The 2022 NFL season has taken off, so it’s time to get an initial lay of the land in terms of a favorite stat here on Steelers Depot: Adjusted Net Yards per Pass Attempt (ANY/A), which is (Passing Yards – Sack Yards + (20 * Passing TD) – (45 * Interceptions)) / (Passes Attempted + Times Sacked). Taking the offensive (OANY/A) and defensive (DANY/A) results, we get a differential. To review the importance of the stat, only one Super Bowl Winner since 2000 has had a negative differential, and no team has had a DANY/A of six or above. It is only one week, but it’s always fun to see how teams come out of the gates, and excited to track this through the season as I did last season. Here are the results for week one of the 2022 season:
Right away we can see Pittsburgh’s stellar performance on defense against Cincinnati, with a DANY/A number of 2.7, which ranked second for the week including seven sacks (T-1st) and four interceptions (1st)! They trailed only the Buffalo Bills in DANY/A, who had an insane number of 1.6 against the defending champion Rams, also with seven sacks along with three interceptions. The Steelers offense left much to be desired, with an OANY/A number of 5.4 that ranked 19th, with the encouraging elements being low in the turnover department (no interceptions) and only one sack, but only one touchdown. Obviously have to provide more in the scoring department, but great job taking care of the ball and super surprised at the low sack number considering the struggles of the offensive line. Can’t wait to see how this progresses moving forward.
Kansas City had a great showing in their first regular season action, comfortably with the top OANY/A at 11.8, with a whopping five touchdowns and no sacks or interceptions against the Cardinals. The Chargers also fared extremely well in their opener, with a 10.0 OANY/A, three touchdowns, and also no interceptions or sacks. They had a strong result on defense as well, tied for fourth with a 3.7 number against the Raiders. The remaining teams above the mean in both data points are the Vikings, Ravens, Titans, Dolphins, Eagles, and Commanders. Pittsburgh will face the Patriots in week two, who landed below (but near) the mean in both data points, and can’t wait to see how quarterback Mac Jones fares if he is able to play (questionable with the back spasms he played through in the opener).
Here’s a table view of the data, ranking the teams by ANY/A differential:
Pittsburgh tied for seventh in week one, likely the highest they will rank with the defense surely coming back to earth a bit and questions of how much (if any) improvement the offense can make in this regard. What are your takeaways on the data and across the NFL? Thanks for reading and let me know your thoughts in the comments.
