What is Quarterback Support?

For a more detailed explanation of how QB support is calculated (and why it's calculated that way, CLICK HERE)

QB Support is a number that measures not how well a QB played, but how much the rest of his team helped put him in a position to win the game. Essentially, it is trying to measure how easy or difficult it is for a QB to lead his team to victory in any given game.

QB Support takes into account the following factors:

1. POINTS AGAINST How many points a QB has to put on the board to get his team in front. This considers not just how many points the opposition scored, but adjusts for special teams and defensive TDs scored by the QB's team as well as TDs scored by the opposing defense from one of the QB's own turnovers.

2. RUSHING YARDS. Plain and simple. How many rushing yards do your teammates generate. NOTE: As of the 2013 season, this also includes passing yards from teammates on "trick plays."

3. THE KICKER. Did your kicker go 5/5 from beyond 50 yards? Did he miss two from inside the 35? QB Support takes that into account.

4. FIELD POSITION Where are you starting your drives? How many chances did you get with the ball?

5. QB MISTAKES Sure, your team allowed 28 points, but why. Did the QB throw three INTs that were returned back to his own five yard line. Well, QB Support accounts for that too. 

It is also important to note what QB Support does NOT take into account.

QB Support does not take a QB’s pass protection, the quality of his WRs, or a number of other factors into account. These factors, though important, can be difficult quantify. At this time, I am not aware of any quantifiable measure that can effectively separate a QB's play from the play of his WRs.  Those two positions seem to be too intricately connected. Did Demaryius Thomas go from 61st in 2011 to 3rd in 2012 in Football Outsider's "Defense adjusted Value Over Replacement" because he got better, or was it because Peyton Manning makes better use of him than Tim Tebow did? Although the quality of offensive line can be judged somewhat based on the effectiveness of the run game (which is accounted for), pass protection is not the same as run blocking. There have certainly been offensive lines in the past that do a great job of opening up running lanes, but a poor job of giving their QB time to throw the ball. These issues certainly detract from the value of the QB Support metric to some extent, but I believe it is still a useful tool in determining which QB's are really helping their teams win, much more useful than simply looking at the standings or a QB's record in the playoffs. Imperfect measurement is simply the limitation of statistics in all fields. The NFL is no exception.