I know the first statement is true for baseball and FG kicking, but are we positive that it’s also true of football…or specifically being an NFL quarterback? Baseball is a series of discrete events with a single goal – most simply getting on base. Being a quarterback is much more of a balancing act between several competing goals… getting a first down, scoring, minimizing turnovers, minimizing penalties, managing the clock, etc. Is it really that crazy to say one quarterback does a better job managing those goals in specific situations than another quarterback? and therefore is more clutch…or more likely to perform better in high leverage situations?

Tony Romo has a better career passer rating than Ben Roethlisberger, but when faced with going into a 4th qtr down 7 points, I think most people would prefer Ben. Has Romo just been unlucky? or has Roethlisberger been better at balancing the things a QB has to do to win from behind late in games? And if it is due to Roethlisberger’s skill and not luck, won’t he be more likely to perform better than Romo in the future?