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September 10, 2007

Lies, Damn Lies, and Run/Pass Statistics

T
he Philadelphia Eagles are coached by Andy Reid, a fellow who, it's been said, would rather by hit by a truck than run the football. He's notorious in Philly quarters for his 60% to 40% pass-to-run ratio, despite the presence of a great running back named Brian Westbrook.

Yesterday, the Eagles lost to the Green Bay Packers.

Three reporters for Philadelphia's main newspapers -- the Inquirer (1) and Daily News (2) -- all reported in two stories that the Eagles threw the ball 33 times and ran it 29 times. That translates into a 53-to-47 pass-to-run ratio. So, the reporters infer, Coach Reid really is trying for balance this year.

Nothing bothers me more than the abuse of statistics . . . especially run-to-pass numbers for the Eagles (I'm way over the Bush administration's statistical contortions in Iraq). Both stories reflect the media's typical lack of statistical curiosity.

What matters is not the pass-to-pass stats at game's end. What matters is the ratio of CALLED passes to runs during the game.

At Green Bay, the Eagles called 38 passes and 25 runs. That's a 60-40 pass-to-run ratio. HELLO!

It's exactly what Reid's almost always done during his tenure in Philly (except late last season after quarterback Donovan McNabb was lost for the year and Jeff Garcia took over).

This kind of lame reporting is what I've come to expect from the media when it comes to statistics. Surge stats, anyone?

Posted by shertaugh at September 10, 2007 1:51 PM