O'Brian had ZERO protection almost his whole career. He got KILLED every time he went out on the field. I think its a testament to his toughness that he didn't get destroyed worse playing behind that jello O-line he had. In his later years he got too deer in headlights and just ate the ball and took the sack, but that happens to a lot of quarterbacks who take that kind of pounding. Kenny was a GOOD QB who played on a shit team that had no O-line and he got murdered. I'm thoroughly convinced that if O'Brien went to the Dolphins and Marino came to the Jets that Marino would never of become the player he was and O'Brien would be talked about as an all time great. I actually kind of feel bad for younger Jet fans who missed out on some of those epic Marino/O'Brian shootouts. Kenny had better receivers, but the type of guys he had wouldn't of helped Chad that much. Pennington was never going to hit Toon in stride on a 30+ yard go route.
Toon on a go route???? You have me questioning just how many Jets games you used to watch back in the day. Toon was not a go route guy. He was the epitomy of a possession receiver. Wesley Walker was the go-route guy...
Maybe Chad does lose this game but shall we go through the tons of games the Jets win in that era if Chad is QB? It's very rare to have a 51-45 shootout. Let's get this straight. we back into the playoffs in 2002 by WINNING THE DIVISION which included crushing NE at NE(they wouldn't lose a home game against until 2005) in week 16 then 12-3 GB at home BUT in 1986 when we lost 5 straight to end the year we didn't back in? Since Chad was just lucky and kenny unlucky wouldn't you want a lucky QB? Kenny led us to 3 postseasons and zero postseason wins. You are complaining about 2006 going one and done when every playoff year that Kenny started we went one and done including losing our only home playoff game ever at the meadowlands? How did we have a pucnhers chance w/ kenny when we never won a division and never won a playoff game but we didn't w/ Chad when we won a div title and won playoff games in 2 seperate postseasons? I hate bashing Kenny but when you look at the facts this debate really isn't close. That is just not true, the talent he had on O his first 3-4 years was far superior to what Chad ever had. MOST of the sacks he took he took b/c he was a statue always looking for the big play. The OL was really good his first few years and again Chad never had a combo of an Al Toon, Wesley Walker and Mickey Shuler to throw to. Toon would have been the absolute PERFECT WR for Chad, Al was a possession guy would could break a big play now and then. A big possession WR would have been PERFECT for Chad. Al was basically a bigger version of Coles.
Comparing Chad and OBrien is like comparing apples and oranges. They were two completely different players. Chad is a smart, conservative, physically limited player who took what the defense offered and did not make mistakes, until the end of his career when is arm got so bad he could no longer throw an out. he could dink and dunk with the best of them, and against a poor to mediocre defense, could score enough points to win. Kenny O was a gunslinger, always looking for the big play. He hit a lot of them, and was sacked a lot looking for them. But he stood in there, in an era where you could literally kill the QB without getting called on it, and delivered the big play time and again. I personally prefer the later in my QB. Nyjunc, you and others must prefer the former.
I prefer winning and Chad was a winner. I don't care if it looks pretty as long as the job gets done, Kenny looked better but Chad was better. Again, around the mid 80s they had the in the grasp rule where literally if you grabbed the QB they'd call it a sack and blow the whistle. i don't know where you get this "they could kill the QB stuff"- he didn't play in the 70s and prior.
Chad had a much better OL hands down. When you factor in the injuries to the OL, O'Brien had it even worse. Also, take a look at the injury history for Walker and Toon. They were rarely healthy at the same time (epecially during the late season / playoffs. While Toon would have been better than any receiver that Chad played with, I would say that Cherbet and Richie Anderson were very good at helping him move the chains.
Oh, its the "Chad is a winner" argument. AND he's a Warrior, too. Chad won because of Cmar, the OL, and a mediocre NFL. And the NFL has been protecting QBs more and more over time.
If we ever had a good offensive line in front of him O'Brien would have been a perenial probowler and who knows maybe even a SB Champion.
If O'Brien had the surrounding cast Chad had then I think he would have had a better career. The OL O'Brien had was awful most of the time, Chad only had a lousy OL one year, in 07/08 (Turnstiles aka Clement & Clarke ugh )
Both QBs had really good OLs for about a year or 2. We can look at the injury history for Toon and Walker but not for Santana Moss and Chrebet? Chrebet only started 14 games w/ Chad, Walker started over 40 games w/ O'Brien and Toon started 80+ games w/ O'Brien. Curtis played a major role as did Freeman Mcneil, Johnny Hector, toon, Walker, Shguler, etc... did for O'brien in the 80s but Curtis had played 4 full seasons w/ the Jets and only had 1 playoff win in that span before Chad became the QB. It's amazing how much people forget over time and how much better players get after they stop playing. If O'brien played in the message Board era he would have been treated like Bubby Brister.
Chad was healthy in 02 he had great command of the O was accurate, his ball faking was amazing and he clearly was the best single player on the team. O'Brein while a good thrower wasn't close to Pennington when both were healthy. Pennington with an injured arm was as good a QB as O'Brein healthy. I'm not a big Chad guy as most of you know but the reason for that was injury. O'Brein just wasn't as good and he had better weapons for the most part.
I liked Chad alot but O'brien was the better QB. Had a much better arm. Ken O'Brien was a very underrated QB. The whole Marino draft thing always go thrown back at him. Fact is, he was an above average QB who played in two Pro Bowls, who led the NFL in passing one season and who led the Jets to 3 Playoff appearances. Very good QB.
