the notion that they had "horrible" WRs is not actually proved by their performance. Did they win with a Ground and Pound? I think not. Nobody's lecturing cause, really, I'd have to care way more than I do.
I am confident that he will be a very good coach for us. What he accomplished as a DC in AZ was tremendous. I have little doubt that the defense will be very good and that the team will be more disciplined and ready to play week in and week out. But I am waiting to see what kind of in-game coach Bowles will be. I don't mean just in terms of clock management and challenges, something Rex struggled at. (How many challenges did Rex win over the years? More than 2?) I also mean in terms of general philosophy and approach to the game and feel for situations and how the game is unfolding. In terms of general philosophy and approach, will he be like more traditional (i.e. conservative) defensive-minded head coaches like Herm and Rex who just want to run the ball all day, or like Herm and John Fox, who, when push comes to shove, show themselves to be "play not to lose" head coaches? It's impossible to exhaust every possible scenario here, but for example: In general, will he let Gailey call the shots basically 99% of the time and only intervene in certain situations? Or will he be more hands on during the game in telling Gailey how he wants to handle certain situations / possessions? (not saying either approach would be better or worse for this team....) Will he be smart enough not to waste an early challenge on an insignificant play if the replay isn't definitive? If he gets a 10 point lead in the middle of the 3rd quarter against an opponent that is good offensively, will he take the air out of the ball (no belichick reference intended) and go into 2 yards and a cloud of dust mode? Or will he be more like head coaches who, while they have a defensive background, also understand the need to, when the time is right: A) go for the jugular when you have the lead (Belichick), continue to be aggressive offensively and step on the throat of the opposition, put the game to bed B) take a calculated risk when it's obvious things aren't going your way, and when your team needs a momentum swing, be willing to pull the trigger on a trick play, even on special teams (Pete Carroll, Mike Tomlin, Jeff Fisher, Sean Payton -- even though he is an offensive guy, obviously, with onside kick in Super Bowl) I am optimistic about Bowles, but at the same time as far as in-game decision making as a HC, we don't have a lot to go on other than the 3 games he worked as an interim HC in Miami.
they were horrible. -no WR topped 800 yards (caldwell led them with 761, only 2 players had over 400 receiving yards) -no WR reached 5 TD catches (Caldwell again led with 4) -no WR reached 65 catches (caldwell led with 61, he was the only player over 50) im sorry, but thats horrible. thats somewhere between the '13 jets and '14 jets receivers to put it in perspective. they won because they had an elite QB who was able to get by inspite of terrible WR's.
i did post bradys numbers, in the prior post. 62% completions, 3600 yards 24 TD 12 INT not one of his MVP years, but pretty damn good considering the cast he had to throw too. certainly not the garbage geno and mark threw up in '13 and '14 with similarly crappy cast of wideouts. and brady led that team to 12-4 record, 2 playoff wins, and a trip to the AFC championship game. they also had the 7th best offense(scoring).
Oh, so now a rookie and 2nd-year QB is being compared with Tom Brady?! And, was the Pats defense as crappy as ours was?? i KNEW you'd overreach!!
he ended any chance of us making the playoffs in 2011. Mark, everyone's favorite QB threw 3 ints and the fucking Fins engineered a 20 play 90 yard drive to win it. That was a good defensive game by both head coaches at the time. Never thought much of Bowles at the time. Now I hope the guy can help us win a SB, crazy how the NFL works.
the combination of "elite QB" and "ny jets" just never fits. lets review shall we - a few good weeks with favre in 2008, about 2 good years with a healthy pennington, an awesome year with testaverde (98), an inconsistent period with esiason (93-94), the good ken obrien (85-86), the good todd (81/82), etc etc... granted the good ones dont grow on trees but its clear that the crap we have seen at the QB position for this team has clearly outweighed the pockets of good QB play over the last 40 years. this team is so QB starved its comical.
you keep moving the goal posts. you are asking for stuff, im providing it, then you shift the discussion. the inital point made was that QBs cant overcome crappy wide receivers. which i pointed out simply wasnt the case. Brady had about as poor a WR crew as you can have, and still had a really good season, and the pats offense finsihed 7th. the second point was "that pats team didnt win anything" to which my response was they won the divison, 2 playoff games, and go to the AFc championship game. i dont think that qualifies as "not winning anything" now the argument shifts again. forget smith for a second. what did a 4th year mark sanchez do with crappy WRs? nothing near what brady did. because mark sanchez isnt good and tom brady is elite. elite franchise qbs can overcome things like bad WRs. crappy or mediocure ones like sanchez and geno are not capable of that. thats why it is important to have a franchise QB. those guys can overcome things. they can get you 10+ wins with a bad defense. they cang et you 10+ wins with awful wide outs
"the inital point made was that QBs cant overcome crappy wide receivers." You mentioned ONE QB who overcame ONE crappy WR in ONE season. Which, to my mind, makes it an exception rather than the rule. The goal posts haven't been moved. Your case is just weak. If I could, I'd point to many other QBs with crappy WRs who have not overcome them, but that's the norm. If a QB doesn't do well with crap around him, it's expected. That ONE QB, a HOFer, did it (and you didn't even rate his OL or the defense, if it created turnovers, etc.) for ONE season hardly makes your point that it's done routinely or should be expected. I'd say you proved the exception does exist. But, in reality, isn't the continuity of excellence that the OL, the TEAM that surrounds Brady exhibits that is part of what makes Brady a Franchise QB? Remember, when Brady was injured Cassell came in and pretty much led them to an identical record. Cassell's not elite, is he? No, he was a product of the system, a player who stepped in and performed to level of the talent around him.
