5 Things I Learned From Week 10 of the NFL Season

Benching Mike Glennon Still Doesn't Make Sense

We can't deny that Josh McCown was solid yesterday against one of the league's worst secondaries, and he finished his day with a Passing Net Expected Points (NEP) total of 8.04, which was better than his opponent, Matt Ryan.

But as our own Leo Howell noted last week, benching Mike Glennon in favor of Josh McCown does the Buccaneers zero good.

On 219 drop backs, Glennon compiled a Passing NEP of 0.55 this season. While that's an above-expectation score, keep in mind that passing is more effective than rushing, so it still ranked poorly compared to other quarterbacks.

However, McCown's -18.19 Passing NEP on 73 drop backs prior to the Bucs' contest against Atlanta was far worse. In fact, McCown's -0.25 Passing NEP per drop back entering Week 10 ranked second worst in the NFL, behind only Chad Henne.

So while McCown was fine against Atlanta, let's keep a few things in mind. First, he's still played worse than Mike Glennon this season. Even when you factor in the game against Atlanta, McCown's per drop back NEP isn't as good as Glennon's.

Second, don't forget how bad Atlanta is at stopping passing attacks. They were historically bad a season ago, and that's continued into 2014 as they rank 30th against the pass, per our metrics.

Lastly, there's little reason for a one-win team through Week 9 to throw a 35-year-old journeyman under center. Perhaps this is just a hot take, but why would the Buccaneers not want to see more of what the 24-year-old Glennon can do?

It just doesn't make sense.