Today we are going to dive into the passing numbers to really find out: "Who is the best decision-maker at QB?"

 

There are so many factors that come into play when examining QB play. Do you look at yards? Completion %? Passer rating? TD:INTs? The truth of the matter is that QBs come in all shapes and sizes, with different skill set, with different skill players around them, and different coaches controlling them. When you think about all those things, one big thing that can summarize the QB is play is this: knowing your teams capabilities and executing what you are able to do with them. 

 

So what does that mean? For example, if your QB has a noodle of an arm, are you asking him to make deep shots down the field in tight windows? Are you throwing the routes that best match what your WRs are best at? Are you calling the right plays? Essentially it's this:

 

ARE YOU MAKING GOOD DECISIONS?

 

For my analysis, I have taken ALL QB play (so if your backup has to come in, are you adjusting to their capabilities as well?), looked at many factors, and came up with a "Bad Decision %". My definition of a "Bad Decision" is a ball that hits the defenders hands, whether it's a knockdown/dropped pick, or an actual INT. Sure, there are plays that you made what seemed to be a good decision that a defender makes an excellent play on the ball. It happens to the best of us, and it will play into everyone's numbers. But we don't discriminate the different types of ways the defender plays it, we only care about how often a defender gets the chance to make a play on a ball. 

 

With that being said, let's look at the numbers!

 

 

Now let's talk about some of the columns.

 

Comp / Att / % - Pretty self explanitory

Drops - Having a low of 8 drops and a high of 19 drops on the season isn't very much variation between the top and bottom teams, at least to make any significant difference.

Pass Deflections - Now we get into the nitty-gritty juicy numbers. These are the total number of passes the defense deflected away without intercepting the ball. Teams like Atlanta and Tampa Bay only had about 10% of their passes getting deflected, while teams like Arizona and Pittsburgh were letting the defense get their hands on balls over 25% of the pass attempts!

Interceptions - The Giants and Packers were two of the best teams at avoiding interceptions, with around 2.6% of their pass attempts being picked off. The Browns were far and away the worst,w ith 7.8% of their passes attempted getting intercepted.

Deflectiosn / INT - Simply put, how many pass deflections did it take until you would throw an INT? (example: If you had 6 recorded deflections and 2 INTs thrown, you would have a 3.0 score [6 / 2]) Some may call this a slight luck factor, as some teams like the Falcons having 1 INT for every 2.5 drops, all while Dallas having 1 INT for every 6.5 dropped balls. Why is there so much variation between some of these teams? With no actual hard evidence, my suspicions are that the more 50/50 deep balls that are thrown,  you are more likely to get a knock down on those types of passes rather than throwing an INT. I am sure we can all formulate ideas on why some teams have better luck than others, and maybe it's simply that the bigger the number, the more likely that your throws aren't as wide-open, easily catchable picks.

% of "Bad Decisions" - I know, I know. Some of you will look at the phrase "Bad Decision" and say "No, I made a good decision, but...." This number just simply says "This is the % of your passes that have a chance to ruin your night." The Buccaneers (RIP PieGuy) lead the league in the decision making/precision of his passes, and looing at his roster, you would hope so. One of the best QBs and debatably one of the best WR groups on paper is a recipe for hitting your guys instead of the defenders. As for the worst decision -makers, I am not going to point anyone out because that's apparently bad media, so I will let your eyes tell you that information.