David Sims is carrying us to Week 9 of the NFL

That's funny. And I got that same impression.

"Hey, I've paid my dues and taken my hits. Now it's my turn to get paid for holding a clipboard!"

 

I think there's a lot to that. I think he's hoping he can hang around the league for another 3-5 years and play as little as possible. The biggest obstacle to lasting that long is actually having to play.

 

If Vick really doesn't want to start, he should go back up a QB who everyone knows will never be benched for him.

Like Indianapolis, for example.

 

This is one of the more intriguing ideas I've heard.

Now, I have my doubts about Matt Ryan, a quarterback who I believe struggles at times because his margin for error is so thin. You put him indoors, with two very good receivers, and a HOF tight end, with a somewhat competent running game, and he can take you within a breath of the Super Bowl (assuming you get to play every game indoors, of course). But you look at games like the playoff game in the Meadowlands three years ago where the wind was howling and he was completely worthless. I've never seen a quarterback at his (supposed) level look so completely lost and overmatched. There are QBs who really aren't as smart or as accurate as Ryan (Flacco being the easiest comparison) who you have a better chance of winning the Super Bowl with because they can overcome some of their limitations with some of their strengths. In Flacco's case, a big arm. Same is true of Roethlisberger, except instead of arm strength, it's his mobility and ability to make plays when things break down. They don't (typically) put up big "fantasy" numbers like Ryan, but put them in a shitty game with the cold and wind and I have way more confidence they'll hang in there, take a few big hits, and still be able to make big throws to win football games.

All that said, Rex Ryan's offensive limitations (or lack of interest) could easily be overcome with competent quarterback play, and Matt Ryan certainly is competent. I think Tony Romo would also be a quarterback Rex could win with. Look, nobody thinks John Fox pays any attention to Denver's offense. But it doesn't matter because he has Peyton Manning and Adam Gase, and so he doesn't have to. He just has to set the tone for the rest of it. Does anyone think Pete Carroll pays a ton of attention to the Seahawks offense? He's one of the great secondary coaches of all time (he and Saban are probably 1 and 1A) and as long as he has Russell Wilson making enough plays to compliment a ground game, he can focus on what he knows and get guys to buy into the overall team bullshit.

So much of coaching in the NFL is luck of the draw in terms of what kind of quarterback you end up with. It really is. Doesn't anyone think Mike McCarthy is a genius? Or Mike Tomlin? I think Rex could easily have had Tomlin's career had he drawn a better QB somehow. Kent Wisenhunt looked like a good coach with the Cardinals when he had Kurt Warner. So did Dick Vermeil. How did both look when they didn't have Warner? Vermeil was OK in KC, I guess. (Two winning seasons out of five.) But so much of it comes down to quarterback. Look at Chuck Pagano. He doesn't know anything about offense, and is probably minimally involved in the offensive game plan. But he has Andrew Luck, so no one looks at him the way they do Rex.

I'll give Jim Harbaugh credit in that end. He won with Alex Smith when it looked like he should be out of the league selling insurance, and he won with Kaepernick when he was raw and just making it up half the time. He'd probably find a way to win with Blaine Gabbert if he needed to, the way Belchick won with Matt Cassell. But most coaches just ain't good enough to overcome a Mark Sanchez and his limitations.

 

To your point about Harbaugh, does it make sense for NFL teams to look more closely at quarterbacks coaches to eventually ascend to head coaching positions, knowing they can coach up a so-so quarterback, rather than relying on the luck of the draft to acquire a, well, Andrew Luck or QB of that ilk?

I have no idea how much they do or don't look at QB coaches, but when you see guys like Harbaugh or say Jon Gruden have success with quarterbacks that other coaches couldn't win with (I'm looking at you, Tony Dungy), it at least begs the question.

 

The Steelers will retire number 75 in honor of Joe Greene Sunday night. It is only the second number the team has retired and the only one from the 1970s.

Nobody had worn 75 since Greene retired in 1982. The team has a history of unofficially retiring numbers that way. They did it with 32 for Franco Harris, 12 for Terry Bradshaw, 58 for Jack Lambert and 52 for Mike Webster. None of those have been worn since those players' careers ended.

Steelers have since worn Mel Blount's 47, John Stallworth's 82 and Lynn Swann's 88.

Trivia question. What is the other number the team has retired and in whose honor?

 

Ernie Stautner #70 ?

 

Bullet Bill Dudley? I have no idea what number that would be, though.

 

I don't think Tomlin is any great innovator, but he seems intelligent and more importantly a good organizer. He is right for his team.
Mike McCarthy on the other hand is a fkin dufus.
I remember one of the many pieces favorable to Ryan, when his star was still bright, indicated that Ryan had some advanced visual acuity that allowed him to track all moving pieces on the field during film study. If that is the case, then he has no excuse for not understanding opposing defenses better.

 

Sorry if this has already been discussed somewhere, but Kelvin Benjamin claims he tanked his 40-yard dash at the combine so he would wind up with Carolina.

http://espn.go.com/blog/carolina-panthers/post/_/id/9953/cooks-may-be-faster-but-benjamin-is-with-panthers-where-he-wanted-to-be

 

Well done. That is correct.

 

He probably understandings opposing defenses great. The question is if he can translate that knowledge to his QB.