5-Year Stats Study: Roethlisberger’s Red Zone End Zone Pass Attempts Compared To Other QBs

As promised, I have finished my comparison look at Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger as it relates to his red zone end zone attempts over the course of the last five years.

While I already had Roethlisberger’s red zone end zone passing statistics compiled dating back to 2006, I had nothing to compare them to. That prompted me to research the red zone end zone passing statistics of 14 other notable quarterbacks over the course of the last five seasons so I could get a clearer picture as to where Roethlisberger ranks in these particular pass attempts into the end zone. The 14 quarterbacks I chose to research were ones who have been in the league and with the same team for the last five seasons. That list includes Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Andy Dalton, Matthew Stafford, Eli Manning, Aaron Rodgers, Cam Newton, Joe Flacco, Matt Ryan, Philip Rivers, Andrew Luck, Russell Wilson, Alex Smith and Kirk Cousins.

Not surprisingly, Brady leads the list of these 15 quarterbacks when it comes to not only completion percentage on red zone pass attempts to the end zone, but quarterback rating as well. In fact, his 48.7 completion percentage is 5.3% better than that of the second-place player produced by this study, Brees. Brady has also attempted 32 red zone end zone pass attempts than Brees has over the course of the last five seasons and has thrown five less interceptions as well. This is just one of the several reasons why the New England Patriots offense is usually so very good inside red zone.

As for Roethlisberger, his 37.2 completion percentage on red zone end zone pass attempts has him ranked right near the middle of the quarterbacks used in this study. Even so, his completion percentage comes in just lower than the 38.5% average of the 15 quarterbacks I researched. It’s worth pointing out, however, that Roethlisberger has the highest amount of red zone end zone pass attempts of the 15 total quarterbacks used in this study and 34 more than Brady over the course of the last five seasons. Additionally, Roethlisberger posted the lowest number of interceptions of the 15 quarterbacks and the third-most touchdowns thrown.

While the archaic quarterback rating statistic probably isn’t the best thing to use when it comes to red zone end zone pass attempts because of all completions resulting in touchdowns and the limited yardage that can be achieved, Roethlisberger’s 78.5 number is second only to Brady when it comes to red zone end zone pass attempts over the course of the last five seasons. It will now be interesting to see if Roethlisberger can beat his five-year average in 2018 when it comes to his red zone end zone pass attempts. If he does, it should result in a few extra points for the Steelers offense.

It’s interesting to see Smith and Cousins at the bottom of theses rankings and especially since both quarterbacks signed mega-deals during the offseason. Additionally, Wilson’s numbers came in lower than I expected them to.

QB Red Zone End Zone Passing Statistics (2013-2017)