Whitehurst's First Drive: Numbers

by John Morgan on Aug 15, 2010 2:40 PM PDT

I am no Excel whiz, so this will start rough but should become meaningful as my experience and the sample increases.

Success as defined in the Hidden Game of Football: 40%+ of yards on first down; 60%+ of yards on second down; 100%+ of yards needed on third and fourth down.

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So essentially Whitehurst's completed passes were all very successful?

Though they sink through the Sea, they shall rise again...Death shall have no dominion...

by Cheddar28 on Aug 15, 2010 2:48 PM PDT reply actions

Most completed passes are successful plays

That’s not particularly surprising. Even Orton-like dinking and dunking on WR screens results in a pretty high frequency of successful plays if the catch is made.

by SeahawksFanInNY on Aug 15, 2010 10:49 PM PDT up reply actions

Uh, can I get a key?

I’m completely lost.

by Cannonater on Aug 15, 2010 3:19 PM PDT reply actions

Shows the number of plays made with specific personnel sets on the field (for example, 5 plays with 2 WRs), then what kind of play was were made with said personnel (passing plays, running plays), then the amount of yards gained by those plays, in total.

Each play is either a success (“as defined by the Hidden Game of Football”) or not, so the final percentages show how often the play made the required yards to be a success, depending on the down. 3 running plays failed to do so, all other plays reached the requirements.

by Thomas Beekers on Aug 15, 2010 3:32 PM PDT up reply actions

Actually, only one running play was unsuccessful.

The chart actually only details six plays total.

by bewrong on Aug 15, 2010 4:03 PM PDT up reply actions

Oh yes

Duh, Vasilii, duh.

by Thomas Beekers on Aug 15, 2010 4:06 PM PDT up reply actions

This chart makes so much more sense now. Thanks man!

by Cannonater on Aug 15, 2010 4:26 PM PDT up reply actions

So...the sack doesn't count as a pass play?

Or are these just plays that gained yardage being included?

by cashless on Aug 15, 2010 7:14 PM PDT reply actions

Never mind, I just learned how to read.

First Drive: numbers, not all of his numbers.

by cashless on Aug 15, 2010 10:25 PM PDT up reply actions

I think I get this chart for the most part, but I'm a bit confused.

Specifically, the 1 TE line doesn’t add up. As I understand it, there were two plays of the six in the drive where they lined up one TE, hence the 2 under the # column. However, there’s only one passing play listed next to 1 TE and no running plays. Am I missing something?

Thank you, Walter Jones.
Thank you, Ken Griffey Jr.

by thebyron on Aug 15, 2010 9:59 PM PDT reply actions