NFL - Are You Ready For Some Football?! - Off Season

[Al B. Sure!]

Yep. Manning was getting hit as he handed off to the RB.

Look, Al. We know that you think Eli has been crucified and is hanging there between two thieves, but he has Bradshaw and Jacobs, and his line is not nearly as beat up and bad as the Colts.
Get some objectivity going.

No.

Giants have given up 12 sacks on 401 pass attempts (2.9%)
Colts have given up 13 sacks on 534 pass attempts (2.4%)

The Colts O-line is better. I really doubt that Peyton Manning has avoided some sacks because he's so elusive and fast and he got out of the pressure; Eli, on the other hand, has most definitely prevented some sacks with his running ability.

[SlowwHand]

Or maybe Manning is better? Does he have any inkling that he would get a more passionate blow job from you than from his wife?

[Koyaanisqatsi]

No.

Giants have given up 12 sacks on 401 pass attempts (2.9%)
Colts have given up 13 sacks on 534 pass attempts (2.4%)

The Colts O-line is better. I really doubt that Peyton Manning has avoided some sacks because he's so elusive and fast and he got out of the pressure; Eli, on the other hand, has most definitely prevented some sacks with his running ability.

Peyton constantly avoids sacks with small shifts and quick reads. It's one of the reasons he's been so good for so long.

[Al B. Sure!]

And Eli is crucified. I'm young but I've never seen a quarterback get so lambasted by the media as Eli has been over the years. In 2007, I remember reading an article on ESPN in which they had all these experts grade all the young quarterbacks and Eli was given a D and they said basically sorry, this is about as good as he gets. He went on to win the Super Bowl and still, no respect... he threw for 4000 yards last year, and still, no respect. It's like what does this guy have to do to be placed among the best QB's of his generation? Sorry that he's on a team that has a defense and a run-game and he doesn't have to air it out all the time.

Seriously. I don't even remember Kerry Collins taking as much **** as Eli has.

[Al B. Sure!]

Peyton constantly avoids sacks with small shifts and quick reads. It's one of the reasons he's been so good for so long.

The fact is, Peyton Manning is less likely to get sacked than Eli Manning. The fact is, despite injuries on the Colts' O-line, the Giants have more injuries and have been forced to move guys around more than the Colts have.

And even if the Giants O-line was better than the Colts, it's by a hair. And the Colts still have the #2 best O-Line, measured by sacks given up, in the NFL, behind only the Giants!

The running game is the difference here; Eli has it, Peyton doesn't. BUT Peyton also has 4-time Pro Bowler at WR while Eli has Derek Hagan.

[Koyaanisqatsi]

Great half by NE.

*waits patiently for the defense to collapse in the 2nd half*

[Al B. Sure!]

Not saying the Jets will win but they do have Mr. Clutch himself, the Sanchise.

[-Jrabbit]

I would just like to state, for the record, that I totally agree with Alby's original post regarding how surprising it is to have such an august group of QBs currently occupying the top 7 slots on the NFL INT list.

[Lord Avalon]

Not saying the Jets will win but they do have Mr. Clutch himself, the Sanchise.

They said he hadn't turned the ball over in the red zone - then he threw a pick. Pats score TD on ensuing drive, up 31-3.

[SlowwHand]

I would just like to state, for the record, that I totally agree with Alby's original post regarding how surprising it is to have such an august group of QBs currently occupying the top 7 slots on the NFL INT list.

Had he but left it at that, because it went hurtling downhill from that point.

[Koyaanisqatsi]

Not saying the Jets will win but they do have Mr. Clutch himself, the Sanchise.

Clutch!

[Lord Avalon]

Hey, his last throw was nice - it went right to the Patriot DB.

[-Jrabbit]

It's a little rough on the guy, though, because other decisions (like acquiring Kyle Orton and Brandon Lloyd) have worked out spectacularly well. They never give guys credit for things (like Childress got dog-piled on but Childress had built a nice team during his tenure).

Head coaching is different. It's all about keeping the fans (read: owner) happy, and that means WINS. Losing 17 out of 20 -- especially after the promise of those first 6 straight -- had to make Bowlen crazy. Add to that the fines and bad PR from the video incident, not to mention McDaniels' initial punk attitude and bingo.

He's a young man, and will resurface as a great OC and talent developer. Plus, he'll be pulling in $7MM free in the meantime. Hard to feel sorry for him.

Bowlen will now likely hire a brand-name coach who costs more than Shanahan did.

When a coach screws up, he's booted out with full pay because, unlike the players, they have fully guarantteed contracts.
When an owner screws up, he pays with a few of the many millions that his NFL franchise provides.

All is well in the football universe.

[Jaguar]

No.

Giants have given up 12 sacks on 401 pass attempts (2.9%)
Colts have given up 13 sacks on 534 pass attempts (2.4%)

The Colts O-line is better. I really doubt that Peyton Manning has avoided some sacks because he's so elusive and fast and he got out of the pressure; Eli, on the other hand, has most definitely prevented some sacks with his running ability.

Sack rate is a property almost entirely accounted for by QBs themselves, not their offensive lines.

Check out the Patriots sack numbers over the last 5 years. See how they magically double their sack numbers the year that Matt Cassel takes over, and then they immediately return to pre-Cassel levels in 2009?

Did you know that Joey Harrington was sacked the least often in football in his first two years? That's not because he had a great offensive line.

Dan Marino is the greatest sack-avoider in history; he led the league in sack rate 10 times out of 17. Was his offensive line better than, say, Troy Aikman's? No, he just chose to be sacked less and throw the ball away more.

Let's play a game: the "when did the Texans dump David Carr?" game. Sack numbers in their history: 76, 36, 49, 68, 43, 22, 32, 25, 26. Do you think that their offensive line magically doubled its ability to prevent sacks, and then held consistent? Do you think they acquired some all-star tackle the year they reduced their sack numbers to 22? Nope, they didn't. The guys that allowed 22 sacks are the exact same guys who allowed 43 the year before that. The Texans reduced their sack rate by dumping Carr.

Some QBs, like Marino, Peyton, Eli, Brady, and Joey Harrington, would rather throw the ball away than risk a sack. Others, like Vick, Elway, Carr, Cassel, and Roethlisberger are willing to risk a sack to try to make something better happen.

There are good and bad QBs on both ends of the spectrum, and both playstyles can work. But a bad OL hurts the QB's passing statistics, especially INT rate and completion percentage. Not their sack rate.

[Tuberski]

The fact is, Peyton Manning is less likely to get sacked than Eli Manning. The fact is, despite injuries on the Colts' O-line, the Giants have more injuries and have been forced to move guys around more than the Colts have.

And even if the Giants O-line was better than the Colts, it's by a hair. And the Colts still have the #2 best O-Line, measured by sacks given up, in the NFL, behind only the Giants!

The running game is the difference here; Eli has it, Peyton doesn't. BUT Peyton also has 4-time Pro Bowler at WR while Eli has Derek Hagan.

The biggest difference for Peyton, is losing Dallas Clark. He's thrown 11 or so INT's since Clark went down.

Eli, however, I've always liked.

ACK!