San Diego 23, Denver 3.
11 of 28 for 126 yards, zero touchdowns and one interception.
Hold on, he just completed a pass for eleven yards. So 12 of 29 for 137 yards.
3:55 left in the game.
Yeah, he’s the man alright…
Oops. Threw another interception… Definitely climbing up the food chain…
Game over, Cutler’s stats: 14 of 32 for 155 yards and two interceptions.
Philip Rivers, who was one of the several “young quarterbacks” left in Cutler’s wake in the ESPN slobberfest about Cutler’s bona fides as a quarterback? 17 of 25 for 189 yards and a touchdown. Not stellar, but roughly twice as good in quarterback rating as Cutler…
As I said, maybe one day Cutler will be the guy. In the meantime there are four or five “young quarterbacks” who are NOW “the man” for their teams while Cutler is mired in mediocreville. I am not down on Cutler, as I said I’m a Denver fan and I hope for the best, but week after week I see Cutler doing the same things Jake Plummer did, and performing well below the “Brian Greise” line in Denver, and yet he is still hailed as the “quarterback of the future” by “the experts.”
Maybe that’s the problem. Maybe these other less gifted quarterbacks are more interested in being “the quarterback of NOW” and just winning games and getting to the playoffs instead. They’ll regret that one day, I’m sure.
UPDATE: He fumbled once too.
24 users commented in " Jay Cutler “best young quarterback” update "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackYah. Sacked 4 times in the 1st quarter.
Hurried more times than I could count.
Good running game too. Yeesh.
Not an environment condusive to good QB play.
Denver SUCKS. In every aspect of the game. San Diego is extraordinary in every aspect of the game except QB, so Denver got hammered by San Diego again.
No surprise there…
All I know is that the Denver Broncos and the Dallas Cowboys had almost identical records and statistics when Jake Plummer and Drew Bledsoe were their quarterbacks. When Romo took Bledsoe’s place, the Cowboys elevated their game to the next level. When Cutler took Plummer’s place, the Broncos dropped a level.
Bledsoe (gotta love him…) was at the end of his slow release career. Parcells and Owens were on the outs and Owens wasn’t getting the ball. (And, if you’re on the outs with Parcells, you’re on the outs with Bledsoe…) Owens was discontent. Marion Barber was just coming into his own. (Julius Jones was the every down running back.)
Many reasons why Dallas is a different team with Romo and without Parcells.
Dallas went 6-4 with Romo in 2006. 3-3 with Bledsoe. (Romo ended the season with a 3-3 record…)
Romo is older and more experienced. Parcells is gone. Owens is getting the ball and is happy. They have had two years now to train their new tight ends. They replaced Larry Allen (who Bledsoe sorely missed as the new left guard for those first 6 games….). Barber is getting more carries and the fully two back set is working. Etc. Etc. Etc.
It’s really difficult to compare the two QB’s unless they have at least somewhat comparable teams. Cutler has a horrid offensive line. He has an anemic running game. He has one good receiver who is inexperienced.
Comparing Bledsoe and Romo is legitimate (and Brady and Bledsoe….poor Bledsoe comes off SO bad in both comparisons…but, he was old, slow and had happy feet….)
I agree that I really don’t know why anyone would put Cutler up there with the good QB’s of today any more than I understood why Plummer was the “next Montana.”
But, Arizona sucked, and Denver currently sucks. Maybe they were/are great QB’s on crappy teams.
I’m sorry, but the Bledsoe/Romo comparison in 2006 is completely fair, and Romo not only performed better, but his presence elevated the entire team. Yes they lost some games with Romo that they should have won, but every team has to learn HOW to win, and it is my opinion that the games Romo played in 2006 taught the Cowboys how to win.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the major difference between Romo and Cutler is not skills, Cutler may actually have the edge in pure skills. But what Romo has that Cutler lacks is a fierce competitive spirit and a natural leadership in the huddle and on the field. When I say that Romo elevates the entire team, I don’t mean that his performance makes the team better, I mean that his presence makes the entire TEAM perform better.
I don’t want to get too high on Romo too early, he’s only played about 24 games now. I think he needs to get to a Super Bowl before you can really put him up with Brady or Manning. But I think it is entirely fair to compare him to other quarterbacks such as Cutler.
I don’t blame all of Denver’s woes on Cutler, but I do see that Cutler does not inspire his team. Brady, Montana and Favre inspire their team. When they are on the field the team believes that anything is possible. More than that. The FANS believe that anything is possible. More even than that. The OTHER TEAM believes that anything is possible. They (and others I could name) exude that sort of confidence that goes beyond even their on-field performance that day. Romo can throw four interceptions and the Cowboys still believe they can win. Not in spite of Romo, but because they think Romo’s magic will somehow overcome it.
I do not see that with Cutler. I see a team that deflates visibly when Cutler throws an interception. Their shoulders droop and they hang their heads on the sideline. The defense goes out and plays flat.
It is not fair that the quarterback is the position that needs to inspire that feeling of confidence and optimism. But that’s the way the game is. Romo, for now, has that “it” factor that Cutler lacks.
Even though comparing stats makes Romo look much better than Cutler, I don’t think that stats tell half the story. The big half of the story is how the rest of the team feels about their chance to win with their quarterback. Dallas feels they can win, Denver feels they will lose. And whether it is fair or not, or even rational or not, it is what it is. And until Cutler starts to inspire his team with more than his arm, the Broncos are going to keep losing. I think he can do it. And success builds confidence, so a few more weapons might give Cutler the edge he needs.
But my point with Romo is that he did not wait for the “right weapons” he went in with what he had and you could feel the difference from the day he replaced Bledsoe against the Giants. They just FELT like a different team. And they were one.
When Cutler came in to replace Plummer, the team felt the same to me.
I hope Cutler proves me wrong. But I’m not the only one who sees it. Romo has been to the pro bowl both years he has started. Cutler will need a ticket to get there. All the scouts and “experts” in the world can say what they like about Cutler’s skills and potential, but those things are just part of the toolkit a quarterback needs. Romo has demonstrated that he has all the tools, Cutler has not yet shown that.
One more point. Romo’s main target in 2006 was not Terrell Owens. It was Terry Glenn. Terry Glenn is supposed to be back this weekend. With Owens out at least one game, it will be interesting to see if Romo can continue the success he had with Glenn last year.
It will be even more interesting to see what happens when Romo has both Owens AND Glenn running routes. Which should happen when the ‘Boys play their first playoff game. I’m looking forward to watching it on TV. Along with Jay Cutler and the rest of the Broncos…
(I think you’ll see that I agreed that comparing Bledsoe and Romo was legitimate.)
Of course, Romo was SUCH an inspiration to his team last year *cough cough*. And everyone thought that they had a chance to win when Romo was in the game *cough cough*.
That’s remembering the events of last season through some particularly rose colored glasses…especially as the season ended with the team in disarray and every talking head out there wondering if Romo could come back from his poor performance at season’s end. (Including, of course, T.O….)
One of the reasons Dallas didn’t do so well last year with Bledsoe and Parcells is that Glenn WAS the primary target last year. Let’s see…
Hall of Fame receiver or “did he take his meds this week” receiver? Who should we try to get the ball to.
Parcell’s answer? Glenn.
Phillips’ answer? Owens.
Hmmmm.
I don’t think my memory of last year is rose colored at all. With Bledsoe the Cowboys were going nowhere. Romo came in and won something like four of his first six games and securing a playoff spot. Then the Cowboys had their typical (of late) December swoon and they lost in the playoffs because of Romo’s muffed field goal snap. And yes, that did cause some people to question if Romo could come back and overcome such a gaffe, but it only took a couple of games this year for everyone to conclude that the gaffe was the exception, not the norm.
Of course Cowboy fans everywhere are now on pins and needles wondering if the Cowboys can win in the playoffs, which is why I keep saying that Romo’s confirmation as “the real deal” won’t be complete until he plays in a Super Bowl.
Parcell’s unwillingness to utilize Terrell Owens as his primary receiver is difficult to understand. However, it should be remembered that Owens had a broken finger in 2006 and led the league in dropped passes, so the 2007 Owens is probably a lot better than the 2006 version.
They had an interesting statistic during Monday night’s game about “young quarterbacks.” They posted the all-time best regular season records of young quarterbacks after roughly two seasons. The record holder was, I think, Kurt Warner with a record of 24 and 7. Right there with him was Ben Roethlisberger. The reason they were showing the statistic was not due to the “best young quarterback” Jay Cutler, no it was the OTHER “young quarterback” in the game, Phillip Rivers, who was right there with Ben and Kurt with roughly a 23 -7 mark or something like that.
Romo’s record so far? 19 – 6. If the ‘Boys keep playing the way they have into next season, Romo could easily be 24 – 7 himself. Regardless, he’s in the ballpark. Cutler’s record so far? 8 – 12.
I really don’t know how else to say it other than how I’ve been saying it:
Cutler plays for a crappy team. Romo plays on a very good team. Rothlesberger played on a very good team (which isn’t nearly as good now that they’ve lost some receivers and Hall of Famer Bettis…and Rothlesberger’s win/loss record has suffered as a result). Rivers has a great won/loss record, but has pretty crappy stats. When you have a defense like he does, a Hall of Fame running back, a Hall of Fame (likely) Fullback, a (maybe) Hall of Fame tight end, and at least one prospective HOFer on defense…you get to have a good record.
You play for a crappy team, you get a crappy record, and, frequently, your stats suffer as well since you’re hurried, you’re sacked, you’re coming from behind, etc. etc. etc.
I have always maintained that playing in or winning a Superbowl should have NOTHING (whatsoever) to do with a QB being the “real deal.” ESPECIALLY winning one.
Marino. Everett. Tarkenton. The list is LONG with Hall of Fame QB’s who didn’t win the big one. Yet, is there any question that they are great? Dilfer, Rothlesberger, Warner, Plunkett. The list is longer still with mediocre to good QB’s who have gone to and even won a superbowl. In fact, if you look at the stats of the winningest Superbowl QB of all time (Bradshaw), if he hadn’t won those four games, there would be a good argument for keeping him OUT of the Hall of Fame. (When you’re playing on a team with eight or nine HOFers, you just get “better,” don’t you?)
I have no idea how good Cutler can be. Maybe he’ll be like Aikman and be able to weather the suckiness of his team and hope it gets better. Maybe he’ll be like Leaf and have his spirit broken. Dunno.
I do know, however, that he would be better on Dallas’ team and that Romo would be worse on Denver’s.
As to Bledsoe’s record (3-2 and pulled in the 6th for a 3-3?). His first five games were against: Jacksonville (lost), Washington (won), Tennessee (won), Philadelphia (lost), Houston (won), and he and Romo shared in the loss to the Giants.
Romo? Lost to Giants in his first game. Beat crappy Carolina. Lost to Washington (Bledsoe beat them badly). Beat Arizona (who didn’t?). Beat the Colts. (Good win.) Beat a terrible playing Tampa Bay team. Beat the Giants by 3. (He and Bledsoe lost to the Giants). Beat Atlanta. (Woot!). Got creamed by New Orleans. Lost to Philadelphia. (Bledsoe lost, but scored 24 points to Romo’s 7.) Lost to Detroit.
That was a 6-5 record for the year for Romo to a 3-3 record for Bledsoe. (He and Bledsoe sharing the loss to the Giants.)
He had one good win and a handful of horrible losses, i.e., he beat one team he should have lost to and lost at least three he should have won. Bledsoe lost to good teams who also beat Romo and didn’t lose any to a bad team.
Romo played badly on a GOOD team. He lost games he should have won.
Now that he’s a bit more experienced, has a left guard he’s used to, has a different coach with a playbook made for HIM and is willing to actually use a Hall of Fame wide receiver, he and the team are doing much better than they did last year.
He SHOULD be doing AT LEAST as well as he’s doing now. He has a good team around him. Dallas, with the talent they have, SHOULD be a playoff team.
Denver doesn’t have a single player of note other than Marshall. (Henry if he could stay healthy, maybe.)
We’ll see. Even though this is Romo’s, what, FIFTH YEAR in the league and it’s Cutler’s SECOND…
Give him and his team some time to develop. He has the tools. If he can get a decent offensive line and decent defense, I think you’ll see a Denver playoff team yet…
Oh.
Warner.
Not so good without Faulk, is he?
We’ll see what happens with Cutler. And with Romo. And Rivers and Roethlisberger. (I probably never spell that right, I should just say “Big Ben.”) And others in the “young guns” class.
You and I will simply have to disagree on this. I think you are greatly overstating how “bad” the Broncos are (they went 13-3 only two years ago), and overstating how “good” the Cowboys are (they barely beat .500 for the past three years). The only significant changes, other than Romo, between the Bledsoe Cowboys and the Romo Cowboys has been T.O.’s healed finger and a new head coach. The only significant change on the Broncos has been Cutler and a new defensive coordinator. Now I do think that the defense of the Broncos has been miserable, but the offense has only been mediocre. Would they have won more games with a better defense? Sure, but so would the Cowboys.
Cutler is young, and Romo has admitted that he has benefited from watching Bledsoe play (I presume that means he learned what NOT to do…). In fact I think Cutler was thrown into the starting role too early. I think they should have given him at least another year as backup. I listen to the sports talk shows here in Denver and Cutler is a frequent guest on them. When this season began he was asked if the Broncos playbook had been reduced for him and he said they had cut it more or less in half. He said that they would add more plays as the year went on and he got more familiar with the offense. Now you can argue that Romo’s long backup tenure allowed him to play without having to cut the playbook in half, but what kind of coach does that to a quarterback? That’s essentially giving Cutler half as many options as Plummer had. It’s no wonder that he gets sacked more and has lower statistics.
But the reason I don’t give him a lot of slack for that is because he is supposed to be the freaking offensive genius of the “young guns.” He has a “quarterback brain.” He’s an athlete with brains.
But they still had to cut the playbook in half for this guy who has done nothing significant with his life since he was twelve years old but play football. In my mind that takes away a huge chunk of his credibility as the brilliant quarterback mind of his generation.
However, this has gotten off track and has become a Cutler-bashing exercise, which wasn’t my intention. My intention was to simply point out that after a year and a half Jay Cutler has done nothing to demonstrate to me that he is a better than average quarterback, much less the superstar of his generation. I keep hearing how he’s got all the skills, the great mind and the fire to be the next Elway. Maybe he will be, Elway didn’t exactly set the league on fire when he started either.
All I’m saying is let’s give the man credit when he’s earned it, and not before.
You severely underestimate many things on Dallas’ side:
1.) The loss of Larry Allen, a HOF left guard last season. Bledsoe had a newbie there, Romo not so newbie and, now, a veteran.
2.) A healthy and USED Hall of Fame Wide Reciever.
3.) A good tight end who has had another year under his belt.
4.) An offensive package tailored to Romo rather than Bledsoe.
5.) The continued growth of Marion Barber, almost replacing Julius Jones as primary RB.
6.) A locker room which isn’t divided between the Parcells/Owens camps.
And Denver?
Lost their #1 Wide Receiver.
Lost their #1 Running Back.
Kind of tough losses to overcome. (See how Peyton Manning struggled without Harrison and Clark?) You gotta have weapons.
I agree that it’s WAY too early to discuss either of these guys as the “next (fill in the blank)” As you say, Elway wasn’t the greatest thing in the world when he hit the field. (And, of course, didn’t win a Superbowl until he had Terrell Davis….gotta have weapons….)
This is an exercise in looking for excuses. I know the Denver Broncos, I’m here all the time. The Broncos O-line was considered the best in the game until this year. They lost Matt Lepsis, which is a big deal, but that doesn’t explain the total collapse of the O-line.
Cutler has weapons, and Romo has had to deal with just as many injuries and newcomers as Cutler has. In case people forget Dallas lost their primary wide receiver and the primary cornerback for virtually the entire season. Yes, T.O. rose to the occasion but that doesn’t change the fact that Terry Glenn was the “go to” guy on the Cowboys until his knee went out. We’ll see how they do with Glenn and without T.O. this weekend maybe.
About the only thing I’ll give you is that the locker room is vastly improved without the gamesmanship that Parcells was known for. I never liked Parcells, and the fact that he made his name as a coach of the hated Giants is only one reason why. Parcells is a control freak and it takes more than a few years for his kind of organization to get into place and function well. I think Wade Phillips and Jason Garrett are big reasons for the Cowboys success, maybe THE big reasons for their success this year.
As far as Denver losing their “#1 Wide Receiver” and “#1 Running back” I’m sorry but I don’t buy it. I’m a big Rod Smith fan, but he is not a #1 Wide Receiver in this league any more. Brandon Marshall would be #1 by now even if Rod Smith was healthy. Rod Smith himself says that, and I think he’s right. And as far as the running back is concerned, Denver has had a different running back run for over 1,000 yards every year for the past five years, so it’s clear that the running back is only part of that equation.
I don’t really know why Denver imploded this year. But in the preseason people were saying that Denver would be challenging San Diego for the division title, so all the “experts” thought that Denver had all the tools early on. Just as those same experts picked Philadelphia and New York as the contenders in the NFC East, not Dallas.
So things change, the dynamics of the team react to circumstances and something went well for Dallas and bad for Denver. I think the quarterbacks in both places had something to do with it. Probably not all of it, but I think the majority of it can be placed on their shoulders. They get paid the most and get the most attention so they deserve to get the focus when things go well or poorly. As I said, all the general managers in the NFL say that the quarterback is the one position that can make or break a team. And I think they are right.
Hmm… I think you meant Javon Walker as the #1 wide receiver… If so, I think you’re being pretty kind to him. He is much like Cutler, he has all the skills, but he has not been able to perform at the level the Broncos have expected so far. Maybe this year would have been different with him. I’m not sure. Denver has had a long history of busts at wide receiver. Hopefully Javon Walker will break that trend.
Um…Javon Walker was the #1 Wide Receiver for Green Bay. He held out for a contract with GB but Favre shamed him into taking what GB offered (no signing bonus I don’t think) and he immediately got hurt….then traded to Denver where he had 70 receptions, 1000 yards, and 8 touchdowns…then went down for the most part of this season.
And, you don’t think that losing a HOF left guard has an impact?
You think that losing a mainstay on your offensive line doesn’t make a difference in your running game? Ask Larry Johnson. Ask Shaun Alexander.
And a QB being the “one position” which can “make or break” a team? What does THAT mean?
One of the best to play the game, Marino…sure in heck didn’t “make” that team, did he? A journeyman like Dilfer sure as heck didn’t “break” the Buc’s either, eh? (Probably the best argument for Football being a “team sport”…Great Defense, decent running game, good receivers (one just “that much” away from being HOF), good offensive line, good special teams, a quarterback that wasn’t horrible…Superbowl champs).
The list is endless. Elway before (at his peak) Davis and after. Manning before Wayne and Addai (and of course the “Edge” without Manning). Warner with Faulk and without. Rothlesberger with and without Bettis (and Plaxico).
Currently? Breese without Deuce. Palmer without Rudi. Rivers wins when L.T. is given the ball…(and, now that Chambers is fully in the offense…kinda sucks when your tight end is your best receiver). How’s KC doing without Johnson or Holmes?
And, speaking of “team sports,” how’s “the Edge” doing down there in Arizona? What happened to Portis after being traded to Washington? Alexander sure seems to be missing Neal, doesn’t he?
Etc. Etc.
A bad quarterback can make life miserable for his team IF he can’t convert 3rd and long…and throws to the wrong uniforms. A bad running back can make life miserable for a team if he can’t make 3rd and short. A bad secondary can make life miserable…Etc. Etc. Etc.
It’s a TEAM SPORT.
If you have a SUPERSTAR (Marino, Elway, Favre, Moon, etc.) quarterback and he doesn’t have decent weapons…then he sits at home in January. Give him weapons, he plays in January.
If you have a SUPERSTAR in other positions, it makes the rest of the team better (Faulk, Bettis (almost 100% in 3rd and short), Davis, LT, even the TB defense, etc.) then you can play in January even though the QB may not be top tier…or even “good.”
History abounds with a QB winning with certain weapons, then not winning when bereft of those weapons…and vice versa.
You and I must be watching different NFL leagues. You never see offensive players trash-talking offensive players, I’ve seen it all the time. You think the quarterback is just another position on the team, but quarterbacks make up 90% of the highest paid positions on every team in the NFL. You think that Javon Walker is a hotshot #1 Wide Receiver, I see a player that was let go from Green Bay and who has underperformed at Denver.
The list goes on and on.
We are just going to have to agree to disagree. This is all about Cutler and whether he is deserving of being called the “best” of the “young guns” of NFL quarterbacks. I submit that he has not demonstrated anything to warrant such a lofty evaluation, you seem to think he has. I say that at least four of his peers have outperformed him in every statistically meaningful way, you say that’s because he’s on a bad team. I say that he should elevate his team’s play and he has demonstrably NOT done that while his peers HAVE done that, you don’t see it that way.
We’ll have to check back again in a few years to see if Cutler catches fire and outperforms Romo, Roethlisberger, Rivers and I’ll even throw Matt Schaub in there, he’s statistically outperformed Cutler and he’s not even over .500 with his team.
My whole point in this discussion has not been to say that quarterbacks ARE the team, it has been to say that quarterbacks can be measured and those measurements mean something, or else there is no reason Dan Marino is in the Hall of Fame but Craig Morton is not.
And by those measurements, EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM, Jay Cutler is a mediocre quarterback SO FAR in his career. By those same measurements Romo, Rivers, Roethlisberger and even Schaub are BETTER.
Unless you are going to argue that statistics are meaningless, I don’t understand why you are arguing that Cutler should be considered the best of that bunch. That’s my last word on the subject.
I don’t see offensive players trash talking offensive players from the sidelines…especially quarterbacks. I guess we are watching a different league. And, I suppose that all the talking heads who made so much about this unusual occurance have been watching the same games as I.
I have REPEATEDLY said that Cutler doesn’t deserve that appellation. What I have taken issue with is your comparison of Cutler to Romo.
The quarterback is the most important slot in a line-up simply because he handles the ball every single play. A bad quarterback means that he has more opportunities to screw something up. A good quarterback has more opportunities to make something happen. But, without weapons, even the best quarterbacks can’t “raise the level” of their team. (Just ask…Everett, Marino, Moon, Favre, etc. etc. etc.)
As to highest paid? In 2007, the 10 highest paid players were:
1. DE Dwight Freeney, Indianapolis $30,750,000
2. QB Marc Bulger, St. Louis $17,502,040
3. OL Leonard Davis, Dallas $17,006,240
4. DE Gaines Adams, Tampa Bay $15,434,000
5. DE Robert Geathers, Cincinnati $14,000,000
6. DT Cory Redding, Detroit $13,625,000
7. OL Derrick Dockery, Buffalo $13,504,680
8. RB Reggie Bush, New Orleans $13,375,960
9. OL Kris Dielman, San Diego $13,305,280
10.RB Larry Johnson, Kansas City $13,300,000
Hmm….
Oh..and lest we forget….2007 draft….
TWO quarterbacks in the first round…#1 and #22.
This is the norm, not an abberation.
As I said, I’m done with this. I am hopeful that Jay Cutler will become what the “experts” think he is. But I cannot say I am optimistic that will come to pass.
The day may come when the wisdom of fans fails, a day when all skeptics will throw down their statistics and abandon all reason and rationality in the face of “expert” opinion.
But it is not this day. This day we THINK! By all that we hold dear in this good game, I bid you read STATS! Fans of the AFC WEST!!!
Heh.
Pokes horse…
No discernable movement.
We’ll get to see a few things next year about this issue, I think. Denver WILL be better. Cutler WILL be better. If they stay healthy, the every day addition of Walker and Henry will help, especially if there are two good #1 receivers. (Warner’s stats are pretty good (except win/loss) with Fitzgerald and Boldin…)
But, we’re likely to see McNabb move to another team. We KNOW how his production decreased after the loss of T.O., but, what if he goes to a team that doesn’t have a Westbrook either? (Good lord, what if he goes to MAIMI? Hell, CULPEPPER looked like the second coming of Tarkenton when he had Moss to throw to….not so much Maimi and Oakland…) Warner might go to a team with an offensive line and good receivers.
Every year we see QB’s who were insanely good have a WR leave and their stats go to hell or have a QB get a good receiver and have their stats inflate wildly. Stats aren’t “meaningless,” but they can be hella misleading.
I thought my ROTK parody deserved more than THAT! Sheesh, you take all the fun out of twenty minutes of agonizing over a silly post!
You’ve made some good points, I concede that I have been more QB-centric than I can really support through historical analysis, but the reverse is also true I think.
This is a debate that will be settled on the field by the principals involved. I look forward to it. And I admit that my homer instinct has caused me to be more critical of Cutler and more defensive of Romo than I can probably support with pure facts and statistics.
But I still say that any actual analysis of their performance over their first year and a half in the league, it is insane to suggest that Cutler is going to have the better career, much less become the next Peyton Manning.
Why did I say “Peyton Manning” instead of “Tom Brady?” Because up until this year I have had exactly the same opinion of the Manning/Brady comparison as I do of the Cutler/Romo one. Manning was crowned the greatest quarterback of all time right out of college, and he put up really great statistics, all the while Brady just kept winning games and Super Bowls. I said (and I think I said it to you) that Brady was the better quarterback because Brady made his team better, not by his play, but by his presence. This year you will be hard pressed to find too many people who will claim that Manning is the superior QB, but last year every “expert” in the game would have considered that a “duh” moment.
I think the same is true of Cutler/Romo. Cutler looks better on paper, but so far on the field Romo has been twice the quarterback. You can make whatever excuses you want, I am simply stating what I think to be an obvious fact. Perhaps three years from now my opinion will have changed, but for that to happen Cutler will have to exponentially increase his performance and Romo will have to more or less fall apart.
It could happen.
I’d prefer to see Cutler raise his game and see Romo maintain his and watch the two of them battle it out in a few Super Bowls.
Let’s check back in 2015 and see who we think was the better QB then…
Manning is the better QB. He calls many, if not most, of his plays.
Brady has always had a more balanced team. The Colts (even in their Superbowl year) has consistently had a pretty sub-par defense. (A defense which played way over its head in the playoffs that year….) New England has always had a much better defense.
As quarterbacks, I don’t think that, until Brady got Moss, there was any real comparison as to the two when it comes to stats.
Moss is like ketsup…he makes everything better.
Ask Culpepper.
Let’s see. On a pass from Brady to Moss, they broke three records: 1) Most points in a season by a team(set by…you guessed it…the 1998 Vikings in Moss’ rookie year), 2) Most touchdowns by a wide receiver, and 3) Hmm…don’t remember the other one. Not most touchdowns by a QB? Was that #50?
I know Brady will win MVP, but I think Moss deserves it. Hell, the double coverage makes Wes Welker a # THREE wide receiver the person with the most receptions this year.
Sheesh.
I think the Colts are going to repeat, beating NE if they get that far.
It is highly likely that both Peyton Manning and Tom Brady will end their careers ranked in the top 5 of everyone’s “best quarterback ever” lists. Right now if you take those two out of the running the list is highly subjective already, and adding them to it will not reduce the subjectivity.
My personal opinion is that Brady is better, but when you get to that level it’s hard to say “better” or “worse” they both are simply elite quarterbacks who can do it all.
If I were to make a guess I would guess that Brady will end up with more Super Bowl appearances and more Super Bowl victories than Manning. Maybe more even than Montana and Bradshaw.
This year I would be surprised to see the Colts beat the Patriots in the playoffs. Last year with a much less talented team Brady almost beat them in the AFL championship game. It could happen of course, all it takes is one bad play, one bad call or one bad bounce for a team to lose a close game.
If I had to put together a team and had to choose between Brady or Peyton Manning, I would pick Brady. You would probably pick Manning. I don’t think either of those could be called bad picks.
I am glad that the Patriots ran the table in the regular season, that is going to make every playoff game they play a monster game. I can’t even imagine the hoopla surrounding the Superbowl if they go into that game 18 – 0. If it is the Patriots vs. the Cowboys, I will be rooting for the Cowboys, but I won’t be upset if I get to see NFL history made either.
I will!
They already took away one of the sports stories, i.e., “The Curse of the Bambino.”
I likes my sports stories.
I agree that calling someone “better” at this level is really difficult to definitively support, and either choice as a starter would be a good choice. (Well, if you had to take the offensive line into consideration, then less of a question as Brady is a tad more mobile than Manning.)
On a different note…
Is it possible that Brady is having his reads fed to him during the game? “(Fill in the blank) is open!” or some such? We know that they have head sets. We know they don’t have any problem cheating.
Hmmm….is it even possible?
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