Why is it that fans feel the need to judge a QB almost solely by his team performance, UNLESS that QB is SO good (Manning) that he can't be ignored? Does no one else see the logical flaws behind judging a single player on his teams success? I read it EVERYWHERE. Carson Palmer can't be a top 5 QB...he hasn't won a playoff game yet. Thats horrible logic. Palmer can not be a top 5 QB because say...he didn't perform like one this year. But because his team didn't win a playoff game? That blame really goes solely to him? *Note: That completely ignores that he had some 300 pound guy fall on his knee on his first pass, a 60 yard completion. So why does it happen? Is it because statistical analysis/logic has yet to get as big in football as in baseball? Judging a pitcher by W-L is now a thing of the past (for most), hopefully this idiot logic that the QB gets all the credit/blame one day goes away. Why does anyone even think this fits logically? I've heard Brees called an overrated QB because he has yet to win a SB or something, and I WTF. I used to WTF when people said it about Manning. Theres too many factors if you simply put everything on a QB. The defense that day (remember defense?). The offensive line may have gotten manhandled. The running game sucked that day. Recievers drop alot of passes. Yet you constantly hear fans analyzing a QB by his teams performance. How does that work? I don't know. It's ESPECIALLY amazing when fans talk about QBs and then talk about how "you win in the trenches" the next minute. Which one is it? Why do people actually treat this logic as gospel when its so obviously flawed? When will it go away?
And theres nothing wrong with the logic behind how QBs are judged? I realize people do that. My question is what makes people think they're completely right when they do that? How do they think that when its completely illogical?
Because football is a very complicated game and most fans take a simplistic view. Because most fans watch the ball and not the line play and the QB has the ball on every play. Because most fans don't realize just how difficult it is to play QB in the NFL and how team oriented the sport really is. The QB is dependent upon the OL, his receivers, and a running game in order to be effective. Most fans just look at a QBs numbers and make their judgment. The Super Bowl that just passed is a perfect example. Grossman is just getting killed and is getting blamed for the loss. Meanwhile nobody is paying any attention to just how poorly the Bear defense played. The Colts did not hold the ball for almost 40 minutes because Grossman didn't play well. And besides the Jones first quarter long run, where was the vaunted Bear running game. Then things are relative. Rothlesberger was much worse than Grossman in last year's Super Bowl, but with a running game and a defense to bail him out (and some horrible calls by the referees) he becomes a folk hero while Grossman is vilified. In fact, had Rothlesberger not won the Super Bowl last year, people would be wondering if he should remain the QB of the Steelers after the absolutely horrible season he had this year. Peyton Manning's career was validated by his Super Bowl win, but people overlook that he threw almost as many interceptions in the playoffs than he did in the regular season. The real reason the Colts won the Super Bowl is that their defense stepped up in a major way in the playoffs compared to the regular season. The Colt defense won them the title this year, not Manning. The first year that Pittsburgh won the Super Bowl, Bradshaw was still fighting for his job against Gilliam and Hanratty and had a horrible passer rating going into the Super Bowl, but Franco Harris and one of the great defensive performances of all time bailed him out and look what he went on to do. How many fans really know if an OL is playing well or if receivers are open downfield? If you are not at the game and the QB is sacked or throws the ball away, you can't tell whether anyone was open or not. The QB is just an easy target and it doesn't require much analysis or thought to tie a team's success or failure to the QB alone. The rest of the game is too complicated for most fans to digest. Most fans couldn't tell you if a team was playing zone or man to man after a game, but they will tell you that the QB threw two interceptions .
People judge the QB by team performance because he is the one person on the field that can have the biggest impact on a teams performance. He has his hands on the ball every single play and has the oppurtunity to either make or break a game. Other positions such as OL, DL, RB, WR all have a huge impact on the game but not the same impact a QB does. QB play is usually the most important part of a game. There are exceptions, like the Bears this year, but if you looked at most of their wins Grossman didn't play terrible. And when he did play terrible he made it much more difficult for his far superior team to scratch out a win. He made games that should have been blowouts into nailbiters.
The one point I partly disagree with you on in here is that for Peyton Manning those playoff stats don't mean anything after he won that Superbowl. He could have thrown no touchdowns and 20 interceptions and everyone would have forgotten after he had won the Superbowl. That is a great point about Roethlisberger though. He had a defense that stepped up in a key spot while Grossman had a defense that couldn't get the job done.
it's even funnier when they start talking about the qb's mechanics, techniques and fundamentals. i would say the answer to your question would be who else, the qb.
the Qb is the one player (only 2 other ppl more resposible, but the HC and OC arent on the field) whose play dictates the offense, and can pull wins from losses. its probably the most important position in sports....the exception being a game 7 starter in the series....even then, the QB has 100 times the pressures that pitcher would have for 1 game, for an entire season. so goes the QB, so goes the jets....thats how it is. look at every game we played this past season. tell me 1 game that wasnt the case....the jax game was a utter meltdown on both ends.
I'd say its more PERCIEVED as the most important position in sports. If you ask me, the most important position on an offense might be LT. The offensive line is far more influential to an offense, as no RB or QB would gain any kind of yardage without it. As you progress down the line...the LT is left with the responsibility of protecting the blind side of the teams big money guy (the QB) from what usually are the best pass rushers. I haven't even read the book, but I'm pretty sure Micheal Lewis covers this very concept in his book "The Blind Side." Lewis is the guy who wrote MoneyBall, another great sports/business book. Like Joe said, a QB is just the easiest to target.
A goalie in hockey is more important than a QB. If a goalie is playing well, he can carry a team and he doesn't need blockers or receivers to help. If a goalie is off, the hockey team loses. Stanley Cups are decided almost entirely on which team's goalie gets hot. Football is much more of a team game. The QB is on the field less than half the game when you count special teams. While QB is the most important position in football and by far the most difficult position in sports, it is not more important than a goalie. I can name many championships that were won by teams with mediocre QBs or games won when the QB played poorly, but I can't name a single Stanley Cup that was won by a team with a goalie that played poorly.
I agree with you. The old saying is that agreat player can elevate the play of those around him. A great QB can do this quite nicely as it is as you say: The most important part of the game! Put MANNING on the BEARS and who wins that SUPER BOWL- hands down?
Here's a good example: Rex Grossman played in several games this year with a QB Rating below 50% in a game ,now if he continued to play that way for the entire season then it can be said that he isn’t a real good quarter back. In later games he had a QB ratting above 50% and Made good plays consistently during those game. This show that the coaching staff did not prepare this guy for those game properly. How can a guy play lights out one week and look like dog sh#$ the following week. Thus you must tie the bad play of your Quarter back right along the side of the coaching staff particularly the offensive coordinator and game planning input from the head coach. Further example would be Chad in the Bears game. We all knew they would be flying all over the place and pressuring Chad big time, and am sure the coaching staff also knew this but the play calling wasn’t in line with this idea. Chad looked flustered and scared behind center. When we finally got in the red zone we came a way with nothing! Its my belief that Chad was charged with not making any mistakes to the Bears defense which hand cuffed him and Rex was asked not to do anything special, let the defense Dictate the game and we will get a big play some where.. They did! This example works because Chad is a better Quarter back then Rex and Rex still looked better then Chad that day because he was properly prepared for what he would have to face!
i was gonna put goaltender over the pitcher in my analogy. i think a goalie comes in a close, very close second. defense plays a big part in keeping a hot goalie going. i know, im a devils fan. :wink: even QBs with mediocre numbers can play the general. look at chad...its about command of the field and the men. a QB doesnt need to be great to win, because it def is a game that needs 22 guys to play their balls off. but a great QB can make the game.
manning on those bears, or on the ravens, and you have 2 teams that would have made a run at shula and his boys. a real run.
