On Monday night, Kurt Warner has a chance to become the first NFL quarterback to record 5 straight games with a passer rating of 120 or higher, breaking his current tie at 4 with Johnny Unitas.
But what does that mean? After all, passer ratings are derived from a complicated formula which includes completion percentage, yards per completion, touchdowns per pass attempt, and interceptions per pass attempt.
What it means is, in 4 straight games, Kurt Warner has, well, put up great stats. Here is what Warner has done in those three games that the passer rating does not tell you.
In those four games, Warner has completed 88 of 121 passes for 1,089 yards, giving him a completion percentage of 72.7% for an average of 12.38 yards per completion. With 12 touchdowns, Warner earns the Cardinals 6 points every 7.3 completions.
But the most important stat for Warner over those last four games, and the biggest factor in his prolific passer ratings, is the number zero. Zero interceptions for Warner in his last four games.
All of this started after Warner had one of his worst games of his career, throwing 5 interceptions in 34-21 loss to Carolina. Warner came out the next week and threw 5 touchdowns, so perhaps the Carolina game was a wake-up call for Warner.
In fact, Warner is playing better in his last four games that he did in his first six before the Carolina game.
In those first six, Warner completed just 66% of his passes for an average of 10.58 yards per catch, with 9 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Compare that to 72.7% and 12.38 yards per completion and its clear that Warner is doing much better in the latter half of the year.
Only one of Warner’s first six games boasted a passer rating over 120, and just two others were over 100. With the exception of a 24-17 victory over the Giants, the Cardinals lose when Warner’s passer rating drops below 100. The reason the Cardinals prevailed over the Giants was that Eli Manning had a worse game than Warner, throwing 3 interceptions.
The only other loss came at the hands of Vince Young’s 99-yard comeback drive, a game which Warner did not play.
Many coaches have said it, but the Cardinals are living it; win the turnover battle, win the game.
Before the Cardinals’ 6 turnover day against Carolina, they had 10 turnovers in their first six games. Since then, in the last five games, they have just 4 turnovers.
If the Cardinals want to keep winning through the season and into the playoffs, they need to continue to win the turnover battle, and that starts with Kurt Warner continuing to hit his receivers.
Posted via email from Basinonian | Comment »
