FanPost

Using Pro Football Focus to better analyze the game

I've started coming on CSC in 2009 and now that I'm a bit more familiar with the website I've noticed one thing among others : some many people here hate stats. I find it perfectly understandable as stats can be boring and sometimes even misleading as they don't tell the whole story. Nevertheless, one stats website that I find relevant and I like more than most is Pro Football Focus.

First of all, I do NOT have anything to do with this website if you have any doubts about it and I will not get any kind of benefits if you visit it. I simply believe it is a great tool to help better understand the game and it could help make the conversations here even more interesting than they already are. It has already been used on multiple SB Nation football blogs so I'm not alone in my thinking. However, what is Pro Football Focus ?

Pro Football Focus is a website that reviews and grades literally every single play that happens in the NFL and provides various analyses using, among other things, some of their own signature stats. Their stats are not perfect either but they are often better than the regular stats. You need a subscription to access all of them but if, like me, you are cheap and don't want to pay there is still plenty of interesting content you can access. From the free version of the website, you can still read some very interesting articles. It includes game analyses, player profiles, previews and many other things. Sometimes it helps confirm what you already thought and realize just how dominant a player is at doing a certain thing. For example last year, when under pressure no quarterback had a higher completion percentage than Drew and the Quiet Storm had the fourth best drop rate among receivers on catchable balls. It can also help shed some light on some misconceptions. For example, Jabari Greer who many here believe is our best tackling cornerback was actually the 9th least efficient tackling cornerback in the league last year.

You are free to visit Pro Football Focus or not and to think whatever you want about it. From a personal stanpoint, I really like this website and I use it a lot. At first I thought it was one of these useless, hard to understand, stats geeks website. I later realized they actually have a pretty good understanding game, regardless of their stats, and it's much simpler than what I expected. It helped me a lot to better understand the game without hurting my brain too much. I don't think there is anything wrong with the discussions we have daily on CSC but I do think Pro Football Focus could make them even more interesting than they already are. Discuss if you wish and give your opinion.

This FanPost was written by a reader and member of Canal Street Chronicles. It does not necessarily reflect the views of CSC and its staff or editors.