Monday, January 14

Monday football thoughts

Check out this quote from Peter King:

• Tom Brady was a ref's buried whistle and a stunning drop by Mr. Hands Wes Welker from being 28-for-28 the other night. Are we watching the best quarterback of all time in mid-career? Are we watching, maybe three of the best five or six of all time?

• Peyton Manning threw for 402 yards and Lost. He and Tom Brady started a combined opened 30-of-30. Add what Favre did and is doing. We're in a real golden age at the top of the quarterback list.

You know why that is? Competition. Improved defense, greater parity, etc. have pushed quarterbacks to be all they can be.

+ Interesting quote from Adam Vinatieri:

"I have more respect for him than any other coach," said kicker Adam Vinatieri, who owns four Super Bowl rings. "Selfishly, I'd like to have him back. If he goes, I'll give him a hug and wish him well."

Subtext: Vinateri respects Dungy more than Bellichick. I don't blame him. I do, too, especially on the character issues. It's interesting, though...

6 comments:

Eric said...

You know, Sean, I think that you are the only "bandwagon" Patriots fan that I know. Everyone else outside of New England that is not a mass media sports journalist seems to despise them, including myself. So, I give you credit for seeing through their evil nature.

And while that idiodic Jags safety should not have blathered publicly about Brady being a dump-down quarterback, there was at least a modicum of truth in what he was saying. I mean, honestly, most pro quarterbacks could complete 20 straight passes of between 5 and 10 yards when they are standing unhurried in the pocket for 5 seconds and there is not a defender within 5 yards of the receiver. The high completion percentage is more of a function of the protection and the receivers running good routes. The quarterbacks always get the glory. I still maintain that while Brady is good, you could plug nearly half the quarterbacks in the league into that system, and it would have been the same results this year.

Sean Meade said...

Eric! where ya' been?!

with respect, i disagree. maybe in the first half of the season. but Brady has a will and ability to win that cannot be denied. the statistics don't lie. in the 4th quarter, when they need him to get them somewhere, he does. period.

Eric said...

I fell off the earth for awhile, but hoping to be back posting and commenting. As always, have been enjoying your observations and postings.....

Granted, Brady does have an excellent comeback resume. However, so did John Elway. I just get frustrated with people naming him the best ever when he is hardly ever forced to scramble and throws to wide open receivers. And, he doesn't always get it done in the 4th quarter--such as in last year's playoffs against the Colts (I was actually rooting for him then--to defeat Peyton, who I think is even more overhyped). I'm not so much trying to knock Tom as to prop up a bunch of historical quarterbacks whom I think were at least as good (i.e. Elway, Montana, perhaps Marino and Favre) And, finally, in a broader sense, I think statistics do lie--or, at least you can make them lie, or mold them to your argument. I think it is one of the most abused sciences we have.

Sean Meade said...

well, i hope to see you around, at any rate!

sorry you're frustrated, but i still think Brady's one of the best ever, if not the best. yes, he's in a great system. and you're right, there was that one time he didn't get it done in the 4th quarter ;-)

he's not a scrambling quarterback. and, come on: the receivers aren't always wide open. half the time they're not open. sometimes he makes them look open.

therealkimaliczi said...

Sigh...(sniff) I just can't even talk about it right now. (sniff)

therealkimaliczi said...
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