Super Bowl LVI - The intricate incline to Inglewood (Part 1)

If the Chiefs were refereed in the same way against Jimmy as they were vs Tom, Jimmy would have a Superbowl ring

1 Like

There’s no way they would be viewing Garoppolo as the answer.

JJ Watt cut, take him in a heartbeat.

Go on Bill, do your thing.

No one wants anything to do with ye! :rofl:

That was Stafford and fat Pat…Bill is a different story.

fixed that for you

That’s exactly what the Bills are lacking…

1 Like

Steelers surely to play with the brothers.

Wtf is going on in Houston? Last March they had arguably a top 3 QB, reciever and defender on their team. Now all gone. This is more than some rebuild, something is rotten

and they cant blame Bill O Brien anymore now either. He fucked up on Hopkins, why the other two went then is another thing.

All goes back to the McNair comment on inmates running the prison a few years ago. Toxic.

Colts have supposedly offered 2 second round picks for Wentz. Be interesting to see if they are interested in taking a qb at six or whether they will look to build around Hurts.

2 Likes

Matt Ryan :smile:

1 Like

Vincent Jackson RIP

My man in Boston says James White to Packers looks on.

Decent piece on QBs and building around them by Mike Lombardi

On Super Bowl Sunday, we were reminded of the oldest lesson in winning football games: Championship teams win at the line of scrimmage. It’s a lesson we often ignore because it’s not sexy, it’s hard for many to evaluate, and at times it’s hidden by great quarterbacking and scheme. But when a team cannot run block, pass protect or keep its quarterback from getting hit, it does not matter if it has the best quarterback in all of football, or the best receiver, or even the best tight end. If the quarterback does not have time to throw, having the best isn’t much different from having the worst. The results are the same: bad.

Over the years, football has gone from a running league to a passing league as it has attempted to take some of the violence out of the game. But the one main constant is the importance of blocking, protecting and harassing the opposing quarterback. No matter what the NFL does to alter the game in the next 25 years, being able to pass protect and play physical will remain the key. What won when George Halas or Vince Lombardi coached still wins today.

We witnessed a blatant example of this lesson when the team with the greatest collection of skill players in the NFL, the Kansas City Chiefs, did not score a touchdown in the Super Bowl against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Still, so many people think the answer to improving a team is to add more skill players. We’re now entering NFL Draft craze, and many mocks will have a good number of wide receivers going in the first round. That looks great on paper, but some of those teams cannot block or protect, so what good would adding another skill player be? The logic behind picking a receiver is that it will expand the passing game, giving the quarterback more options. And, quite simply, the more skill you place around the quarterback, the better he will play.

But do you think it was a lack of skill that prevented Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers from beating the Bucs? Or was it that he was sacked five times, was hit multiple times more and was running for his life most of the game? All year, the constant refrain from anyone talking about the Packers was that Rodgers needed more weapons. Of course, who wouldn’t want more weapons? However, weapons would not solve all of the Packers’ problems. What Rodgers needs is what all quarterbacks need: a complete team. He needs better protection; he needed a healthy David Bakhtiari and a better right tackle; he needs a better defensive game plan and execution and elite special-teams players who can control field position.

Great quarterbacks — all of them — need help, and Rodgers is no exception. During his incredible 12-year career as a starter, Rodgers has played in 19 playoff games and five conference championship games, and he has won one Super Bowl. Based on his elite skill set, Rodgers should easily have three or four Super Bowl wins under his belt. He doesn’t, and the reason isn’t that the team didn’t give him more skill players. Great quarterbacks can win regular-season games — even a playoff game — but great teams win championships. Look at Peyton Manning.

Manning is the best quarterback I have ever played against — it’s not even close. He was remarkable in every aspect, had excellent skill players surrounding him and could make the right call, control the game at the line of scrimmage and make the offense flow effortlessly. Knowing you were facing Manning was a nightmare week for everyone. From 1998 until 2010, during his time in Indy, Manning went to the playoffs in 11 of 13 seasons, with a 9-10 record, one Super Bowl win, two appearances and three conference championships. That seems light in Super Bowl wins considering the talent, right?

Naturally, there was a perception that Manning never played well in the biggest of games, which is complete hogwash. Like Rodgers, Manning will always play well; the team around them falls short. Football requires cohesive talent in every phase. It’s not the NBA; one player cannot carry an NFL team. Yes, the quarterback is vitally important and should be the team’s highest-paid player, bearing the biggest burden for winning. Yet they all need help — not by adding more skill but by adding the essence of what wins championships.

In preparing for the draft or free agency, the first question every coach or general manager will ask scouts or any evaluator regarding the quarterback is: Can this player win a Super Bowl for us? They ask the question as if one player can perform magic. But it takes more than an elite quarterback to win titles. How would any executive answer that question regarding Joe Flacco, Nick Foles, Trent Dilfer, Doug Williams or Mark Rypien? There is no way any of them would have gotten a “yes” on that question, but they won a title — or, better yet, the team won with their help. Building the right team around the quarterback is as important as acquiring the right quarterback. It’s a huge puzzle and not one piece fits without the other, especially when competing for the highest honors.

And that’s my point. It takes more than an elite quarterback, and it takes way more than adding skill. Most importantly, it takes understanding what the quarterback does well and building an offense around that skill set, like the Browns did this year with Baker Mayfield. Mayfield alone could never carry a team to the title. He can be part of a championship team as long as he isn’t being paid all the money, like Kirk Cousins in Minnesota.

Cousins is not an elite player; he needs a great offensive system around him, a talented offensive line, a solid defense and a kicking game. When you’re paying him so much money, those areas take a hit, which ends up hurting the team and putting more pressure on Cousins to carry the team alone, which he can’t. Cousins will end up with a financial windfall, and at some point, after his playing days are over, he’ll likely regret not winning a title. His bank account will look great, but his fingers won’t have any rings. If the Browns have to pay Mayfield elite money even though he is not elite, it will create problems, much like when the Rams overpaid Jared Goff.

The main job of any successful organization is to identify the specific skill set, develop the system’s skills and build the team around that talent. It’s a three-pronged question with three solutions. Quarterbacks need to be in the right system, and not all systems can fit everyone. Joe Montana was perfect for the West Coast offense, so was Steve Young. When the system fits the player, magic can occur. Why is Ryan Tannehill better for Tennessee than Miami? Because Tennessee is all play-action, not much drop-back, so Tannehill does not have to rely on his innate instincts. He can fake a handoff, force the defense to react, then throw the ball to an open receiver. The Titans devised a scheme that fits Tannehill. More teams need to do this.

The Ravens will have a decision to make on quarterback Lamar Jackson soon. Jackson was the league MVP in 2019 and still does not throw the ball outside the numbers with regularity, which makes paying him elite money risky. The Ravens have made Jackson productive in his first three seasons because they had no choice. They were never going to run a traditional offense around his skill set, so they developed an offense that served them well for the time being — but not anymore.

The Ravens keep asking themselves the wrong question. They want to know if Jackson can improve throwing the ball outside the numbers, but they aren’t finding ways to help him do that. The Ravens’ offense is as much to blame for the inability to throw outside as Jackson is; they have not evolved. The Ravens continue to want to make Jackson an RPO quarterback, limiting his development. If they put Jackson under center and ran more hard play-action and boots, Jackson would attack the outside part of the field with more consistency. The Ravens are questioning whether Jackson can win playoff games; they need to question their offensive scheme.

It’s not as if the Ravens haven’t been down this road before. When they selected Joe Flacco in the first round of the 2008 draft, they hired Cam Cameron to be his offensive coordinator, which meant Flacco had to run Cameron’s offense even though it was not the best offense for his skill set. After making a change and bringing in Jim Caldwell, the Ravens won a Super Bowl in 2012. In the divisional round that year, they were seemingly going to lose to the Broncos in Denver, with Peyton Manning leading the way, until a highly unlikely touchdown pass from Flacco to Jacoby Jones sent the game to overtime and allowed the Ravens to steal a win. That unbelievable play propelled the Ravens to the Super Bowl, and Flacco played a role — a significant, important one — but he could not carry the team; he was not the centerpiece.

After the Super Bowl win, Flacco was rewarded with a top quarterback salary, which then put more pressure on him to carry the team, which he couldn’t handle. It took the Ravens five years to adjust the offense to make Flacco effective — and then they overpaid him, which killed their team. The lesson learned is that few quarterbacks are elite, and they all need to have the right offensive scheme and game approach. Before the Ravens pay Jackson, they better redesign their offense to maximize his skill set or they will have a high-priced player in the wrong scheme, which only spells disaster.

As we monitor the quarterback movement this offseason, don’t assume that getting a good QB will mean instant success. And don’t assume that giving him top weapons while ignoring other areas is the best use of money or draft capital. Acquiring a quarterback is vital; determining how he fits the offense is even more important. The scheme fit and the team fit also matter. Having a great line on offense and defense and being able to control field position will matter just as much. And rooting for your team to give all the money to one player might solve one problem, but it will often create many more.

Football may change, but how teams win championships never will.

7 Likes

Wentz on his way to the Colts in exchange for 2021 third round and a 2022 second round pick

2 Likes

Colts drove a hard bargain there. Eagles will surely be in the mix for a QB at 6 so. Mac Jones won’t make it out of the top 10 at this rate.

The top 5 QBs are going to fly off the board