So two weeks into what is regarded by many as a make or break season for Daniel Jones how does it look. After having declined Jones’ fifth year option the Giants have put a bit of pressure on Jones this year to prove what he is worth.
This post initially started by just looking at quarterback statistics for the first two games. I came up with an arbitrary query at Pro Football Reference to weed out top quarterbacks by their first two games of the season. The query was
For combined games in one season, in the Regular Season, for player season game No. 2 or less, requiring Pass Completion % >= 70.0 and Passer Rating >= 100 and Yds/Pass Att >= 7 and Passing Yds >= 100 and Passing TD % >= 4.0, sorted by descending Date.
This is the updated table after Monday Night games.
| Player | Rate | Y/A | TD% | Cmp% | Yds | Season | Team | G | Att | TD | Int | TD% | Y/A |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tua Tagovailoa | 116.5 | 8.9 | 8.4 | 71.1 | 739 | 2022 | MIA | 2 | 83 | 7 | 2 | 8.4 | 8.9 |
| Justin Herbert | 112.5 | 7.5 | 7.3 | 72.0 | 613 | 2022 | LAC | 2 | 82 | 6 | 1 | 7.3 | 7.5 |
| Patrick Mahomes | 127.9 | 8.0 | 9.5 | 73.0 | 595 | 2022 | KAN | 2 | 74 | 7 | 0 | 9.5 | 8.0 |
| Josh Allen | 123.7 | 8.9 | 10.1 | 75.4 | 614 | 2022 | BUF | 2 | 69 | 7 | 2 | 10.1 | 8.9 |
| Player | Rate | Yds | Y/A | Cmp% | TD% | Season | Team | G | Att | TD | Int | TD% | Y/A |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tom Brady | 135.5 | 782 | 10.4 | 76.0 | 8.0 | 2016 | NWE | 2 | 75 | 6 | 0 | 8.0 | 10.4 |
| Jimmy Garoppolo | 119.0 | 496 | 8.4 | 71.2 | 6.8 | 2016 | NWE | 2 | 59 | 4 | 0 | 6.8 | 8.4 |
| Eli Manning | 106.9 | 575 | 8.3 | 73.9 | 4.3 | 2016 | NYG | 2 | 69 | 3 | 1 | 4.3 | 8.3 |
| Philip Rivers | 120.3 | 463 | 7.7 | 70.0 | 8.3 | 2016 | SDG | 2 | 60 | 5 | 0 | 8.3 | 7.7 |
| Matt Ryan | 121.4 | 730 | 10.0 | 72.6 | 6.8 | 2016 | ATL | 2 | 73 | 5 | 1 | 6.8 | 10.0 |
The reason there are two quarterbacks for the Patriots listed is that the query is the first two games of the quarterback in the season.Not a bad list of quarterback for either season.
Next I looked at Daniel Jones stats to see how far off he was from making the table. I was surprised to see that he was not that far off. By tweaking the query just slightly I was able to include Daniel Jones in the table. Here is the new query with the changes highlighted in bold.
For combined games in one season, in the Regular Season, for player season game No. 2 or less, requiring Passing TD % >= 4.0 and Passer Rating >= 99 and Pass Completion % >= 70.0 and Passing Yds >= 100 and Adj Yds/Pass Att >= 6.8, sorted by descending Date.
With this new query only Daniel Jones is added to the table for 2022.
| Player | Rate | TD% | Cmp% | Yds | AY/A | Season | Team | G | Att | TD | Int | AY/A |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tua Tagovailoa | 116.5 | 8.4 | 71.1 | 739 | 9.51 | 2022 | MIA | 2 | 83 | 7 | 2 | 9.51 |
| Justin Herbert | 112.5 | 7.3 | 72.0 | 613 | 8.39 | 2022 | LAC | 2 | 82 | 6 | 1 | 8.39 |
| Patrick Mahomes | 127.9 | 9.5 | 73.0 | 595 | 9.93 | 2022 | KAN | 2 | 74 | 7 | 0 | 9.93 |
| Daniel Jones | 99.4 | 5.5 | 70.9 | 364 | 6.89 | 2022 | NYG | 2 | 55 | 3 | 1 | 6.89 |
| Josh Allen | 123.7 | 10.1 | 75.4 | 614 | 9.62 | 2022 | BUF | 2 | 69 | 7 | 2 | 9.62 |
The adjusted yards per pass attempt rewards quarterbacks for touchdowns and penalizes them for interceptions. Here is the definition
(Passing Yards + 20 * Passing TD – 45 * Interceptions) / (Passes Attempted)
One other statistic I noticed is that Daniel Jones in his two games this season is credited on Pro Football Reference with two game winning drives and one fourth quarter comeback. Here is how they define those terms
Must be an offensive scoring drive in the 4th quarter, with the team trailing by one score, though not necessarily a drive to take the lead. Only games ending in a win or tie are included.
Must be an offensive scoring drive in the 4th quarter or overtime that puts the winning team ahead for the last time.
