I am undoubtedly not a stat nerd. I try not to spend inordinate amounts of time poring over numbers to find information the majority of people won't understand.
That said, numbers and stats can be fun to look at -- especially when your team is doing well. So, let's take a look at a few interesting Week 1 numbers regarding our New York Giants.
Football Outsiders is, of course, the best place for statistical analysis. Here are few FO numbers about our Giants from Week 1 for you to chew on.
- Using FO's DVOA (Defense-adjusted Value Over Average) the Giants were -74.9% better than average (negative is good on defense), best in the league.
- The offense was 14th in the league.
- Special teams, you ask? Try 31st in the league.
So, just about what you would have guessed from watching the game. Terrific on defense in Week 1, pretty average on offense, and awful on special teams.
If you guys have been around here for a while, you know I have been a big fan of the work done by the folks at Pro Football Focus, since they provide an excellent way to judge individual performance. Unfortunately, the key number with PFF now is 90, since the site has gone premium and is charging $90 for its best content.
Sorry, gang, but I'm not ponying up the money. PFF, however, does have some free content and their free Week 1 analysis of the Giants does offer a few interesting numbers.
- Osi Umenyiora was +3.5 and Mathias Kiwanuka was +4.5 in PFF's ratings. The pair combined for seven pressures in addition to three sacks.
- Madison Hedgecock was -4.3 trying to clear holes for Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs. I'm concerned about Hedgecock. He has one job -- knock people out of the way for the running backs -- and it seems as though it has been a long time since he has done it with any authority.
- Travis Beckum was -3.7 trying to replace Kevin Boss. I'm not going to kill Beckum for that -- he just doesn't have much of a chance lined up at the traditional tight end spot on the line of scrimmage.