Quote:Yeah, I've heard that said.  I've always felt like this is just a rationalization for someone who's taken a position and doesn't want to be distracted by something as annoying as statistics.  What the heck is garbage time anyway?  Does the defense stop playing then or something?  And why is Henne the only player that plays during it?

 

When a team is leading by a large margin they usually pull back on the rush and play a style of defense meant to allow yardage gains while not allowing anyone to get over the top for a quick score.

 

You can see a QBs situational stats on NFL.com if you look. Henne passed for about 1200 of his 3200 yards in the fourth quarter, when games were well out of reach. In the other quarters he passed for a consistent 650-700 yards.

 

However, if you really haven't been watching the games and seeing the phenomenon for yourself then I don't think there's any stat that would open your eyes at this point.

---