2008 Statistics

In my humble opinion, the following statistics best summarize the kind of value that Chad Pennington has provided for the Dolphins this year.

Completion percentage - 67.4%  (Best in NFL)

Interceptions - 7 (Fewest for any quarterback to start all 16 games in 2008)

Quarterback rating - 97.4 (Second in NFL)

First down percentage - 37.8% (Tied for third best in NFL)

December wins - 4 (Tied for best in NFL)

Road wins - 6 (Tied for best in NFL)

Obviously, Chad does not have the kind of MVP numbers that the voters will be looking for when the time comes.  Pennington's fantasy football statistics pale in comparison to those of say, Drew Brees and Petyon Manning.  But that, of course, will happen when you get to toss the football around with the frequency that those two MVP-candidates did.  Let's take a look at the numbers.

D. Brees - 635 attempts (7.98 yards/attempt)

P. Manning - 555 attempts (7.21 yards/attempt)

C. Pennington 476 attempts (7.67 yards/attempt)

Needless to say, Pennington has not exactly led a run-and-gun offense down in Miami, and nor am I advocating that he should.  But just how many more attempts to put up the classic MVP-type numbers did Brees and Manning get than Chad this year?  Well, if you look at it in terms of his attempts per game (29.8), it's actually quite revealing.  After doing the math, you can see that Manning "played" an extra 2.6 "Pennington-games", while Brees put up an amazing 5.3 extra P-games.  This, of course, is an argument that the AP writers would scoff at, but it very interesting nonetheless.  For the sake of the argument, let's extrapolate Chad's stats over those extra P-games to see his potential numbers based on his actual 2008 averages.

Chad w/ Peyton Manning-like attempts - 359 completions for 4,256 yards & 22 TD

Chad w/ Drew Brees-like attempts - 428 completions for 4,870 yards & 25 TD

Now, those potential numbers may or may not have put Chad further ahead in the MVP race, but with out a doubt, they would not have left the Miami Dolphins with 11 wins and an AFC East crown after 17 weeks of football.  The type of game that Chad brought to the Dolphins was the perfect for the coaching staff and player personnel that was already present.  I know that no one wants to be labeled a "game manager," but our QB managed our team to the greatest turnaround story in NFL history, and when he really needed to, CP could make the big play.  Pennington, now one of my all-time favorite Dolphins, has brought all of the intangibles that a true leader is expected to have, and it shows in a big way.  Perhaps we should have seen some of this coming when he was voted Captain by his teammates after only a short time with the club?  Regardless, what Chad has done in 2008 has been incredibly special, and he should be included in the MVP arguments no matter what the statistics say.

As always, here's to a good week of practice and no injuries!