6) Write 800 words or more on something about anything in the league that interests you. It could be related to statistics, a league issue that you take seriously, or a niche part of history that doesn’t fit neatly into either of the above categories. This must be directly related to the league, so don’t wax 800 words about your team’s participation on a Werewolf server or something.
Today, I will be looking at how a player’s performance relates to win record and how a team performs in general, and if they don’t correlate try to figure out why not. The first person I want to look at is Ben Slothlisberger. Ben is the QB for NOLA, and was one of them best QB’s in the game. He had one of the highest QB ratings, one of the lowest number of interception, the highest number of touchdowns, the best touchdown to interception ratio, and the highest number of yards of any QB. NOLA had a winning record at 9-7, which is honestly barely a winning record, but it still matches up with the QB play. They also had a fairly high PF, which matches as well. One of the main reasons I see for NOLA only having a slightly above average season despite great QB numbers is the fact that Ben really did not pass the ball that often. He had a slightly below average number of pass attempts, which could be a possible reason why NOLA was only below average. Let’s now take a look at the other side. Jackie Daytona, QB for the Austin Copperheads, was one of the worst QB’s this season, with one of the lowest yards per completion, one of the lowest percentage of passes caught, only two more TDs than INTs, tied for highest number of INTs, and the lowest QB rating of any QB this season. The Austin Copperheads’ record matched up very well with the QB play, as they went 3 - 13 this season. They also had the second - lowest PF this season, which makes sense considering the lower number of TDs and high INT number. I now want to get into something that doesn’t match up as well. Luke Skywalker was the QB for the Baltimore Hawks this season, a team that went 0-16. Despite their record, Luke honestly did not play terribly. He had an average QB rating at 90.2, only a slightly above average number of INTs, a very above average number of TDs, and a good percentage of passes were caught. If there’s only one knock on him, it’s that a lot of these stats were made as a game manager figure, with a low yardage number and his longest pass being only slightly above 50 yards. That game manager play style may have boosted his numbers, but not to the point where Baltimore should be where they are. They not only have the lowest amount of points scored, but they have the lowest amount by far. They were the only team not to reach 300 points scored, as they only scored 218 points. Then again, all the blame can’t be put on Luke Skywalker for the season that Baltimore had had. Even with only 218 points scored, they should have at least won one game. But that’s where their defense came in. The second highest number of points against (or maybe PA stands for points allowed, i’m unsure, but the meaning is the same) in the league is 417 by the Yellowknife Wraiths, with the Austin Copperheads trailing close behind at 416. However, Baltimore by far had the worst PA. They had over 200 more points allowed than the Yellowknife Wraiths, allowing 618 points. So honestly, even if Luke Skywalker did better, I cannot at all imagine Baltimore having a much better record. Would they have won a game or two? Maybe, i’m not sure honestly. But I cannot put any sort of blame on Luke with that defense. Also, going back to something I had brought up earlier, the Yellowknife defense is soemthing I wanted to touch on. Yellowknife went 10 - 6 this past season, a pretty good record. They somehow did this despite a not great defensive record there. The odd thing, however, is that despite the points allowed total, Yellowknife’s defense honestly did not do that badly in other statistics. They had one of the highest number of tackles (which actually could be good or bad depending on how you look at it), one of the better numbers of fumbles forced, a good number of sacks, and average stats in most places. The one knock on them is they had the second lowest amount of PDs, which, considering how important PDs are, might be a factor in the high number of PAs. So what I have learned from writing this piece is that while QBs are absolutely an integral part of any team, it’s completely unfair to put all the blame on a QB when a team does bad, as there can be plenty of other factors, such as the defense. On the other hands, just because a defense does badly does not mean the team will do badly, as we saw with YKW.
(805 words)
Today, I will be looking at how a player’s performance relates to win record and how a team performs in general, and if they don’t correlate try to figure out why not. The first person I want to look at is Ben Slothlisberger. Ben is the QB for NOLA, and was one of them best QB’s in the game. He had one of the highest QB ratings, one of the lowest number of interception, the highest number of touchdowns, the best touchdown to interception ratio, and the highest number of yards of any QB. NOLA had a winning record at 9-7, which is honestly barely a winning record, but it still matches up with the QB play. They also had a fairly high PF, which matches as well. One of the main reasons I see for NOLA only having a slightly above average season despite great QB numbers is the fact that Ben really did not pass the ball that often. He had a slightly below average number of pass attempts, which could be a possible reason why NOLA was only below average. Let’s now take a look at the other side. Jackie Daytona, QB for the Austin Copperheads, was one of the worst QB’s this season, with one of the lowest yards per completion, one of the lowest percentage of passes caught, only two more TDs than INTs, tied for highest number of INTs, and the lowest QB rating of any QB this season. The Austin Copperheads’ record matched up very well with the QB play, as they went 3 - 13 this season. They also had the second - lowest PF this season, which makes sense considering the lower number of TDs and high INT number. I now want to get into something that doesn’t match up as well. Luke Skywalker was the QB for the Baltimore Hawks this season, a team that went 0-16. Despite their record, Luke honestly did not play terribly. He had an average QB rating at 90.2, only a slightly above average number of INTs, a very above average number of TDs, and a good percentage of passes were caught. If there’s only one knock on him, it’s that a lot of these stats were made as a game manager figure, with a low yardage number and his longest pass being only slightly above 50 yards. That game manager play style may have boosted his numbers, but not to the point where Baltimore should be where they are. They not only have the lowest amount of points scored, but they have the lowest amount by far. They were the only team not to reach 300 points scored, as they only scored 218 points. Then again, all the blame can’t be put on Luke Skywalker for the season that Baltimore had had. Even with only 218 points scored, they should have at least won one game. But that’s where their defense came in. The second highest number of points against (or maybe PA stands for points allowed, i’m unsure, but the meaning is the same) in the league is 417 by the Yellowknife Wraiths, with the Austin Copperheads trailing close behind at 416. However, Baltimore by far had the worst PA. They had over 200 more points allowed than the Yellowknife Wraiths, allowing 618 points. So honestly, even if Luke Skywalker did better, I cannot at all imagine Baltimore having a much better record. Would they have won a game or two? Maybe, i’m not sure honestly. But I cannot put any sort of blame on Luke with that defense. Also, going back to something I had brought up earlier, the Yellowknife defense is soemthing I wanted to touch on. Yellowknife went 10 - 6 this past season, a pretty good record. They somehow did this despite a not great defensive record there. The odd thing, however, is that despite the points allowed total, Yellowknife’s defense honestly did not do that badly in other statistics. They had one of the highest number of tackles (which actually could be good or bad depending on how you look at it), one of the better numbers of fumbles forced, a good number of sacks, and average stats in most places. The one knock on them is they had the second lowest amount of PDs, which, considering how important PDs are, might be a factor in the high number of PAs. So what I have learned from writing this piece is that while QBs are absolutely an integral part of any team, it’s completely unfair to put all the blame on a QB when a team does bad, as there can be plenty of other factors, such as the defense. On the other hands, just because a defense does badly does not mean the team will do badly, as we saw with YKW.
(805 words)