Today’s Sports Stat: December 1, 2017
On Thanksgiving Day, San Diego, I mean, L.A. Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers had a big game leading his team to a 28-6 win over the Dallas Cowboys.
Rivers completed 27-of-33 passes (81.8% completion rate) for 434 yards and three TDs. What makes this game so noteworthy is that it was only the eighth time in NFL history that a QB completed 80% or higher of his passes in a game with over 400 yards passing and three or more TD passes. It was, however, the second such game for Rivers in his career… he did it in 2013. He became the second QB in NFL history to have multiple games where he completed 80% of his passes with 400 yards and three TDs. Ben Roethlisberger has also had two such games in his career.
Here are the six QBs who have thrown for 400+ yards with three or more TDs and a completion rate of 80% or higher in the same game.
Ben Roethlisberger (twice), 2014, 2016
Philip Rivers (twice), 2013,2017
Aaron Rodgers (once), 2013
Drew Brees (once), 2011
Steve Young (once), 1993
Ken O’Brien once), 1986
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Today’s Sports Stat: October 9, 2017
Ben Roethlisberger had a rough day… five interceptions, no TD passes in the Steelers’ 30-9 loss to Jacksonville.
Roethlisberger became the 68th QB in NFL history to have a game (it was the 77th game) with five or more interceptions and no TD passes. The last QB to do this was last season when the Jets’ Ryan Fitzpatrick had six interceptions and no TD passes in a game versus the Kansas City Chiefs.
George Blanda holds the league record with four games with five or more interceptions and no TD passes. He is followed by Joe Ferguson, Ryan Fitzpatrick, John Hadl, Jim Hart, Joe Namath and Johnny Unitas, each who had two such games.
Teams that had a QB throw five interceptions and no TD passes in a game are 3-74; the last win was on November 18, 2012 when Atlanta’s Matt Ryan had five interceptions and no TD passes in the Falcons’ 23-19 win over Arizona.
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99 Stats Until Kickoff: (#27) Aaron Rodgers 50-plus sacks can’t stop him from another 100+ Passer Rating Season
From May 30 and every day until September 5… the start of the 2013 NFL season… Sports Stats ‘on Tapp’ will publish “99 Stats Until Kickoff” a daily dose of NFL stats that will get you ready for the 2013 NFL season.)
(Photo credit: elviskennedy)
As the Green Bay Packers starting QB the past five seasons, Aaron Rodgers has definitely set a standard that will be hard to duplicate when he hangs up his #12 uniform. Whether it’s TD passes, a career passer rating over 100, or a 52-26 regular season record as the Packers starting QB, Rodgers has put some eye-opening numbers on his professional football resume.
Here’s another one to consider: Rodgers this year became the first QB in NFL history to have two seasons where he was sacked 50-plus times but compiled a passer rating of 100 or more in that season. This year Rodgers was sacked 51 times and had a passer rating of 108. In 2009, Rodgers was sacked 50 times yet still had a season passer rating of 103.2.
Nine times there have been NFL quarterbacks who were sacked 50 or more times in a season yet the QB was able to compile a passer rating of 90 or above. With his 108 passer rating this year with 51 sacks, Rodgers now has the highest season passer rating of any NFL QB with 50-plus sacks.
Here’s a look at the QBs who have had a passer rating of 90 or above in a season when they were sacked 50-plus times.
Quarterback, season, passer rating (sacks)
1. Aaron Rodgers, 2012, 108 (51)
2. Aaron Rodgers, 2009, 103.2 (50)
3. Ben Roethlisberger, 2009, 100.5 (50)
4. Steve Bartkowski, 1983, 97.6 (51)
5. Ken O’Brien, 1985, 96.2 (62)
6. Steve Beuerlein, 1999, 94.6 (50)
7. Tony Eason, 1984, 93.4 (59)
8. Jeff George, 1997, 91.2 (58)
9. Craig Morton, 1981, 90.5 (54)
Rodgers this season became the 13th QB in NFL history to get sacked 50 or more times in two or more seasons. Here are those 13 QBs:
50-plus sack seasons, QBs
4: Randall Cunningham
3: Mark Brunell, Ken O’Brien, Phil Simms
2: Steve Beuerlein, Drew Bledsoe, David Carr, Tim Couch, Jeff George, Jon Kitna, Dave Krieg, Neil Lomax, Aaron Rodgers
Did you know:
* Rodgers was the only QB to get sacked 50 or more times this season. No QB was sacked 50-plus times last year. The only QB to get sacked 50-plus times in 2010 was Jay Cutler of the Bears who was sacked 52 times.
* David Carr holds the NFL record with 76 sacks in 2002 when he was the Houston QB.
* Rodgers’ 39 touchdown passes this season is the most by a QB who was sacked 50 or more times in a season. The previous high was 36 by Steve Beuerlein in 1999.
* Rodgers’ 67.2 percent pass completion rate this season is the highest of any QB who was sacked 50 or more times in a season. The previous high was 66.6 percent by Ben Roethlisberger in 2009.
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99 Stats Until Kickoff: (#26) Tony Romo’s great game in Dallas’ season opener was no surprise
From May 30 and every day until September 5… the start of the 2013 NFL season… Sports Stats ‘on Tapp’ will publish “99 Stats Until Kickoff” a daily dose of NFL stats that will get you ready for the 2013 NFL season.)
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The fact that Tony Romo had three touchdowns, 307 yards passing and a Passer Rating of 129.5 in the Cowboys 24-17 season-opening win in 2012 over the New York Giants should not have come as a surprise to NFL enthusiasts and Dallas fans. In his previous five season-opening games, Romo had a Passer Rating over 100 in four of those five games with a high of 140.6 in 2009.
From 1960-2012, there were 149 times when a quarterback had a Passer Rating of 120 or more in his team’s first game of the season (minimum of 10 passes attempted to qualify). Teams won 128, lost 19, with two ties in those games (a .866 winning percentage).
Last season, seven QBs had a Passer Rating of 120 or more in the NFL’s opening week. They were:
Robert Griffin, III, Washington, 139.9 (vs. New Orleans)
Matt Ryan, Atlanta, 136.4 (vs. Kansas City)
Tony Romo, Dallas, 129.5 (vs. New York Giants)
Peyton Manning, Denver, 129.2 (vs. Pittsburgh)
Joe Flacco, Baltimore, 128.4 (vs. Cincinnati)
Alex Smith, San Francisco, 125.6 (vs. Green Bay)
Mark Sanchez, New York Jets, 123.4 (vs. Buffalo)
Following are the NFL quarterbacks who have had the most season-opening games with a Passer Rating of 120 or higher (1960-2011). With his 129.5 Passer Rating in last year’s Opening Game contest, Romo became the 11th QB since 1960 to have three or more season-opening games with a 120 or higher Passer Rating.
Season-opening games with 120+ rating, quarterbacks
Four: Drew Brees, Brett Favre, Dan Fouts, Dan Marino
Three: Terry Bradshaw, Tom Brady, Len Dawson, Jay Fiedler, Chad Pennington, Fran Tarkenton, Tony Romo
Four quarterbacks had a perfect Passer Rating of 158.3 in their team’s first game of the year. The last time it happened was in 2005 when Ben Roethlisberger had a 158.3 Passer Rating in Pittsburgh’s season-opening game against the Tennessee Titans. Roethlisberger was 9-for-11 for 218 yards and two touchdowns in that game.
Here are the quarterbacks that have had the highest Passer Rating on the NFL’s opening weekend since 1960:
Passer Rating, Quarterback, Season
158.3: Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh (2005); Dick Shiner, Atlanta (1973); Daryle Lamonica, Oakland (1972); Len Dawson, Kansas City (1963)
157.6: Phil Simms, NY Giants (1984)
157.1: Dan Fouts, San Diego (1981)
156.6: Steve Bono, Seattle (1995)
153.3: Craig Morton, Dallas (1971)
152.1: John Brodie, San Francisco, 1965)
151.8: Don Meredith, Dallas (1968)
151.4: Eddie LeBaron, Dallas (1961)
151.1: Len Dawson, Kansas City (1966)
150.4: Dan Marino, Miami (1984)
Note: There have been five quarterbacks who had a Passer Rating of 0.0 in an opening game since 1960. They were: Al Dorow (in 1962 with Buffalo), Earl Morrall (in 1965 with the N.Y. Giants), James Harris (in 1975 with the L.A. Rams), Jim Plunkett (in 1977 with San Francisco) and Joe Ferguson (in 1978 with Buffalo). The last QB to have a Passer Rating under 20.0 in an opening game of the season happened in 2012: Cleveland’s Brandon Weeden, in his NFL debut with the Browns against Philadelphia, completed only 12 of 35 passes for 118 yards with four interceptions and no TDs. His Passer Rating for that game was 5.1.
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99 Stats Until Kickoff: (#25) QB success a key to NFL playoff victories
From May 30 and every day until September 5… the start of the 2013 NFL season… Sports Stats ‘on Tapp’ will publish “99 Stats Until Kickoff” a daily dose of NFL stats that will get you ready for the 2013 NFL season.)
Joe Flacco (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
You don’t have to be a football expert to know that having a quarterback at the top of his game can go a long ways to leading a team to a successful season. In fact, many teams in the past have seen their QB single-handedly lead their team to success in a season.
Case in point: One of the indicators of QB success has been the Passer Rating. The value of this formula has been enthusiastically debated, but for the sake of this blog, let’s assume that Passer Rating is a valuable tool to evaluating NFL quarterbacks. Since 1966, the start of the Super Bowl era, there has been 226 quarterbacks who have had a Passer Rating of 100.0 or higher in a playoff game. Of those 226 games, the QB’s team has won 197 of those games, a winning percentage of .872. You can certainly make the point that a good QB performance (100.0 or better) in a playoff game will lead to victory and advancement in the post-season.
Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers on January 5, 2013 in a Wild Card round game versus Minnesota, became the 15th QB since 1966 to have five or more playoff games with a 100.0 or higher Passer Rating. Rodgers’ Passer Rating was 104.9 in the Pack’s win over the Vikings.
Baltimore’s Joe Flacco became the 16th QB to have five or more playoff games with a 100.0 or higher Passer Rating when he turned the trick in all four of his playoff games this past season. Flacco’s Passer Rating in the four playoff games last season was: 125.6 against Indianapolis, 116.2 against Denver, 106.2 against New England, and 124.2 against San Francisco in the Super Bowl.
Here’s a look at the 16 QB’s since 1966 that have had five or more playoff games with a Passer Rating of 100 or higher.
Playoff games with 100-plus Passer Rating (since 1966), QBs
12: Joe Montana
10: Brett Favre
9: Troy Aikman
8: Tom Brady
7: Terry Bradshaw
6: Roger Staubach
5: Drew Brees, Jake Delhomme, John Elway, Joe Flacco, Eli Manning, Peyton Manning, Dan Marino, Aaron Rodgers, Ken Stabler, Steve Young
Here’s a few more stats regarding Passer Rating in the playoffs:
* Since 2000, there have been 84 playoff games where a QB had a Passer Rating of 100.0 or higher. Those teams have won 70 of the 84 games, a winning percentage of .833.
* Only two quarterbacks since 1966 have had a Passer Rating of 100 or higher and lost two playoff games: Joe Montana and Warren Moon.
Let’s look at the other end of the scale… QBs that had terrible games, a Passer Rating under 50 in a playoff game. Since 1966, there have been 192 playoff games where the QB had a Passer Rating under 50 in that game. Those teams have won only 24 of the 192 games, a winning percentage of only .125.
The last quarterback to win a playoff game with a Passer Rating under 50 was Ben Roethlisberger. On January 23, 2011 in the Steelers 24-19 win over the New York Jets, Roethlisberger had a Passer Rating of 35.5.
Five quarterbacks have had four or more playoff games with a Passer Rating under 50. Craig Morton tops the list with five such games. Mark Brunell, Pat Haden, Ron Jaworski and Jim Kelly each had four.
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