NFL Regular Season

[sdoyel]

Ravens looking average...

[holidaysmore]

Ravens looking average...

Now that last drive I'm not sure what more you could even do with those weather conditions. Yikes.

Until Lamar can show he can consistently hit balls outside of the hashes they are going to be who they currently are. A pretty good team that has to stay ahead of the chains and score. If they fall behind in either they are going to struggle.

[pdub]

The weather up here was nasty last night.
Cam sporting a fez hat again after the win.
Pats not out of wildcard talk yet - but I think they'd need to win their next three ( @ Texans, v Zona, @ Chargers ).

[NewtonHawk11]

Their OL is not even close to what they were last year. That's where they've struggled. But they are very average.

I mean, they'll still make the playoffs, but they aren't that great either.

[holidaysmore]

Ravens have completely fallen out of that upper tier 1 category. Life in the NFL comes at you fast. One minute you are a contender and the next you aren't. That's why what the Chiefs have done these last year three years is even more remarkable and special.

[Sparko]

It is the saga of running quarterbacks. They surprise you. Then you scheme against them. Then there are injuries. Lamar is Michael Vick 2.0. That is a good QB, but you better forget the run and concentrate on keeping him upright. Bridgewater is out again as predicted after seeing him play the Chiefs. To keep them in games, he had the ball too much (MRI looks okay, but it is crazy the hits he takes). Kyler Murray looked great yesterday. But he is one hit away from not being able to see the field well enough to play QB.

[NewtonHawk11]

It is the saga of running quarterbacks. They surprise you. Then you scheme against them. Then there are injuries. Lamar is Michael Vick 2.0. That is a good QB, but you better forget the run and concentrate on keeping him upright. Bridgewater is out again as predicted after seeing him play the Chiefs. To keep them in games, he had the ball too much (MRI looks okay, but it is crazy the hits he takes). Kyler Murray looked great yesterday. But he is one hit away from not being able to see the field well enough to play QB.

The thing that makes Murray so much better than the others is that he played baseball. He knows how to slide and is smooth when he does slide. Murray is also likely the fastest guy on the field no matter who he plays, he can always outrun the defense.

[Sparko]

It is the saga of running quarterbacks. They surprise you. Then you scheme against them. Then there are injuries. Lamar is Michael Vick 2.0. That is a good QB, but you better forget the run and concentrate on keeping him upright. Bridgewater is out again as predicted after seeing him play the Chiefs. To keep them in games, he had the ball too much (MRI looks okay, but it is crazy the hits he takes). Kyler Murray looked great yesterday. But he is one hit away from not being able to see the field well enough to play QB.

The thing that makes Murray so much better than the others is that he played baseball. He knows how to slide and is smooth when he does slide. Murray is also likely the fastest guy on the field no matter who he plays, he can always outrun the defense.

I agree. But sooner or later that size will be blasted to long term rehab. He was a marvel yesterday, looked like he did in the Pooka game. But man, he has to take over. And sooner or later he'll be dropped.

[CrimsonNBlue]

Sparko's points are well taken, but they are opinions as old as the NFL is. (Which isn't to say they're wrong)

What may be in Murray, et al.'s favor is that rules keep getting more in favor of QB's and not less. As holidays stated, yes, there are a lot of exciting young talent at QB in the NFL today, but you're seeing big time QB numbers almost everywhere. It could just be coincidence that at the same time we have all of these young QB's putting up big numbers we also have guys in their late 30's and 40's leading their teams to playoff wins and Super Bowls while putting up their own career numbers. But, I don't think it's a mystery why all of this is happening at the same time.

[Sparko]

I agree CnB--that does help. But Murray/Jackson running off-tackle is fool's gold. These guys are not replacement level athletes. Makes you wonder.

[jfish26]

Which super-mobile quarterbacks have really held up and stayed mobile?

McNabb and Roethlisberger were/are enormous, and largely stopped running after their first few years.

[CrimsonNBlue]

The all time greats Fran Tarkenton and Randall Cunningham.

Honorable Mention: Steve Young and Russell Wilson, I suppose.

[holidaysmore]

You are right that a mobile QB, even in today's QB protected rules won't make it. Important thing is that Murray can make the throws you need to make when you can't just beat someone with your legs. That is the difference between Murray and Jackson. Coordinators can scheme to stop a running QB but when you can do that is when you become elite like Mahomes. Mahomes took his game to another level when he could scramble to get first downs or gain big chunks of yardage.

Also important like CnB pointed out the rules now are to protect the brand and image which is offense and QBs. Murray, Mahomes, and Wilson (okay and Rodgers) are going to be THE faces of the league once the old guard finally walks away. Excluding Brady. Brady is some sort of robot who maybe around forever.

[pdub]

One thing that the olds ( myself kinda included ) can debate is the yardage and TD's being thrown ever since they changed it so that defenders, moreso the secondary, aren't allowed to fuck with receivers as much. This, combined with rules regarding safety, have allowed for QB's to stack stats.

It isn't only that of course - offenses are just become that much more advanced with new schemes/ways to attack the defense.

[holidaysmore]

Wouldn't disagree with that at all. Which also makes what Marino was able to accomplish all the more impressive.

[Sparko]

Tarkenton had a way of shedding damaging hits at a time when it was okay to take a tire-iron to QBs. But I remember him using his skill to keep his passing game alive. The difference is running sprint options against fast and strong folks. Cunningham could have lasted a few more years. McNabb too, but for the fool's gold. Mahomes scares me too, but he is big enough to take some hits. Brees wasn't. That was a nasty rib break-lung collapse.

[CrimsonNBlue]

Harrison Smith picks Foles off immediately after a bullshit fumble call.

Ball don't lie gutter!

[Sparko]

Harrison Smith picks Foles off immediately after a bullshit fumble call.

Ball don't lie gutter!

A lot of turn-over karma this year. . .

[PhDhawk]

Wouldn't disagree with that at all. Which also makes what Marino was able to accomplish all the more impressive.

If you look up top passing yards for a season all-time. Marino (1984) is the only guy in the top 10 from more than 10 years ago and only guy in the top 20 from the 20th century. He has two top 10 all time TD seasons and all the other 8 are 2004 or more recent.

He was 30 years ahead of his time. I remember looking at his stats on the back of a football card and thinking it couldn't be real. It'd be like someone today throwing for 7,000 yards and 70 TDs.

[CrimsonNBlue]

Agreed. Marino has always struck me as the guy who is thee statistical outlier. Almost like Gretzky minus the championships.