Why QB Rating doesn't tell the entire story...

[TBonePatsFan]

As you can see below, Drew Brees (who had an amazing game against a much better defense in the Giants) ended up with a higher QB Rating this weekend. Brady threw for 2 more TDs, more yards and a higher completion percentage. It appears that the only area Brees beat him in was yards/attempt. How is it possible that Brady's QB Rating isn't much higher? or perfect?

T. Brady, NE 29/34 380 6 0 152.8
D. Brees, NO 23/30 369 4 0 156.8

I've always heard that QB Rating isn't a perfect representation of how well a QB plays, but seeing these stats side-by-side really helped me see it for myself.

 

[cmasspatsfan]

Re: Why QB Rating doesn't tell the entire story ...

Yards per attempt is a big part of the formula. I dont pay much attention too it unless its a rediculous number like Sanchises yesterday, I think it was 8, that indicated a pretty bad day.

 

[Patspsycho]

Re: Why QB Rating doesn't tell the entire story ...

As you can see below, Drew Brees (who had an amazing game against a much better defense in the Giants) ended up with a higher QB Rating this weekend. Brady threw for 2 more TDs, more yards and a higher completion percentage. It appears that the only area Brees beat him in was yards/attempt. How is it possible that Brady's QB Rating isn't much higher? or perfect?

T. Brady, NE 29/34 380 6 0 152.8
D. Brees, NO 23/30 369 4 0 156.8

I've always heard that QB Rating isn't a perfect representation of how well a QB plays, but seeing these stats side-by-side really helped me see it for myself.

Brady scored low in YPA and that pulled the cumulative score down.

 

[insidenation]

Re: Why QB Rating doesn't tell the entire story ...

same notice here Patspsycho,

 

[ewg_gestalt]

As you can see below, Drew Brees (who had an amazing game against a much better defense in the Giants) ended up with a higher QB Rating this weekend. Brady threw for 2 more TDs, more yards and a higher completion percentage. It appears that the only area Brees beat him in was yards/attempt. How is it possible that Brady's QB Rating isn't much higher? or perfect?

T. Brady, NE 29/34 380 6 0 152.8
D. Brees, NO 23/30 369 4 0 156.8

I've always heard that QB Rating isn't a perfect representation of how well a QB plays, but seeing these stats side-by-side really helped me see it for myself.

Part of the problem is that the QB ratings have both maximum and minimum values for each component: once each component maxes out, a QB gets no more credit for better performance. Similarly, they can't lose points as a result of their performance.

If you took away the limits, you'd get:

Brady: (2.764 + 3.529 + 2.375 + 2.044) / 0.06 = 178.5
Brees: (2.333 + 2.353 + 2.375 + 2.325) / 0.06 = 156.5

For comparison, in the Miami game where Brady had a "perfect rating", he would have had a line of

Brady: (2.700 + 4.800 + 2.375 + 2.790) / 0.06 = 211.1

while Sanchise and the Titans QBs would have had:

Sanchez: (0.224 + 0.000 - 1.935 + 0.965) / 0.06 = -12.4
Collins: (-0.667 + 0.000 + 0.291 - 0.895) / 0.06 = -21.8
Young: (-1.500 + 0.000 - 10.125 + 0.000) / 0.06 = -193.75