Is it the offensive line that makes the qb good or the other way around. Peyton manning's best olineman goes down they don't miss a beat against a team that has a very good defense. If you go back to the year when he got hurt the colts sack number just skyrocketed. So is it really the oline or the QB?
Why would it be one or the other? A good OLine will make a QB better and a good QB will make an OLine better. That just seems logical.
pretty much the only conclusion I could make. I guess you could say it depends on how good the OL vs. how good the QB is. I'm sure those old Hogs' line, the Cowboys (from the 90s), or the Rams from the late 70s-late 80s seem vital to the teams great success. You also have to take into consideration how the OL helps the running game.
I'd rather have Alex Smith with an Oline that allows 0 sacks, than Peyton Manning with an O line that's got more holes than swiss cheese. QBs can't win without a good Oline no matter how good they are.
I would have to go with the O-line easily. Restricting a QB to a 3 step drop because he is going to get hit makes it really hard for the receivers to create space. Give him time and someone will get open for an easier pass with less chance of interceptions.
That may be true for one year. But going forward, it will be far easier to build a servicable enough line for Peyton Manning than to maintain a perfect line for Alex Smith. All it takes is one injury or an underperforming player or one lineman leaving in free agency to wreck the perfect line. There's a reason that the great QB's have much more consistently successful teams than teams with a good O-Line for a year.
