 PIT 185 3.2% 16 1.41 29 Team Runs XP% Rank XY/Run Rank CIN 203 3.4% 17 1.20 19 LARM 201 3.5% 18 1.22 21 KC 198 3.5% 19 1.13 15 SD 195 3.6% 20 1.10 14 HOU 222 3.6% 21 1.14 17 ARI 206 3.9% 22 1.16 18 SF 281 3.9% 23 1.94 32 GB 177 4.0% 24 0.97 7 ATL 200 4.0% 25 0.99 9 NYJ 196 4.1% 26 1.21 20 IND 215 4.2% 27 1.34 24 OAK 215 4.2% 28 1.40 27 PHI 187 4.3% 29 1.60 31 DAL 163 4.3% 30 1.24 22 CLE 276 4.3% 31 1.37 26 MIA 227 6.2% 32 1.54 30

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The Seahawks have only given up two explosive running plays all season: a 34-yard run on first-and-10 by Carlos Hyde in Week 3, and a 28-yard run on second-and-6 by Tim Hightower in the loss to New Orleans in Week 8. That's it. Otherwise, the longest run against Seattle this year was an 18-yarder by Devonta Freeman in Week 6, and that came on first-and-10. This is why the Seattle defense ranks first in both categories here.

And then there are the Dolphins, whose ranking here is extraordinary. The Dolphins have surrendered an explosive gain on 6.2 percent of opponents' runs. The second-worst team, Cleveland (4.3 percent), is closer to the sixth-best team (Chicago, 2.5 percent), than it is to Miami. Matt Forte had as many explosive gains in one half against Miami as Seattle has allowed on the ground all year. However, only one of those long runs Miami has allowed gained more than 40 yards: a 60-yard gain by Darrius Heyward-Bey in Week 6. The Eagles, for all their success in 2016, have allowed two 40-yard runs, and the 49ers have allowed five. And that is why Philadelphia and San Francisco rank below Miami in XY allowed per run.

And now the pass defenses:

Best Defenses, Preventing Explosive Passes Weeks 1-9, 2016 Team Passes XP% Rank XY/Pass Rank DEN 351 6.6% 1 2.01 1 SEA 317 7.6% 2 2.59 6 DAL 317 7.9% 3 2.34 4 ARI 297 8.1% 4 2.30 2 NYJ 355 8.7% 5 3.20 25 MIN 326 8.9% 6 2.31 3 BAL 303 8.9% 7 2.67 10 LARM 318 9.1% 8 2.52 5 HOU 269 9.3% 9 2.66 9 WAS 312 9.3% 10 2.61 7 PIT 320 9.4% 11 3.01 20 CHI 318 9.7% 12 2.70 12 SD 398 9.8% 13 2.78 15 ATL 409 10.3% 14 2.69 11 PHI 305 10.5% 15 2.71 13 NYG 368 10.6% 16 2.85 16 Team Passes XP% Rank XY/Pass Rank KC 317 10.7% 17 2.86 17 JAC 303 10.9% 18 2.77 14 MIA 293 10.9% 19 2.93 18 NE 334 11.1% 20 2.66 8 TEN 361 11.1% 21 2.94 19 CAR 324 11.1% 22 3.26 26 CIN 300 11.3% 23 3.32 27 DET 340 11.5% 24 3.05 22 BUF 324 11.7% 25 3.55 28 SF 279 12.2% 26 3.03 21 GB 295 12.2% 27 3.20 24 IND 375 12.3% 28 3.10 23 NO 315 12.4% 29 3.86 30 TB 309 12.6% 30 3.84 29 OAK 345 14.5% 31 3.90 31 CLE 318 15.1% 32 4.09 32 Includes Sacks and DPIs

The kings, they ain't dead yet. Denver's defense carried an impotent offense to a Super Bowl championship last year, and they remain the best unit in the league when it comes to forcing opponents to march down the field. It's awfully hard for quarterbacks to complete deep passes when Von Miller is repeatedly slamming them into the turf. Seattle's defense has been nearly as good at preventing explosive passes as it has preventing explosive rushes. The Jets are surprisingly high in preventing explosive passes, but as low as you would expect in allowing extra yards. This is what happens when you allow nine 40-yard completions in nine games.

The Browns haven't had a single defensive back start more than eight of their ten games. This is the reason (well, a reason) they have lost each of those ten games. Oakland's secondary has hardly been any better, and that could be the ultimate undoing of a 7-2 team. And the Patriots are the anti-Jets. They give up explosive completions fairly regularly, but those completions aren't that explosive.

When you put rushing and passing plays together, you find a familiar team at the top, and it's the same team that has led the NFL in scoring defense four years in a row.

Best Defenses, Preventing All Explosive Plays, Weeks 1-9, 2016 Team Plays XP% Rank XY/Play Rank SEA 538 4.8% 1 1.81 2 DEN 605 5.1% 2 1.64 1 MIN 506 6.3% 3 1.86 4 ARI 503 6.4% 4 1.83 3 DAL 480 6.7% 5 1.96 5 HOU 491 6.7% 6 1.97 6 BAL 476 6.7% 7 2.09 11 WAS 513 6.8% 8 2.11 12 LARM 519 6.9% 9 2.01 8 CHI 515 7.0% 10 2.00 7 NYJ 551 7.1% 11 2.49 28 PIT 505 7.1% 12 2.42 24 JAC 524 7.4% 13 2.06 10 BUF 555 7.6% 14 2.40 22 NYG 570 7.7% 15 2.12 13 CAR 503 7.8% 16 2.39 21 Team Plays XP% Rank XY/Play Rank SD 593 7.8% 17 2.23 16 KC 515 8.0% 18 2.19 15 NE 525 8.0% 19 2.05 9 SF 560 8.0% 20 2.48 27 DET 554 8.1% 21 2.41 23 PHI 492 8.1% 22 2.29 18 CIN 503 8.2% 23 2.46 26 ATL 609 8.2% 24 2.13 14 TEN 560 8.2% 25 2.26 17 TB 530 8.7% 26 2.63 29 MIA 520 8.8% 27 2.32 19 NO 504 8.9% 28 2.93 31 GB 472 9.1% 29 2.36 20 IND 590 9.3% 30 2.46 25 CLE 594 10.1% 31 2.82 30 OAK 560 10.5% 32 2.94 32 Includes Sacks and DPIs

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Though the Broncos get credit for allowing fewer extra yards, the Seahawks allow fewer explosive plays than anyone, and if I had time to check the numbers I suspect they'd be close to the top in each of the past four seasons. Most of the other defenses at the top of this table are those you'd expect. And then there's the Cowboys. The Dallas defense has been mediocre overall (14th in DVOA through Week 9), but they haven't given up many explosive plays. They may not always beat you, but they do not beat themselves.

And then the Raiders are, well, the Raiders. With seven wins and counting, they may well wind up getting a playoff game in Oakland. But if their defense gives up as many explosive plays in that game as they have in the first half of the year, then it will probably be a one-and-done postseason journey.

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

DYAR Pass

DYAR Rush

DYAR Opp 1. Ben Roethlisberger PIT 37/46 408 3 0 1 193 196 -4 DAL The Steelers had a first-and-goal at the 7 in the third quarter, but then Roethlisberger threw three straight incompletions. He had just one play on Pittsburgh's next drive, a third-down sack. And then his last 15 dropbacks all resulted in completions a stretch that produced 200 yards and nine first downs. Roethlisberger also ranks No. 1 this week despite a big hit in opponent adjustments. This is the week opponent adjustments go up to 100 percent strength, and with an unusually large gap between the best and worst defenses in 2016, we're seeing som particularly strong opponent adjustment. Roethlisberger was one of three quarterbacks to lose 40 or more DYAR to those adjustments this week. 2. Kirk Cousins WAS 22/33 262 2 0 1 175 175 0 MIN And then there's Cousins, whose boost from opponent adjustments was almost equal in degree to Roethlisberger's penalty. Cousins gets a lot of credit for playing the Vikings stellar defense -- his 66.7 percent completion rate, 7.9 yards per pass, two touchdowns, and no interceptions were all best or second-best of any starting quarterback against Minnesota this year. However, he loses points for a dreadful red zone performance -- 2-of-7 for 2 yards (a 4-yard touchdown and a 2-yard loss), plus a sack. This is largely why Dustin Hopkins ended up kicking four field goals. 3. Drew Brees NO 21/29 303 3 2 1 142 141 1 DEN Brees' opponent adjustments were even stronger than Cousins'. All told, five quarterbacks this week gained at least 40 DYAR due to said adjustments, which means we've got three to go. Brees had his struggles in the first half, including interceptions on back-to-back passes, but he was just about flawless in the second and third quarters, going 13-of-15 for 194 yards (though two of those completions were fumbled by Brees' receivers and recovered by Denver), with one sack and 11 first downs, including a 32-yard touchdown pass (against the NFL's best defense at preventing long passes) that should have won the game, but, well, blocks happen. At one point he picked up first downs on eight straight dropbacks. Brock Osweiler only had six first downs in an entire game this week. 4. Marcus Mariota TEN 19/26 295 4 0 2 138 142 -4 GB Deep passes: 5-of-8 for 149 yards and two touchdowns, including three third-down conversions. 5. Ryan Tannehill MIA 17/24 240 2 0 1 122 116 5 SD In last week's piece, we noted that Tannehill ranked surprisingly high in explosive passing plays. Well that didn't change against San Diego -- he completed 4-of-5 deep passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns. 6. Tom Brady NE 23/32 316 0 1 2 119 140 -21 SEA This was the first fime Brady threw an interception without a touchdown since October of 2013 against the Jets. It was the first time he has thrown an interception without a touchdown at home since December of of 2007 -- also against the Jets. So of course, Brady's next opponent is -- the 49ers. But THEN he plays the Jets. 7. Russell Wilson SEA 26/37 348 3 0 3 119 122 -3 NE Those 348 yards were, very quietly, a career high for Wilson. 8. Sam Bradford MIN 31/40 307 2 1 3 91 91 0 WAS Washington's first two drives in the second half went 14 and 11 plays. As a result Bradford threw just one pass in the third quarter: a 9-yard gain on first-and-10. On Minnesota's three straight touchdown drives he went 10-of-12 for 156 yards and eight first downs. The rest of the game, he went 21-of-28 for 151 yards and eight first downs, with three sacks and an interception. 9. Jameis Winston TB 23/33 312 2 1 4 91 91 0 CHI Not everything in Chicago is Jay Cutler's fault. On passes that traveled at least 10 yards past the line of scrimmage, Winston went 12-of-14 for 220 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. 10. Colin Kaepernick SF 17/30 210 1 0 3 84 70 14 ARI You can include Kaepernick on the list of quarterbacks who got a boost of at least 40 DYAR this week due to opponent adjustments. 11. Dak Prescott DAL 22/32 319 2 0 2 63 63 0 PIT 12. Matt Ryan ATL 19/33 267 1 1 2 59 59 0 PHI In a week where opponent adjustments caused great change in the rankings, no quarterback saw a bigger boost than Ryan's 90. In 35 dropbacks, Ryan threw for only eight first downs against the Eagles. He had been averaging nearly double that, 15.9 per game, and never thrown less than 10 -- and that came on 30 dropbacks against Denver. Rk Player Team CP/AT Yds TD INT Sacks Total

DYAR Pass

DYAR Rush

DYAR Opp 13. Cam Newton CAR 23/38 261 1 1 2 50 40 10 KC 14. Carson Palmer ARI 30/48 376 1 2 2 49 45 5 SF 15. Blake Bortles JAC 32/49 265 2 1 2 24 67 -43 HOU 16. Carson Wentz PHI 25/36 231 0 0 2 22 14 8 ATL Wentz was nearly perfect in short-yardage. With 5 yards or fewer to go for a first down, he went 7-of-9 for 66 yards, with every completion going for a first down. A tenth throw resulted in a DPI for 21 more yards. 17. Andy Dalton CIN 14/27 211 1 1 2 14 2 13 NYG Dalton had long streaks of inadequacy in this game. Following his first-quarter touchdown to A.J. Green, his next 11 dropbacks resulted in zero first downs, a stretch in which he went 6-of-10 for 41 yards, plus a sack. He picked up a few first downs at the end of the half, and then on his first throw of the third quarter. After that, though, he had one first down in his final 13 dropbacks, going 3-of-11 for 29 yards with an interception and two sacks. 18. Cody Kessler CLE 11/18 91 1 0 1 12 11 1 BAL Kessler only threw two passes in Baltimore territory. Both were complete, for 32 total yards and a touchdown. 19. Eli Manning NYG 27/43 240 3 2 1 3 1 2 CIN 20. Brock Osweiler HOU 14/28 99 2 0 1 1 -10 11 JAC From the 1:15 mark in the second quarter to the 8:10 mark of the third, Osweiler threw nine incompletions in a row. That is almost certainly the longest such streak this season. 21. Aaron Rodgers GB 31/51 371 2 2 5 -2 -15 14 TEN 22. Joe Flacco BAL 30/40 296 3 2 2 -11 -8 -3 CLE Flacco lost 69 DYAR (alert Rob Gronkowski) due to opponent adjustments this week. Remember earlier when we pointed out that Cleveland was the worst defense in the league at preventing explosive passes? Flacc only threw five passes that traveled 15 yards or more past the line of scrimmage. Two were caught for 44 total yards and a touchdown. Two were intercepted. One was incomplete. Rk Player Team CP/AT Yds TD INT Sacks Total

DYAR Pass

DYAR Rush

DYAR Opp 23. Case Keenum LARM 17/30 165 0 0 3 -54 -62 8 NYJ The Rams won this game, but it's not because of Keenum's red zone performance. Inside the Jets' 20, he went 1-of-5 for zero yards, plus a sack. Yes, in six plays, he remained inert five times and moved backwards once. 24. Alex Smith KC 25/38 178 0 1 3 -57 -57 0 CAR Third downs: 3-of-9 for 14 yards with one interception, one sack, and zero conversions. The Cheifs were only team in the league this week that failed to complete a pass for a third-down conversion. 25. Bryce Petty NYJ 19/32 167 1 1 1 -57 -57 0 LARM The second pass of Bryce Petty's first NFL start was a deep ball to Robby Anderson for 52 yards. It was his only completion that day that gained more than 11 yards. 26. Philip Rivers SD 23/44 326 3 4 3 -58 -58 0 MIA Rivers had a rather eventful fourth quarter: 9-of-18 for 147 yards with six first downs (including a touchdown), four interceptions (also including a touchdown), and a sack. But he does gain 54 DYAR due to opponent adjustments. 27. Trevor Siemian DEN 25/40 258 2 2 6 -134 -129 -5 NO Siemian lost 73 DYAR to opponent adjustments, the biggest penalty of any quarterback this week. 28. Josh McCown CLE 6/13 59 0 2 3 -143 -143 0 BAL McCown fumbled on two of his three sacks. 29. Jay Cutler CHI 16/30 182 1 2 4 -159 -162 3 TB Remember when we said the Chiefs were the only team this week that failed to complete a pass for a first down? That is technically true, but we should also point out that Cutler's only third-down conversion came with the Bears trailing by 24 points in the final minute of the game. On third downs, he went 2-of-7 for 13 yards with an interception and three sacks.

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. Ezekiel Elliott DAL 21 114 2 2/2 95 1 92 50 42 PIT Opponent adjustments can and will fluctuate over the rest of the season, but right now this was the best game a running back has had in 2016. Touchdown runs of 32 and 14 yards, five other first downs on the ground, while getting hit for no gain or a loss three times. His best catch was his 83-yard touchdown on second-and-18, but that 12-yard gain on second-and-8 helped too. 2. C.J. Prosise SEA 17 66 0 7/7 87 0 60 27 33 NE Five of Prosise's catches gained at least 7 yards and a first down, including two third-down conversions. He had only two first downs on the ground, and his longest run gained only 10 yards, but he was hit for no gain just twice. 3. LeGarrette Blount NE 21 69 3 0/0 0 0 54 54 0 SEA Touchdown runs of 13, 1, and 1 yard, with three other first downs, though he was hit for no gain or a loss six times. 4. Bilal Powell NYJ 4 37 0 7/8 48 0 50 16 34 LARM This is actually under-rating Powell a bit, because it's not including his touchdown on a hook-and-lateral play from Brandon Marshall. Bear with us -- we're still inputting data manually this week, and tricky plays like that are hard to account for. Still, Powell had two other first downs on plays where he actually caught the ball, and three more first downs on the ground on gains of 3, 14, and 17 yards. 5. Ryan Mathews PHI 19 109 2 2/2 30 0 41 30 11 ATL Runs of 21, 20, and 14 yards, plus eight total first downs on the ground, while getting hit for no gain or a loss just once. He also had a 20-yard reception on second-and-1.

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. LeGarrette Blount NE 21 69 3 0/0 0 0 54 54 0 SEA 2. Ezekiel Elliott DAL 21 114 2 2/2 95 1 92 50 42 PIT 3. DeMarco Murray TEN 17 123 1 2/3 33 0 30 31 -2 GB Murray only had one first down on the ground, but it was a 75-yard touchdown on his first carry. He was hit for no gain or a loss three times. Murray also had 24 DYAR passing for his touchdown throw to Delanie Walker, which should have put him in the top five for overall runners, but we're doing are best to get all this data compiled and organized, folks. 4. Spencer Ware KC 13 61 0 3/3 11 0 25 31 -7 CAR His longest gain was only 12 yards, but he had seven first downs in six carries, while getting hit for no gain or a loss just once. 5. Ryan Mathews PHI 19 109 2 2/2 30 0 41 30 11 ATL

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. Matt Asiata MIN 9 13 1 1/1 2 0 -41 -40 -1 WAS Only two first downs, a long run of 6, and four stuffs for no gain or a loss.

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. Matt Asiata MIN 9 13 1 1/1 2 0 -41 -40 -1 WAS

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

DYAR Opp 1. Stefon Diggs MIN 13 15 164 12.6 0 60 WAS Nine first downs, including three conversions in four third-down throws, and a long gain of 36. 2. Davante Adams GB 6 9 156 26.0 0 57 TEN Five first downs, including gains of 46, 38, and 35 yards. 3. Doug Baldwin SEA 6 8 59 9.8 3 54 NE Baldwin's three touchdowns covered 6, 18, and 15 yards. 4. Brandin Cooks NO 3 5 98 32.7 1 50 DEN Only three catches, but all of them covered 29 yards or more. Cooks is personally responsible for three of the ten longest completions Denver has allowed this year. Weirdly, Tevin Coleman has two of the top three. 5. Jeremy Kerley SF 7 7 71 10.1 1 49 ARI Kerley's longest catch gained only 24 yards, but he had five total first downs, and all seven grabs gained at least 3 yards and counted as successful plays.