Interesting take on the ESPN postgame last night. They had Sanchez on the field set live with them. Steve Young mentioned that there's only about 10-12 teams in the NFL that are very QB friendly in terms of their system. They didn't want to take anything away from Sanchez but they said he was setup in a great position to success given the system and Kelly's pedigree. It's odd to think that Sanchez having mild success elsewhere would be a damning indictment on Ryan's inability to develop QB's or know anything about offensive football for that matter. However that's exactly what it is. Ryan's been pegged as a DC and this drives that point home again. Rex is gone.
Getting his players to play hard is one of Rex's strong points. Inspirational leader and good button pusher. The weak points that he's had since the start are still there, and he's had enough time to improve them: game management, clock management, the care and nurturing of the offensive side (the specifics of this are beyond me, but I've long contended that there is something toxic to constructing an offense with Rex's methods or personality) and the lack of discipline on the field with the penalties and general sloppiness.
Too little too late, though. Last year the team also pulled it together only after they lost eight games. The issue isn't playing hard. It's playing smart, too.
I agree that Rex hasn't done a good job managing his young QBs, but I also believe that we and the NY media have created a toxic atmosphere that makes it impossible for QBs to learn and thrive. At the first sign of adversity, these assholes go on the attack. Awesome avatar by the way. They continue to feed on the carcass until the QB is totally done. We keep clicking their links and buying their papers and parrot back the same negative drivel. "Sanchez is a dick! He ate a hot dog! He parties too much!" "Geno missed a meeting! He doesn't care!" "He's a bust and I was the first one to call it on draft day!" "Told you we should've taken X instead!" "Why didn't we start Vick/Simms/Gerrard from day 1?" "Which QB should we draft/sign next year?" We will never develop a young QB. Instead, we will churn through them before cutting them loose and watching them thrive elsewhere, all the while listening to pundits exclaim that their newfound success comes from having fun playing football again. This organization is a joke from the ownership, coaches, players, fans, and reporters covering it. We are all to blame.
