So, how exactly does this passer rating thing work?

[derekshank]

Manning passed Palmer this week in passer rating... Manning is at 107.6, and Palmer is at 106.6.

Now, Palmer has more TD's, less INT's, more yards, and a higher completion %. The only thing Manning is leading Palmer in is yards/attempt... and he's winning by .39 yards/attempt.

If Palmer doesn't lead Manning in passer rating at the end of the season, we can kiss the MVP goodbye... and that's a shame, because Palmer is about to set the all-time record for most games with a passer rating over 100.

I'm sure Palmer will get his MVP's... but I don't want him to be in Manning's shadow anymore. A MVP will signify that Palmer has begun to cast a shadow of his own.

[jjakq27]

http://www.nfl.com/news/981202qbrate.html

[derekshank]

http://www.nfl.com/news/981202qbrate.html

Thanks... although I wasn't actually asking how it worked, as much as saying that the stats show that Palmer has had a better season, regardless of what that stupid passer rating stat says.

[Stripes]

Passer ratings take yards per attempt into account very heavily. That's where Manning and Roethlisberger each get a boost.

[skyline]

It's also the fact, I believe, that they don't take the seasons stats and calculate the rating based on those.

They take all of the individual ratings from each game and average those together. So, if Manning has more high rating games (140s and 150s), then it will look better than Palmer who may have a lot of individual games in the 100-110 range.

Also, you can have a perfect (or near perfect) rating (Roth) by only throwing 10 passes and completing a lot of them with 1 TD to boot. Throwing a ton of TDs and getting a ton of yards doesn't necessarily translate into the highest qb rating.

[Columbusbengal]

I'm sure Palmer will get his MVP's... but I don't want him to be in Manning's shadow anymore. A MVP will signify that Palmer has begun to cast a shadow of his own.

Good grief! Let's give the poor guy a complete season before we start expecting him to outperform Peyton Manning! Palmer may very well wind up setting many of the career QB records (let's hope the records he sets include most Super Bowl wins <g>), but we can't expect that yet. Besides, we're already going to have to give him a big contract extension. If he gets any better we won't have cap space left to sign a couple of defensive FA's

[derekshank]

I'm sure Palmer will get his MVP's... but I don't want him to be in Manning's shadow anymore. A MVP will signify that Palmer has begun to cast a shadow of his own.

Good grief! Let's give the poor guy a complete season before we start expecting him to outperform Peyton Manning!

I wasn't saying that I expect him to outperform Manning... I said thus far he has. The stats show that to be true... and analysts have noticed too. Case in point...

At the beginning of the season, everyone wondered if Palmer was the real deal... questions were asked like "Can he be a franchise QB" on shows like PTI and Around the Horn...

7 weeks later, before the Steelers game the question was... "Who is better, Palmer or Roethlisberger?" Progress for sure, since no one knew if he could play well or not... and he was being compared to a QB who had never lost a regular season game and had the highest passer rating in the league (at the time).

3 weeks later the question being asked was "Who is better, Palmer or Vick?" This is clearly showing that Palmer is getting respect, since he is now being compared to a QB that is the only one in the league that can do the things he does... and he's proven to be a winner... even in the playoffs.

Monday, I saw the question on the Cold Pizza spin off "1st and 10" "Who's having the better season, Palmer or Manning?"

These are not Bengals fans asking these questions... these are unbiased observers... most of whom have erections when talking about Peyton Manning... so in the course of 12 games, Palmer went from being unproven to right up there with the best QB in the league. This tells me that he has indeed outperformed an already proven Peyton Manning to even be in the discussion.

Manning will win the MVP if they go undefeated... but that doesn't mean that Palmer hasn't had the better season (at least so far).