The Super Bowl is over with the Los Angeles Rams taking down the Cincinnati Bengals. A game that was hyped around the two quarterbacks became more about the defense of the Rams versus the offensive line of the Bengals. Outside of the one big pass play, which had a debatable no-call, Cincinnati struggled to get much going.
Los Angeles had similar struggles once Odell Beckham Jr. went down with a knee injury.
In the end, the two quarterbacks had a 65% or better completion percentage and over 260 yards passing each. The biggest difference was on the big downs. The Rams were 7 of 16 (47%) on third and fourth down while the Bengals were just 4 of 17 (24%).
Looking back at the last four years, conversion rates on those downs for quarterbacks are very interesting. Just looking at times they have dropped back to pass on third and fourth downs, there are some interesting success rates the last four years:
When his team is put into an obvious passing situation, no quarterback has fared better than two that we'll see tomorrow:
Jimmy Garoppolo and Patrick Mahomes pic.twitter.com/OfIOBHkyAt
— Computer Cowboy (@benbbaldwin) January 29, 2022
Unfortunately, the other end of the spectrum fins Cleveland Browns starting quarterback Baker Mayfield:
— Computer Cowboy (@benbbaldwin) January 29, 2022
It is an interesting list with expected names like Andry Dalton and Blake Bortles but also Kyler Murray, Joe Flacco, Eli Manning and Alex Smith.
For the Browns and Mayfield to take the next step in 2022, success on these crucial downs will be vital.
