Measuring Quarterback Efficiency: QBs Reaching the “Perfect 7” in ANY/A & NY/A

Last updated on December 13th, 2025 at 12:00 am

It is a natural part of us to desire to strive towards getting better in a journey towards a ultimate goal of perfection. The 1972 Miami Dolphins are attributed the accolade of having a perfect season by finishing 17-0 and winning the Super Bowl. As we continue on the journey we look for signs or measures that indicate we are improving.

The two metrics combined of Adjusted Net Yards Per Attempt (ANY/A) and Net Yards Per Attempt (NY/A) are a strong indicator of success when both are 7.0 yards or better. At a game level in the past five seasons 79% of teams that had this combination in a game won the game. This out of 721 games. It gets even better if the team is able to achieve this metric combination for the season. Over the last 19 seasons 25% of teams that achieved this combination for the entire season made the Super Bowl. That is a pretty strong correlation as randomly a team has only a 1 in 32 chance of making the Super Bowl or a 3.125% probability.

Here is a list of teams that achieved a season of 7.0+ for ANY/A and NY/A and made the Super Bowl. The number column shows the total number of teams in that season that achieved the metric combination. From that is derived the percent that made the Super Bowl which is then averaged to 25%.

The formulas for these stats are

ANY/A =

(Passing Yards – Sack Yards + (20 * Passing TD) – (45 * Interceptions)) / (Passes Attempted + Times Sacked)

NY/A = (Passing Yards – Sack Yards) / (Passes Attempted + Times Sacked)

The strong correlation exists because Adjusted Net Yards Per Attempt (ANY/A) and Net Yards Per Attempt (YPA) are comprehensive measures of a quarterback’s efficiency, which directly impacts a team’s ability to score and win games. Here are the career leading quarterbacks in NY/A The top seven have a career NY/A above 7.0. (Bold are active and a + denotes Hall of Fame)

Here are the career leading quarterbacks in ANY/A who also happen to have a career ANY/A of 7.0+ yards.

I took a look at players that achieved both a season NY/A and ANY/A from the present 2025 season back to 2005. The 2005 season was chosen as the longest active quarterback – Aaron Rodgers – was drafted in 2005. The following tables are quarterbacks that achieved a 7.0+ NY/A and ANY/A in a season and had started at least eight games that season. Quarterbacks with an active streak are coded in green. Ones that have recent streak but not active are in yellow.

The following 2025 quarterbacks are close to achieving this metric with a ANY/A of 6.8+ and a NY/A of 6.5+.

Ways to increase these metrics are explosive plays (Average depth of Target or ADOT) and yards after the catch (YAC).

Looking at BAL who had made the combined metric the last two seasons but in 2025 is currently short of it. Their YAC in 2025 has decreased across the board for their receivers. In addition their ADOT has also decreased for their receivers. You would expect to see an increase in YAC with a decrease in ADOT. This has been attributed to poor offensive line play, Lamar Jackson injuries, and critical penalties among others.

Buffalo is another team that made the combination last year but is short this year. Buffalo has seen a huge drop off in YAC with second year receiver, Keon Coleman. From 7.4 YAC/Rec last year to 1.8 this year. Tight end Dalton Kincaid has seen less playing time this year. Khalil Shakir has seen a 28% decrease in ADOT with only a 7% increase in YAC/R.  Across the boards the receivers have seen a decrease in ADOT.  A slightly shorter passing scheme has been implemented relying more on YAC but Buffalo still ranks 8th in deep passes of 15+ yards.

The Bears since 2005 have never had a 7.0+ season for both NY/A and ANY/A. They are close this season. Thru 11 games their YAC total of 1,183 yards is the highest it has been for the first 11 games since the data was recorded in 2018. The same holds for their YAC/R. Their ADOT has significantly increased for Rome Odunze, D.J. Moore and their tight ends.

The Cowboys are right on the verge of achieving 7.0+ yards for the season in both ANY/A and NY/A. That would be the first occurrence since 2019. CeeDee Lamb has a significantly increased ADOT which is a career high. His Yards Before the Catch of 10.1 yards is also a career high. This has led Dallas to an increase in explosive plays going from 12th in passing plays of 15+ yards in 2024 to 4th in 2025.

The Chiefs are experiencing a uncharacteristic slump in achieving this combination metric. After going 5 of 6 years with seasons of 7.0+ ANY/A and NY/A from 2017 thru 2022, they have hit a drought. This year the Chiefs are throwing further downfield from last year with an 18th ranked 7.9 Intended Air Yards per Attempt compared to a 32nd ranked 6.2 last year. Their ADOT of 7.5 is the highest it has been since 2020. The Chiefs lead the league in YAC. The only metrics hurting them for this combination is that they are middle of the league in sacks taken and close to middle in interceptions.

Here is a list of all the quarterbacks that have started a game in 2025 and their 2025 ANY/A and NY/A.

Here is a list of how many times in the Super Bowl era a team has had a season of 7+ NY/A and ANY/A. It shows the last time they made the combined metric and number of Super Bowl wins the team has had.

It is interesting that the number 7 was arrived at for this metric. The reason I chose it was to simplify the two metrics with one number and not resort to decimal fractions. The number 6 was too low with roughly half the league achieving that benchmark in a season. The number 8 was too high with a total of only 12 teams ever achieving that combination. Checking the number with Google AI it confirms its selection as such:

The number seven holds profound significance in religious and global culture, primarily symbolizing completeness, perfection, and divine order. This symbolism originates predominantly from biblical texts and has influenced various aspects of faith and human culture.  Teams strive for improvement in passing yards, increased touchdowns, reduced sacks and interceptions. This combination metric presented here  with a measurement of perfection is a good yardstick to check their progress. For more on numbers, mathematics and God, I may add a blog post. So, stay tuned.

Update: 12/12/2025

Here is a table of the week 13 status of teams showing their rank for number of games with 7+ in NY/A and ANY/A they achieved on offense, by number of 7+ games they gave up on defense and the sum of those two ranks. The count of those games is also shown. The table is sorted in ascending order by the sum of the two ranks. The best teams having a low sum. This is shown next to the team’s win/loss record for week 13. Both tend to track together with some discrepancies.