First Five and a Half vs Last Five and a Half

[percyhoward]

The "w/Romo" ranking is where Dallas would rank if the numbers with Romo were doubled to include the whole season. "Combined" is the Cowboys' actual current league ranking.

League Rankings...w/Bledsoe w/Romo Combined
Total yards/Game.........6th....1st....4th
Passing Yards/Game....16th....2nd....6th
Avg. Gain/Pass Play.....19th....1st....3rd
Pct. Had Intercepted..28th...19th...24th
Pct. QB Sacks Allowed 18th...13th...17th
Rushing Yards/Game......3rd....9th....5th
Avg. Gain/Rush............8th...26th...16th
First Downs/Game.........5th....1st....2nd
Avg. Gain/Off. Play......12th....1st....6th
3rd Down Efficiency......3rd....2nd....2nd
Points/Game................4th....4th....2nd
Time of Possession........3rd....1st....1st
Turnover Margin.........13th....5th....5th


Total Yards Per Game
w/Bledsoe 327 (6th)
w/Romo....420 (1st)

With Romo the Cowboys' 420 yards per game would lead the NFL if it were for the whole season. Yards per play is also up from Bledsoe's 5.0 to Romo's 6.2, which would also rank 1st in the NFL.


Net Passing Yards/Game
w/Bledsoe 199 (16th)
w/Romo....287 (2nd)

This is the heart of our turnaround, obviously. The 287 yards per game with Romo would be 2nd in the NFL, with only the Saints having more net yards per game (this includes sack yardage).


Avg. Gain Per Pass Play
w/Bledsoe 6.46 (19th)
w/Romo....8.94 (1st)

Just yards per attempt with sack yardage factored in.


PASSING SPLITS
BLEDSOE vs ROMO
These splits that show just how much of a difference between the two QB's there really is in specific situations. The last number in each line is the passer rating in that situation.

Serious Bledsoe fans might want to look away.

Overall Passing
Bledsoe 90 of 169 53.3% 1164yds 6.9ypa 07td 8int 69.3
Romo..125 of 180 69.4% 1656yds 9.2ypa 13td 5int 110.8

Romo's rating and ypa leads the league, and his completion percentage is 2nd in the league. All 3 of those numbers are better than the all-time Cowboy records for a season.


in 3 road games each
Bledsoe 47 of 91 51.6% 648yds 7.1ypa 3td 7int 53.7
Romo...68 of 101 67.3% 862yds 8.5ypa 5td 1int 106.1

Romo, Drew Brees, and Tom Brady are virtually tied at the top of the league for best road rating. Romo incidentally has the best home rating of any QB in the league too.


on third down
Bledsoe 37 of 57 64.9% 26fd 42.6%conv 3int 4sac 93.0
Romo....37 of 47 78.7% 28fd 54.9%conv 1int 4sac 119.7

54.9% of Romo's 3rd down passes result in a 1st down. This number leads the entire NFL.


3rd and 8+ to go
Bledsoe 15 of 26 57.7% 05fd 16.7%conv 2int 4sac 61.5
Romo....20 of 23 87.0% 13fd 50.0%conv 1int 3sac 100.6

On 3rd down with 8 or more yards to go, Romo has converted the 1st down 50% of the time. This number leads the NFL.

46.1% of all Romo's passes (on any down) result in a first down. That number also leads the NFL.


in red zone
Bledsoe 8 of 21 38.0% 4td 2int 07fd 46.3
Romo...19 of 27 70.4% 9td 1int 13fd 100.3


last 2 min of half
Bledsoe 7 of 20 35.0% 04.6ypa 1td 4int 03fd 4sac 27.5
Romo...15 of 22 68.2% 11.7ypa 1td 0int 12fd 0sac 122.9


when behind in the game
Bledsoe 43 of 77 55.5% 6.9ypa 3td 6int 27fd 11sac 58.0
Romo....51 of 78 65.4% 8.6ypa 5td 4int 35fd 03sac 92.8


as the game goes on
Bledsoe
first 10 attempts 58.3% 1td 2int 19fd 71.7
attempts 11-20....55.8% 3td 2int 19fd 80.8
after 20 attempts 45.6% 3td 4int 16fd 56.1

Romo
first 10 attempts 62.9% 3td 3int 25fd 81.3
attempts 11-20....71.7% 5td 1int 29fd 122.7
after 20 attempts 74.1% 5td 1int 29fd 130.0


when under pressure
Bledsoe 9 of 32 28.1% 1td 3int 6fd 16sac 10.9
Romo...13 of 23 56.5% 0td 2int 8fd 07sac 50.1

Romo doubles Bledsoe's completion percentage while under pressure, while cutting sacks in half.


from shotgun formation
Bledsoe 7 of 13 53.8% 091yds 0td 1int 03fd 3sac 44.1
Romo...37 of 49 75.5% 523yds 0td 2int 23fd 3sac 92.5


passes thrown 11-20 yards (does not include YAC)
Bledsoe 9 of 25 36.0%
Romo...20 of 26 76.9%


Completions of 20+ yards (includes YAC)
Bledsoe 14
Romo 27

Sacks/Yards Lost
Bledsoe 16 107 yards
Romo....8 46 yards

passes thrown away intentionally
Bledsoe 12
Romo....1

Turnovers
Bledsoe 9 (8int 1fum)
Romo....6 (5int 1fum)

RECEIVING

The "23 of 47" means number of receptions out of number of times targeted.

Owens
w/Bledsoe 23 of 47 48% 322 14.0ypc 3td 15fd
w/Romo....38 of 61 62% 509 13.4ypc 5td 30fd

Romo's go-to guy would be over 1,000 yards with 10 TD's and 60 first downs if Romo had played every game.


Witten
w/Bledsoe 16 of 28 57% 165 10.3ypc 0td 9fd
w/Romo....26 of 37 70% 315 12.1ypc 1td 16fd

Almost double the yardage and first downs with Romo.


Glenn
w/Bledsoe 27 of 40 68% 358 13.3ypc 3td 15fd
w/Romo....19 of 28 68% 265 13.9ypc 3td 14fd

So much for Glenn being the forgotten man.


Crayton
w/Bledsoe 10 of 13 77% 103 10.3ypc 1td 07fd
w/Romo....18 of 22 82% 334 18.6ypc 2td 14fd

Is there any more of a sure thing in the league than Tony Romo throwing to Patrick Crayton?

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

Wow lot of good homework in that post.

Great job Percy.:starspin

 

[cowboys19]

 

[Hostile]

I swear PH, you break stuff down perfectly every time. That's just awesome stuff.

Aces.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Bledsoe = POS

 

[Bryan8284]

Great info

The one thing that makes me sad is the average gain per rush. We aren't run blocking as well anymore.

 

[percyhoward]

Great info

The one thing that makes me sad is the average gain per rush. We aren't run blocking as well anymore.

Funny you should mention that.

RUSHING
Rush Yards Per Game
w/Bledsoe 142 (3rd)
w/Romo....127 (9th)

This has to be a concern, because the Cowboys are running the ball more with Romo. IOW, even with more attempts per game, we're getting fewer rushing yards per game. Why?

Some of it has to do with the fact that Romo scrambles more than Bledsoe did, so Bledsoe sacks turn into Romo rushing attempts that lower our rushing average. But that's only a small part of why our rushing numbers are lower.

Avg. Gain Per Rush
w/Bledsoe 4.5 8th (without QB scrambles 4.5)
w/Romo....3.7 26th (without QB scrambles 3.9)

3.7 yards per rush would be 26th in the league, compared to 8th when Bledsoe was starting. Again, Romo's scrambles account for some of this. But take out Romo's runs, and we're still below 4 yards per rush.

The main reason is Julius averaged 4.6 per rush in his first 5 games, and has only averaged 3.6 in his last five. If Jones were running the ball the way he had been earlier in the season, we'd be leading the league in total yards, instead of 4th. MBIII's per carry average is about the same, btw.

Rushes by QB
Bledsoe 8 for 28 yards
Romo...19 for 34 yards

 

[CrazyCowboy]

Good work, however, to be fair I don't know if ROMO can keep that up for 10 games in a row......but, I hop he does

 

[theogt]

Wow. Great post. Those are some mind-boggling stats.

 

[CooterBrown]

I believe there is more to it than that. I don't think it is JJ's fault that the rushing per-carry average is down. I hate to pile on Bledsoe, but I think he was such a statue, and sacks are so prized that players were teeing off towards the quarterback and leaving big running lanes. Romo is so much more mobile that defensive players don't rush with such an all-out frenzy and thus leave smaller lanes to run through.

Of course, like everybody else, I am occasionally wrong.

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

Can you say "Dwarfed"!!!

Wow... Romo almost averages a first down per throw. Amazing.

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

Sacks/Yards Lost
Bledsoe 16 107 yards
Romo....8 46 yards


Glenn
w/Bledsoe 27 of 40 68% 358 13.3ypc 3td 15fd
w/Romo....19 of 28 68% 265 13.9ypc 3td 14fd

So much for Glenn being the forgotten man.

So basically Drew led in sacks and yard lost... ooffa....

You can see out of all the WR stats... he was favoring Terry too much

 

[ravidubey]

Percy, that post had... moxie! Very, very well done.

I believe that defenses preparing for Romo have stacked the run in hopes of forcing Romo to beat them. Two stats may indicate some of this to be true:

1) The running game, despite the development of Hoyte, has dropped from 8th in yards per rush to 26th. This could be because of Julius Jones wearing down (which I believe he is), but it could also be from defenses setting out to stop the run and put pressure on young Romo.

2) Romo's stats from shotgun formation, while representing 27% of his pass attempts have resulted in no touchdowns and 40% of his interceptions. From the shotgun, defenses expect the pass and alter accordingly.

I think defenses will come out more balanced against us from now on and possibly scheme against the pass more. Our running backs and blockers have to be ready for it. The season may hinge upon Julius Jones being able to break out of his funk, or us relying on Marion Barber more and possibly wearing him out too quickly.

 

[blindzebra]

I believe there is more to it than that. I don't think it is JJ's fault that the rushing per-carry average is down. I hate to pile on Bledsoe, but I think he was such a statue, and sacks are so prized that players were teeing off towards the quarterback and leaving big running lanes. Romo is so much more mobile that defensive players don't rush with such an all-out frenzy and thus leave smaller lanes to run through.

Of course, like everybody else, I am occasionally wrong.

Yes and we no longer have the 3rd and 20, 15 yard draw play with Romo...one, we don't face many 3rd and 20, and two, we throw on 3rd and long now...so I figure Jones and Barber probably combined for 25-30 yards a game on 2nd and 3rd and long draw plays.

Also we have been getting run blitzed on 2nd and short a lot for no gain or 1-2 yard losses since Romo took over.

 

[percyhoward]

I believe there is more to it than that. I don't think it is JJ's fault that the rushing per-carry average is down. I hate to pile on Bledsoe, but I think he was such a statue, and sacks are so prized that players were teeing off towards the quarterback and leaving big running lanes. Romo is so much more mobile that defensive players don't rush with such an all-out frenzy and thus leave smaller lanes to run through.

Of course, like everybody else, I am occasionally wrong.

That's an interesting theory, and there may be something to it. I don't want to start a MBIII-JJ debate, but I'd have to point out that Barber doesn't seem to have suffered. Maybe it has something to do with their running styles, or ability to see an opening that explains why Julius isn't getting the yards he used to, and Barber still is.

 

[Cbz40]

Excellent post .... Thanks for the time and effort.

Very interesting numbers. I'm so glad Parcells made the move.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Yes and we no longer have the 3rd and 20, 15 yard draw play with Romo...one, we don't face many 3rd and 20, and two, we throw on 3rd and long now...so I figure Jones and Barber probably combined for 25-30 yards a game on 2nd and 3rd and long draw plays.

Also we have been getting run blitzed on 2nd and short a lot for no gain or 1-2 yard losses since Romo took over.

That's a pretty valid point Z.

 

[Boyzmamacita]

Percy, this is the post of the day. Another factor is that Romo performs very well on the road, which bodes well for Sunday.

 

[percyhoward]

As a team, we aren't running as well with Romo as we were with Bledsoe. But it's only Julius whose average has gone down.

Yards per Rush
First 5 games
Jones 4.6
Barber 5.0

Last 5 games
Jones 3.6
Barber 5.1

Since Julius normally isn't in the game on 3rd down, us having fewer 3rd and long rushes wouldn't affect his stats.

Another theory: Barber gets more carries in the 2nd half than in the first, so if teams start out defending the run, then adjust and focus more on stopping the pass in the second half, it would be Barber who most benefitted.

Maybe?

Edit: Now that I've digested it, that may be exactly what ravidubey said.

 

[blindzebra]

As a team, we aren't running as well with Romo as we were with Bledsoe. But it's only Julius whose average has gone down.

Yards per Rush
First 5 games
Jones 4.6
Barber 5.0

Last 5 games
Jones 3.6
Barber 5.1

Since Julius normally isn't in the game on 3rd down, us having fewer 3rd and long rushes wouldn't affect his stats.

Another theory: Barber gets more carries in the 2nd half than in the first, so if teams start out defending the run, then adjust and focus more on stopping the pass in the second half, it would be Barber who most benefitted.

Maybe?

Edit: Now that I've digested it, that may be exactly what ravidubey said.

How many of Jones runs the first 5 were on first down and second in long?

What I have noticed is we are passing a lot on first down and setting up 2nd and short, and we have not ran on that down well...poor play calling, bad blocking, a lot of run blitzes...have all factored in.