Lies, damned lies, and statistics!
Because all of you seem to enjoy talking about the rotation that the Pittsburgh Steelers are using at the cornerback position, I thought that I would throw some gasoline on the fire in the form of a few statistics.
For starters, all of these stats are unofficial as they have been compiled using the game charting that Alex Kozora does each and every week. However, having worked with Alex for quite a while now, I can tell you that he is meticulous when it comes to this, so in essence, these should be close to being right on the money.
Let me also tell you that the stats below do not include plays that were wiped out by penalties (no play). Also, these are only the passing stats for when three cornerbacks have been on the field at the time.
So far this season when William Gay, Antwon Blake and Ross Cockrell have all been on the field together at the same time, opposing quarterbacks are 210 of 314 passing for 2,580 yards (8.22 ypa) with 15 touchdowns and 8 interceptions. If you want a QB rating for that, it’s 97.4.
Conversely, when Gay, Cockrell and Brandon Boykin have all been on the field together at the same time, opposing quarterbacks are 33 of 64 passing for 318 yards (4.96 ypa) with 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. The QB rating for those numbers is 63.2.
When Gay, Blake and Boykin have all been on the field together at the same time, opposing quarterbacks are 6 of 9 passing for 52 yards (5.78) with 1 touchdown and 1 interception. The QB rating for those numbers is 79.2.
Now, let me warn you that these are raw stats and they do not factor in whether or not a completion was successful or not and here’s what I mean by that. If it’s 3rd down and 8 and the defense gives up a 7-yard completion, that means the play was unsuccessful for the offense. Conversely, if it is 1st down and 10 and a completion goes for only 5 yards, that’s a successful play for the offense. In a future post, I will break down these units by successful and unsuccessful plays. In the meantime, chew on these stats and have fun with your conspiracy discussions.
