Today’s Sportstat: August 15, 2019
Highest Passer Rating for QBs at each age
If you follow the NFL, you know that the play of the quarterback is an important part of success in the league. Not only do we have young QB’s who are quickly becoming stars in the NFL (Patrick Mahomes and Jared Goff), but we are also seeing QB’s well into their 30’s and 40’s who are performing at a high level.
To put some numbers to this, let’s look at which QBs have had the most success at each age. Specifically, let’s see which QBs have the highest Passer Rating at age 21 all the way up to age 41.
Just last season Los Angeles Rams QB Jared Goff, who turned 24 during the 2018 campaign, ended his age 23 games with a Passer Rating of 109.3, highest of any QB in NFL history at that age. But he wasn’t the only player to set a record last year for the highest Passer Rating at a particular age:
- Los Angeles Chargers QB ended his age 36 NFL games with a 110.2 Passer Rating.
- New Orleans Saints QB Drew Brees, who was age 39 during the 2018 season, had a 115.7 Passer Rating, highest of any QB at age 39.
- New England Patriots ageless signal-caller, Tom Brady, was age 41 during last season when he compiled a 97.7 Passer Rating, the highest of any QB at age 41.
Following are the quarterbacks who have had the highest Passer Ratings in games at ages 21-41 (minimum of 200 passes attempted to qualify for the list).
Age 21: Jameis Winston, Tampa Bay, 84.2, 2015
Age 22: Robert Griffin Jr., Washington, 102.4, 2012
Age 23: Jared Goff, L.A. Rams, 109.3, 2017-18
Age 24: Nick Foles, Philadelphia, 119.2, 2013
Age 25: Milt Plum, Cleveland, 110.4, 1960
Age 26: Brett Favre, Green Bay, 110.5, 1995-96
Age 27: Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay, 124.7, 2010-11
Age 28: Peyton Manning, Indianapolis, 121.1, 2004
Age 29: Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay, 110.1, 2012-13
Age 30: Tom Brady, New England, 117.2, 2007
Age 31: Matt Ryan, Atlanta, 117.1, 2016
Age 32: Drew Brees, New Orleans, 110.6, 2011
Age 33: Steve Young, San Francisco, 107.0, 1996-97
Age 34: Tony Romo, Dallas, 113.2, 2014
Age 35: Steve Young, San Francisco, 107.0, 1996-97
Age 36: Philip Rivers, L.A. Chargers, 110.2, 2017-18
Age 37: Peyton Manning, Denver, 115.1, 2013
Age 38: Drew Brees, New Orleans, 103.9, 2017
Age 39: Drew Brees, New Orleans, 115.7, 2018
Age 40: Tom Brady, New England, 102.8, 2017
Age 41: Tom Brady, New England, 97.7, 2018
One final note: Jared Goff, who set the record for highest Passer Rating for a QB age 23 last season, could drop down to second place at that age if Patrick Mahomes has anything to say about it. Mahomes who is 23 and won’t turn 24 until September 17, will have two games to play before his 24th birthday. He has a 108.6 Passer Rating at age 23, which is percentage points behind Goff who had a Passer Rating of 109.3 at age 23.
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Today’s Sports Stat: December 8, 2018
One of the best ways to evaluate an NFL quarterback’s effectiveness is his touchdowns-to-interceptions ratio. Based on that formula, a quartet of current NFL QBs may be setting a new standard in this stat.
Steve Young holds the NFL record for most TD passes in a season without an interception with 10. He did that in 1987. Josh McCown currently holds the NFL single-season mark for most TD passes in a season with only one interception when he threw for 13 TDs in 2013 with just a single pick. That mark by McCown, however, may be challenged this year.
Green Bay QB Aaron Rodgers this season has 21 TD passes with only one interception. If he ends the ’18 campaign without another interception, he would set the record for most TD passes in a season with only one interception. Of course, there are four games remaining in the schedule and McCown’s record could stay intact.
Let’s take a look at those quarterbacks who have thrown the most TD passes in a season with zero, one, two, three, four or five interceptions.
0 interceptions in a season
Steve Young, 1987, 10 TD passes
Brian Hoyer, 2016, 6 D passes
1 interception in a season
Aaron Rodgers, 2018, 21 TD passes (* 2018 season not complete)
Josh McCown, 2013, 13 TD passes
Damon Huard, 2006, 11 TD passes
2 interceptions in a season
Tom Brady, 2016, 28 TD passes
Nick Foles, 2013, 27 TD passes
Boomer Esiason, 1997, 13 TD passes
3 interceptions in a season
Drew Brees, 2018, 30 TD passes (* 2018 season not complete)
David Garrard, 2007, 18 TD passes
Dave Krieg, 1994, 14 TD passes
Bart Starr, 1966, 14 TD passes
4 interceptions in a season
Tom Brady, 2010, 36 TD passes
Steve DeBerg, 1990, 23 TD passes
Dak Prescott, 2016, 23 TD passes
5 interceptions in a season
Aaron Rodgers, 2014, 38 TD passes
Russell Wilson, 2018, 29 TD passes (* 2018 season not complete)
Alex Smith, 2017, 26 TD passes
Matt Ryan, 2018, 25 TD passes (* 2018 season not complete)
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Packerstats 2017: Game 7, 26-17 loss to New Orleans
Here are some of the numbers that helped define the Packers 26-17 loss to the New Orleans Saints on October 22.
- The loss to the Saints was the fourth straight loss to an NFC South team. The Packers have lost five of their last seven to NFC South opponents.
- The Packers lost their last game before the bye week for the first time since 2014 when they lost to the same Saints prior to their bye week that season. Green Bay is 5-3 in the games prior to the bye week since 2010.
- Drew Brees’ 84.4 Passer Rating in the game was the lowest of his career versus the Packers. He did, however, have his seventh consecutive game with 300 or more passing yards against the Pack. Brees is the only opposing QB to have a 135 or higher Passer Rating against the Packers twice in his career.
- Aaron Jones’ 46-yard TD run was the longest run for the Packers this season.
- Scoring first in home games is usually a good sign for Green Bay. They are now 39-6-1 (.859 winning percentage) in games at Lambeau since 2010 when they score first in the contest.
- Damarious Randall had an interception for the third consecutive games. It was the first time a Packer defender had an interception in three consecutive games since Casey Hayward did it in Games, 5-6-7 in the 2012 campaign.
- Green Bay is now 79-15 (.840) since 2000 in games where the defense gets two or more interceptions.
- The Saints did not score in the first quarter. Since 2010, Green Bay is now 44-12 (.786) in games when they hold opponents scoreless in the first quarter. The loss yesterday at Lambeau was only the third time since 2010 that the team lost a game when they held the opponents scoreless in the first quarter; they are now 32-3 since 2010.
- Green Bay held a 14-7 halftime lead. The Packers are 48-2 in the Mike McCarthy era (since 2006) at Lambeau Field when they have a lead of seven points or more at halftime. The other loss was on October 7, 2007… the Packers had a 17-7 halftime lead over the Bears but lost that home game 27-20.
- The Pack had 181 yards rushing in the game, the most since they had 226 versus the Bears last season. Green Bay is 4-3-1 since 2013 in games where they get 180 or more yards rushing in a contest.
- New Orleans held a 16-14 lead over the Packers going into the fourth quarter. Green Bay is 5-11-1 at home in their last 16 games when they are behind going into the last quarter.
- Green Bay did not score a point in the third quarter. They have now lost 14 of their last 20 when they are held scoreless in the third quarter. They are 25-34-1 (.425) under Mike McCarthy when they do not score in the third quarter.
- New Orleans had 485 total yards of offense in the game. Since 2010, Green Bay is 10-7 when the “D” allows 450 or more total yards in a game. They have, however, lost three straight and seven of their last 11 games when they give up 450+ yards to an opponent.
- Packers rookie running back Aaron Jones had 131 yards rushing on 17 carries. It was his second 100-yard game this season. He joins four other rookie running backs for the Packers to have two or more 100-yard rushing games in their rookie campaigns with the Pack. The others: Eddie Lacy, Ryan Grant, Samkon Gado and John Brockington. Grant leads this group with five 100-yard games as a Packers rookie.
- Green Bay had only 23:04 time of possession in the game. Since 2000, Green Bay is 5-15 (.333) in games when they have less than 24 minutes time of possession in a game.
- Green Bay had only 79 yards passing in the game. It was the fourth time with McCarthy as head coach that the team was held to under 100 yards in the passing game. They are now 0-4 in those games. They also had no TD passes in the contest. Green Bay is 8-14 since 2006 (.364) when they did not have a TD pass in a game.
- The Pack has now lost nine of their last 10 when they are held under 20 points in a game. Under McCarthy, the team is 11-32 in games when they score less than 20 in a game, 7-10 (.418) in home games.
Quarterbacks with the most losses in the NFL
If you have been paying attention to the news and notes around the NFL, you probably read or heard that New England Patriots QB Tom Brady reached a significant milestone last weekend: With the Pats 26-10 win over the Rams, Brady won his 201st game (regular season and playoffs) giving him the most wins by a QB. He surpassed Peyton Manning who had won 200 games (186 regular season and 14 post-season).
(For the record, Manning and Brett Favre each won 186 regular season games. Brady has 179 regular season wins and could pass both Manning and Favre in that category next season.)
At the other end of the spectrum, there are six QBs who lost 100 of more games in their career. Topping the list is Vinny Testaverde who lost 123 regular season games. Here are the six QBs who have 100 or more regular season losses.
123: Vinny Testaverde
112: Brett Favre
109: Fran Tarkenton
101: Archie Manning, Warren Moon
100: Norm Snead
There’s a chance that another QB will be joining the above list this season. New Orleans Saints signal-caller Drew Brees has 99 career losses and would wander into the 100-loss club if the Saints lose one of their four remaining contests (that’s, of course, if Brees is the starting QB in those games, which he will probably be unless there is an injury).
There are five active QBs who have 70 or more career losses. They are: Brees (99), Eli Manning (90), Carson Palmer (82), Philip Rivers (75) and Jay Cutler (71).
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Is Aaron Rodgers the NFL’s best QB ‘quarter by quarter?’
(Photo credit: elviskennedy)
If you want to get into a heated debate, start a discussion about who is the best quarterback in the NFL today. Is it Peyton Manning? Aaron Rodgers? Tom Brady? Drew Brees? How about Russell Wilson, RG III or Andrew Luck?
Everyone has their own criteria for determining the best. Let me offer some thoughts for discussion.
First, let’s use the Passer Rating as the numerical yardstick. Secondly, let’s look at how well QBs perform in each quarter. Are some QBs better in the first quarter and less effective in the fourth quarter.
Following is a breakdown of the QBs with the best Passer Ratings since 2010 in the first, second, third and fourth quarters (minimum of 100 passes attempted in each quarter to qualify for the list).
First Quarter
1. Aaron Rodgers, 114.4
2. Drew Brees, 109.8
3. Russell Wilson, 107.5
4. Andrew Luck, 105.6
5. Matt Ryan, 103.5
Second Quarter
1. Peyton Manning, 111.8
2. Shaun Hill, 111.6
3. Russell Wilson, 107.3
4. Robert Griffin III, 105.1
5. Aaron Rodgers, 102.8
Third Quarter
1. Aaron Rodgers, 117.1
2. Philip Rivers, 108.7
3. Colin Kaepernick, 106.1
4. Peyton Manning, 105.9
5. Matt Schaub, 103.2
Fourth Quarter
1. Aaron Rodgers, 108.9
2. Peyton Manning, 101.7
3. Tony Romo, 100.6
4. Tom Brady, 98.8
5. Russell Wilson, 98.2
Based on the numbers above, we discover some interesting talking points:
* Rodgers is the only QB who had a 100 or higher rating in each of the four quarters.
* Brees and Brady had a 100 Passer Rating in the first, second and third quarters, but not the fourth.
* Rodgers, Peyton and Tony Romo were the only QBs to have a 100 Passer Rating in both the third and fourth quarters.
Let’s look at the 2013 season. Peyton Manning is having a great season and his Broncos have been an early season favorite to make it to the Super Bowl. Peyton has the highest Passer Rating this season of QBs in the first and fourth quarters. Peyton’s Passer Rating is 128.9 in the first quarter and 124.3 in the fourth quarter. Seattle Russell Wilson has the best second quarter rating at 127.34, and Cam Newton has the best third quarter rating at 139.1.
For those Aaron Rodgers fans wondering where Rodgers is at in these 2013 by-quarter Passer Ratings, he is still near the top. His first quarter rating is 106.7, second quarter 93.3, third quarter 117.2, and fourth quarter 105.1. Rodgers is very consistent in his overall passing performance over the course of a game; but it is interesting to note that he seems to do his best work (statistically) in the third quarter, yet the second quarter is his worst (in terms of Passer Rating) of the four quarters. Theories? I’ll throw one out there: Rodgers and his coach Mike McCarthy may be the best at making adjustments at halftime to what their offense needs to do to be successful in the second half.
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