You need to be an "ESPN Insider" to read this utter nonsense, but I'll pull a few exerpts:
K.C. Joyner claims that Michael Vick has made a "tremendous volume of bad decisions this season." How does he define "bad decisions," you might ask? He explains:
For those unfamiliar with this metric, a bad decision is defined as when a quarterback makes a mistake with the ball that leads to a turnover or a near turnover (e.g. a dropped interception, a fumble that is recovered by the offense, etc.). Common instances of this include forcing passes into coverage, staring at receivers or not seeing zone defenders in a passing lane.
Turnovers - Obviously, we all know Michael Vick has yet to throw any interceptions this season. He has fumbled three times, losing one. So on the year, he has one turnover. Just one.
Near turnovers - By Joyner's count:
15 of (Vick's) passes landed in the near-interception category (a near interception being defined as a pass that reached a defender's catching frame but was not picked off).
Here's my extremely well-thought-out answer to that one. (Clearing throat and pulling out my notes)... Bullshit.
Staring at receivers / not seeing zone defenders in a passing lane - Ah, so Joyner knows exactly what Vick is looking at. Interesting. I know I can't see through Vick's facemask visor, but apparently KC Joyner can.
Michael Vick has played amazing, almost mistake-free football all season long. His decision making has been nothing short of tremendous. One of my new pet peeves of football coverage is this new trend of guys that position themselves as some sort of numbers experts, that give themselves names like "The Football Scientist." Because K.C. Joyner counts "15 passes that landed in the near-interception category," are we to take that as gospel? Well, let's see them, Joyner. Put some game film behind that claim and let's see what you've got. I think we'd find that on the majority of those passes, Joyner is reaching. If you're going to disregard a player's incredible season as "lucky," at least put some proof into your work.
[Note by JimmyK, 11/24/10 10:07 AM EST ] - Apparently, Derek from IgglesBlog is all over this too, although he took a different approach. Derek shows that Joyner's math makes no sense whatsoever.