Analyzing Chad Henne's interceptions

[DKphin]

() Seven of them -- SEVEN -- have come in the fourth quarter, including that three-pick burst in the final 2:43 at Buffalo. All of the fourth-quarter picks have come in the final 7:57, including five in the final 2:43.
() Just one of them has come in the first half. That was the second-quarter overthrow of Davone Bess on Dec. 6 against New England.
() Six have led to touchdowns for the opponent, including three pick-sixes on the first three INTs of Henne's pro career. That had to be close to the record if it wasn't quite historical in its own right.
() The other three have resulted in a kneel-down at game's end, a turnover on downs inside the Miami 10 (New England) and a Jaguars punt.
() All but one has come with the ball in the Dolphins' end of the field. The worst field position for the snap on one of Henne's picks was the minus-16 (the Ted Ginn Jr. bobble/Darren Sharper return against New Orleans). The best field position was the plus-49 against the Patriots down here. Average field position on Henne picks: minus 36.
() The Dolphins have been leading at the time of Henne's pick just three times, most recently Sunday at Jacksonville (up 14-10 in the fourth).
() Average distance for the first down on Henne picks has been 9.8 yards. Five of them have come on third or fourth down and long (between 7 and 13 yards). Two more have come on first down and the last two on second down. The shortest distance for any of them has been third and 7. That was the ugly one that set up Tampa Bay's go-ahead score in the final minutes.
() Most common target for Henne interceptions? That would be a tie between Brian Hartline and Davone Bess, with three apiece. Ginn had that infamous bobble against the Saints. Greg Camarillo was listed as the intended receiver on the second pick-six against New Orleans, when Henne was hit as he threw. Sunday, it was Anthony Fasano's turn to be in the area.
() Dolphins have won their last two games in which Henne has thrown an interception, making them 3-3 in such games. They are 0-2 when he throws two or more picks in the same game.
() Five have come on the road (thanks, Buffalo), four at home.
() Just two have come with Henne operating out of the shotgun. Those were the last two at Buffalo. So maybe those of you who insist Henne should work out of the shotgun more often have a point?
() How has Henne responded on the drive immediately following these picks? Well, he led that garbage-time touchdown drive at San Diego after the first INT of his pro career. He answered with a game-winning field goal drive against the Bucs and a half-ending field goal drive against the Patriots. But there were also two more interceptions at Buffalo, a couple of punts, a kneel-down at Buffalo and a drive that reached the Saints' 8 before a penalty forced a mandatory 10-second runoff to end the game.
() Sunday at Jacksonville marked just the second time Henne has thrown a pick while ahead in a game the Dolphins would ultimately win. It also happened that way against the Bucs.
OK, that's enough data for one sitting. What do you make of these numbers, trends, etc?
Anything particularly concerning here? I'm guessing you won't like those seven picks in the fourth quarter. But it's not like Henne's a choke artist or something. I mean, he's already got those three fourth quarter comeback wins under his belt, so he likes the pressure.

http://blogs.sun-sentinel.com/sports_football_dolphins/2009/12/miami-dolphins-analyzing-chad-hennes-interceptions.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sports%2FMiamiDolphinsweblog+%28Miami+Dolphins+|+Sun-Sentinel+Blogs%29

 

[PerfectFinz72]

Nice read. I'd say Henne has made some rookie mistakes...and also had some bad luck. See Ted Ginn kicking the football like a soccer ball.

If you think about, 6 of his INTs came in the Saints and Bills game when we just had to throw the ball all over the place...which can cause erratic throws. Overall I'm happy with Henne's progression thru 10 starts.

 

[Bta72dolphins]

Some of them was not his fault. But the ones that where look like rookie mistakes this guy is only going to get better. I do not get how people do not see that nor do they want him to be the QB of the future for Miami.

 

[Strange]

merge :) just defending my one and only thread in the main forum!

 

[ckparrothead]

Man when I saw the title to Berardino's article I thought he was actually going to LOOK at the interceptions themselves and dissect them, not the situations surrounding them.

This is going purely off memory...

#1. First interception of the year, he was reading the field to his right and Eric Weddle, knowing the Dolphins' tendency to throw short to Davone Bess, came booking down from his high pre-snap position, and when Henne whipped his head around to the back side and threw the ball without even looking for Weddle first, it was a pick-6. What a play by Weddle. He must have seriously seen something on tape. Henne had to learn from that mistake.

#2. If I remember correctly, this was the infamous Ted Ginn bobble. Perfect throw, perfect placement, perfect touch, everything...Ginn just pops it up and Sharper takes it in for a score. I don't think you can really fault Henne on this one at all.

#3. This was the 4th down play when the Saints got pressure in on Henne right off the play-action fake and he had no choice but to just toss the ball up to where a receiver SHOULD be and at least give his team a chance to make the play rather than throw the ball away (which results in loss of down) or get sacked (which results in loss of down). This is a virtual hail mary, and I don't think it should count against Henne. The problem is the receiver (either Camarillo or Hartline) zigged where he should have zagged, and that's why there wasn't a receiver in the area.

#4. This was the bad one against the Bucs. AWFUL situation to throw that interception in. Has to know when to be risky with the ball and when not to be. First glance the interception looked like a real head scratcher. On review, the linebacker Black made a really fantastic play and what Henne was guilty of doing was trying to squeeze the ball through a tight passing lane bracketed by a linebacker in man coverage on an outlet receiver. You do that, don't be surprised if that man cover guy has been cheating a little and watching your eyes, peels off his coverage and plucks the ball out of the passing lane.

#5, #6 & #7. These are the Bills interceptions. If I'm not mistaken, all three were the result of issues in managing the pocket and passing lanes. One of them the DE turned his off shoulder as he threw the ball, screwing up the throw. Should have gotten rid of the ball before that, or slid away to buy the extra fraction of a second. I thought the second one was tipped at the line which threw off the ball flight, but I don't know for sure. The third was a total tip-up at the line. You have to manage your passing lanes better.

#8. This was against the Patriots, the misguided deep ball to Davone Bess. Merriweather started the play off something like 25 yards up field in a single high look. It was ridiculous. I guess Henne thought he could beat Merriweather over to Davone's corner route but Merriweather's fast and he made it easily.

#9. I could swear Anthony Fasano ran the wrong route depth on this pick against the Jags. He seemed like he should have cut underneath the clear out about 4 or 5 yards earlier than he did. Totally screwed up the timing. I'm sure Henne wishes he'd read it and held on instead of throwing, though.

 

[wonderl33t]

On #9, if I remember right, the wideout ran a streak, and the CB covering him followed him for 7-8 yards then stopped. It appeared to me that Henne thought the CB continued chasing the WR, because the CB stopped and turned around for the pick

 

[roy_miami]

#8. This was against the Patriots, the misguided deep ball to Davone Bess. Merriweather started the play off something like 25 yards up field in a single high look. It was ridiculous. I guess Henne thought he could beat Merriweather over to Davone's corner route but Merriweather's fast and he made it easily.

.

This was the worst one (that counted) imo, he should have audibled with Merriweather playing so deep.

The worst ball he's thrown was the pick he threw in the first NE game that got called back by a penalty. You could tell he got frustrated with all the pressure all game and just threw it up for grabs.

 

[Atila]

You could make a strong case a lot of those are on Henne though completely. Almost all of them other than the one off Ginn.

The one against the Saints you are right was basically a hail mary. However I'm unsure if it was the receiver who necessarily made the wrong read.

The thing is, he's played well so far and although his accuracy hasn't been perfect, he's made some great throws throughout the season.

A lot of those interceptions go away if we had a big physical receiver who could dominate a secondary. A guy like that would make Henne look like a superstar.