It’s around the goal line where most touchdowns are scored, so I like to keep an closer eye on that part of the field. That part of the field often dictates whether a quarterback has a good day or finishes with just so-so numbers.
Drew Brees is cutting it up inside the 10, completing almost 80 percent of his passes. Two other quarterbacks have completed 74-76 percent of their passes in that area: Andrew Luck and Tom Brady. Three outstanding passers.
But three youngsters have actually been better at getting the ball in the end zone (that is, a higher percentage of their passing plays inside the 10 have successfully been caught for scores – and for this study, I’m lumping touchdowns and 2-point conversions together).
Jameis Winston, believe it or not, is the only quarterback who’s produced scores on over half of his pass plays in that part of the field, with 14 scores on 24 throws. Marcus Mariota, Cam Newton and Carson Wentz are at 50 percent. Newton and Wentz surprise me. Newton is having an off year, with a lot around him going wrong, but he’s still dangerous in that part of the field.
Russell Wilson, meanwhile, always grades out a lot lower than I would expect. Thus far he’s 5 of 18 inside the 10, with just 4 TDs. That’s the lowest completion percentage of all quarterbacks with at least 10 plays in that part of the field. The temptation is to write that off as being just 10 plays, but Wilson hasn’t been great in other recent seasons either. In 2014, he went 13 of 26, with 7 TDs. In 2015, he went 10 of 27, with 9 TDs. So that’s a three-year total of 28 of 71 passes, with 20 touchdowns, 1 interception and 5 sacks. I would have thought he would be better statistically.
Here are the numbers. “Pct” equals completion percentage. “TD Pct” shows percentage of plays resulting in a touchdown or 2-point conversion. Brees has produced scores on 21 of 48 pass plays, which rounds to 44 percent.
| PASSING INSIDE THE 10 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Comp | Att | Pct | TD | TD Pct | Int | Sack |
| D.Brees, NO | 37 | 47 | 79% | 21 | 44% | 0 | 1 |
| A.Luck, IND | 22 | 29 | 76% | 12 | 38% | 0 | 3 |
| T.Brady, NE | 14 | 19 | 74% | 10 | 48% | 0 | 2 |
| C.Wentz, PHI | 11 | 15 | 73% | 8 | 50% | 0 | 1 |
| J.Winston, TB | 17 | 24 | 71% | 14 | 56% | 0 | 1 |
| A.Rodgers, GB | 25 | 38 | 66% | 17 | 43% | 0 | 2 |
| M.Ryan, ATL | 19 | 29 | 66% | 10 | 33% | 0 | 1 |
| M.Stafford, DET | 17 | 26 | 65% | 11 | 41% | 0 | 1 |
| B.Bortles, JAX | 16 | 25 | 64% | 12 | 48% | 1 | 0 |
| A.Smith, KC | 12 | 19 | 63% | 7 | 37% | 1 | 0 |
| M.Mariota, TEN | 17 | 27 | 63% | 14 | 50% | 0 | 1 |
| B.Osweiler, HST | 10 | 16 | 63% | 6 | 38% | 1 | 0 |
| C.Newton, CAR | 6 | 11 | 55% | 6 | 50% | 1 | 1 |
| J.Flacco, BLT | 10 | 19 | 53% | 7 | 33% | 0 | 2 |
| E.Manning, NYG | 10 | 20 | 50% | 9 | 43% | 0 | 1 |
| B.Hoyer, CHI | 5 | 10 | 50% | 4 | 36% | 0 | 1 |
| S.Bradford, MIN | 7 | 14 | 50% | 5 | 33% | 1 | 1 |
| P.Rivers, SD | 16 | 32 | 50% | 10 | 29% | 1 | 3 |
| C.Keenum, LA | 8 | 16 | 50% | 4 | 22% | 0 | 2 |
| B.Roethlisberger, PIT | 15 | 32 | 47% | 13 | 41% | 0 | 0 |
| R.Tannehill, MIA | 7 | 15 | 47% | 5 | 31% | 0 | 1 |
| D.Carr, OAK | 18 | 40 | 45% | 14 | 34% | 0 | 1 |
| D.Prescott, DAL | 12 | 27 | 44% | 9 | 33% | 1 | 0 |
| T.Siemian, DEN | 12 | 27 | 44% | 7 | 25% | 0 | 1 |
| A.Dalton, CIN | 10 | 23 | 43% | 6 | 25% | 0 | 1 |
| C.Palmer, ARZ | 13 | 30 | 43% | 12 | 39% | 1 | 1 |
| T.Taylor, BUF | 7 | 18 | 39% | 6 | 29% | 0 | 3 |
| K.Cousins, WAS | 11 | 33 | 33% | 7 | 20% | 2 | 2 |
| C.Kaepernick, SF | 3 | 9 | 33% | 2 | 20% | 0 | 1 |
| R.Fitzpatrick, NYJ | 7 | 21 | 33% | 3 | 14% | 2 | 0 |
| M.Barkley, CHI | 3 | 10 | 30% | 3 | 30% | 1 | 0 |
| R.Wilson, SEA | 5 | 18 | 28% | 4 | 21% | 0 | 1 |
| FEWER THAN 10 PASS PLAYS | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Comp | Att | Pct | TD | TD Pct | Int | Sack |
| J.McCown, CLV | 4 | 8 | 50% | 3 | 33% | 0 | 1 |
| C.Kessler, CLV | 4 | 7 | 57% | 4 | 50% | 0 | 1 |
| N.Foles, KC | 1 | 5 | 20% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 1 |
| B.Gabbert, SF | 5 | 6 | 83% | 2 | 33% | 0 | 0 |
| J.Cutler, CHI | 2 | 4 | 50% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 1 |
| P.Lynch, DEN | 2 | 3 | 67% | 2 | 50% | 0 | 1 |
| J.Brissett, NE | 1 | 4 | 25% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 |
| D.Anderson, CAR | 1 | 4 | 25% | 1 | 25% | 1 | 0 |
| S.Tolzien, IND | 1 | 3 | 33% | 1 | 33% | 0 | 0 |
| T.Boykin, SEA | 1 | 2 | 50% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 |
| M.Glennon, TB | 2 | 2 | 100% | 2 | 100% | 0 | 0 |
| B.Petty, NYJ | 1 | 2 | 50% | 1 | 50% | 0 | 0 |
| R.Griffin, CLV | 0 | 1 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 |
| J.Maclin, KC | 0 | 1 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 |
| J.Goff, LA | 1 | 1 | 100% | 1 | 100% | 0 | 0 |
| J.Garoppolo, NE | 1 | 1 | 100% | 1 | 100% | 0 | 0 |
| E.Manuel, BUF | 1 | 1 | 100% | 1 | 100% | 0 | 0 |
| D.Murray, TEN | 1 | 1 | 100% | 1 | 100% | 0 | 0 |
| C.Whitehurst, CLV | 0 | 1 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 |
| B.Kern, TEN | 0 | 1 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 |
—Ian Allan