NFL - Are You Ready For Some Football?! - 2010 Offseason

[SlowwHand]

Dilfer on the Ravens? OK, he was the equivalent of Dilfer. That's fine. I can agree with that. I don't know that it says too much, but, that's OK.

[Lord Avalon]

Reading comprehension FTW

[SlowwHand]

I'm so sorry. I read was instead of wasn't. You should have said was though, because that's what he was.

[Lord Avalon]

Sloww, did a cow kick you in the head when you were little?

[SlowwHand]

.

[Donegeal]

I believe the '85 Bears had the #3 offense in the NFL that season. That is a tad bit better than Trent Dilfer.

[Ming]

Yes... their offense was far better than people remember. Yeah, people remember the defense because it was just SOOOOOOOOOOOOO good... one of the best in NFL history.

[ColdWizard]

The Bears totally had no passing offense that year. It's not like they had a huge deep threat like Willie Gault, who wasn't a gold medal winning Olympic-class sprinter, and wasn't named the 7th fastest player in NFL history.

[SlowwHand]

The '85 passing yardage for the Bears was not 3rd. It was one of the lowest in the league.
Average yards per carry was decent, but that doesn't really have too much to do with McMahon. It probably had more to do with Walter Payton.

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1985/

[ColdWizard]

If you're the top rushing team, you're not going to rack up big passing yards. The Bears were 4th in net yards per attempt though, which indicates they were throwing the deep ball well.

[Ming]

He didn't say that the passing was third, only that the offense was ranked 3rd.
They were actually ranked 2nd in total points scored.
They were ranked first in rushing yards (go Walter)

So they really didn't need to throw the ball that much. And when they did, McMahon was up to it. The best was the classic game against Minny in the 1985 season, when he entered the game in the third quarter with the Bears behind, and his first two passes were touchdowns... he threw a third touchdown pass leading the Bears to victory.

He could throw the ball... he just didn't have to with Walter and the Defense.

[SlowwHand]

That's fine. You can think McMahon was a top shelf QB if you want. It doesn't really matter. My only point was that of all the reasons that the Bears dominated, he was low on the list. Maybe not.

[Lord Avalon]

So they really didn't need to throw the ball that much. And when they did, McMahon was up to it. The best was the classic game against Minny in the 1985 season, when he entered the game in the third quarter with the Bears behind, and his first two passes were touchdowns... he threw a third touchdown pass leading the Bears to victory.

I remember that game! That was an awesome comeback!

[-Jrabbit]

McMahon was underrated as a QB. He was instinctive, knew the playbook, and was a master of the audible (which always drove Ditka nuts). He played with a Favre-like joy and never backed down from contact, which earned him instant respect from his O-line.

The '85 Bears were 3rd-to-last in pass attempts (432, league average 515). No QB in such a system will ever measure up to pure passers, and that's OK. We in Chicago know how good Jimmy Mac was.

I don't think anyone is claiming that McMahon dominated the '85 team. But those of us who watched him every week know that he was an outstanding leader and a strong passer with the instinctive ability to freelance and an incredible will to win.

I would love to see him play in today's offenses.

[Ming]

That's fine. You can think McMahon was a top shelf QB if you want. It doesn't really matter. My only point was that of all the reasons that the Bears dominated, he was low on the list. Maybe not.

I don't think anybody is claiming that McMahon was a top shelf QB in the mold of Manning or Montana.
We just don't think you are giving him enough credit. It was a running team, pure and simple. But they threw when they had to and he did what was needed. He brought a lot to the team, mostly with his leadership. The team was just not as good when he was injured. He made a difference.