Christian Ponder didn't complete many downfield passes last year. Most of his throws were of the shorter, underneath variety.
Consider his touchdowns. He threw 18 of them, but many were little flips around the goal line. His 18 TDs came from an average of only 6.7 yards.
In the last 10 years 298 other quarterbacks have thrown more than 10 TDs. Of that group (and this is remarkable) all of them averaged over 10 yards on their touchdowns.
QUARTERBACKS AVERAGING UNDER 13 YARDS ON TOUCHDOWNS (2002-12)
Avg TD Year
6.7 18 2012 Christian Ponder (Minn.)
10.6 28 2007 Drew Brees (N.O.)
10.7 11 2007 Marc Bulger (St.L.)
10.9 12 2009 Chad Henne (Mia.)
11.0 21 2009 Carson Palmer (Cin.)
11.5 11 2005 Kurt Warner (Ariz.)
11.8 18 2005 Jake Plummer (Den.)
11.8 21 2008 Eli Manning (NYG)
11.9 11 2006 David Carr (Hou.)
12.0 24 2011 Ryan Fitzpatrick (Buff.)
12.1 33 2009 Brett Favre (Minn.)
12.3 27 2007 Kurt Warner (Ariz.)
12.3 23 2008 Donovan McNabb (Phil.)
12.3 13 2002 Jim Miller (Chi.)
12.4 13 2008 Shaun Hill (S.F.)
12.4 16 2011 Rex Grossman (Wash.)
12.5 16 2010 Jon Kitna (Dall.)
12.5 12 2006 Joey Harrington (Mia.)
12.6 20 2009 Jason Campbell (Wash.)
12.6 14 2002 Jay Fiedler (Mia.)
12.6 22 2002 Chad Pennington (NYJ)
12.8 12 2007 Jason Campbell (Wash.)
12.8 16 2011 Josh Freeman (T.B.)
12.8 24 2006 Marc Bulger (St.L.)
12.9 17 2002 Drew Brees (S.D.)
12.9 26 2009 Kurt Warner (Ariz.)
^aEUR"Ian Allan
Factoid
February 22, 2013