TUESDAY TIDBITS: Perfection in Passing

By TJ Troup

Russell Wilson

The NFL uses a mathematical formula to determine a passer's efficiency. There are times when you see a quarterback continually complete passes in a game and the graphic on the screen tells you his passer rating and it is a no-brainer—the visual and the math coincides. When a passer has a rating of 158.3 that is the highest he can go; meaning perfection.

Russell Wilson of the Seahawks achieved this rating on Sunday in the road victory over the Lions. Have been asked many times to explain the passer rating, and the simple answer is we want our QB to complete as many passes for as many yards for as many touchdowns as possible with no errors (incompletions/interceptions).

The "flip side" of this is the defensive passer rating; the lower the better to help evaluate TEAM pass defense. That last statement leads me to offer the following: if the Lions don't improve their porous secondary they are going to finish last in the NFC North. Entering Sunday Detroit's rating was a disastrous 107.1, and of course after Russell W.'s performance is now worse. There was hope entering this season as the Lions last year had a mark of 84.1, not great, yet nowhere near the bottom. The two years previous they were terrible with ratings of 106.5 in 2016, and 100.9 in 2017.

The Lions record for those three years and the 2018 season so far is 28-27. Would sure like to know what Matthew Stafford is thinking when he actually has time to watch the Lion secondary from the sideline? Before going to the running game, a quick congratulations to Adam T. of Minnesota. Consistent production is an aspect of greatness, and if he continues this season he will join the single-season greats of all-time. Have always enjoyed the running game, and James Conner with his grinding relentless performance on Sunday against Cleveland adds to this legendary rivalry.

James Conner

Pittsburgh & Cleveland are just one of three rivalries that have amassed at least 65 one hundred yard rushing performances. The names that come to mind, of course, are Motley, Brown, Johnson, Harris, Bettis, and now James Conner.

Will end this with a challenge for all of you that read this column. Can you name the other two rivalries that exceed Pittsburgh vs. Cleveland in 100-yard rushing performances?