NFL Pass Attempt Heat Maps

by A.J. Coltrane

Where do NFL teams target when they throw the ball?

and

What’s remarkable is just how short the average pass attempt travels in the air — only 31 percent travel more than 10 yards . (More on that in the link.) It’s an ESPN/ Grantland/ The Triangle/ Kirk Goldsberry piece. There’s lots more detail (and neat graphics) in the article.

Here’s a link to Kirk Goldsberry’s archive page. He does a lot of similar stuff that involves the NBA, NFL, and specific player tendencies, strengths, and weaknesses. For example, here’s a piece focusing on what was going right and wrong for LeBron James during last year’s Finals. “There Is No Red Zone – The NFL’s Scoring Myth”  looks at expected points based on down and field position and asks why announcers talk about “The Red Zone” like it’s something significant.

It’s stats! It’s cool graphics! Win + win!