Factoid
I posted a chart yesterday, showing that Ben Roethlisberger has been sacked more than any quarterback in the last two years.
A reader wrote in to say, ‘Yeah, but other quarterbacks would have been sacked more if they hadn’t been injured or benched.’
I will agree that yesterday’s stats were heavily biased against guys who’ve stayed healthy – just as a chart would be showing cumulative TDs, yards or interceptions. You play more, and you get more of those stats.
But in this case, Roethlisberger truly does tend to get sacked. He plays behind just an OK offensive line. More importantly, he tends to hang onto the ball, trying to ad lib into big plays. Sometimes it works spectacularly – like on the pivotal long touchdown he threw against Baltimore in the AFC Championship game. But it also results in him getting sacked more often than other quarterbacks.
Even David Carr, believe it or not, has been sacked less often than Roethlisberger.
MOST SACKED QUARTERBACKS, 2006-2008
Adjusted to passes thrown, and showing only the 38 quarterbacks who’ve attempted at least 500 passes in the last three years. Drew Brees is the leader; he’s been sacked, on average, only once per every 40 times he drops back to pass. Ben Roethlisberger is near the bottom, sacked more than once every 11 times he attempts to throw.
Per Play
40.2 Drew Brees (47 in 1841)
35.5 Kerry Collins (17 in 587)
34.2 Peyton Manning (49 in 1627)
27.9 Steve McNair (25 in 673)
26.8 Derek Anderson (36 in 927)
26.3 Brett Favre (66 in 1670)
24.9 Jay Cutler (51 in 1220)
24.5 Tom Brady (47 in 1105)
21.3 Kurt Warner (60 in 1217)
21.1 Tony Romo (65 in 1307)
20.8 Jake Delhomme (47 in 931)
20.4 Eli Manning (79 in 1530)
20.2 Matt Leinart (27 in 518)
20.1 Carson Palmer (64 in 1224)
19.9 Philip Rivers (74 in 1398)
19.8 Kyle Orton (29 in 545)
19.6 Jeff Garcia (48 in 891)
19.4 Trent Edwards (35 in 643)
18.1 Jason Campbell (66 in 1130)
18.0 Matt Schaub (41 in 696)
17.0 Rex Grossman (48 in 767)
16.7 Joey Harrington (47 in 736)
16.5 Donovan McNabb (88 in 1360)
16.3 Chad Pennington (80 in 1221)
15.6 Vince Young (53 in 775)
15.5 Aaron Rodgers (40 in 579)
14.9 Brad Johnson (38 in 528)
14.3 Matt Hasselbeck (86 in 1142)
14.3 David Garrard (83 in 1101)
13.8 Tarvaris Jackson (41 in 524)
13.0 Alex Smith (53 in 635)
12.3 Marc Bulger (124 in 1406)
11.8 Damon Huard (61 in 657)
11.7 David Carr (55 in 590)
11.6 Matt Cassel (50 in 531)
10.9 Jon Kitna (129 in 1277)
10.7 Ben Roethlisberger (139 in 1342)
10.3 J.P. Losman (76 in 708)
—Ian Allan
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Posted by JODY SMITH | Mar. 06 at 06:04 AM
Do you have David Carr stats for before and after he started wearing the ridiculous white gloves? Just kidding. He's awful with or without them. Thanks for the extra research though Ian.