I would place my bets on Tom Brady making it to the dance again
Tommy always got a few tricks in his bag.Anything's possible ... I'd be surprised if the Bucs won the NFC but not shocked. The shock would be if they managed to not be blown out once they got there.
I think that the Saints are the only NFC team that has a realistic shot this year of winning it all. Nobody else can hang with the Bills/Chiefs.
Tommy always got a few tricks in his bag
It is both actually. Brady has looked amazing at times (i.e.) last week, and mediocre/pretty bad at times. They also need a more consistent run game, and sometimes pass coverage is suspect. Really though, I think in the modern game you need a QB who has at least some running ability, and Brady lacks that. (and I am a Brady fan, but at his age, in the Bucs style offense, I just think at least one team will mount strong pressure and he will be done)However Brady isn't the Bucs problem... inconsistent effort from the rest of the team is more on target.
All true, but as long as the other NFC teams have their issues, I can see them rising to the top even with their undisciplined team and clashing egos. Packers are always good for a disaster quarter or half. Saints have the refs against them.However Brady isn't the Bucs problem... inconsistent effort from the rest of the team is more on target.
I don't actually think that there really has been a new wave of "running QBs". Just that the old elites never had their pocket athleticism emphasized. Big Ben could weasel his way out of sacks in some of the freakiest manners possible. Tony Romo had a way of escaping pressure. Aaron Rodgers always could scramble.It is both actually. Brady has looked amazing at times (i.e.) last week, and mediocre/pretty bad at times. They also need a more consistent run game, and sometimes pass coverage is suspect. Really though, I think in the modern game you need a QB who has at least some running ability, and Brady lacks that. (and I am a Brady fan, but at his age, in the Bucs style offense, I just think at least one team will mount strong pressure and he will be done)
That whole playoffs show what "heavenly gifts" are. Dee Ford lining up offside. Saints getting jobbed.Don't forget how badly the Saints got "jobbed" in the NFC Championship game with that non-call a couple years back.
Pretty much ruined the Superbowl since LA clearly had no business even being there based on the result.
THAT was a gift for Brady no question.
How can you say that? Look at the up and coming QBs: Mahomes, Allen, Murry, Jackson, even Tannehill and Herbert to a lesser extent. All are more adept at running than say Brady, Brees, Rivers, even Big Ben. In addition to being good to great pocket passers, they can escape the rush, run for a first down, or throw well on the run. Rodgers has always been a "tweener", more adept at running than Brady, et.al., but less oriented to run than the newer breed of QB.I don't actually think that there really has been a new wave of "running QBs". Just that the old elites never had their pocket athleticism emphasized. Big Ben could weasel his way out of sacks in some of the freakiest manners possible. Tony Romo had a way of escaping pressure. Aaron Rodgers always could scramble.
Vick 2.0 was an early 2010s phenomenon.
For the criteria in your last paragraph, Big Ben was probably one of the best QBs to give defenders the slip in close quarters behind the LOS. In the batch of recent QBs, I would say Watson is the QB most similar in style when it comes to making crazy escapes behind the line of scrimmage like Ben. Mahomes is greater in a lot of things, but as a "dancer" behind the LOS, Watson and Ben have him beat.How can you say that? Look at the up and coming QBs: Mahomes, Allen, Murry, Jackson, even Tannehill and Herbert to a lesser extent. All are more adept at running than say Brady, Brees, Rivers, even Big Ben. In addition to being good to great pocket passers, they can escape the rush, run for a first down, or throw well on the run. Rodgers has always been a "tweener", more adept at running than Brady, et.al., but less oriented to run than the newer breed of QB.
I am not saying a pocket passer in the right system cannot be great. But the paradigm has shifted from that being the rule, to the exception.
Edit: If by "running" QB, you mean run first, like Jackson at Baltimore, I might agree with you.
But that is not what I am talking about. I am talking about being able to at least run effectively if the protection breaks down, run for a first down or throw on the move, and maybe occasionally do a planned run.
a team that started 11-0 isnt getting in?!
Not sure what you are saying exactly, but if you want to list running QBs, you could go all the way back to Fran Tarkington and Roger Staubach. They were both excellent scramblers and good passers. Tarkington managed to choke away 3 superbowls to 0 wins, or he would probably be listed among the all time greats, and Staubach of course is. All I am saying though, is they were the exception in their day, while today lineman and linebackers are so big and fast that a pure pocket passer is a dying breed, while nearly all the upcoming stars have running ability. By that I mean the ability to run to gain yardage, not just scramble around like Ben, or even Brady in his prime, to elude tacklers.For the criteria in your last paragraph, Big Ben was probably one of the best QBs to give defenders the slip in close quarters behind the LOS. In the batch of recent QBs, I would say Watson is the QB most similar in style when it comes to making crazy escapes behind the line of scrimmage like Ben. Mahomes is greater in a lot of things, but as a "dancer" behind the LOS, Watson and Ben have him beat.
I barely followed Ben but the few times I've seen, it's enough to show that his ability to escape is rare. Heck, he triggered my PTSD this season when the Washington blitzer had him dead to rights right up the gut buuut, the blitzer missed and he was set up to make a throw.
Aaron Rodgers is pretty capable of everything listed in that last paragraph except maybe the designed run.
Steve Young is in the HOF and people knew he was a terror in all aspects.
There have been plenty of mobile QBs who simply did not reach expectations or circumstances killed their mobility. Since they failed to do so, they have been forgotten. Alex Smith actually was quite the speedster, but having a revolving door of coordinators in San Fran did not help his development. His replacement, Kaepernick, was basically Greg Roman's first foray into making a one-dimensional running QB work.
In addition, very little attention is paid to a white QB's mobility even though they are measured.
Carson Palmer actually ran a 4.62 40 and hence mobility was part of his prospect package. But injury would kill that part of his game and then he got the stereotype of "traditional pocket passers".
Christian Ponder and Tarvaris Jackson are both forgotten busts but they both ran sub-4.70 40 times, with the white Ponder actually .04 seconds faster.
Vince Young was the speedster of his draft class, and Jay Cutler had enough mobility to scramble at 4.77 seconds. Mike Shanahan loves his QBs to have a little roll out ability, so Cutler passing his eye test is no accident.
Sam Bradford was also another understated athletic QB. He had to suffer with no Oline as a Ram, so injuries shellshocked him. His draft peer was Tebow, and "genius" Josh McDaniels thought he could make a QB out of him. The same Josh McDaniels who coached Tom Brady for years.
Likewise, in Cam's draft class, the white QBs in that class were also very athletic. Jake Locker, Gabbert, and the aforementioned Ponder all had sub-4.7 40 times. They all happened to bust out of the league while Cam did not. Even though Andy Dalton has a paltry 40-time, when the game is one, you can see he got little scrambler in him too.
Andrew Luck could run, but again, no attention was paid to it by outsiders. Now that he's retired, he's been quickly forgotten.
Johnny Manziel had run a 4.68 40 time but we know his story...plus no one gives a crap about the Browns...unless it is Lamar taking a crap during a game against them(I just had to put that in.)
Geno Smith is another.
Quite a break for the Browns that Rudolph is starting at QB. I bet the other 10-5 teams (especially the Colts who lose all the tiebreakers) aren't very happy. I thought the Browns actually might make a run in the playoffs until they stunk up the joint against the Jets last week.Browns (-10) will make 1st playoffs in 17 years if they beat the Steelers.
And they are a 10pt favorite??
Is the entire steeler team just Ben R?
Sitting him out make you a huge underdog against an avg team?
Sitting him out make you a huge underdog against an avg team?
Quite a break for the Browns that Rudolph is starting at QB. I bet the other 10-5 teams (especially the Colts who lose all the tiebreakers) aren't very happy. I thought the Browns actually might make a run in the playoffs until they stunk up the joint against the Jets last week.
Quite a break for the Browns that Rudolph is starting at QB. I bet the other 10-5 teams (especially the Colts who lose all the tiebreakers) aren't very happy. I thought the Browns actually might make a run in the playoffs until they stunk up the joint against the Jets last week.
To be fair the Jets are actually not that bad lately and the Browns lost a lot of players to COVID protocols that week
Guys like Ponder and Locker had the ability to run to gain yards. Mariota can do that too.Not sure what you are saying exactly, but if you want to list running QBs, you could go all the way back to Fran Tarkington and Roger Staubach. They were both excellent scramblers and good passers. Tarkington managed to choke away 3 superbowls to 0 wins, or he would probably be listed among the all time greats, and Staubach of course is. All I am saying though, is they were the exception in their day, while today lineman and linebackers are so big and fast that a pure pocket passer is a dying breed, while nearly all the upcoming stars have running ability. By that I mean the ability to run to gain yardage, not just scramble around like Ben, or even Brady in his prime, to elude tacklers.
The most Browns thing ever would be to lose to Mason Rudolph.Quite a break for the Browns that Rudolph is starting at QB. I bet the other 10-5 teams (especially the Colts who lose all the tiebreakers) aren't very happy. I thought the Browns actually might make a run in the playoffs until they stunk up the joint against the Jets last week.
Guys like Ponder and Locker had the ability to run to gain yards. Mariota can do that too.
I think the perceived rise of new so-called mobile QBs is simply that a bunch of new QBs that have been drafted have actually panned out since 2017 and are all playing at a high level. Having this many QBs simultaneously take the league by storm is something that has not been seen for a long time. Not because their mobility itself was deemed more valuable. Teams have drafted for numerous QBs that had some wheels in years past. But the quarterbacks sucked at throwing the football at a high level, played for teams with no media presence, and thus were quickly forgotten.
2017 inserted Mahomes and Watson
2018 inserted Allen, Lamar Jackson, and Baker Mayfield
2019 added Kyler
2020 added Burrow, Tua, and Herbert.
So that's nine new QBs that seems like real surefire franchise guys, or a quarter of the league.
Compare that to 2012-2016
2012 - Wilson is the best from the draft. Tannehill, Cousins, are still starting but franchise guy? Nope. Foles won Super Bowl but obviously can't stay a starter. RGIII and Luck, the two crown jewels are both not relevant anymore.
2013 - Barren year. EJ Manuel and Geno Smith were the two top picks.
2014 - Bortles and Manziel sucked. Neither Carr nor Bridgewater are world beaters today.
2015 - Neither Jameis nor Mariota were great
2016 - Goff is not elite. Wentz has crashed and burned and the tire fire is still going. Dak is arguably the best, but I would not put him in the gamebreaker territory.
One true franchise guy in Wilson. One above average guy in Dak, and two "adequate" starters in Cousins and Tannehill.
No one looks for Tom Brady or Brees in the draft. Tom was a 6th rounder with a 6th round body; slow, presumed noodle arm, no mobility. Brees was one of the original "shorties" and also as a pro, had an injury that scared a ton of people away. The prototype was Elway or Marino. Elway always played faster on tape than his presumed measurables. Reeves even tried to have him catch and run it as a receiver in a Super Bowl against Washington in the 80s.
It's not that being slow is valuable, it's that a rocket arm can be attached to a slower guy.
To be fair the Jets are actually not that bad lately and the Brows lost a lot of players to COVID protocols that week.
I remember when all Buffalo had to do to make the playoffs in 2004 and stop their no-playoff streak at 4 seasons was beat the Steelers backups in week 17. They lost 24-29 and would eventually go 17 seasons without playoffs.The most Browns thing ever would be to lose to Mason Rudolph.