He wasn't vital. They didn't have quality QB play. They had a QB who didn't blow it. Obviously they don't win if they put the ball in Tony Banks' hands. But they didn't ask Dilfer to win it for them. They asked him not to lose it and he was smart enough not to fuck it up. But he was not vital to the reason why they won.
not losing it w/ a D like that is as important as winning it. They asked Steve McNair not to lose it in 2006 and he couldn't do that. They asked Grbac not to lose it the season after they won and he couldn't do that. Dilfer could do it and he did.
you don't need to throw for 300 yds and 3 TDs to have a good game. he made big plays in each of the games they won.
They brought in Grbac to open up the offense. Billick wanted to re-create the offense he had in Minnesota and knew he couldn't do it with Dilfer. McNair was old and past his prime in Balt. And don't forget (as if you would) Indy's defense was great in that Postseason. They limited Dilfer to basically nothing. They asked him to not fuck it up and he didn't. He wasn't anything near great or the reason they won. He was like a LG who picked up his blocks. Nothing fancy just don't fuck it up.
Did I say you needed to throw for 300 and 3 to have a good game? but to be a significant cause for your championship run, you should at least complete more than 9 passes in a game.
who cares how many passes you complete? it's about making big plays and giving your team a chance to win. 2001 div rd Grbac completed 18 passes, they lost b/c he threw 3 picks and could only lead O to 3 pts. 2006 div rd 18 completions for McNair but 2 critical INTs killed their chances.
we saw how that worked out, didn't we? McNair was in his early 30s, 33 to be exact on that 2006 team. 2014 playoff QBs 33 or older: Romo 34, Brady 37, Manning 38 and Ben was 32 last year. if it is so easy to just ask a guy not to F it up why couldn't they do that w/ other QBs?
you know that INT didn't count, right? you know he led that O to 20 pts, right? you know Peyton Manning led O's in 3 SBs have scored an average of 15.7 PPG, right?
Yes. Again the appropriate comparison is not to past NFL teams like the Ravens and Bears teams that won SB's with mostly defensive play. It is to compare the Jets' likely D in 15 and how it will compare to that of other teams. A top 3 D is not unrealistic.
I am way more concerned about our safeties than I am our linebackers... Coples, Davis, Harris and Mauldin sound pretty darn good to me. Gilchrist and Pryor ehh... Two strong safeties running around back there.
I think our safeties will be pretty good with Pryor moving back to his natural position. LB'rs on the other hand , I think that's still a position that needs to show improvement before i'll be comfortable with who we've got.
I agree that it could be a problem, but hopefully one of the new additions will be an improvement, as well as Bowles' ability to scheme to help close that hole. Even if not, we knew that all our holes weren't going to get fixed this offseason. I actually think it's amazing how much Mac was able to get done. Who would have thought that the defensive backfield would have been addressed in such a strong manner or that perhaps the best player in the draft would have been added to the DL?
I never said Grbac was a great QB. But they didn't bring him in as a "don't F it up" QB. They asked and expected him to do more than that. McNair was completely broken by then. I don't care about what his age was or what some of today's QB's age is. None of that is relevant. Try again. McNair was a washed up QB when he went to Bal. He was broken down. What does other QB's have to do with Dilfer? They limited Dilfer and didn't ask him to do much. He has not been under appreciated for what he did, and he was definitely not the reason or a vital reason why they won SB XXV.
they thought they'd waltz to another SB w/ a "better" QB, they were wrong. they let the better QB for that team go and it cost Billick his coaching career. McNair was a PB QB in 2005, the year before he got to Baltimore- I have heard that means everything. all jokes aside they won 13 games w/ him and got a bye. he was not 1999 McNair but he was far from completely washed up. He was a very underappreciated and was vital to that run. event he bets Ds cannot win w/o quality QB play.
I know they did. But Grbac being a bad QB doesn't mean that Dilfer was the right QB to go forward with. He didn't play great in their SB run, he just didn't F it up. In their 3 AFC Playoff wins he completed 9, 5 and 9 passes. That is hardly enough to be considered vital. I know how a big pass completion can be impactful, but if he had a good defense they would have lost. Fortunately he had an all-time great defense that carried them to win the SB. McNair was washed up and way past his prime. The 13 games they won had a lot to do with the fact the defense allowed more than 17 points only 4 times, and never allowed more than 30. Well, the 2000 Ravens won w/o quality QB play. There's a difference between quality QB play, and not fucking it up.
not f'in it up can be quality QB play, he was perfect for that team. Limited TOs, made big plays. he's not a QB you are going to build around but on that team w/' that D he was perfect.
I could have done what he did. Hand it off to Jamal Lewis. Throw a pass to Shannon Sharpe. If there's coverage throw it away. He didn't do anything special. I do not agree that he was perfect for that team, but will say that team was perfect for him.
