The-Hogs.net - Washington Football Discussion, Redskins to Commanders Era

hey,
i realized yesterday that i've never known this... how do passing yards stats work? do they count yards after pass or not? is it just the yards the ball actually travelled from the line of scrimage to the receiver, or until he's tackled?

tnathan wrote:hey,
i realized yesterday that i've never known this... how do passing yards stats work? do they count yards after pass or not? is it just the yards the ball actually travelled from the line of scrimage to the receiver, or until he's tackled?

I'm pretty sure YAC is included.

I mean, when you throw a 15 yard pass that goes 80 yards for a touchdown, they call it an 80 yard touchdown pass.

If it didn't count the dink and dunk QBs would get blown away on the stat sheet.

Like Donovan McNabb?

Like any QB in that system. It's designed around yards after the catch.

the run-after-catch does count, even though it obviously shouldn't. it makes no sense for a QB to be rewarded for a WR making a great play on a screen pass and running 75 yards when the pass was a 5 yard dinker. that is not an 80 yard pass, it is a 5 yard pass!

die cowboys die wrote:the run-after-catch does count, even though it obviously shouldn't. it makes no sense for a QB to be rewarded for a WR making a great play on a screen pass and running 75 yards when the pass was a 5 yard dinker. that is not an 80 yard pass, it is a 5 yard pass!

That's why they have TWO stats.... YPC (yards per catch) and YAC (yards after the catch)... so you can determine who did what.

What's next? Suggesting that a RB only gets credit for a yard when he breaks a run for a touchdown but it's only because the offensive line smashed a hole the size of Texas?

That's without even going into the fact that the QB's job is to read the defense and execute the play to it's fullest potential. Who's to say that the QB has no part in such a play? it takes the QB's timing to get him the ball at the right time.... it takes the QB's recognition to see the space the WR has in friont of him... and it might even mean the QB audibled out of one play and into another play because of the defense he was facing. And now if that play turns into an 80 yarder... only the WR deserves credit for the play? Did he throw it to himself? Did he read the defense while he was running down the sideline trying to get open?

also remember that sack yards are deducted from the qb's passing stats.

joebagadonuts wrote:also remember that sack yards are deducted from the qb's passing stats.

Yards lost due to sacks do not count against a QB's passing yards.

Though they do count against team passing yards for some reason.

my point is simply that the stats should reflect how many yards were gained in the air versus how many were gained on the ground. i don't think many people would disagree with that.

perhaps the best solution would be to include both of those in the overall "passing yards" but make sure to have listed right underneath that what the air/ground yards breakdown was of that passing stat. something like this:

PASSING YARDS: 300 (124 air/176 ground)

which could be condensed into a formula stat-readers would understand

PASS YDS: 300 (124/176) or something.

it doesn't take up much space and i think the distinction is valid and important.

Just out of curiosity, why is it important to know the difference? It seems to me the result of the play is what is important. The receiver gets credit for all of the yards as well, and the yards after the catch distinguish between the total yards of the play and what the receiver did himself.

And even then it can be misleading. If the receiver catches the ball at the 50 and there's no defender within 20 yards of him he really doesn't have to do a lot of work to get those 50 YAC.