2013 Week 2 Write-Up

HIGHEST TAVA IN A WIN: Philip Rivers, SD

QB SUPP: 0.09

Result: Won by 3 points

TAVA: 5.78

The San Diego Chargers had 11 drives in week 2. Led by Philip Rivers’ 419 passing yards, they scored 3 touchdowns and four field goals for 33 points, or 3 points per drive. Even that, however, underreports how effective Rivers was against the Eagles. Two times, Rivers helped drive his team deep into the redzone only to have a teammate fumble the away. Antonio Gates lost a fumble at the 2 yard line after a 24 yard pass, and Ryan Matthews fumbled the ball at the 8 yard line. Despite these two fumbles which Rendered 111 of Rivers’ passing yards (and 9 penalty yards from a defensive PI Call) useless, Rivers was ridiculously efficient at putting points on the board without turning the ball over once. It should be noted that he scores higher than Aaron Rodgers this week PARTIALLY because his performance led to a very close low support win, where anything less than this stellar effort would have resulted in a loss. Rodgers’ dominance however led to the Packers winning by more than they might have with a very strong QB performance (opposed to an absolutely dominant one). 

HIGHEST TAVA IN A LOSS: Michael Vick, PHI

QB SUPP: -0.27

Result: Lost by 3 points

TAVA: 1.79

Michael Vick had the highest TAVA of all losing QBs this week. Where did all that rushing support from week 1 go? Vick’s teammates only rushed for 66 yards in week 2. The defense generated two turnovers, but both were deep in their own territory so it didn’t add significant help to Vick in his attempt to lead the offense to over 33 points. It instead merely kept that point total from getting even higher. Yes, the Eagle’s lost, but they were in it from beginning to end and Vick’s performance (428 passing yards, almost 12 yards per attempt, and 60+ completion percentage) is the only thing that gave the Eagles a chance.

HIGHEST QB SUPPORT: Russell Wilson, SEA

QB SUPP: 7.79

Result: Won by 26 points

TAVA: 0.02

Wilson was Week 2’s most supported QB with a QB Support score over 7, which means that victory was nearly guaranteed for the Seahawks with anything but the most awful performances from the QB. The Seahawks defense allowed 3 points, but also recorded a safety. That means Wilson was tasked with overcoming 1 point. Just one. To help in that effort, the defense and special teams provided Wilson with drives that started at the 49ers 29, 25, 2 yard lines. As if that wasn’t enough, his teammates pitched in 139 rushing yards. Wilson’s line wasn’t particularly great (8/19, 142 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 33 rushing yards), but sometimes the Seahawks don’t need “great” from their young QB to blow out the other team. This was one of those times.

LOWEST QB SUPPORT: Eli Manning, NYG

QB SUPP: -0.76

Result: Lost by 18 points

TAVA: 0.67

Eli Manning threw four interceptions in week 2 as the Giants offense continues to churn out more and more turnovers. But his TAVA score was well above the average line. Why? Well, we need to put his interceptions in context. One occurred at the end of the half on a hail mary. Another was a fourth down in the middle of the fourth quarter with the Giants already down 25. That pass was actually almost like a punt. 4^th and 10 from the Denver 45 turned into a Broncos first down at the Denver 20.  So two down, and neither of them hurting the Giants more than an incomplete pass would have. The third INT gave the Broncos the ball at the Giants 36, which the Broncos turned into a  5 play TD drive (ok, that one hurts), and the other, thrown from the Denver 20, resulted in a Denver touchback. We can throw out clichés about redzone turnovers, but consider this: On that drive, Manning threw six passes that moved the ball from the Giants 29 to the Denver 20 with a sad -4 rushing yards to help. Yes, an interception in the redzone is bad, but if he’s the only reason they’re in the redzone in the first place, you have to adjust his value added accordingly. At the end of the day, the Giants allowed 41 points, rushed for 23 yards, and generated pretty unremarkable field position. Four interceptions or not, it’s foolish to lay the blame on Eli for this one.

LOWEST TAVA IN A WIN: Matt Schaub, HOU

QB SUPP: 5.84

Result: Won in overtime (scored as a 1 point win for TAVA calculations)

TAVA: -1.32

Matt Schaub had plenty of support in week 2, but he would still need overtime to help his team pull out a win. The Titans put up 24 points, but the Texans D notched a safety, and 7 of the Titans points were from a Schaub interception that was run back for a TD. So Schaub was really only tasked with coming up with 15 points before he made things harder on himself by throwing the pick six. Not only that, 3 more Titan’s points came after Schaub had an interception run back to the Texans 23. Through all of this, the Texans runningback platoon provided 172 rushing yards (at nearly 6 yards a carry too), and Schaub enjoyed strong field position through most of the game as well. It’s great that they won, but better QB play might have kept this one from being so close.

LOWEST TAVA IN A LOSS: Josh Freeman, TB

QB SUPP: 5.32

Result: Lost by two points

TAVA: -4.48

Currently, both Blaine Gabbert and Mark Sanchez are hurt, which means someone else had to step into the role of least effective QB in the NFL for week 2. Well, Josh Freeman was up for that challenge. He was just TERRIBLE last week. Maybe the Saints D really is rejuvenated, but even that isn’t enough of an excuse for Freeman’s complete inability to help his team win. The Bucs defense held the Saints offense to a NET 9 points. They allowed 16, but also added their own defensive TD. If that wasn’t enough, they returned another interception to the Saints 35. That, alongside 3 Doug Martin rushes for 17 yards, was enough for the Bucs only offensive score. Aside from that, Freeman had 10 drives that scored 0 points despite having 127 more rushing yards from Doug Martin to help. Freeman’s 9/22 125 yards passing effort did almost nothing to help move the offense, and he was a primary reason this ended with another close loss for Tampa Bay despite a decent team performance. He earns the lowest TAVA score of the week.