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Next Gen Stats
Next Gen Stats: 2017 Week 4
Find out who was the fastest, who threw the best and how one team drastically improved their defense with this week's edition of Next Gen Stats.

Raiders quarterback EJ Manuel had the fastest time to throw in the NFL this week, while Browns quarterback DeShone Kizer had the slowest.

Bills defensive end Jerry Hughes posted the fastest time to sack this week with 2.54 seconds. The next closest was 49ers linebacker Eli Harold at 2.69 seconds.

Atlanta Falcon's Tevin Coleman posted two of the fastest speeds this week as a ball carrier, both over 20 miles per hour. Elijah McGuire topped the list with a run at 21.74 miler per hour.

Titan's Marcus Mariota and Kansas City's Alex Smith lit up the speedometer this week taking four of the top five spots in max speeds by a quarterback as a ball carrier. Blake Bortles finished off the list at 17.92 miles per hour.

Rams running back Todd Gurley had his best game of the season by far as he had 121 rushing yards (5.26 yards per carry) and 94 receiving yards and one touchdown reception. For the second week in a row, Gurley has had one of his top games of the past two seasons in touch rate when he's on the field. In other words, he more often than not is a ball carrier when the Rams have him on the field.

On his fourth quarter touchdown reception, Packers wide receiver Jordy Nelson had a separation of 10.2 yards from his nearest defender, which is the 2nd-highest on a touchdown reception this season. This is not the first time this season the Packers have found a receiver wide open for a touchdown reception. The Packers have 3 of the top 6 most open touchdowns this season.

Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson may be known as a player who prefers to extend plays with his legs, but this week he showed a big improvement when standing in the pocket and firing off the ball quickly. Additionally, he improved his performance week over week in passer rating, a promising sign for the rookie quarterback.

Coming into Week 4, no team had blitzed more than the Panthers, sending 5 or more defenders on 45% of their passing plays. Additionally, they had not been particularly successful when blitzing, allowing a passer rating of 116.2, 5th worst in the league. In Week 4, the Panthers defense dialed back their blitz rate in half, and found more success.

The New York Jets rushing attack was firing on all cylinders against the Jaguars, amassing 256 yards on the ground. Both running backs Elijah McGuire and Bilal Powell were excellent after a defender closed within 1 yard of them during their rushes. McGuire and Powell hold the highest and 3rd-highest average yards after a defender closes in Week 4.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Adam Humphries was getting open early and often against the Giants secondary. Humphries sported the 3rd-highest separation at the time of catch among all wide receivers with at least 5 targets in Week 4.

Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith has been nearly perfect this season when targeting the middle of the field. He was especially effective at these targets on Monday night as he went 12 for 14 with 136 yards and 1 touchdown (130.9 passer rating). Additionally, Smith's 5 touchdowns is the most of any quarterback in the league this season.