The Win Column: 19(ish) stats that defined the weekend
Hey y’all. Happy Monday.
Figured we’d try something a little different (and very numbers focused) today. Let me know what you think?
FALCONS IN NO RUSH TO WIN
I hit my local package store Friday night and stumbled upon a bottle of bottom-shelf vodka commemorating … wait for it … the 10th anniversary of the Falcons’ 2016 NFC championship.
I stared at it. Blinked a few times.
Oh.
Ohhhh.
When I tell you I leapt back and made the exact sound of disgust that Hank Hill does on TV, I mean it literally.
But enough about past horrors! Here are the stats that defined a very Falcon-y start to another Falcons season.
2.6: Cooper Rush’s QBR (total quarterback rating) on Sunday. Fifty is considered average; two interceptions, four sacks and less than 5 yards per pass are not.
4: Catches by Falcons not named Bijan Robinson. Robinson led the team in receiving, with eight catches for 90 yards and a touchdown. Drake London (two for 29) was the only other with multiple receptions; Kyle Pitts was targeted exactly once.
“Bijan’s a great player,” coach Kevin Stefanski said. “We’ve going to keep leaning on him in all these games. But we’ve got to find a way to get all of our guys touches.”
Ya think?
0: Percent chance Jack Strand gets a start if Tua Tagovailoa and Michael Penix Jr. are both out again next week. (Ain’t happening, y’all.)
2: Field goals missed by kicker Nick Folk.
All things considered (it’s the third-string quarterback playing with a back issue, y’all), columnist Michael Cunningham deemed Folk the game’s biggest bummer.
The 41-year-old missed one kick in each of the last three seasons … and then missed his first two tries with the Falcons.
“Make those,” Michael wrote, “and the Falcons would have been driving with a 1-point deficit instead of 7 late in the fourth quarter.”
3: On a happier note, that’s how many tackles new defensive end Za’Darius Smith recorded against the Steelers … while playing just 16 snaps. Two of the tackles were sacks, including one third-down play that knocked the Steelers out of comfortable field-goal position.
Pittsburgh scored just one offensive touchdown, and that came on a short field.
0-1: An additional silver lining: Every other NFC South team lost too. The Panthers — who put up 37 points against the Bears in Week 1 and still lost by three touchdowns — come to Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday.
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BRAVES STILL PUSHING TO CLINCH
12: Games left in the Braves’ regular season.
7: Their magic number to clinch the National League East after taking two of three from the Phillies over the weekend (things got a tad out of hand Sunday).
4: Atlanta’s magic number to clinch a playoff spot.
From beat writer Chad Bishop: “A playoff berth could be clinched as early as Tuesday, and a division title could come as early as Friday, if the Braves take care of their business in Chicago and Houston and have some other results around the National League go their way.”
Reynaldo López and Martín Pérez are slated to start the first two games of the Cubs series, which starts tonight at 7:40 p.m. (Is it possible that new call-up Owen Murphy gets the ball Wednesday?)
- Also of note: Atlanta’s Ozzie Albies has seven home runs and a 1.183 OPS in 21 career games at Wrigley Field. Cubs phenom Pete Crow-Armstrong is four stolen bases away from joining the exclusive 40-40 club.
HIGH-SCORING HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL
139: Total points scored in Friday’s absolute barnburner between Central (Carrollton) and Houston County. That’s the third-most ever in a GHSA football game.
Central won 73-66 in overtime.
🔗 Bonus linkage: AJC Varsity rankings; how ranked teams fared; Buford’s scheduling problem
YELLOW JACKETS DOWN BAD
1989: The last time the Yellow Jackets started a season 0-2. After Saturday’s home loss against Tennessee, they’re now 1-6 since starting last season 8-0.
(Thankfully, Mercer comes to town Saturday.)
2: Total offensive touchdowns scored by the Yellow Jackets through two weeks. Rahul Deshpande, Win Column data whiz and mildly depressed Tech grad, crunched the numbers and found just one Football Bowl Subdivision school that’s scored fewer: Washington State.
11: You weren’t imagining it: That’s how many injuries stopped play Saturday. By Rahul’s calculations, it was the most of any FBS or Football Championship Subdivision game this season.
More importantly: No real specifics yet, but Tech cornerback Jaylen Mbakwe is out of the hospital. He was carted off the field after seemingly hitting his head on teammate Jordan Walker’s knee.
BIG BULLDOG NUMBERS
55: Georgia football’s average margin of victory through two very cupcake-y weeks. (Covering big spreads in consecutive weeks? What’s gotten into Kirby & Co.?)
“I don’t care about stats,” Smart said after Saturday’s romp over Western Kentucky. “I really do not care. … You guys will reward them, you will say we scored 70 and 60 and the only thing I’m worried about is how the hell we’re gonna play on the road next week.”
The Bulldogs visit Arkansas, which just got stomped by Utah, to open SEC play Saturday.
“Based on what I’ve seen so far, No. 10 Alabama will be the only big test for Georgia. The Bulldogs are set to play at Tuscaloosa on Oct. 10,” the aforementioned Mr. Cunningham wrote in his weekend reflections.
🔗 Bonus linkage: White jersey reactions; Dantzler leads broadcasts; Cedartown retires Chubb’s jersey
THE LARGER CFB PICTURE
6: SEC teams in the Top 10 of the newest AP Top 25. Texas leads the list after that wild win over Ohio State; Georgia’s still at No. 2.
8-2: SEC teams’ record against nonconference Power 4 opposition so far this season. According to On3’s Brett McMurphy, the rest of the big boys stack up as follows.
- ACC: 5-6 (Tech not helping here!)
- Big 12: 4-6
- Big Ten: 3-7
INTERNATIONAL INTRIGUE
0: The number of American men who have won the U.S. Open since Andy Roddick in 2003 … and the number of Black men to win the tournament since Arthur Ashe’s victory in 1968.
Atlanta native Ben Shelton tried to change both in Sunday’s final, but Alexander Zverev proved too much.
5: Consecutive FIBA World Cups won by U.S. women’s basketball after a weekend trouncing of France.
Atlanta Dream stars Angel Reese and Rhyne Howard averaged 7.2 and 6.8 points per game, respectively, through the tournament.
- The Dream return to regular season action Thursday, when Connecticut comes to College Park.
10%: The drop in Atlanta hotel occupancy in July, compared to 2025. The same number was down about 4% in June.
You may remember the World Cup was in town both of those months. Yikes.
Thanks for reading to the very bottom of the Win Column. Questions, comments, ideas? Contact me at tyler.estep@ajc.com.
Until next time.