Are You Ready for Some FOOTBALL! - Week 7

[Shi Huangdi]

Michael Vick. He always makes games fun and entertaining to watch. And bad quaterbacks don't lead their teams to victory over Philly, as Vick did.

[Ming]

Interesting game so far tonight. A seven all tie late in the first quarter

[Imran Siddiqui]

funny Imran, Vick has a career 76.9 passer rating, a career 53.7 completion % , has only played 2 full seasons in the NFL (seasons in which he's started more than 4 games in 5 seasons) and you have him in Canton already...

and you know what else is funny? I don't see his team's record associated with his personal stats...

Hmmm... they are at 70% winning percentage clip with him, but close to 35% without him since Vick has been a starter.

In 2003, when Vick was out for most of the season, the Falcons went 2-10 and then Vick came back, started the last 4 games and the Falcons went 3-1, beating eventual NFC Champions Carolina along the way (what rust?). In that season, the Falcons had a winning percentage of 17% when Vick didn't start and 75% when Vick started!

Frankly, I don't understand why you don't want a QB who just wins out of the Hall. I thought the name of the game was winning... the Falcons don't when he's out, but do when he's in. He's a natural leader and the Falcons are WAY better when he's in the lineup.

Sorry, but you can't simply say it's the rest of the team that makes up for Vick, because when Vick is out, the team has not usually been that good.

[Sava]

blah blah blah...

Vick hasn't been winning them games Imran...

Atlanta's D and running game has

numbers don't lie

funny how you talk about the team's winning percentage... why aren't you talking about Vick's personal stats?

[pchang]

Imran doesn't have to mention Vick's personal stats. You are already doing it for him. Atlanta led the league in rushing last year because of Vick's significant contribution to their rushing totals. Vick is one of the fastest players in the league and can throw the ball almost 80mph. The problem is that he throws the ball 80mph almost every time. At the speed, there is no chance for his receivers to catch the ball if it is slightly off target on short throws. He even throws it that hard on check down passes to receivers who are only a few yards away. His check down receivers can't catch those passes even when they are on target. They just bounce off their hands and increase his interception percentage. Vick has a ton of potential, but he has a lot to learn and I'm not sure his ego will allow him to learn what he still needs to learn. Vick's younger brother Marcus looks like the better quarterback in the family.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Atlanta's D and running game has

Uh huh Sava... explain 2003 then.

The Falcons were 4th in rushing in 2002 with Vick playing most of the games. They dropped to 14th in 2003 when Vick was out most of the year. And went to 1st in 2004 when Vick came back and is 1st in 2005.

The defense was 23rd in yards allowed in 2002. They were 32nd (last in 2003) and 14th in 2004. In points allowed they were 8th in 2002, 30th in 2003 (when the offense sucked so bad the defense couldn't get a breath), and 14th in 2004.

Where is this dominant rushing attack and defense when Vick is not in the lineup, Sava? Why didn't it lead to the playoffs in 2003 when Vick led the team to the playoffs in both 2002 and 2004?

funny how you talk about the team's winning percentage... why aren't you talking about Vick's personal stats?

Because he makes his TEAM better! That's what we are trying to get through your thick skull. The personal stats doesn't matter because he elevates his team. When he's not there, the team plays like crap (the rushing attack AND defense suffered with him not piloting the offense... which if you think about it go hand in hand). With him, they play like a contender.

[Imran Siddiqui]

WOW... it is always fun to watch Brett Farve on Monday Night Football. He's made this 2nd half incredibly fun!

[joncha]

I was ready to turn it off, but Favre has managed to make a game of it.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Carolina punting with 2:00 left... Pack 3 down. Lets see if Brett can pull it off!

[Imran Siddiqui]

Farve made it fun at the end... but too little too late... though Driver should have had that.

[joncha]

Oh well. I'm not going to cry over a Green Bay loss.

[ixnay]

Argh, that was exciting.

I'm not giving up on the Pack, though.

They'll beat the Saints next week and stand a very good chance of being a half game out of first in the division.

[Sava]

Imran: I don't doubt Vick's loss in 2003 contributed to Atlanta's poor performance, but their defense was horrible. And sorry, the loss of a QB does not make an entire defense bad. I've watched enough bad Bears QB's the past few years to know that is not the case.

So your excuse for Atlanta's bad year in 2003 being all the loss of Vick's fault does not fly... that defense was bad also. As you said, it was 30th in points allowed, and 32nd in the league in yards allowed. Bad defense hurt that team more than the loss of Vick.

And the running game's problems in 2003 were not all because of Vick's injury... that excuse game isn't going to work either. Warrick Dunn was injured and played in only 11 games that year.

Sorry Imran, the numbers don't lie. Vick is a mediocre QB. Atlanta wins with a running game and defense. That's how they've been winning this year. When Vick left the game, did things fall apart with Schaub in there? I was watching the game, but I have a thick skull... I'm slow okay, so explain what happened... did the Falcons end up winning even though the great Michael Vick wasn't playing still?

Atlanta is 7th in the NFL in defense (points allowed) this year so far...

and they are 1st in the NFL in rushing offense (yards per game) this year so far... ahead of the number 2 team by over 50 yards...

and Mike Vick is smack dab in the middle of the pack, 15th in the league, with an 83.0 passer rating... 4 TD's, 2 INTs and 4 fumbles in 4 games... very very mediocre...


RUNNING THE BALL AND DEFENSE

GET THAT THROUGH YOUR THICK SKULL

YOU HAVE BEEN PWNED

HAVE A GOOD NIGHT

[Imran Siddiqui]

I don't doubt Vick's loss in 2003 contributed to Atlanta's poor performance, but their defense was horrible.

So wait... the exact same defensive personnel (just about) in 2002, 2003, and 2004, but for some reason the 2003 defense was horrible. Why could that be? Perhaps because the offense sucked so bad that the defense couldn't catch their breath?

What caused their miraculous stopping powers in 2002 and 2004?

How is it that Vick gets hurt and suddenly, the defense and rushing game that led the Falcons to the playoffs in 2002 and would lead them in 2004 doesn't lead them to the playoffs in 2003? After all, if its just rushing and defense the loss of Vick should be no problem, right?

Warrick Dunn was injured and played in only 11 games that year.

And Duckett played in the rest. He had over 750 yards, which was a pretty good amount higher than he had in other years (in both 2002 and 2004, Duckett had around 500 yards while in 2003 he had 778 yards). He took up the slack when Dunn couldn't play (and he couldn't play in only 4 games that year... the team finished 5-11, not 8-8 or 9-7).

and they are 1st in the NFL in rushing offense (yards per game) this year so far... ahead of the number 2 team by over 50 yards...

50 yards over the number 2 team... and how many rushing yards does Vick have, Sava (it's over 200 yards, fyi)? He had almost 50 on Sunday himself, in less than a half of the game.

The Falcons won that game because they had already demoralized the Vikings. The Vikes were down 14-0 and instead of staying calm, the Vikings went into the crapper. They paniced.

Once again... 2003. 2-10 without Vick, 3-1 with him. Why? What magic caused the defense to suck so badly without Vick under center? And I think the Falcons MAY have missed that 800+ rushing yards from Vick, don't you?

Sorry Sava, you've been pwned and pwned badly. I'll love to see Vick lead the Falcons to their first back to back winning seasons.... and winning seasons in each of the seasons he's started most of the games (3 out of 5... with one being his rookie year).

[Richelieu]

Why the hell did they overturn Detroit's touchdown at the end of sunday's game? There wasn't one bit of "conclusive" evidence in any of the angles i've seen for the replays. Enough to wonder, but certainly nowhere near what is needed for an overturn.