PFF Week 1 Grades...Really???

[tbone413]

I used to hold Pro Football Focus in fairly High regard when it came to analyzing/grading players. But the last several months have left me scratching my head with some of their grades for Lions players, and this week is no exception.

Heres the link to their article, but basically - they gave Stafford a 77.5 and Andrew Luck a 96.0

https://www.profootballfocus.com/pr...k-earns-weeks-highest-qb-grade-in-colts-loss/

Quarterback grade: Matthew Stafford, 77.5

It was a solid opening game for QB Matthew Stafford, who didn’t really need to make many tough throws on his way to victory. He spent most of the afternoon working the short game, as he went just 4-of-7 for 94 yards on passes that traveled over 10 yards in the air. He went 27-of-30 for 247 yards and all three touchdowns while throwing short. Stafford’s offensive line held up well, as he was only pressured on 19.5 percent of his dropbacks. It wasn’t a phenomenal day of quarterbacking for Stafford, but he made enough throws when he had to to come away with a victory.

Uhh - this game was literally one of (if not the very best) performances I have ever seen from Stafford. He was in command from the beginning and not only didnt throw an interception, literally didnt make any bad/questionable throws which could have been picked off. He def. outplayed Luck (and had a higher QBR and QB Rating) yet somehow was 20 pts lower than him? That makes zero sense...

 

[mhughes0021]

Keep in mind luck had a similar completion %age while throwing the ball down field. That would usually lead to a higher passer rating. I had no problem with the game stafford played at all...but 30 "short" passes is a ton. I would have thought their grade/rating would have been very similar. Both did their jobs and exposed shitty defenses.

 

[brewer229]

I used to hold Pro Football Focus in fairly High regard when it came to analyzing/grading players. But the last several months have left me scratching my head with some of their grades for Lions players, and this week is no exception.

Heres the link to their article, but basically - they gave Stafford a 77.5 and Andrew Luck a 96.0

https://www.profootballfocus.com/pr...k-earns-weeks-highest-qb-grade-in-colts-loss/



Uhh - this game was literally one of (if not the very best) performances I have ever seen from Stafford. He was in command from the beginning and not only didnt throw an interception, literally didnt make any bad/questionable throws which could have been picked off. He def. outplayed Luck (and had a higher QBR and QB Rating) yet somehow was 20 pts lower than him? That makes zero sense...

They attempt to grade only the player. As they stated Stafford had an easy overall day in terms of long or difficult throws.

We were so use to him missing shorter easy throws we are impressed with a NFL QB playing as an NFL QB. Stafford made every throw he should of. Historically it seemed like he missed 15% of these.

It was great playcalling with great execution.

Stafford is finally looking like a guy that is engaged and fully understands his role.

I'm ok with him not being asked to make tough throws. Without tough throws you aren't going to have the highest PFF rating.

Luck made a lot of nice deeper throws and seemed to be under more pressure. With similar stat lines makes sense he would be higher graded on a platform like this.

 

[boogerlovejoy]

Keep in mind luck had a similar completion %age while throwing the ball down field. That would usually lead to a higher passer rating. I had no problem with the game stafford played at all...but 30 "short" passes is a ton. I would have thought their grade/rating would have been very similar. Both did their jobs and exposed shitty defenses.

Exactly. What "tough" throws did Luck make. All his TD passes were to wide open players. shit, I dont think we covered a TE all game.

I'm not saying Luck was bad...but he made very few "tough" throws during that game.

 

[brewer229]

Exactly. What "tough" throws did Luck make. All his TD passes were to wide open players. shit, I dont think we covered a TE all game.

I'm not saying Luck was bad...but he made very few "tough" throws during that game.

Well maybe not tough, but deeper passes for sure, which are tougher than shorter wide open throws. The only tight window one I can think off hand was the one where slay stumbled a bit, even without the stumble that could of been a completion.

I think this shows the error of PFF, since they grade the individual plays it doesn't come out as impressive. There wasn't really any single Stafford throws that were impressive. But being that accurate all game on easy throws is something you don't see that often.

So while his grade seems low, based on their grading structure I think it makes sense.

 

[boogerlovejoy]

Well maybe not tough, but deeper passes for sure, which are tougher than shorter wide open throws. The only tight window one I can think off hand was the one where slay stumbled a bit, even without the stumble that could of been a completion.

I think this shows the error of PFF, since they grade the individual plays it doesn't come out as impressive. There wasn't really any single Stafford throws that were impressive. But being that accurate all game on easy throws is something you don't see that often.

So while his grade seems low, based on their grading structure I think it makes sense.

I get it. Just based on the eye test I'd say they had very similar days.....so a similar grade seemed appropriate.....but 77 vs 96????

I think Slay would have made a play on that ball. Not saying for sure he would have picked it.....but to me.....I looked like he was trying to time his jump and tripped on his last step. It happens......still a good throw and catch by Luck and Dorsett......but IMHO.....Slay gets to that ball if he doesn't trip.

Either way, I'll take the W.

 

[LKP]

Moncrief push off on their first td, slay trip setting up second td, levy penalty on last fg by them, not calling hilton out of bounds may have hurt their last td chances too

But the defense lacked pass rush in second half and the coverage got beat too much. Shore that up. Titans an easier test. Also getting torched one game has no bearing on other games. Not a trend yet

 

[cmlfactor]

You'd think football analysts would be ECSTATIC with his efficiency on short throws. Early in his career that was a problem. 20+ passes were well placed and strong, then he'd miss a wide open guy 5 yards down the field, resulting in a third and long instead of third and manageable yardage. I'll take the latter all day long.

 

[biggunsbob]

The ratings seem off to me.

 

[cheeno]

Me too. 77 to 96? Stafford and Luck both played great football.

 

[inkfreq]

I give a bucket of snot what PFF thinks. Stafford was damned effective, and the only "grade' that matters is the W.

 

[sggatecl]

Prepare to have this thread bumped/linked all season long whenever PFF is used to defend/argue against someone (and with good reason).

RIP PFF.

 

[tonyballs]

Cheers, PFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[dtroitlionsfan951]

So our offensive strategy hurts him? Lol, playing to his strengths apparently is wrong. Part of the reason the short passing game works for him is because of his insanely strong arm. He's able to BB shot them in there allowing for YAC, and that's tremendous for helping our receivers. Also our roster doesn't really fit deep long throws outside of Marvin jones. So I guess we should start heaving it deep to short ass golden Tate and theo riddick? Lol.

 

[LKP]

Pff ranked stafford top 5 passer in 2013 season. They dont judge qbs well at all. They are ok for lineman and lbs and dbs. Have somme good stats on pressure percentage. But ever since they went to new grading system they have been really really dumb

 

[tomdalton22]

So our offensive strategy hurts him? Lol, playing to his strengths apparently is wrong. Part of the reason the short passing game works for him is because of his insanely strong arm. He's able to BB shot them in there allowing for YAC, and that's tremendous for helping our receivers. Also our roster doesn't really fit deep long throws outside of Marvin jones. So I guess we should start heaving it deep to short ass golden Tate and theo riddick? Lol.

they are grading him based on the difficulty of the throws, which makes sense.

Playing to his strengths / avoiding his weaknesses is very smart. This is what every coaching staff is supposed to do. Finally, the Lions have a staff that understands!!!

 

[LKP]

Pff had no clue how difficult a throw should be. A short throw can be very hard the nfl. Much more that goes into it

Qb rating and game tape yourself is the way to go for qbs, not pff

 

[tomdalton22]

Pff had no clue how difficult a throw should be. A short throw can be very hard the nfl. Much more that goes into it

Qb rating and game tape yourself is the way to go for qbs, not pff

LKP is back! PFF is great if they support his argument but they don't know what they are doing if it doesn't

 

[LKP]

I havr been down on pff for qbs always. I like them for other positions and some stats. But pff completely changed their grading system and got rid of signatures stats. They are more dumb than not since about october last year

 

[dtroitlionsfan951]

they are grading him based on the difficulty of the throws, which makes sense.

Playing to his strengths / avoiding his weaknesses is very smart. This is what every coaching staff is supposed to do. Finally, the Lions have a staff that understands!!!

Nah they aren't grading him that way. The way I see it is like saying oh randy moss got a lower grade because he just kept beating guys by ten yards and no one was around so it was easy touchdowns for him. You can't discount someone's raw athletic ability to make things look "easy". Short passing is typically harder for weaker armed qbs as it is usually in tighter coverage and easier for defensive backs to break on. But staffords strong arm allows him to put it on guys before defensive backs can react in time. Throw in receivers who can make guys miss in space and it's a fucking genius combination.