[washingtonismoney]

I'll take meta-statistics over boutique-statistics. The 59ers had 548 yards, 30 first downs and 30 points. That's a successful offense any way you slice it. The only reasonable criticism that can be made is over the interceptions. And only one of those -- if even that -- can be even tenuously linked to over-reliance on the pass.

Well, except yards per play is the meta-statistic. Total yardage is meaningless without knowing how many attempts it took to get there. If you pump out 80 plays or whatever C.al had, you're just going to get more yardage, scores, and first downs -- everything. It's just simple math.

An extreme example. Let's say I threw 100 times in a game, for a total of 300 yards. That, by traditional reckoning, is a pretty successful game -- but of course at 3 yards per attempt it's entirely possible that my hypothetical passer and offense never converted a first down.

The correct way to think about offense is on a per-play or per-drive basis. Because possessions are typically equal between teams (excepting onside kicks), the team that more efficiently uses possessions (and plays) will be the winning team. The particular raw totals that you achieve in getting there are just aesthetics and shouldn't be confused with actual effectiveness.

[washingtonismoney]

I'll take meta-statistics over boutique-statistics. The 59ers had 548 yards, 30 first downs and 30 points. That's a successful offense any way you slice it. The only reasonable criticism that can be made is over the interceptions. And only one of those -- if even that -- can be even tenuously linked to over-reliance on the pass.

Well, except yards per play is the meta-statistic. Total yardage is meaningless without knowing how many attempts it took to get there. If you pump out 80 plays or whatever C.al had, you're just going to get more yardage, scores, and first downs -- everything. It's just simple math.

An extreme example. Let's say I threw 100 times in a game, for a total of 300 yards. That, by traditional reckoning, is a pretty successful game -- but of course at 3 yards per attempt it's entirely possible that my hypothetical passer and offense never converted a first down.

The correct way to think about offense is on a per-play or per-drive basis. Because possessions are typically equal between teams (excepting onside kicks), the team that more efficiently uses possessions (and plays) will be the winning team. The particular raw totals that you achieve in getting there are just aesthetics and shouldn't be confused with actual effectiveness.