Custom NFL Play-by-Play Stats

Meet Our NFL Charting Team

Charters that work for Armchair Analysis.com are not just casual fans or college interns — they are a mix of data scientists, former professional players and fantasy football pro's who know the game inside-and-out.

They also have one important thing in common: they are all partners in the business and each and every one uses the data that we collect for their own endeavors. They have a vested interest in maintaining data quality and a desire to continually push the program forward with the addition of new metrics each season.

Meet Our Custom NFL Play by Play Stats

For the 2020 season, we are charting close to 200 custom play-by-play stats for every passing and rushing play, all ready for download within 4 days after each game.

Download a Sample of Charted Data (Playoffs 2019)

What's New in 2020 (Pro Stats)

• Extra men on the Line

  XLM

  Number of players lined up on either side of the Offensive Tackles — usually a Tight-end.

• Hash Mark Location

  HASH

  Where the ball is placed when the center has it in his hand. Values can be (L)eft hash, (R)ight hash or in-between (M for Middle).

• Motion

  MOT

  There are 2 types of motion: Pre-snap (P) which starts and stops before the snap and the more aggressive type of motion that is occurring during the snap (S). When both occur we mark 'PS'.

• # Of Defensive Linemen

  DL

  Number of Defensive Linemen on the field.

• # Of Linebackers

  LB

  Number of Linebackers on the field.

• Number of DB's in the box

  BOXDB

  Provides extra detail beyond the total number of players listed under 'BOX'

• Option Play

  OPTION

  Values can be RPO (run/pass), RUN (run/qbrun) or blank when there is not an option.

• Trick Look

  TLOOK

  Some obvious trickery is going on (0 - No, 1 - Yes). Usually it's a wildcat formation or when the QB lines up in a uncommon position. Fake punts and fake field goals are not trick looks since they look like regular punts or FG's.

• Trick Play

  TRICK

  Fake punts, double passes, flea flickers, wildcats etc (0 - No, 1 - Yes).

• QB Run

  QBRU

  A designed running play for the QB. These are only marked on runs by a natural QB where he lined up as a QB. Also, sneaks and kneel-downs are not counted.

• QB Sneak

  SNEAK

  Quarterback dives ahead directly off the snap for short-yardage. A high percentage conversion but these plays also open up QB's for some physical abuse.

• QB Scramble

  SCRM

  Play design is initially a pass but QB elects to run based on pressure; a lack of open receivers, or, simply seeing an opportunity to make positive yardage running himself.

• Time to Scramble

  TTSCRM

  Seconds elapsed between the snap and when the QB scrambles.

• Physical Ball

  PHYB

  Pass target takes significant punishment whether the pass is caught or not. Most 'Contested Balls' will also be a 'Physical Ball'.

• Catchable Ball

  CBALL

  A pass in which an eligible receiver has the opportunity to get his hands on the football with reasonable movement, timing, and opportunity (0 - No, 1 - Yes).

• Avoided Sack

  AVSCK

  QB escapes the grasp of a defender in the pocket (can be more than 1).

• First Read

  FREAD

  QB passes to the initial receiver he looks at after the snap (0 - No, 1- Yes).

• Pain Free Play

  PFP

  Analyze which players are escaping long-term damage. These are cases where the ball carrier is only lightly touched by a defender on the field (ie QB slide) or runs out of bounds with little or no physical contact with the defender or sideline personnel/equipment. Includes TD's.

• Time to Pass

  TTP

  Seconds elapsed between the snap and when the QB attempts the pass.

• QB Sack

  QBSK

  QB was to blame for the sack: held ball too long; missed wide open receiver etc (0 - No, 1 - Yes).

• Time to Pressure

  TTPR

  Seconds elapsed between the snap and when the QB starts to feel pressure.

• Time to Escape Pocket

  TTESC

  Seconds elapsed between the snap and when the QB escapes the pocket.

• First Contact was Blocked

  FCON_BL

  Defenders ability to make the tackle on first contact was impeded due to a block. Values are (B)locked, (U)nblocked, (N)one or blank.

• First Contact resulted in Tackle

  FCON_TCK

  Initial contact resulted in the player being tackled. Values are (Y)es, (N)o or blank.

• Yards Trucking

  YTRU

  Number of Yards gained with one or more tacklers grasping onto the receiver or ball carrier.

• QB Defender Separation

  QBDEF_SEP

  The distance in yards between the QB and the closest defender when the ball left his hand.

• QB Defender Blocked

  QBDEB_BL

  The closest defender to the QB was blocked at the time of the throw. Values are (B)locked, (U)nblocked or blank.

• Target Defender 1 Separation

  TDEF1_SEP

  Distance in Yards to the closest defender at the time the ball reaches the pass target.

• Target Defender 2 Separation

  TDEF2_SEP

  Distance in Yards to the 2nd closest defender at the time the ball reaches the pass target.

• Play Timestamp Hours

  STAMP_HR

  Hours from start of game at point of snap.

• Play Timestamp Minutes

  STAMP_MIN

  Minutes from start of last hour at point of snap.

• Play Timestamp Seconds

  STAMP_SEC

  Seconds from start of last minute at point of snap.

• Play Clock Running

  PCRUN

  The play clock was running (0 - No, 1- Yes).

• Play Clock Time

  PCLOCK

  Seconds left on the play clock when the ball was snapped.

• # of Running Backs

  RB

  The number of RB's on the field.

• # of Tight Ends

  TE

  The number of TE's on the field.




What's New in 2020 (Max Stats)




• Quarterback

  QB

  QB Player Code. Note: not always the same as PSR (passer).

• Quarterback Position

  QB_POS

  QB, QB-5, QB-6 etc.

• Quarterback Role

  QB_ROLE

  Typically either: PASS, RUN or RBL (Run Block)

• Skill Player

  SKP#

  Skill Player 1-5 (TE/RB/WR) Code

• Skill Player 1-5 Position

  SKP#_POS

  Positions for Skill players 1-5 use the format: POS-{i/o/3}{L/R}{2-9}{^}. The caret denotes the player was lined up at the LOS. Some examples: WR-L^, HB-7, TE-R, SLT-R^, SLT-oL.

• Skill Player 1-5 Role

  SKP#_ROLE

  This field can have 9 different values.
     ● PASS: Passer.
     ● PoBL: Pocket Block.
     ● RoBL: Route Block.
     ● PRO: Normal Route.
     ● FRO: Fake + Route.
     ● CRO: Chipped Defender + Route.
     ● FBL: Fake + Block.
     ● RBL: Run Block.
     ● RUN: Ball Carrier.

• Lined-up Defender 1-5

  LUDEF#

  Player Code for Defender lined-up across from each Skill Player.

• Yards Cushion

  CUSH#

  Distance in yards between each Skill Player and the defender across the LOS at time of snap.

• Primary Defender

  PRDEF

  Primary Defender on receiver that was targeted.

• Secondary Defender

  SEDEF

  Secondary Defender on receiver that was targeted.

The Rest of the Line-up from 2019 (Pro Stats)

Number of Players in the Backfield

BACK

This is the number of skill players (WR + TE + RB) that lined up in the backfield on the play.

Men In The Box

BOX

Is the offense facing the typical 'front 7' or are there some extra defenders looking to stuff the run? We chart this on both passing and rushing plays.

Play Action Pass

PAP

Play starts with what appears to be a running play, but turns out to be a pass play. We don't consider whether a defense was fooled or not, just that a QB motioned to the RB with the ball and some effort to sell the run occurred.

QB Pressure

QBP

A Pressure is marked on a play where the pocket is breached and the QB is near the breach. Note: Most screen passes don't qualify and the QB also can't already be in the act of passing.

QB Hit

QBHI

QB was brought to the ground or otherwise significantly man-handled. Almost all sacks are hits but hits can also occur after the ball has left. On rare occasions, hits happen without pressure but they usually go hand-in-hand.

QB Hurry

QBHU

A heavier form of pressure that essentially breaks a play. The QB is either forced to leave the pocket and improvise or throws the ball sooner than planned.

Hindered Throwing Motion

HTM

The Quarterbacks throwing motion was hindered in some way by a defender.

Number of Pass Rushers

PRU

Total number of players rushing the passer.

Number of Blitzers

BLZ

Total number of LB's and DB's blitzing.

Number of DB's Blitzing

DBLZ

Number of DB's blitzing. This is included in the BLZ total.

Zone Blitz

ZBLZ

At least one Off-Ball LB rushed the passer instead of a DL who dropped into coverage (0 - No, 1 - Yes).

Stunt

STNT

When any two pass rushers cross, trading pass rush lanes on a passing down. (0 - No, 1 - Yes).

Out of Pocket Pass

OOP

Quarterback attempts the pass out of the pocket whether pressured or not (0 - No, 1 - Yes).

Available Targets

AVT

Number of skill players (WR-TE-RB) running a route on the play. AVT does not determine whether the target was open or not.

Depth of Target Rank

DOTR

The rank of pass targets according to distance in yards from the QB. #1 is closest to the QB. Targets are ranked at the point the ball is closest to the receiver.

Coverage On Target

COV

Uncovered is 0, single coverage is 1, double is 2.

Contested Ball

CNB

Passes into close coverage that involve a physical battle between receiver and defender for control of the ball.

QB Throw Away

QBTA

Quarterback threw away the ball to avoid a sack or for lack of any open targets (0 - No, 1 - Yes).

Shovel/Touch Pass

SHOV

Passes where the QB palms the football, and "shovels" the pass directly forward to the receiver, usually with a backhand, underhand, or pushing motion.

Sideline Pass

SIDE

Balls outside of the field but catchable when the receiver extends body/arms.

Highlight Pass

HIGH

A perfect pass that only the receiver can reach. Features perfect placement in a tight window.

Created Reception

CRR

Opposite of a drop. Here the QB is being helped by a receiver making a difficult catch requiring exceptional body control; hands; acrobatics, or any combination thereof.

INT Worthy Pass

INTW

Essentially a 'bad pass'. An INTW is not always an INT, perhaps the defender muffs the opportunity. Also, not every INT is a INTW. One example would be a catchable ball bouncing off a receivers chest and into the hands of a defender.

Dropped Pass

DRP

Which QB's are being let down by their receiving core? A dropped pass is a ball that would have been caught by a receiver with league-average skills.

Batted Pass

BAP

Balls batted away at the line of scrimmage (0 - No, 1 - Yes).

Screen Pass

SCRE

Screens come in many forms. A screen to a running back to either the strong or short side of the field in the flats is often just called a screen. Screens to wide receivers come in four forms: the bubble, middle, slot, and slip.

Missed/Broken Tackles

MBT

The ball carrier either escapes from the grasp of an unblocked defender, or the defender is in good position for a tackle but the ball carrier makes an athletic move (aka juke) to avoid the tackle.

Time To Sack

TTSK

We go beyond basic sack stats to find the exact number of seconds that elapsed from the time of the snap to when the sack occurred.

True Air Yards

TAY

Distance ball travels in the air from point of throw to a receivers hands; back of endzone or sideline.

Depth of Target (Yards)

DOT

Distance from the line of scrimmage to where the ball is caught or comes closest to the target (endzone yards are also included).

Yards After Catch

YAC

The best receivers are thinking beyond the catch and what they need to do to extend the yardage.

Yards After Contact

YACO

Contact can be significant but also more minor in nature. We track this for both rushers and pass catchers.

Defenders on QB Pressure, Hurries, Hits

DEFPR#, DEFHU#, DEFHI

Player codes for defenders involved in Pressures, Hurries and Hits. Pressures and Hurries may list DEFxx1 and DEFxx2.

Have an idea for something you would like to see in the list?

Drop us a line via the contact form and we will see what we can do.