Strength in Numbers: Actionable Week 18 Stats

We’re going to get a lot of stuff wrong, but sifting through usage metrics can help us work through what matters and what doesn’t. That’s the goal of this article: to break down the most actionable takeaways from each week in a concise, numbers-filled format and work through what’s important. From now on, we’ll only focus on teams still alive in the playoffs. Let’s get right to it.

Dameon Pierce plays zero offensive snaps in Texans’ division-clinching win

Devin Singletary overtook Pierce as Houston’s lead back around midseason, but the second-year pro was a thorn in the veteran’s side for most of the year, handling more carries than Singletary as recently as Week 13. But with the season on the line against Indianapolis on Saturday night, the Texans didn’t let Pierce play a single offensive snap. Singletary set a season high with 87.5% of snaps and a 96% designed rush share (the only Texans carry of the night that didn’t go to Singletary went to punter Cameron Johnston). Dare Ogunbowale still played sparingly on passing downs, running a route on 10% of C.J. Stroud‘s dropbacks, but Singletary’s 58% route share was his second-highest mark of the season. It only resulted in one target, but it’s worth mentioning that his role in the passing game grew too.

Now Houston has a brutal matchup against an elite Browns defense on tap, but the expectation should be that Singletary gets as much as he can physically handle workload-wise. Houston showed their cards by zeroing Pierce last week, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if that happens again. Singletary is a workhorse when the games matter most.

Packers lean heavily on Aaron Jones in must-win game