5 PFF stats you need to know from NFL Week 12

Miss a moment of NFL Week 12 action? Here are the five key stats you need to know coming out of Sunday’s slate of games.

[Editor’s note: See the highest-graded players from every NFL Week 12 game here.]

1. The four highest-graded edge defenders in Week 12 all play in the AFC West.

With Kansas City's Justin Houston and Denver's Von Miller earning grades of 92.9 and 91.1, respectively, in Sunday night's overtime matchup, the AFC West continued to flaunt its defensive dominance in Week 12, especially on the edge. Earlier in the day, Raiders OLB Khalil Mack earned a 92.0 mark against the Panthers, while Chargers rookie DE Joey Bosa earned a 89.1 to round out the division's clean sweep of the top four game grades at the position (review pending).

2. When targeting Saints rookie WR Michael Thomas, Drew Brees recorded a passer rating of 151.3.

That is the highest passer rating for any QB targeting a single receiver this week so far, as Thomas caught nine of his 10 targets for 108 yards and two touchdowns against the Los Angeles Rams. Thomas, a second-round pick out of Ohio State, has been on a tear lately, and is now fifth in the league on the season in WR rating and first in deep-ball catch rate. Brees also had a strong performance against the Rams, producing a 90.3 percent adjusted completion rate that was the best of any QB in the league on Sunday.

3. The Buccaneers pressured Seahawks QB Russell Wilson on 51.1 percent of his dropbacks in Tampa Bay’s upset victory.

Only Rams rookie Jared Goff was under pressure at a higher rate (51.4 percent). Wilson struggled against the pressure, earning a passer rating of just 7.5 on dropbacks under duress, the second-worst mark in the league ahead of only Chicago’s Matt Barkley (QB rating under pressure of 1.3). On the season, Wilson has been under pressure at the third-highest rate in the league, at 40.9 percent, while his QB rating under pressure is fourth-best.

4. Quarterback Marcus Mariota earned a perfect passer rating of 158.3 in Tennessee’s win over Chicago on Sunday, helping the Titans to 6-6 on the season.

On 18 pressure-free dropbacks, Marcus Mariota complete 15 of 16 attempts for 226 yards, two touchdowns, and zero interceptions. After struggling to start the season, Mariota has now earned his four best PFF game grades over the course of his most recent five games.

5. Chicago Bears receivers dropped 10 catchable passes thrown by QB Matt Barkley in Sunday's loss to the Titans.

That's the most dropped passes suffered by a quarterback in a single game this season since Lions QB Matthew Stafford saw seven of his catchable targets hit the turf in Week 2. In his start for the Bears, Barkley earned the seventh-highest grade among NFL QBs this week, with an 82.9 overall grade.