Brady, Edelman, Michel All Leading NFL In Postseason Stats
By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- During the regular season, the Patriots' statistics weren't particularly overwhelming. But during the playoffs, they're unmatched.
With the conference championship round completed, several Patriots lead all of the NFL in their respective categories.
That includes the quarterback, of course, as well as his favorite target and his rookie running back.
Here's a quick look at the numbers.
2018 PLAYOFF LEADERS
PASSING YARDS
1. Tom Brady, 691
2. Patrick Mahomes, 573
3. Drew Brees, 550
4. Dak Prescott, 492
5. Philip Rivers, 491
6. Jared Goff, 482
COMPLETION PERCENTAGE
1. Tom Brady, 71.1%
2. Drew Bres, 69.2%
3. Russell Wilson
4. Dak Prescott, 64.6
5. Nick Foles, 60.6
...
9. Jared Goff, 58.8
COMPLETIONS
1. Tom Brady, 64
2. Drew Brees, 54
3. Philip Rivers, 47
4. Nick Foles, 43
4. Patrick Mahomes, 43
6. Dak Prescott, 42
7. Jared Goff, 38
AVERAGE YARDS PER ATTEMPT (MINIMUM 50 PASSES)
1. Patrick Mahomes, 7.96 (72 attempts)
2. Tom Brady, 7.68 (90 attempts)
3. Dak Prescott, 7.57 (65 attempts)
4. Jared Goff, 7.10 (68 attempts)
5. Drew Brees, 7.05 (78 attempts)
PASSER RATING (MINIMUM 50 ATTEMPTS)
1. Patrick Mahomes, 98.9
2. Drew Brees, 95.6
3. Tom Brady, 91.5
4. Dak Prescott, 91.3
5. Andrew Luck, 83.3
Brady has not been filling up the stat sheet with touchdown passes (he has just two), but that's largely because the Patriots have been more than happy to bowl their way into the end zone with their running backs. The Patriots have scored a preposterous eight rushing touchdowns in their two playoff games, which has been three more than Kansas City, and four more than the Rams and Dallas.
As you might expect, that's resulted in some high rankings for the running backs.
RUSHING YARDS
1. Sony Michel, 242
2. Marlon Mack, 194
3. Ezekiel Elliot, 184
4. C.J. Anderson, 167
5. Damien Willams, 159
RUSHING TOUCHDOWNS
1. Sony Michel, 5
2. Rex Burkhead, 3
(Six players tied for third with 2)
RUSHING YARDS PER ATTEMPT (MIN. 25 CARRIES)
1. Marlon Mack, 5.9 (33 attempts)
2. Sony Michel, 4.6 (53 attempts)
3. Damien Williams, 4.5 (35 attempts)
4. C.J. Anderson, 4.3 (39 attempts)
5. Ezekiel Elliott, 4.0 (46 attempts)
RUSHING FIRST DOWNS
1. Sony Michel, 14
2. C.J. Anderson, 13
3. Damien Williams, 11
4. Ezekiel Elliott, 10
4. Marlon Mack, 10
And of course, with a large number of people hopping aboard the Julian Edelman-for-Hall of Fame bandwagon, it's no surprise to see JE11 at No. 1.
RECEIVING YARDS
1. Julian Edelman, 247
2. Michael Thomas, 207
3. Sammy Watkins, 176
4. Brandin Cooks, 172
5. Amari Cooper, 171
RECEIVING YARDS PER CATCH (MINIMUM 10 RECEPTIONS)
1. Sammy Watkins, 17.6
2. Brandin Cooks, 15.6
3. Julian Edelman, 15.4
4. Allen Robinson, 14.3
5. Alshon Jeffery, 13.2
And, for good measure, here's a fun one: There's a three-way tie for first in playoff receiving touchdowns, with two. Those three players are Baltimore's Michael Crabtree, Kansas City's Damien Williams, and ... New England's Phillip Dorsett.
Of course, the rankings (at least on volume stats) are slightly imprecise, as eight playoff teams have played two games apiece, while four teams played just one playoff game. Still, the eight teams that have played two postseason games are, presumably, the best in the NFL. So these players have been better than the fellow players on the best teams in the league.
Those players all figure to be able to keep their success rolling in Super Bowl LIII. During the regular season, the Rams ranked 19th in the NFL in yards allowed and 20th in points allowed. Michel, in particular, just may feast, as the Rams ranked 23rd in total rushing yards allowed and dead-last in yards allowed per rushing attempt.