Let's look at that then:I didn't watch the game either, but I don't think it makes a difference if it was by design or precipitated by bad protection, when your completions, not attempts, your completions go for 6.5 yards a pop, that's a sign you're struggling to move the ball.
Also, this is something I've wanted to bring up since the whole Mac YPA discussion yesterday: no offensive system bakes in a low YPA. You may have lower intended air yards per attempt, lower average depth of target, but generally those plays are designed to put people in space and generate YAC, which elevates YPA. Low YPA is never achieved by design, it's a measure of how efficient your passing game is and no one wants low efficiency as a principle.
Mac Jones YAC yesterday was 5.3.
This is Josh Allen's YAC per season: 5.6, 4.9, 4.7, 4.3, 4.4, 4.3 yesterday. Yesterday, his averaged depth of target was 8.4 to Mac's 7.1, but his average depth of completion was 3.9 to Mac's 3.6.
Tom Brady last five seasons (cant' find further back): 5.7, 4.9, 4.5, 5.3, 4.7 (folks might try to make the argument that it's because he throws it deeper, Mac's IAY/PA yesterday was 7.1, Tom's last 5 seasons, 7.9, 7.6, 9.1, 8.1, 6.7)
Joe Burrow: 4.3, 6.2, 5.2, 3.6 Sunday
Herbert: 5.6, 5.4, 5.2, 8.0 Sunday (Herbert's YAC numbers were great Sunday. His average depth of target on an attempt was 4.1. Mac's was 7.1) Herbert's average completion on Sunday was 1.9 yards passed the LOS, Mac's was 3.6, so Herbert relied on short passes and YAC way, way more than Mac did this week.
Jalen Hurts was throwing the ball downfield yesterday, to the tune of 9.1 yards per attempt through the air. The problem was he only completed passes that went an average of 4.9, and the YAC was only 2.3.
I could do this all day, but ultimately, that's the give and take. You throw it deeper, you complete less but hit on big plays more often. You throw it shorter, you should get a lot more YAC and keep moving the chains. Saying "Low YPA is never achieved by design" unless you account for the ways you get to that low YPA. I'd argue that a 70% chance of getting 6ypa is a better result than a 50% chance of getting 8ypa, because one of those keeps the chains moving, and this is only heightened when you need to get the ball out quickly with a makeshift line against a great defense.