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Points Per Pass Metric, Results Through Week 11

My passing offense metric, updated with last week's results. See below an explanation of the statistical details:  It's the same text I've posted in previous weeks.  The only difference is the minimum cutoff for making the list is 80 pass attempts.

Star-divide

After last week's impressive connections with Terrell Owens, Romo's value finally separated from Favre.  For the last three weeks, their values had been virtually identical.  Speaking of separation, Tom Brady continues to pull away from the second highest-rated QB.  If he maintains this pace for the remainder of the year, he'll surpass Peyton Manning's 2004 season (0.73) as the best season in my database.  And speaking of Manning, we're discovering that as great a quarterback as he is, he's dependent on his teammates around him.  Injuries to the offensive line and receivers have definitely limited his effectiveness the last couple of weeks.  And despite the hand-wringing over what Campbell did to our defense last week, his value hardly moved.  He piled up a ton of yards, only threw one pick and was only sacked once; but needed close to 60 attempts to get there.  His yards per attempt weren't particularly good last week, and that's the engine that drives the success of a passing game.

Bring on the Jets.  Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

Here's the intro I've posted on previous weeks:

I've been using a passing offense metric for many years now to gauge how well a QB is doing.  Inspired by baseball SABRmetrician Bill James, I performed linear regressions of NFL statistics and concluded from a big picture point of view, only two statistics mattered:  Yards gained from scrimmage, and turnovers.  The best fit to matching points scored came when assuming the following coefficients:

Ten yards gained from scrimmage = +1.0 points; and
One turnover lost = -6.0 points.

Simply put, teams that score points rack up yardage and don't commit turnovers.  Note how powerful turnovers are:  A team can, for example, gain 55 yards of offense, but if they turn it over the next play, they actually ended up hurting their team.

With that in mind, I created the points per pass metric, which calculates the effectiveness of quarterbacks.  The above two coefficients are used to determine, on average, how many points a quarterback (and his offensive teammates, since everyone else contributes to his success or failure) creates with each passing attempt.  It takes the simple yards per attempt metric we're all familiar with, adjusts it for sacks, and further adjusts it for turnovers.  One interception equates to minus six points; one fumble equates to minus three points.  I treat fumbles as half a turnover, since there's essentially a 50/50 chance of recovering or losing a fumble.  The results will probably be unsurprising for the most part, but sometimes they can appear odd.  One of the things that may cause these oddities are fumbles.  Most people, when looking over a QB's stat line, don't think about fumbles; they just look at yardage, attempts, touchdowns, interceptions, and maybe sacks.  But fumbles are very important, since they are essentially half a turnover.

Brady, NE                                        0.76
Garrard, Jax                                    0.64
Garcia, TB                                       0.61
Romo, Dal                                       0.57
Favre, GB                                        0.55
Hasselbeck, Sea                             0.52
Anderson, Cle                                 0.51
Schaub, Hou                                   0.47
Manning, Ind                                  0.46
McNabb, Phi                                    0.46
Harrington, Atl                                0.46
Cutler, Den                                     0.45
Palmer, Cin                                     0.44
Roethlisberger, Pit                          0.44
Warner, Ari                                     0.43
Brees, NO                                       0.39
Kitna, Det                                       0.38
Campbell, Was                               0.37
Losman, Buf                                   0.36
Pennington, NYJ                             0.36
Manning, NYG                                 0.35
Leinart, Ari                                      0.33
Boller, Bal                                       0.33
Testaverde, Car                              0.32
Bulger, StL                                      0.32
Green, Mia                                      0.31
Lemon, Mia                                     0.31
Rivers, SD                                       0.30
Edwards, Buf                                  0.30
Huard, KC                                       0.30
Griese, Chi                                      0.27
Culpepper, Oak                              0.26
Jackson, Min                                   0.25
McNair, Bal                                      0.25
Clements, NYJ                                 0.25
Carr, Car                                        0.21
Grossman, Chi                                0.19
Young, Ten                                     0.18
Smith, SF                                        0.18
Dilfer, SF                                        -0.02
McCown, Oak                                -0.08

Another user-created commentary provided by a BTB reader.

0 recs  |  Comment 8 comments

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Thanks Miles

I always like this diary.  

Your thoughts on Garrard and Garcia?  You think Tampa Bay poses a threat come playoff time?  Or, is Jacksonville more of a threat than people realize?

Cowboys and Tar Heels

by DalaiLuke on Nov 24, 2007 1:50 PM CST reply actions   0 recs

Thanks, DalaiLuke

I think Garcia is an excellent system quarterback.  His arm is weak, but for a QB I think it's more important how well he reads defenses and quickly he gets rid of the ball.  Tampa Bay is having a good year, but I don't think they'll get far in the playoffs.  I wouldn't be surprised if Washington beats them this week.

Garrard has played well ever since his rookie season, and I wasn't surprised this year to see Del Rio go with him over Leftwich.  He doesn't make mental mistakes to hurt his team (no interceptions, only two fumbles) and his yards per attempt are excellent.  Jacksonville is a dangerous team.  They play very inconsistently, but have the ability to beat just about any team.  I'm glad they're in the AFC--let New England or Indianapolis worry about beating them.

by kindablue on Nov 24, 2007 3:01 PM CST up reply actions   0 recs

Getting Greedy

Kinda...

Here's a request:  Any chance to get a reading on how QBs have done in, say, their most recent 5-7 games?  I just think this would help guys like Jason Campbell.

Also, thanks for the feedback on Jax and TB.

Cowboys and Tar Heels

by DalaiLuke on Nov 24, 2007 8:43 PM CST reply actions   0 recs

That Is Greedy!

It will be too hard to do it for every QB, as my database maintains a running count through the year, and it's impossible to retroactively pull out individual games.

If there's a few QBs you have in mind, like Campbell and one or two others, I can go back and build their results game by game and post them here.

by kindablue on Nov 25, 2007 11:16 AM CST up reply actions   0 recs

You lazy bastid...

I WANT ALL OF THEM, AND I WANT THEM NOW.

Juuuuuuuuuust kidding.  I guess I am most interested in the new guys that are making an impact:

Campbell, Losman ... and how about Vince Young? Last 5-6?  See, I'm a team player like that.

Cowboys and Tar Heels

by DalaiLuke on Nov 25, 2007 3:16 PM CST up reply actions   0 recs

Well, Since You Asked Nicely...

Here's the complete week-by-week score for all three QBs (it's as easy to do the entire season as it is to look at the last few games, so I'm giving you the whole enchilada; note I'm excluding any games in which they didn't play):

Campbell

1 MIA 0.39
2 @ PHI 0.49
3 NYG 0.24
5 DET 0.75
6 @ GB 0.30
7 ARI 0.14
8 @ NE 0.07
9 @ NYJ 0.31
10 PHI 0.49
11 @ DAL 0.46
12 @ TB 0.28

Losman

1 DEN -0.08
2 @ PIT 0.31
3 @ NE -1.75
8 @ NYJ 2.26
9 CIN 0.69
10 @ MIA 0.36
11 NE 0.20
12 @ JAC 0.13

Young

1 @ JAC -0.09
2 IND 0.57
3 @ NO 0.34
5 ATL -0.07
6 @ TB 0.17
8 OAK 0.16
9 CAR -0.21
10 JAC 0.24
11 @ DEN 0.33
12 @ CIN 0.58

One of the difficulties in this data, apart from the fact that the small sample sizes can cause dramatic swings in the numbers, is that there is no adjustment for which defense the team is facing.  Campbell's numbers were clearly pumped up when he faced Detroit, for example.

In case you're wondering...I ran linear regressions on the results to see if there were any clear trends.  Generally, there were not.  The r-squared values were close to zero, and Young showed the strongest trend, of +0.07 per week.

There you have it, warts and all.

by kindablue on Nov 25, 2007 5:52 PM CST up reply actions   0 recs

Thanks...

And a couple of questions:  What are you referring to in terms of Young's trend - he seems to be all over the place.  And Losman - are those -1.75 and 2.26 correct?  

Good stuff.

Cowboys and Tar Heels

by DalaiLuke on Nov 25, 2007 10:53 PM CST up reply actions   0 recs

Losman Numbers

Are correct.  Against New England (-1.75), he only threw one pass against, completed for four yards, was sacked once for a nine yard loss, and fumbled on top of that.  Negative yards, two attempts and a turnover are poison.  He was injured that game, came back against the Jets, going 3-5 for 113 yards, with no sacks or turnovers.  It's the small data sample effect.  In fact, you can look up games yourself to compare to the numbers, on NFL.com--when you look at them, it will probably jump out at you why numbers are extremely good or bad.

Young's numbers are all over the place, as you say.  In mathematical terms, it means the r-squared numbers are over the place.  The trend is generally upward, but it's like the stock market, way up one week, down the next.

by kindablue on Nov 26, 2007 7:35 PM CST up reply actions   0 recs

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