Chad next year intruiges me. One of the most interesting things coming into camp will be the impact that a full season, playoffs, and an offseason had on his throwing shoulder, and thus his arm strength. Most people can agree that his arm strength is a serious issue, but putting that aside, if he can bounce back and come back stronger next year, it would be pretty awesome!
I'm hoping that he does come back stronger from last year. I'm more than willing to give a guy who just came off two shoulder surgeries a free pass. Still, I'll be labeled as a Chad-hater because I don't think he's the best thing since sliced bread and consider him more of a stop-gap for this franchise. If we win with Chad...GREAT. If we don't, it's not like I'll feel vindicated. I'll be just as down. It's more a comfort thing. It's not like he's a young QB anymore.
I do not think Chad can win even if he has the right pieces in place. The reason is when we play the top tier teams their Qb Piece is way better than ours. At some point he has to make a play to beat an elite team and he has done nothing to show me that he can do it.
He is a top 16 Qb the problem is we need a top 7 Qb to have a chance to win a championship with Chad. The problem is we need a Defense like the Ravens to win with Chad. The margin for error is to great with him at Qb. He can not win a game with his arm or legs all he can do is not loose a game with his smarts and when he plays against a good or prepared defense his decision making is questionable as well.
So is the rest of their team...which is why they're a top tier team and we aren't at the present time.
If we had a top tier team and matched up man to man with every top tier team in the league the odds would still be against us with Chad at the Helm. Tangini will get all the pieces in place and Chad will always be the weakest linc when we play the big boys. Look at the teams who we will have to compete with to win a championship in the Afc and let me know which one we would have an advantage over if we had talent equal to them with Chad at the Helm?
If, if, if... You have no way of knowing what Chad can do with a complete team around him. We've never had a complete team around him. The fact is that there are very few ELITE QB's in the league. You can count them on one hand. If you're going to give all these other QB's you listed the benefit of the doubt, then you have to do the same with Chad. Otherwise that's just not being fair.
Brady, Manning, Mcnair, Palmer, Big Ben and Rivers are all Qb's that Chad will have to deal with over the next few years in the Afc to get to the Championship. Are you going to tell me on an even playing field with the same talent on both sides of the ball we do not have a big disadvantage if we have to play these guys in a game that matters? Unfortunately we have to compare Chad to elite Qb's because that is the level of play Chad as well as the rest of the team has to get to to get to the Superbowl. These are the guys the Jets have to play. We are not in the Nfc and we have to go through the elite to get to the big dance.
Of the QB's you listed, that's where your list of ELITE QB's should end. McNair? Are you serious? Rivers gets to hand off to the best RB to play in the NFL in quite some time. Some would even argue of all time. Rivers as a QB is not elite. He just happens to play with an elite RB. Carson Palmer I would classify as elite yet. He's very good, but is also very beatable.
The others are way better than Pennington and they have a realistic Shot of beating Manning or Brady on the road in a big game. Chad will self destruct as he did in Oakland a few years ago or Ne this year. Or even worse he will not show up in a game where the Defense plays great like when we played Pitt a few years ago. Even though I will give him the benefit because of the shoulder with that one.
McNair imploded in the playoffs this year, and Carson Palmer didn't even get to the playoffs. THEY don't have a realistic shot of beating Manning or Brady, they're teams do. I just can't believe you put the blame squarely on the shoulders of one man when there are so many other pieces that this team is severely lacking.
It's easier for him that way. He still insists the TD pass to Cotchery vs New England was 10 yards when it was really 25 yards in the air. I guess this kind of thing can go on until July here, I don't know.
The other guys listed were better than Chad. Way better. What I don't get is your Rivers argument. Does Elway get any less credit because of Davis? Montana/Young because they threw to the best WR of all time? Aikman for Smith? A QB NEEDS talent around him. One of the most ignorant ideas in sports is that a QB wins by himself. Even Brady has a great system, great coaching, and a very good line. Manning has all that plus playmakers surrounding him. Palmer is elite. The numbers the guy put up before his injury were sick, putting him as one of the games 2-3 QB. As he got healthier this year, he headed right back. WHAT? PALMER didn't make it to the playoffs? The BENGALS, you know the TEAM that Palmer happens to be ONE guy on ONE side of the ball on, didn't make the playoffs. Somehow I have trouble thinking his 28 TD passes and 93.3 QB rating helped more than hurt their chances to make the playoffs, and he's not the reason they didn't make it. Manning and Brady can't and DON'T beat guys by themselves either. Of course...QBs do get that credit anyway...
Im not blaming him for the teams failure. When you win or loose it is as a team. With that said even if he had the pieces around him I do not think he has what it takes to win three or four games against super bowl caliber teams in the playoffs. Im talking about Mcnair over the years not this year. Every Qb has a bad playoff experience but he does have games that we can look back at where he used his arm or legs to win a game when his team did not play their best or needed their Qb to step up and win the game. Chad can not make enough plays against good teams to do that. Year after year against good teams he either chokes or does absolutely nothing and the defense plays great and we loose 16-10. In the Red Zone Chad is horrendous!
The pass could be 10 or 25 but it is safe to say it will never be a 50 or 40 yard pass to Cotchery from Noodle arm. He might not even hit a open receiver 40 yards down the field on a blow coverage.
The Bengals D ranked 30th this year, there rushing yards ranked 26th this year and their O ranked 8th. They also played a very tough schedule with all kinds of distractions. They also rank 3rd in passing TD's. The team stinks, without Palmer they would be lucky to win 3 games.
