Lets take a look at all the quarterbacks in this years playoffs. Brunell Simms Brady Delhomme E. Manning P. Manning Rothlesberger Plummer Palmer Grossman/Orton Based on that list there is probably only a couple of QB's on that list that stand out as great QB's. The rest are average to me and are nothing more. What's the difference between their teams and the Texans? The personel around them and the impact players on both sides of the ball. Their TEAMS got them to the playoffs and won them games this year. I had the luxury of watching all the games cause im at work on sundays and watch them on Sunday Ticket. The Bears were horrible in the passing game but there defense was SICK and so was Thomas Jones. That kept them in all the games and helped them make the playoffs. Rothlesberger had a 27 passer rating in the superbowl but they still won the game. That's been consitant for many years with Dilfer winning the superbowl, etc...they aren't the best QB's but they have the talent around them to make them win. Same things goes with the Texans in my opinion...you don't need a superstar QB to get you into the playoffs or win you a championship. You need it all around. We can definitly make the playoffs with Carr as long as the rest of the team is up to par. Get over the "draft Vince Young" crap...it's not going to happen. If Kubiak can do what he did with Plummer who didn't amount to anything until these past few season, i believe he can work just fine with Carr and he knows that. The key is to build around the team we have and get some impact players on both sides of the ball. Take Reggie Bush so the defense now has to really account for someone all the time that could take it to the house on any touch. Bring in some help through free agency and lets go from there.
Good post. I totally agree with everything you said. The biggest thing those teams have in common is thier defense. As bad as the Texans offense was last year, their defense was worse.
Stack - you're right...you don't have to have a superstar QB to make the playoffs. but it certainly helps! it certainly makes up for a lot of other shortcomings. how many "superstar" QB's didn't make the playoffs this past season? i'd argue the best QBs in the league were represented in the playoffs, minus those that had the injury bug (mcnabb comes to mind). in the AFC, Manning will be the Pro Bowl starter...he would be there with Brady and Plummer, but they both went down as Pro Bowl injuries. In the NFC, the QB Pro Bowl starter is Hasselbeck..with Delhomme and Vick as backups. So ultimately only one Pro Bowl QB listed, Vick, wasn't a playoff QB this season.
Out of this list Brunell Simms Brady Delhomme E. Manning P. Manning Rothlesberger Plummer Palmer Grossman/Orton Only Brady, Delhomme, P. Manning, Palmer, and Rothlesberger really stand out to me...So 4 out of the 10 teams i would say...and putting Plummer in there Borderline would make it 5 out of 10 teams had a great QB. The rest didn't have the best of QB's and made it. Yes some players like Culpepper and McNabb did have injuries, but their overall team had lost a lot of fire power which just dropped them in close games. The Eagles D sucked this year compared to other years. It would have at least kept them in the game. New England was not the same team without their great defense behind them. They had no answers for the better teams in the league. Don't get me wrong, the Patriots were a good team and could be average and bad teams, but without their full lineup and strong defense they couldn't get anywhere against the stronger teams. I still believe Defense in Football goes a long way and that's why if you look at these 10 playoff teams strong defense is a focal point. I really believe with us switching defensive schemes it will make a huge difference. But here are the ranking of the teams defense that were in the playoffs. Brunell - Washington 9th Simms - Tampa Bay 8th Brady - New England 17th Delhomme - Carolina 5th E. Manning - New York 14th P. Manning - Indy 2nd Rothlesberger - Pittsburgh 3rd Plummer - Denver 3rd Palmer - Cincinnati 22nd Grossman/Orton - Chicago 1st That's bases on Points Allowed...of course there might be a slight variation if you used total yards etc..but when i did almost all those teams were in the tops. 7 out 10 teams are in the Top 10. Definitly a big factor.
OK here is my take of these along with David Carr - #1- Tom Brady- winner, great playmaker #2- Peyton- Very consistent, very good decisions, great arm #3- Palmer- great talent, has it all to be as good as any #4- Rothlesberger- good arm, good leader, playmaker- hard to sack #5- Delhomme- under rated playmaker, accurate and good leader #6- Plummer- equal to Carr in ability- better playmaker #7- Brunnell-Grossman- Would be higher but Brunell old and Grossman didn't play enough #8- Simms, E. Manning, D. Carr- all have potential to be good servicable QB's and those were the teams that made the playoffs with an average QB- at least one that is not better than Carr. I would put Carr equal to Plummer if he had shown similar playmaking ability. That said the other QB I would rate higher than Carr are- Hasselbeck Bulger T. Green D. Brees McNabb
Do we want a team that merely makes it to the playoffs? Or do we want a Super Bowl caliber team? I believe if you want the latter then you must be in favor of ditching Carr.
Did you forget that Brad Johnson and Trent Dilfer won superbowls with teams that had sick defeneses and great running games? How about Jim Hostetler, there are many more just like him... It takes more than a quarterback to do damange in the NFL but a defense helps big time.
Exactly. Who cares who made the playoffs. The list of average to below average quarterbacks who have won Superbowls isn't that large, is it? And the list of those who have won multiple Superbowls I'd guess is probably zero.
Of the 40 Superbowls, I wonder how many "average" quarterbacks won Superbowls. I don;t know? Also, I've put "average" in quotations because it seems to me that those quarterbacks tend to have above average years, especially as compared with the rest of thier careers, when they win.
Blasphemy!!!! Dallas is not Texas. Write this on the board 100 times: Dallas is not Texas. Dallas is not Texas. Dallas is not Texas. Dallas is not Texas. Dallas is not Texas. Dallas is not Texas. Dallas is not Texas....
If you honestly think you can plug any quarterback into the Texans team we have right now and expect to win any games or be a great team that your on crack. You could have taken the best QB in the game today and put them with the talent of the Texans and you would get no where. All these quarterbacks that we talk about that became great or good and won superbowls had some kind of talent around them. From offensive line to recievers to defenses that just killed. WIth this OL you couldn't do a thing with any qb behind center. With our talent and personel we can't do jack. Fix up the talent around the qb then we can have a fair assesment of our team and Carr. You want to assess a qb's progress that has been sacked 60 times a year? Give me a break. Put Carr behind a good line and see how he does. If he doesn't show up to play, then you have a correct assesment on this guys skills. So you blame him for not playing well and his bad choices but yet you forget the offense around him sucked just as bad and didn't do much to help.
lol, wow. all this hatred for your home team b/c of something that hasn't happened yet. so they pick Bush and with a couple years are a powerhouse, i hope your not still here rooting for them. or let's say they do pick VY and he totally busts. are you gonna kill yourself?
A lot of these quarterbacks become great because of the talent around them. You have to have a situation that is perfect to blossom and become a great QB. How many Great QB's do you see in the league that are just amazing with no talent around them to blossom? Aikman had a monster line, great recievers, and a HOF back. That can go and be said about all the QB's that have become great. You have to have time to throw the ball, people to throw it to, and a running game. That will give you a chance to flourish. Just cause you buy a bag of rose seed and plant them doesn't mean it will grow. You have to put all the elements together and then see. If you put all those elements around carr, that all these other QB's had and he still doesnt grow...then you know what's up. But for now i don't think there is any way of making a fair assesment on a guy that has had nothing around him for 3 seasons.
he also said he "hates" this team now. that's a pretty strong emotion coming from someone who's not a big fan.
I'll hate this team too if they draft Bush instead of Young. If that makes me less of a fan, so be it. I don't feel the same connection with the Texans that I felt with the Oilers anyways.
you mean you don't get the same choking feeling from the Texans like you've always experienced with the Oilers? there seemed to be alot of those lately.
anybody who roots for a team on the basis of drafting one player is a fool. if the texans drafted vince young, i can only imagine the crap that would spew forth from people's mouths before he even plays a down. "vince is the greatest houston QB ever!....If the texans suck now, it will be everyone's fault except for Vince's!....Vince should father all the children born in Houston from now until he dies....etc" we would have to create a whole new kind of fan........the VOF. it would be a disaster. and thats just on this board, not on the football field. that would be a whole different story. thank goodness they picked up carr's option
Agreed for sure. Which means you have to see if there is anyway you can make the assesment on the QB outside of those issues. Troy Aikman made Emmit better and vice-versa. I do think that it is possible to sort out, though, which of those quarterbacks individually are superstar/hall of fame type quarterbacks and my opinion is that Carr isn't close. But even aside from my personal opinion just about his talent, looking at it a different way...Carr, to me, gets no benefit from the experience of having already played for 4 years. I actually am discounting him because of it. Though I have absolutely zero football teaching/coaching knowledge, it is my opinion that Carr has been taught poorly for 4 years, has become somewhat gun-shy from being hit so much, is much more likely at this point so far to have a shorter than average career for an NFL quarterback and has a bad repertoire with the OL and the rest of the team when it comes to his leadership qualities. In all, I just think that even if he had/has the talent of a superstar/HOF type quarterback, by the time he puts it together with being a successful leader combined with the time it will take the team to be ready to utilize those talents, it MAY be too late. Moreover, I do personally think someone like Vince Young has the talent, ability, charisma and leadership qualities to be one of those special talents, and just the fact that, to me, the Texans are starting at the very beginning again (of course they are, new staff, worst record ever, etc.) that the timing of Vince and the team hitting their "primes" will coincide better. I'm not a rabid Texans fan, though, so if Carr stays, I'll still root for him.
