Football is a complicated sport, and not everything can or should be quantified. But because there are so many players, teams and games, inevitably there will be times we rely on numbers to make comparisons. Which NFL teams are best at running the ball? Which pass-rushers have been the most effective this season? Numbers can provide a shortcut to watching all 256 NFL games when certain types of questions are asked.



There is a place in the sport for careful, numbers-based analysis, and if we’re going to use numbers to talk about football, there are good ways and bad ways to approach it. Following these rules will make you a better football analyst or fan.



These are the 10 commandments of numbers-based football analysis.



1. Thou shalt not use sacks or pressures to measure offensive line play



Example: “The Titans have the league’s highest sack rate, therefore they need help on the offensive line.”



Why it’s...