Grading every play from New York Jets QB Joe Flacco: Week 11 at Los Angeles Chargers

Michael Nania grades every play from Joe Flacco's performance against the Los Angeles Chargers. How well did he actually perform? Each week this season, I have been grading every one of the Jets' starting quarterback's plays from his most recent game to get a 0-to-100 grade on the quality of his performance. With Sam Darnold missing the Jets' Week 11 game against Los Angeles, we will again be looking at Joe Flacco. Sam Darnold Grades Week 1 at Buffalo Bills Week 2 vs. San Francisco 49ers Week 3 at Indianapolis Colts Week 4 vs. Denver Broncos Joe Flacco - Week 5 vs. Arizona Cardinals Joe Flacco – Week 6 at Miami Dolphins Week 7 vs. Buffalo Bills Week 8 at Kansas City Chiefs Week 9 vs. New England Patriots Nania's Darnold Grades home page (links to all 2019-20 games) Grades Explained Digging through the All-22 film, I went back and graded every play (pass attempt, sack, rushing attempt) Flacco logged in the game, scoring each on a scale of 0-to-10 (5 representing an average play). Anything and everything is taken into account. Ball placement. Should-be turnovers. Unlucky turnovers. Protection quality. Play-calling effectiveness. The number of open targets available and their locations on the field relative to the quarterback. Impact of the route-running and ball-tracking by the intended receiver. Down and distance. Field position. Game situation. Every layer of decision-making is considered. Did Flacco choose the best available option? Did he scan the field to check all possible options? Did he take an over-aggressive shot when a first down was available underneath? Did he check down too early with a potential big play open down the field? Should he have tucked-and-run? Did he take a sack he should not have? Should he have thrown the ball away? Was there absolutely no option available for him to pick up yards, excusing a lack of production? Simple statistics do not account for any of those factors. Using a manual, play-by-play grading system, many crucial variables that usually go overlooked are being properly valued. Sprinkle in this essential context, and we get a grade that is much more representative of the quarterback's true performance level than standard box score numbers. Flacco's final scores are scaled from 0-to-100, with 50 representing the approximate league average (based on the analysis of other quarterbacks). Glossary Here is a glossary of my personally-tracked statistics, as well as some context to help you understand what good and bad numbers look like. Overall grade: 0-to-100 grade based on the average score of all plays analyzed. (Average: 50, Max: 100, Minimum: 0) Plays: Number of plays graded. Positive plays: Number of plays graded above 5.0: above-average efforts. (Average: 50%, Phenomenal: >60%, Awful: 40%) Positive/negative ratio: Positive plays divided by negative plays: a measure of consistency. (Average: 1.80, Phenomenal: 3.00+, Awful: <1.00) Average positive: The average score of all positive plays (scored above 5). An indicator of how high the quarterback's peaks were — a higher score indicates a great rate of splash plays, a lower score indicates some combination of a low number of big-time plays, many easy throws created by the supporting cast, or teammates bailing out the quarterback on subpar throws. (Average: 5.90, Phenomenal: 6.00+, Awful: <5.80) Average negative: The average score of all negative plays (scored below 5). An indicator of how low the quarterback's valleys were — a higher score indicates few catastrophic mistakes and/or lost plays tending to be more the supporting cast's fault than the quarterback's, while a lower score indicates that the quarterback's mistakes were generally very bad and that lost plays tended to be largely his own fault. (Average: 3.80, Phenomenal: 4.00+, Awful: 12%, Awful: 12%) Let's dig in. We'll get into my numbers on Flacco's game against Los Angeles, compare my findings to his advanced metrics and box score statistics, and break down his best and worst plays on film. To kick things off, here is my comprehensive 0-to-100 grade on Flacco's performance against the Chargers. Overall Grade I scored Flacco with a grade of 50.6. That is his third start out of four with a 50-plus grade, whereas Darnold has scored above 50 in only two of his six games this year. It is also Flacco's second consecutive game scoring above 50. I have not scored Darnold above a 50 in consecutive games since he did it in four straight games from Weeks 10-13 of 2019. Flacco got off to an abysmal start in Los Angeles, highlighted by a grotesque pick-six, but after that, he settled in and began hitting tight-window throws all over the field. His deep accuracy this season has been excellent. Tracking Stats Here is a breakdown of my grading. Check out the glossary above for explanations. Plays: 36 Positive plays: 20 Negative plays: 12 Positive/negative ratio: 1.67 (Average: 1.80, Phenomenal: 3.00+, Awful: 60%, Awful: 40%) Average positive: 6.03 (Average: 5.90, Phenomenal: 6.00+, Awful: 12%, Awful: 12%) Flacco made a bunch of ugly mistakes in the first quarter and early in the second quarter. After that, he took off, connecting on a litany of low-percentage passes. Over his past two games, I have given Flacco a 7-plus grade on a whopping 15.6% of his plays. Go routes have been his specialty. He has been hitting those at a tremendous level of consistency. Box Score Stats Here is a look at Flacco's box score stats. 15/30 (50.0%), 205 yards (6.8 Y/A), 2 touchdowns, 1 interception. 1 sack for 9 yards. Passer rating (NFL avg ~95.0): 80.6 Flacco career rank: 105th of 176 (41st percentile) Week 11 NFL rank: 20th of 28 Net yards per attempt (includes sack yardage, NFL avg ~6.5): 6.3 Week 11 NFL rank: 15th of 28 Flacco's numbers were mediocre. He completed only half of his passes and threw for under seven yards per attempt, but he tossed two scores against one interception while taking just one sack. I think Flacco was better than these numbers suggest, but not significantly. Although I would argue his impact leaned slightly positive, Flacco's performance was certainly a very pedestrian one overall. Advanced Stats For comparison, here is a look at how Flacco's performance was evaluated by a few of the advanced metrics out there. ESPN Raw QBR: Total Quarterback Rating (0-100 with 50 average): 26.7 Week 11 NFL rank: 23rd of 28 Pro Football Focus Grade (NFL avg ~73.0): 70.3 Week 11 NFL rank: 17th of 28 Adjusted completion percentage*: 64.0% Week 11 NFL rank: 24th of 28 *- accounts for drops, throwaways, spikes, etc, league average ~75% Flacco's adjusted completion percentage was only that low because he launched a very high number of deep throws. On those, his accuracy was good, as he completed 4-of-8 passes over 20 yards downfield. The league average adjusted completion percentage on throws over 20 yards downfield is 42.5% this season. I think QBR was too harsh on Flacco's performance, but PFF came through with a grade that is pretty accurate in my opinion. Support Here is a look at some numbers regarding the support Flacco received in the game. Percentage of dropbacks under pressure (NFL avg ~30%): 46.9% Week 11 NFL rank: 4th-highest of 28 Flacco was protected well by his starting five, but the protection quality collapsed late in the game when George Fant went down. Fant was first replaced by Edoga, and then Edoga was benched for McDermott. The two then swapped in-and-out a second time. Edoga and McDermott combined to allow 6 pressures on 31 protection snaps, a horrid rate of 19.4%. That is more than triple the 2020 league average for tackles, which is 5.4%. The Jets' starting five offensive linemen (Mekhi Becton, Alex Lewis, Connor McGovern, Greg Van Roten, George Fant) combined to allow four pressures over 154 protection snaps (2.6%). Becton and Lewis were each credited with allowing zero pressures. Average starting field position (NFL avg ~28.5): Own 28.1 Teammate yards per rush attempt: 4.1 Drops, throwaways, batted passes, hit while throwing: 1, 3, 1, 1 The offense started its first drive on Los Angeles' 29-yard line after a blocked punt. On the next drive, Flacco and company started on their own four-yard line following a turnover near the goal line, leading to Flacco's pick-six. After that, the field position was mostly ordinary. The running game was solid, with both Frank Gore and La'Mical Perine scoring a touchdown and averaging 4.1 yards per carry. While the huge gains were not there, the Jets consistently stayed ahead of the chains with healthy chunks of yardage. Best plays 1ST & 10 AT LAC 49 (Q3, 11:35) – LAC 24, NYJ 6 Flacco's deep ball prowess has earned him a job as somebody's backup quarterback in 2021 - maybe even a stopgap starter. There's always a place in the NFL for a seasoned veteran who can still throw the ball downfield with the level of touch that Flacco shows here, as he drops it into Breshad Perriman's breadbasket for a 49-yard score. 4TH & 5 AT NYJ 30 (Q4, 5:56) – LAC 34, NYJ 19 In a gotta-have-it scenario on fourth down, Flacco makes a good read and delivers with an outstanding throw. The Jets send all five eligible receivers out, but the only viable option to pick up the first down is Denzel Mims on the right side, who runs a go route against press coverage with no help over top. Flacco identifies the favorable one-on-one matchup and drops the ball directly into Mims' chest. The rookie pulls it in to move the chains. Worst plays 1ST & 10 AT NYJ 4 (Q1, 3:24) – NYJ 6, LAC 0 It can hardly get any worse than this at the quarterback position. Flacco looks directly to Jamison Crowder in the right slot, who runs a simple flat route. Tevaughn Campbell has Crowder man-to-man with the leverage to undercut anything that is placed to the inside, keeping his eyes on Flacco the entire time. Flacco should not look for Crowder in the flat, but should instead try the slant to Perriman behind it. Flacco makes the wrong read and goes to Crowder. This could still be completed if Flacco placed the ball far to the outside, but he launches a horrible throw that is way too far to the inside, and Campbell picks it off for the easy six. 2ND & 5 AT NYJ 21 (Q3, 14:22) – LAC 24, NYJ 6 Crowder's measly production against the Chargers (1 catch for 16 yards) was mostly due to a handful of misses by Flacco. Here, Crowder breaks wide open towards the sideline, but Flacco does not pull the trigger, electing to scramble for two yards. Summary Flacco had a decent game overall. He played a big role in digging the Jets into an 18-point halftime deficit, but he played a fantastic second half to pull the Jets back within striking distance. The most surprising aspect of Flacco's performance this season is how volatile he has been. Flacco has not been the boring, safe, checkdown-heavy veteran backup that most probably expected him to be. He has had an uncharacteristically high number of outstanding moments and a similarly surprising number of boneheaded blunders. Flacco has been extremely aggressive attacking downfield. His average pass attempt has traveled 11.2 yards downfield, the highest rate among qualified quarterbacks. That represents a stark turnaround compared to his usual style of play. In 2019, Flacco's average attempt traveled only 6.7 yards, fourth-lowest among qualifiers. This newfound style has worked for Flacco. His accuracy on vertical routes has been sublime, and he has added a lot of value that way. However, Flacco's poise, decision-making, and field vision have been curiously poor. He has missed quite a few reads that you would like any quarterback to make, let alone the 19th-leading passer in NFL history. Overall, I like what Flacco has shown this season. While it seems clear that his days as a quality starting quarterback are over, I think he has proven that he is a plenty solid backup. Sam Darnold Grades Week 1 at Buffalo Bills Week 2 vs. San Francisco 49ers Week 3 at Indianapolis Colts Week 4 vs. Denver Broncos Joe Flacco - Week 5 vs. Arizona Cardinals Joe Flacco – Week 6 at Miami Dolphins Week 7 vs. Buffalo Bills Week 8 at Kansas City Chiefs Week 9 vs. New England Patriots Nania's Darnold Grades home page (links to all 2019-20 games)