stats

It's certainly arguable. Some people (probably Vandy alums) here were sporting "Midway Jay" shirts when he was traded to Chicago, for what that's worth. Of course, that was five years ago. I'd rather see Mett stumble and grow (if it's to be), but the fair weather fans and Vandy faithful might gravitate to a known (albeit somewhat faded) commodity. If they don't win, if won't matter after a few games, either way. Titans fans are being introduced to a new brand of terrible and the Preds fever is supplanting interest. I don't really care about empty seats (well earned), but Tommy boy may have a bus load of Nashburgers to finish off after each game (it's funny because he's fat -- bless his heart).

If they do it, it's to put butts in seats. Saw a few tumbleweeds at the last home game... I don't like Cutler, but if Mett sitting on the bench for a year stunts his growth, he's never going to be the guy, regardless. I think the young QB mis-managment thing (sit or start?) is overblown -- if anything, it's either Mett or the Whisenhunt offense to blame, not time on the bench. Sure, Mettsiah would be further along after starting another season, but it's totally arbitrary to treat a season on the bench as some sort of "lost" season. The only loss is for us as evaluators. That might mean potentially not drafting a qbof while waiting at the altar, but I struggle to see how it stunts growth if the Titans remain committed to developing the guy.

The deal is that none of the current, widely cited statistics involving team sports are orthogonal. Each play has both temporal and physical contexts that need to be atomized to eliminate related factors. Sports statistics have always been for casual observation and accessibility, not a concerted understanding of the underlying, latent factors. We leave that stuff to virtually meaningless terms, like the 'it' factor and being 'clutch.' That said, I appreciate your bringing up the topic...right in my nerd zone.

Any chance of getting the raw data file used in this analysis? Not seeking to discredit you -- just wanted to torture the data a little.