Advanced Metrics

We will see our names in the black newsprint
of the sea, to steal a phrase from Ann Lauterbach,
but until we get there: the game’s the thing.
DVOA tells us that Michael Vick
was never a very good quarterback
which isn’t to say he didn’t have game-changing
ability or wasn’t amazing to watch.
The advanced metrics don’t lie even if the whole
of any play can’t be captured in such black
and white terms. The variables in a catch
cut twenty-two ways, varyingly unequal
from down to down. A yard gained or a sack:
the problem’s the same. Perfect’s the enemy of better
stats that capture the action more than the score.