Stats...Stats...Stats ...

[Early]

I've looked and collected some interesting stats on various websites... Here are some of them, and some of the possible explanations for why the numbers are like that

1) I would like to start with what I find the most interesting one and it comes from the play of Calais Campbell this year. After looking up all 3-4 DE's NFL, he, Darnell Dockett and Justin Smith has by far the best numbers of all 34 ends. In fact, Calais has (at least in terms of numbers) matched and even exceeded the great Darnell Dockett

CC has 27 QB pressures, 6 QB Hits, 7 sack and two penalties
DD has 21 QB pressures, 7 QB Hits, 7 sacks and 4 penalties

DD has had 24 more ruhes than CC in total for collecting those numbers above

Justin Smith has been an absolute beast, his numbers are 38, 12, 2, 2 respectively in same order as named above for CC and DD. Not as many sacks but more pressures and hits.

CC's 27 QB pressures alone is the second highest in NFL among 34 DE's...DD's 21 rank third. On number 4 and 5 you have Jenkins and Keisel with 18 and 17 respectively. Big gap between our two top 3 guys and rest of the league....

In fact, even in comparison to 43 DE's CC's numbers look amazing... Let's take them in the discussion as well..CC's 27 pressures would have been ranked 6th overall. He has more QB pressures than Mario Williams (26) and Peppers (23) . These two great ends only have one more sack and same amount of QB hits as CC..

CC has made superstar 43 DE numbers, all from the inside of the D-Line, facing guards and double teams (we all can confirm that watching all the games), and has been very solid against the run as well .. He has more tackles and assists than DD and ranks 5th overall in that category among 34 DE's ...Add to that his 5 deflected passes and couple of FG's as well... And yes, I can go into discussion with anyone and protect my view that he is among the best 34 DE's in the game right now and one of the best picks in last years draft, if not the best one. He has coverted this D-line in one of the best, one that is strong against the run, but one that also can make the pocket collapse from the inside. Some of the biggest highlights of Cardinal football this year (for me at least) are including this guy splitting a double team and making pressures, hits and sacks, like the one he made in the Vikings game.

I looked up stats from last year where Antonio Smith was our LDE. His numbers are 13 QB pressures, 10 Hits and 4 sacks. That is for 16 games, not 13 games as was made in CC's example... So CC will more than double the amount of QB pressures and almost double the sacks at the end of this year and will also have more tackles and stops. He has by far outplayed Smith. And Smith's numbers and his play last year were considered great, and that's why his value was so huge in free agency. He has done just as good job a in Houston by the way a he did here in 2008.

2) There seems to be alot of controversy arround Bryant McFadden. When we all watch games we can agree that his ballskills are not amazing. His zero picks vs. DRC's 3 prove that. He is not good turning arround his head and making the play with his hands. When all that is said, let's just look at the final numbers. Because it seems that he gets the job done anyway.

DRC has been targeted 98 times, allowed 50 catches for a percentage of 51%
BM has been targeted 91 times and allowed 53 catches for 58%

Very similar numbers and are percentage is very solid compared to rest of the league.

What really sticks out to me is the target numbers... The most targeted CB in all of football is rookie Cox from Jags...104 targets..#2 is DRC with his 98 and #3 is BM with his 91..We got not one, but two corners in top 3? How is that and why??

My explanation is very simple : Cover 3... We stack AW and the box, cover the middle more than the sides, play our corners soft in cover zones deep out and the biggest holes we allow are flat zones underneath the corners. That's the big hole of this defense.. That's why you see alot of short completions to WR's. That's the reason for the numbers above in my opinion. So total targeted times means not much here and do not worry me. Completion percentages is the more improtant one and how many yards they allow per completion.

The average given up per play is 13.4 for DRC and 13 for BM, again very similar.. Yacs are 257 and 253 respectively..Again, very similar

DRC has made 3 picks, but also given up all 6 TD's..Both good and bad...BM is more neutral in that statistic, he has zero picks abut on other hand only 1 TD has been made against him

Number's wise our two corners are very very similar in what they give up to the opposition. The big difference is only INT and TD columns. DRC is the more exciting one there, one that will make more good but also bad plays. More fun to watch as well.

Forgot to mention one last thing: Passes defensed... DRC has 14 and BM has 12... Very similar again..Tackles...55 (BM) vs. 36 (DRC)... There is some considerable difference there too in BM's favour

Ralph Browns numbers are horrible, not even worth mentioning...But Adams has amazing stats.. he is the one having 54 % completion and allowing the lowest yards per catch... 9.8... In addition, QBs have only a QB rating of 66 passing against him... He has already 17 tackles in 150 snaps... For comparison DRC has 36 in almost 800 snaps .. He has been a great tackler and same time his coverage numbers are more than fine

3) Ben Patrick has caught 10 pases of 11 targeted, a very reliable percentage number. In addition, his runblocking is rated very good, he has only one penalty and 2 TD's.

This young man has started to play really well, and I hope he will be integrated in the offense more and more. He seems to be that dual threath og a runblocker and reciever, and that is the true value of a TE. One dimensional TE's never have a huge value playcalling wise, altough they still can add alot to a team. The really dangerous ones for the defenses are those that can block and catch, and Patrick has, altough the sample size is bit small, done a very good job so far

4) Antrel Rolle has rock solid numbers in all major coverage categories, not outstanding not bad, he has done a good job, the same can be said what we see on games, not just the numbers game on paper. But he has nothing short of 11 missed tackles. Only Piscitelli and Leonhard have more missed tackles than Rolle among all FS and SS in the NFL. That is about 1 missed tackle a game, and that is not good enough. Last game, he also had one that I remember that went for TD. Crabtree's TD catch where he cuts inside and Rolle was in a deep cover 4 look. He recognizes Crabtree's route way to late, took a bad angle late, he could have made a big hit if he did read that earlier. That one doesnt even count in this statistic as he wasnt even close to make the tackle. These stats are only made on tackles where he had contact but let the guy slip away. The number would have been even worse if situations like the one above were counted in the stats.

All in all, he has done a very good job covering and has improved his tackling alot from last year. Altough he had 9 Missed tackles in 2008 and 11 this year, and more tackles in total in 2008, I would still say he has learned to take better angles . The reason he has so many more tackles last year is because he was much more beat in coverage and that counts for tackles as well. He had + 80 % completion percantage against him in 2008..Horrible...Third worst in NFL among all safeties...This year? He allows 59 %, a major improvement

5) Clark Haggans... He has been our best OLB by far this year and ranks really well among other good 34 OLBs... 18 QB pressures, 7 hits and 5 sacks.. I never expected this kind of year from Haggans .. One of the better suprises this year. We need one OLB's to produce these kind of numbers, and I'm worried who that is going to be next year.

6) Our ILB play... Among all ILB's (43 and 34 together) we have some of the highest percentage completion allowed. Hayes in number one among all ILB's... was targeted 23 times and allowed 21 reception. That's 90 %... An extreme number... Dansby is clearly better but not outstanding by any means...35 out of 47...

The numbers are probably explained by Danby needed to cover much more ground than Hayes which puts him in tough situations, Hayes is liability in coverage even when having to cover smaller space, and I'm absolutely certain that explains some of the stats. You would think that Dansby's coverage skills would result in better stats than these.. But there are other ILB's in NFL that also need to cover much ground, but their numbers seem much better. At least, it gives alot to think about... I think with all the great stuff Hayes brings in the rungame, unfortunately this is the negative that results when the offenses pass against us on 1st and 2nd downs. There are also gaps over the middle even when we play cover 3 so much and bring AW in the box. Thank god that Hayes is taken out on 3rd possible passing downs

7) According to football outsiders, our defense ranks # 13 in NFL. Passing defense is number 12 and rushing defense is number 11.. Who would have tought we would ever be this balanced?

8) Defense vs. types of recievers... Well, there is an extreme number here as well... We are number 31 in NFL against #1 WR's and number 2 in NFL against #2 WR's. Obviously, there is a huge difference... Number 12 against other WR's, #14 against TE's, and #9 against recieving RB's. All solid numbers, just that #1 WR is what sticks out against our pass defense..

All in all, the only major problem seems to be the number 1 reciever, lining up against DRC more often than elsewhere. Since the coverage numbers are same for DRC and BM the problem arises mostly from when #1 WR enters other zones. But that is not entirely true since #1 WR's also do line all over the field and it's different from team to team how they use them. Yet great defenses this year like that from Jets and Denver has had no problems equaling that out and giving similar, almost shut down numbers, from both #1 and #2 recievers. We have shut down the number two option completely, but have big problems against the #1 flankers .

9) Offensive Line. Much of the credit goes to the RB's, there is alot of talk on TH and Wells, but looking at these numbers from FO, makes you think otherwise. Last year our DVAO ranking for runblocking put this line on spot number 30. Pathetic. We couldn't runblock at all..This year we rank at... Number 13... Huge improvement ..Our pass protection is ranked 8th and in 2008 it was ranked 8th as well. So there is a considerable improvement in how we runblock, and how much credit needs to go to better RB play and how much needs to go to the big guys upfront, i really don't know. But this stat can make you think about it.

10) There is also a ranking for Defensive Lines, and we rank 7th against the run and 5th against the pass.... No other team besides Minny and Pittsburgh has great numbers in both these categories..So you could make a case that we might have the third best D-Line in football

With point 9 and 10, it is obvious we have become much more physical and dominating upfront this year, on both sides of the football

I have many more interesting numbers, but the post is getting way to long and I got no more time.. Let me hear some comments and also some possible explanations for the stats, because stats can be interpreted in many different ways

 

[Perfectionist]

I thought number 9 was very interesting. I sure some of that might be that we are running more out of one and two tight end sets, instead of trying to run out of a four wide receiver set most of the time.

Oh, and nice job of collecting these stats!!

 

[jf-08]

great stuff

 

[RugbyMuffin]

1) I would like to start with what I find the most interesting one and it comes from the play of Calais Campbell this year. After looking up all 3-4 DE's NFL, he, Darnell Dockett and Justin Smith has by far the best numbers of all 34 ends. In fact, Calais has (at least in terms of numbers) matched and even exceeded the great Darnell Dockett

And we should note that those numbers would be substantially better if he could tackle the darn QB when he has him in his grasp. I am not surprised by Campbell. 6'6" 290 lbs 22 year old athletic football players are hard to find. I honestly think Campbell has the same potential of players like Mario Williams, and Juluis Peppers.

5) Clark Haggans... He has been our best OLB by far this year and ranks really well among other good 34 OLBs... 18 QB pressures, 7 hits and 5 sacks.. I never expected this kind of year from Haggans .. One of the better suprises this year. We need one OLB's to produce these kind of numbers, and I'm worried who that is going to be next year.

Actually it is not so surprising that Haggans is having a big year. He put in the work this offseason. It seemed like every single Darren Urban blog over this last offseason end with, "And nobody is really around right now, except Clark Haggans who was in doing work.". Haggans is a perfect example for football coaches everywhere when they want to show what hard work can produce. We are talking about a soon to be 33 year old, 10 year vet, starting and producing.

Hayes is liability in coverage even when having to cover smaller space.

This is very concerning. I agreed with Doug who posted that Hayes is done. His back is pretty much shot, and when your run stuffing ILB cannot stuff the run any longer then what good is he ?

Thus it leaves the Cardinals with Dansby who has a very high percentage chance of leaving, damaged good in Hayes, a UDFA rookie in Reggie Walker, a backup for life in Monte Beisel, and a very raw and questionable Ali Highsmith.

Couple that with the concerns at OLB, and the Cardinals are in some deep do-do when it comes to the linebacker core.

I mean, for this season ? Who cares. They have been able to get the job done for now, and I believe they will continue to do so, but it is an alarming situation for the future.

 

[imaCafan]

Man, my head is spinning! Good work. Oh, Campbell is 6'8" BTW......

 

[Proteus]

Woah...thanks for posting all those stats.

Unfortunately we're tied for 24th best in yards per carry allowed. Last season we were tied for 11th in yards per carry allowed.

 

[MrYeahBut]

I really think the 2 tight end set has helped the run blocking. Hightowers long run was off the right side in that set. Beanie has had success getting to the outside as well.

What bums me out is it seems that several times Beanie has made nice runs but for some reason we get more holding calls on these plays. IMO the holding call on Q in the 49er game was marginal at best. You can find that stuff on every running play in the league.



Edit to add-Perfectionist noted the same thing, but I didn't see his post b4 I wrote mine

 

[Early]

And we should note that those numbers would be substantially better if he could tackle the darn QB when he has him in his grasp. I am not surprised by Campbell. 6'6" 290 lbs 22 year old athletic football players are hard to find. I honestly think Campbell has the same potential of players like Mario Williams, and Juluis Peppers.

I think what makes him so good is not his athleticism. There are atheltic rookie freaks at D-Line every year, but rarely does anyone pan out. Especially early in their career. What makes CC so great right now is how he uses his hands and feet to disengage from blockers. He isn't even playing one gap technique like DD does. He is not just hitting a gap in hope for penetration.
He plays more two gap style and his feet and hands and also atheticism allow him to rush the passer afterwards.

Peppers and Mario are not only athletic, what really makes them so good is the moves and they have.

 

[bg7brd]

I think we have 2 stellar DE's but the difference between Dockett and Campbell is that Dockett is putting up his numbers despite being double teamed the majority of the time.

 

[Early]

I really think the 2 tight end set has helped the run blocking. Hightowers long run was off the right side in that set. Beanie has had success getting to the outside as well.

What bums me out is it seems that several times Beanie has made nice runs but for some reason we get more holding calls on these plays. IMO the holding call on Q in the 49er game was marginal at best. You can find that stuff on every running play in the league.



Edit to add-Perfectionist noted the same thing, but I didn't see his post b4 I wrote mine

The two TE sets would never work last year with Leonard Pope..I think that you are correct, and the blocking overall needs to be taken into the consideration. We have two TEs that can block, Becht and Patrick. When you have that you can start run those plays more often.

Lutui and Sandlein have also vastly improved. They both take care of a single team more effectively. Last year, no way that Sandlein would ever make a block on his own all game long, you always saw Lutui or Wells in there for a combo block. I think he is more on his own this year, altough not all of the time, but no center is.

 

[Russ Smith]

I think we have 2 stellar DE's but the difference between Dockett and Campbell is that Dockett is putting up his numbers despite being double teamed the majority of the time.

Exactly, I love Campbell but the reason his numbers look so good compared to Docket, Mario Williams, Peppers etc is they're often doubled he's not.

Great young player though.

 

[Russ Smith]

Is it easy to determine how many of those 6 TD's against DRC came early in the season compared to recently? Seems like he really hasn't been beaten much the last 5-6 games. We basically let him cover his man often without help and he's been pretty impressive of late. even some of the big completions have been against good coverage.

 

[Shane]

Exactly, I love Campbell but the reason his numbers look so good compared to Docket, Mario Williams, Peppers etc is they're often doubled he's not.

Great young player though.

Urban specifically wrote earlier in the year how Campbell was so impressive that teams were doubling him quite often. How it was a good thing that teams had to account for him.

 

[Russ Smith]

Urban specifically wrote earlier in the year how Campbell was so impressive that teams were doubling him quite often. How it was a good thing that teams had to account for him.

I'll have to watch for it but I was actually going to say after the last game that one of the reasons Campbell seems to have "cooled off" of late is that teams are now accounting for him with doubles or with the RB where before it was always Dockett that got that treatment.

What I love about him the most is his ability to screw up passes by batting them down or taking away the passing lane. In fact if you noticed, Dockett has started doing that too he had the pick and 1-2 other deflections last week. He seems to have picked up what Campbell did that if you time it right you can really be a weapon doing that.

 

[Early]

Exactly, I love Campbell but the reason his numbers look so good compared to Docket, Mario Williams, Peppers etc is they're often doubled he's not.

Great young player though.

What sticks out to me is that CC has been able to make some of his biggest plays exactly on double teams. Example is right there in the Minny game.

DD usually rarely makes any play on a double team. All DD's plays come from when a single guy tries to blocks him and where he gets his initial penetration and he is way to quick and powerfull for that blocker. He is a one gap penetrator playing with that initial speed step. But when two guys are on him, he can't get that initial gap penetration and he is basically excluded from the play. CC on other hand plays more with a more careful powerstep, reads the play, then uses his frame and hands and feet to make the play. This style of D-Line technique is much more effective against the double team. DD's style is very effective against the single team and very uneffective against the double team. They are so different in their style, and it's great to have two different players like this inside. It gives another dimension to the D-Line. When they switch positions, the opposing guards and tackles always need to switch their technique all the time during the game, and it can be hard to find a blocking rythm and adjust from to another.

Now i don't know the number on how many double teams DD gets and how many CC gets. I would be very suprised if CC got the same treatment as DD.

I will rewatch the latest two games and collect those numbers. Exactly how many double teams there has been on every guy and how effective they have been against it. Remeber, we also have a NT that many times get a double team himself. You can never put two double teams on same play. At least that's very very rare.

It's a very interesting question indeed, right now we can only intuitively answer it. I would also guess that DD is doubled more

 

[RugbyMuffin]

Ah, Darren Urban brings a little bit to the table in this discussion:

http://blog.azcardinals.com/2009/12/18/now-campbell-is-fine-with-sacks/

 

[Treefiddy]

Where did you get penalty information? I tried to look it up, but I couldn't find it. Someone mentioned Pope in this thread, I think one thing that has really helped our team this year is we haven't had as many Leonard Pope False Starts.

 

[splitsecond]

good to see CC's stats are in line with what I see on the field every week. letting Antonio go was a superb move.

 

[RugbyMuffin]

good to see CC's stats are in line with what I see on the field every week. letting Antonio go was a superb move.

And necessary.

........well, it was. We will see what happens in the offseason without a cap.

 

[Redsz]

Just want to bump this thread. Excellent analysis.

 

[RonF]

Great stuff, I wonder how many balls CC has batted down this year because of his long arms?

 

[Early]

Great stuff, I wonder how many balls CC has batted down this year because of his long arms?

He has 5 passes deflected, and DD has actually 4... CC ranks in top 5 among all lineman in NFL in that category and DD just outside

That is not counting CC's block field goals and extra points. I can't find the stat on that one but he has a couple i think

It is also worth to mention Alan Branch. He has 8 Qb pressures, 2 hits and 2 sacks and 2 pases deflected... and 9 tackles... That is in 250 snaps...

You multiply those numbers by 3 (DD and CC have had 3 times more snaps) and his numbers are exactly the samme as CC's and DD's are... He has been just as productive as they have been, he has just seen alot of less time on the field... One stat is pretty bad tough, he has already 4 missed tackles.. That's more than DD and CC have in total for being on the field 3 times more than him

He has played really well, and the reason we dont see him more is because he maybe isnt in shape to play that well for that long time as CC and DD, and/or because we are so dominating at this position that he cant see more time. Like the case is for Early Doucet. Branch has been awsome this year and does not look like a bust at all. What can hurt him is lack of playingtime cause we are so great here.

 

[az1965]

That is not counting CC's block field goals and extra points. I can't find the stat on that one but he has a couple i think

He has 2 blocked kicks

 

[az1965]

CC has 27 QB pressures, 6 QB Hits, 7 sack and two penalties
DD has 21 QB pressures, 7 QB Hits, 7 sacks and 4 penalties

Also, CC has 6 sacks, not 7.

 

[Early]

Also, CC has 6 sacks, not 7.

Yes thank you for the correction, i've just seen that Nfl.com lists 6 sacks, but another site that i used lists 7 sacks, but that must be a mistake, i too think that 6 sacks is the correct number