Is QB rating the most misleading stat. in sports?

Question

I mean hardly a year goes by where there aren't rule changes to help the offense in football. The most glaring ones were at the end of the 70's. Roger Staubach had his best year statistacally in his final year at 39 years old after the big rule changes in 1979. Danny White stepped in for him and actually had the highest lifetime rating untill Montana passed him. Does anyone think that Danny White was better than Staubach? Even the most recent rule about not hitting the QB will improve a rating by at least 5 points. I was watching the Packers the other night and Favre had two spikes and a Hail Mary (INT.) to end the game, and it dropped his rating by 20 points. Troy Aikman didn't throw as many TD's as some because he had the best OL and Emmitt Smith to score all the TD's when they got down close - does that mean he wasn't as good? The only way to really judge a QB is to watch him play, not look at the stat. sheet.

Answer 1

yeah i agree. so many people want to proclaim tom brady or peyton manning as the greatest qb of all time. what they fail to realize is the nfl has made the qb's lives much easier today than 10 years ago. its ridiculous. the only thing that matters is if the qb finds ways to win games. generally speaking at the end of the season, it would be best to have thrown more td's than interceptions, but per game it doesn't matter. like you said, the spikes and hail mary pass counted against him when they really didn't hurt the team at all.

Answer 2

Agreed, but for now, there really isn't a better way to get a quick evaluation of a how a qb played without actually watching the game. Aikman (I think it was him - it may have been another former qb/commentator) has a qb rating that seems more fair, but I forget how he comes to his number.



You have to look at the stats to a certain extent tho - if someone only throws for 2000 yards and 12 tds a season, they don't deserve too much praise, and you can't justify it by saying "he's just got too good of a running game to put up numbers." If his running game is that good, to a certain extent it should open up the passing game some, which would result in a higher qb rating.



Finally, it is impossible to compare stats of qb's from different eras - the league has changed way too much to compare Peyton to Staubach or any other of the old timers. Even the recent ones don't always have good numbers - is Drew Bledsoe better than Dan Fouts and Joe Montana? He has more passing yards! Is Phil Simms better than Steve Young? You see, statistics can be misleading, especially when you consider the length of a player's career. Would John Elway have played so long if he already had 2 rings?.... ehhh, that's debatable, but I would guess he would have retired a couple years earlier because he would have accomplished all he wanted.



Just remember - Statistics don't lie, but liars use statistics.

Answer 3

Overall, no I don't think quarterback rating is misleading. Whether you can hit a quarterback or not, sacks don't effect a quarterbacks rating so I don't understand your logic there.



The amount that 2 incompletes and an INT will effect your rating depends on many other factors. How many passes did he throw to begin with, how many tds does he have. What is his completion percent.



Troy Aikman didn't throw as many TD's as some because he had the best OL and Emmitt Smith to score all the TD's when they got down close - does that mean he wasn't as good?



TD's are one in 4 stats that effect rating. A quarterback can still have a good rating without many TD's, if his completion percent is high and his average yards per attempt is high and his interceptions are low.



The one stat that I think should be added to quarterback rating is when a quarterback runs for a TD. When a quarterback runs period it doesn't effect his rating. But the term in fairness, is passer rating so that is not passing. Overall I think the Quarterback rating formula gives you a pretty good idea of how good a guy is passing.

Answer 4

No, i think of its valueless. In Week a million the charges did a trick play against the Seahawks. They faked a field objective and the punter (who became keeping for the sphere objective) stood up and threw the ball to a receiver close to the sideline who went in for a landing. That bypass became the only bypass he has thrown in his occupation, yet he has a perfect QB score as a results of fact he has one hundred% of entirety (a million/a million) one hundred% TD 0% interceptions and 25 yards in line with attempt. Throwing one bypass to a receiver that the protection did not see does not make somebody a perfect QB. in actuality is became a terrible bypass, it became in the back of the receiver and it became a wobbly lob bypass. the only reason it worked is as a results of fact the closest defender became 25 yards away. Plus, there are such multiple different aspects. some communities have a large O-line and a huge working returned who can pound for not undemanding yards, so while they get interior the ten backyard line, they run the ball into the top-zone. The QB could bypass for 80 yards to get them interior the purple zone, however the TD is going to a RB. There are basically such multiple variables the place QB's could make sturdy judgements and powerful performs in spite of the shown fact that it does not help[ (or perhaps hurts) their score, whilst different QB's have their rankings falsely inflated by potential of issues that are previous their administration.

Answer 5

seeings how a QB rating relys on so many factors that lay outside the QB's control... yes the QB rating is a flawed system.



With a terrible O-line... your QB rating will drop



With an awfull WR corp your QB rating will drop



With a tip top notch running game your QB rating will drop



there are so many factors that play into this rating system that the QB can't completly control and it will hinder that QB's stats...



however, having a bad QB rating wont keep a great QB out of the hall of fame... and have a great QB rating wont cause a team to win a game.... both of these factors play into the unimportance of this statistic...



But the statistic itself is usefull.... especially in todays "fantasy sports" world... a fantasy owner sure does want the rating nice and high.

Answer 6

Sometimes it is. Look at Mann the father he was rated the 6 best NFL QB for 20 years. And never won anything. Hell New Orleans only won about 4 games a year with him at QB.

Answer 7

I agree. Take Romo's performance against the Bills. He threw 5 interceptions so his rating was probably very low, but he still found a way to win the game. QB rating's don't show that.

Answer 8

It's just another thing made up for the media to talk about. I guess it is used by fantasy league players.

Answer 9

I agree. To me it really doesnt matter what kind of numbers you put up as long as you make good decisions and lead your team to wins.

Answer 10

i think they oughta be able to hit the QB. let the defense just own the line. let em horse collar and head slap em.

Answer 11

Not really misleading, because it can change from week to week. Just kind of pointless.