Adjusted Net Yards per Attempt starts with Yards per Attempt, but is also influenced by things such as sack rate, interception rate, and touchdown rate. There is, arguably, a negative relationship between some of these variables: for example, some quarterbacks deliberately trade interceptions for sacks, so it’s difficult to be excellent in all four metrics.
Since 1950, there have been just seven teams to rank in the top 3 in Y/A, Sack Rate, Touchdown Rate, and Interception Rate in the same season. Can you name them?
Most of you probably could figure out that the two Manning teams were the ’04 Colts and the ’13 Broncos. Those were Manning’s two big years from a records-breaking standpoint, and also stand out as his two best seasons.
Given how great Joe Montana and Steve Young were for so long, you probably were going to struggle with which years to pick for the 49ers. Hopefully the Rice hint helped, as that removed the ’89, ’94, and well, a whole bunch of 49er seasons. Montana’s 84 season should have stood out to you with the Rice hint. The other year? Well, historians know about how dominant John Brodie was in 1970. That year, the 49ers finished 2nd in yards per attempt, 1st in sack rate, 3rd in touchdown rate, 1st in interception rate. San Francisco averaged 7.6 ANY/A, while the second-best team that was year at 5.7 ANY/A.
The Greatest Show on Turf Rams had a lot of great seasons, so the Faulk hint should have made it clear that you needed to go way back in time. And why the reference to the 1952 season? Because that was the only year in a four-year stretch from 1950 to 1953 where Los Angeles didn’t qualify. The most impressive season from a ranks standpoint was 1951, when the Rams finished 1st in Y/A, interception rate, and sack rate.
