Here's a stat

Thanks to TMQ (love him or hate him, he can be pretty amusing, and comes up with some interesting stuff) for smashing this factoid into my brain:

Seven of Jason Campbell's last 532 passes have been intercepted. Nine of Jake Delhomme's last 51 passes have been intercepted.

Now, to be fair, I'm not much of a one for out of context statistics. Don't like 'em. Never have.

However, there is a point where statistics stop really requiring context.

For example, when Ben R was winning games and throwing passes in his rookie season, the announcers wanted to conflate his performance with his college performance. That, my friends, is bollocks.

However, JC and Jake the Snake are both playing in the NFL. Granted, they are not necessarily playing teams of equivalent skill (Detroit are still in the NFL, and no one can argue that they're anywhere near as imposing a pass defence as one anchored by the Giants pass rush, for example).

So let's look at the stat again, right:

Seven of Jason Campbell's last 532 passes have been intercepted. Nine of Jake Delhomme's last 51 passes have been intercepted.

Let's have a think. The Redskins are a bit volatile, and although their backs are quality, they are inconsistently used. The Panthers on the other hand have a romp em stomp em duo pulling (theoretically) safeties into the box in run support.

A quick comparison - in David Garrard's unlikely ascent to starterdom season (2007) he threw 3 picks in 325 attempts. This has returned to normal a bit, but represents an excellent return.

So - Campbell... 532 passes attempted (that's 26 from this year and 506 from last year). 7 picks (1 this year). Ok, so this year's total stats aren't lush, but let's have a think - if you're gunning the ball down the field over 500 times then your team is struggling. And your receiver corps contains Santana Moss. Who isn't huge, let's face it. And Randle El. Again, not so tall. Admitted, Steve Smith is comparable to one of these guys in size, but no both. I'm saying Campbell ain't throwing the jump ball to quality receivers, and he's throwing it in situations where his opponents are probably expecting it. As opposed to Delhomme, whose backs are big, brutal and home run threats.

Of course, we know which QB has terminal job insecurity, and which got an extension in the offseason...

(full disclosure, last year Delhomme threw 12 picks in 414 attempts, 2.8% to Campbell's 1.2%)
(and I know picks aren't the only way to measure QBs, but in a game of possession, they are kind of important)