QB Performance Plots For NFL Week 2: Cam Newton Punishes Saints

October 5, 2012 - by Gregory Matthews

After introducing these QB half-pie charts arlier this week, it’s time to zoom through a few as we catch up to this year’s NFL action. Here’s Week 2.

The standout performance of the week was Cam Newton, who led his team to victory over the New Orleans Saints. Newton had the highest quarterback rating of all passer in week two on 14 for 20 passing, 253 yards, 12.7 yards per attempt, with one touchdown and no interceptions. Add to that, 71 rushing yards and you have one pretty fantastic game as a quarterback.

You’ll also notice the large maroon wedge attached to Eli Manning’s name. This is thanks to his 510 yard performance in the Giant’s comeback against Tampa Bay. While 510 yards is impressive, it’s tempered by the fact that he did it on 31 of 51 passing and threw three interceptions.

The weakest effort of Week 2 appears to be Jay Cutler and his four interceptions. On top of this he was 11 for 27 in passing for 126 yards with one touchdown. This all adds up to an astonishingly low passer rating of 28.2 for the week. That’s a full 30 points lower than the guy above him in week 2 (the illustrious Peyton Manning – 58.5). Other interesting/poor performances include Mark Sanchez and Blaine Gabbert. They both essentially did next to nothing on offense this week. Their only positive is that they each didn’t throw any interceptions.

It must be hard to get excited as a Jet’s fan when this graph is indicating that the quarterback who is most similar to your’s is Blaine Gabbert.