What NFL teams stat is vastly overrated?

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

What statistic of a player or team do you think is overrated in a typical NFL season?

I am going to say interceptions by the QB because so many balls during the season get tipped or even fumbled out of a players gut directly into a defenders hands and should not count directly as an INT.

Another one I can't go with is simply TD pass yardage...O.K. Brady throws a short out to Wes Welker for about 4 yards...Welker breaks into the open with his own moves and scores from 60 yards away..Brady gets awarded with a 60 yard TD pass..Thats an overrated stat.

 

[TeamPats]

There is no stat I hate more the Team Defense which I believe is calculated by total yardage allowed. While I am biased by being a Pats fan as this hurts our team directly...the objective of the Defense is to not allow the other team to score. That's it. The final score takes no account into yards allowed so why should the defense be judged against it?

 

[TomBrady'sGoat]

just about every football stat sucks. i'd have to vote qb rating the worst because it's unnatural and it sucks at doing what it is supposed to do.

counting stats (ints, tds, sacks, etc) are imperfect but are at least simple. if you're going to remove the simplicity you might as well make it a good stat.

 

[PATSNUTme]

Passer Rating, which is then called QB rating by most in the media and most fans. The QB with the best Passer Rating is usually not the best QB.

 

[Bruschi 3:16]

What statistic of a player or team do you think is overrated in a typical NFL season?

I am going to say interceptions by the QB because so many balls during the season get tipped or even fumbled out of a players gut directly into a defenders hands and should not count directly as an INT.

Another one I can't go with is simply TD pass yardage...O.K. Brady throws a short out to Wes Welker for about 4 yards...Welker breaks into the open with his own moves and scores from 60 yards away..Brady gets awarded with a 60 yard TD pass..Thats an overrated stat.

QB passing yardage. Since yards are racked up by QB's whose team is losing late in a game, its a completely irelevent stat.

 

[dhamz]

Tackles is not an official NFL stat but gets referenced a lot by the media. It is a joke. Guys like Ray Lewis and Urlacher get credited with tackles in home games that they don't get within 5 yards of until the player is down.

For official stats, I'll point to the one Tom Brady always points to - TD passes are overrated. As Brady likes to say on his Monday radio show, did I play better on that 80 yard drive because I threw a play action pass for a 1 yd TD than I did if we run it in from the 1?

 

[zippo59]

Passer rating for me too. It is such an arbitrary formula and I can't even remember how many times I have watched a game where one QB clearly outperforms the other but ends up with a lesser QB rating.

Anytime you use a forumla to calculate someone's performance it is pure BS. There are too many factors that can not quantified in some neat and tidy numbers or stats.

 

[363839]

What statistic of a player or team do you think is overrated in a typical NFL season?

I am going to say interceptions by the QB because so many balls during the season get tipped or even fumbled out of a players gut directly into a defenders hands and should not count directly as an INT.

Another one I can't go with is simply TD pass yardage...O.K. Brady throws a short out to Wes Welker for about 4 yards...Welker breaks into the open with his own moves and scores from 60 yards away..Brady gets awarded with a 60 yard TD pass..Thats an overrated stat.

You know that is the only stat that I can think of that really can be misleading as you explained. Interceptions. Passing yardage can be misleading also as you describe the Brady to Welker hyperthetical.
Sacks. I amost chose this but at least the number of sacks tells you who is dominating the LOS.
If it were baseball, it's a slam dunk for me. That would be a pitchers Wins/Losses stat.
But that's for another forum.

 

[Aqua4Ever04]

There is no stat I hate more the Team Defense which I believe is calculated by total yardage allowed. While I am biased by being a Pats fan as this hurts our team directly...the objective of the Defense is to not allow the other team to score. That's it. The final score takes no account into yards allowed so why should the defense be judged against it?

Okay well what if it were measured by points? Then if Brady throws a pick 6, the Patriots will have allowed those 7 points without ever even having stepped on the field. Yards is a good measurement because it's all the defense, none of the other 2 units have anything to do with it.

 

[TeamPats]

Okay well what if it were measured by points? Then if Brady throws a pick 6, the Patriots will have allowed those 7 points without ever even having stepped on the field. Yards is a good measurement because it's all the defense, none of the other 2 units have anything to do with it.

While I agree with this point, the statistic should simply be # of points given up by the defense per game. While granted if you fumble at your own 5 it sucks for the defense, there is still an opportunity to hold to a FG. Plus there will be times when Pass fumbles at the opposing 5.

 

[Aqua4Ever04]

While I agree with this point, the statistic should simply be # of points given up by the defense per game. While granted if you fumble at your own 5 it sucks for the defense, there is still an opportunity to hold to a FG. Plus there will be times when Pass fumbles at the opposing 5.

Okay I can roll with that, but you also stumble upon that problem you stated. Being a loyal follower of the Dolphins, too many times I see our defense force a 3 and out, but they are already in the red zone so they take a 3 point hit.

 

[brdmaverick]

I think pass defense can be overrated.

Just think, the Packers I beleive were top five in pass defense two years ago, but that was because teams demolished them on the ground. When you can run at will on someone, you will.

 

[brdmaverick]

I think a player's 40 yard dash time is IMMENSELY overrated

 

[Bruschi 3:16]

I think Miami's undefeated season is overrated. They played less games than current teams do.

 

[DaBruinz]

Okay well what if it were measured by points? Then if Brady throws a pick 6, the Patriots will have allowed those 7 points without ever even having stepped on the field. Yards is a good measurement because it's all the defense, none of the other 2 units have anything to do with it.

Actually, its not just the defense. If Brady throws a pick and it goes back for 80 yards, those 80 yards go against the defense.

 

[TomBrady'sGoat]

Anytime you use a forumla to calculate someone's performance it is pure BS. There are too many factors that can not quantified in some neat and tidy numbers or stats.

Math is much less partial and selective than trusting one's own judgement. We remember the plays that reinforce our beliefs and forget the ones that don't. The problem isn't math, it's a crappy 30-something year-old formula.

The key is using stats that best measure performance. All of the little things show up in performance. If they don't, then they aren't really adding anything, are they?

 

[OhExaulted1]

I think a player's 40 yard dash time is IMMENSELY overrated

Yes, along with cone-drills, shuttles and wonderlick. Don't forget, everyone has to be 7-foot 300 pounds and run like a gazelle.

Is there really a better way to as$ess a player's skills than from game film?

You're either a football player or an "Athlete".

 

[Frezo]

Passes defensed. I'm not even sure how the number is arrived at, but if a CB is so good that QBs don't throw to his side of the field often, he won't have that many.

 

[Fencer]

Aggregate passing or rushing yards, offense or defense.

Yards/play matters. Yards/play-of-specific-type matters. Total yards matters.

Total specific-type-of-yards is almost meaningless, because of how dependent it is on the score.

Time of possession is another pretty meaningless one. I think it's correlated with wins largely because the team that is ahead will likely run more.

 

[Aqua4Ever04]

I think Miami's undefeated season is overrated. They played less games than current teams do.

I think there has been like 1 or 2 other teams to win their first 14 games. That was an amazing season and deserves every bit of credit it got. They did it with their backup QB for the majority of the year.