HEAD OF THE CLASS
MATT RYAN
QB Supp: 1.51
RESULT: 31-23 Win
over Buccaneers
TAVA: 4.34
Ryan
was the highest rated QB by TAVA last year, but it was easy to dismiss his
results as a product of the quality players around him. Who has better WRs than
Julio Jones, Roddy White, and Tony Gonzalez? Well, Gonzalez is a year older,
Jones is on injured reserve, and White was, for the first time in his career,
sidelined with an injury. Newcomer Steven Jackson was also hurt, leaving Ryan
with a less than heralded cast, headlined by Harry Douglas. All Ryan proceeded
to do was complete almost 80 % of his passes for over 10 yards an attempt
despite the Falcons complete inability to run the ball (30 yards total). On 8
chances with the ball in his hands, Ryan led his team to 24 points (the defense
added a TD as well) and scored the fourth highest TAVA score in a single game
this year.
Honorable Mentions: Andy Dalton (TAVA: 4.28)
missed some throws, but got great results in a tough game. Could it be possible
that he develops into a SB caliber QB for a strong Bengals team. RGIII
(TAVA: 4.02) reminded people that rumors of his demise were greatly exaggerated.
Meanwhile, Aaron Rodgers
(TAVA: 2.62), Colin Kaepernick
(TAVA: 1.89), and Cam Newton
(TAVA: 1.87) all put in solid efforts
to help their teams coast to victory.
NOT AT FAULT
PEYTON MANNING
QB Supp: 0.49
RESULT: 39-33 Loss to
the Colts
TAVA: 0.95
I’ve
read a lot about this game was classic Manning, choking under the pressure of a
big game. Has it really come to this people? Manning was chased around all
night, his two big mistakes (a fumble for a safety and an INT deep in his own
end) brought his TAVA down significantly, but they both the result of being
hit. Moving on from that, Manning engineered four TD drives, threw for 386
yards, and could have led another TD drive if Ronnie Hillman hadn’t fumbled
inside the 5 yard line. This is what we call choking? This is the problem with
Manning. He so often plays other-wordly good that when he plays merely, very
good, he call him a choke-artist. A team that provides 0.49 in QB support
should expect to win about 7 % of the time.
Also not to blame: Matt Stafford (TAVA: 1.34) played a strong game with Megatron back at
his disposal, but the lack of support (QB Supp: 0.15) made it hard to pull out
a win. Jake Locker (TAVA: 0.43) and the Rams QBs (TAVA: -0.31) could have
played better, but the Titans and Rams did a poor job of helping their QBs,
putting their signal callers in tough positions throughout each game.
NOT AS GOOD AS
ADVERTISED
ANDREW LUCK
QB Supp: 3.35
RESULT: 39-33 Win
over the Broncos
TAVA: 1.36
TAVA: 1.36
Luck
has 4 TDs in win over Broncos! The future is NOW! A new ERA! Yea yea yea… ok, let's not get ahead of ourselves here.
Luck played well. But this game wasn’t quite the performance people are making
it out to be. Yes, he had some great plays, like a scramble to just barely convert
on a 3rd and 11. He also missed some throws though, playing a key
role in the Colts converting only 5 of 17 third downs. Yes, he led the Colts
offense to four TDs and 3 FGs with a less than stellar run game, but that was in
large part because the defense kept getting Manning and the Broncos off the
field, giving Luck an incredible 17 drives (many with a short field). That’s
almost double the chances he had last week against the Chargers. This was a
great team effort and Luck delivered a solid performance, but not a great one,
four TDs or not.
GENO SMITH
QB Supp: 5.20
RESULT: 30-27 (OT)
Win over the Patriots
TAVA: -0.89
Geno
Smith still struggles with poor decision making and consistency. He IS a
rookie, and no one should be writing him off yet, but we also shouldn’t put too
much weight on the fact that “he wins.” Because, in most games, Geno isn’t the
reason the Jets are winning right now. Smith started this game strong,
converting 6 of 6 third down attempts on 6 passes for 84 yards. That strong
play helped the Jets drive down the field 3 times, but Smith and the offense created
only only 3 net points on those 3 drives. The Jets scored 1 TD, settled for a
FG, and Smith threw a pick six in between. It’s great that he showed some promise,
but it’s less than great that he undid much of that work with a costly turnover.
After that, Smith’ s passing on third down wasn’t nearly as effective, completing
3 of 7 passes for 10 yards and converting only one first down in seven chances.
Meanwhile,
the defense would hold the Patriots offense to a net of 13 points, and Smith’s
teammates rushed for 177 yards. A better QB performance from Smith, and this
game wouldn’t have needed overtime and a (correct) interpretation of a new rule
for the Jets to notch another win.
Also not THAT great:Russell
Wilson (TAVA: 0.29) had a decent night passing and running against the
Cardinals, but he can thank his defense for (1) giving him some great field
position and (2) holding it down after his fumbles put them in compromising
situations. Eli Manning (TAVA: 0.30) and the Giants notched their first win of
the season, but it was mostly due to a strong defensive effort.
IT REALLY WAS
THAT BAD
RYAN TANNEHILL
QB SUPPORT: 4.88
RESULT: 23-21 loss to
the Bills
TAVA: -3.41
Freeman
might have played worse, but Tannehill added less value to his team because his
struggles were clearly the difference in a game the Dolphins really should have
won. The Dolphins held the Bills offense to 16 points, and 3 of those (the
game-winning FG) were a direct result of a Tannehill fumble. Seven more, of
course, were added at the start when Tannehill threw a TD pass to the Bills defense on the opening drive. Tannehill also threw away
points when, from the Buffalo 17 yard line, he was intercepted again. The
Dolphins should have won this game, but Tannehill’s three turnovers sunk an
otherwise strong team effort.
JOSH FREEMAN
QB SUPPORT: 2.81
RESULT: 23-7 loss to
the Giants
TAVA: -2.17
Freeman
may have been arguably more ineffective than Tannehill, but he had a lot less
help in a game where the Vikings were never really competitive anyway. They
rushed for 30 yards, missed a FG, allowed 23 points on defense, and were left
with no choice but to ask Freeman (who hasn’t been there that long) to throw
50+ times. What’s amazing isn’t how bad Freeman played (but let’s be real, it
WAS that bad), but that there weren’t more turnovers. Freeman, however, did
nothing to lift himself from the bottom of the 2013 TAVA rankings. He still sits at 33rd out of the 33 ranked QBs.
ALSO SHAMEFUL: The Foles/Barkley combination
(TAVA: -2.62) was disastrous for Philadelphia, Tom Brady (TAVA: -2.00)
continued to struggle continued despite Gronk’s return, and Carson Palmer (TAVA
-1.16) couldn’t help his team even get close to the Seahawks despite some good
opportunities created by his defense.
