Running NFL Week 5 thread

Bubby Brister. Now there was a guy with a million-dollar arm and a five-cent head.

 

I watched some of that game today (1. thank you Sunday Ticket; 2. Give Ronnie Brown the ball more! </fantasy geek>) and I don't think Harrington played that badly. His passes were pretty crisp and one of those INTs was when his receiver couldn't hold onto it. Not saying he's a savior or anything, but also saying I don't think he played as badly as you are intimating.

 

Beamon, I agree with Dye, the guy looks hurt and doesn't belong on the field right now. McNabb tried the tough guy shit last year and look how that turned out. Customarily, a quarterback blossoms in his third full season as a starter; Roethlisberger so happens to have regressed in his third year.

 

Yes he does. The Steelers just don't look right.

It doesn't help that the offensive line really hasn't done much, which comes as a surprise because I thought that was the one place they didn't need to worry. Hartings got handled in the middle, and so did everyone else. And when you can't protect a quarterback who really doesn't need any more contact, well ... they're in serious trouble.

Noble effort to come back and play as quick as he has, but I think this might be the downside to that. And you can't just bench Roethlisberger if he's cleared to play, if he's ready to play like he is. I still think he gives them the best chance to win games. It's just going to be a struggle.

 

I didn't think Roethlisberger was the problem tonight. He wasn't great, but he wasn't awful. I think he's slowly playing himself into shape and will only get better. The problems were an offensive line that couldn't open holes for Parker or give Roethlisberger much time, and a defense that didn't get much pressure on Rivers after the first quarter. This was one of those rare, frustrating days for Steelers fans when the blitzes didn't work and it seemed stupid to continue doing it. (Not that it actually was stupid, because that's their philosophy, but it seems dumb when it isn't effective.) Rivers then started picking the defense apart, and it didn't help that the Steelers' defenders decided they would rather merely collide with the Chargers instead of tackling them.

 

Are the Raiders going to set the record for worst team QB Rating?
Aaron Brooks, Andrew Walter & Marques Tuiasosopo are dreadful.
And if JW is right that Moss is so great he made Culpepper a substantial QB, then how come Moss can't make his current QBs, average?

 

He sucked on Tecmo Super Bowl too. Always overthrew receivers.

 

When I was young and foolish, I was impressed that Brister could easily throw 70 yards. I failed to consider accuracy was somewhat essential.

And I see Larry Fitzgerald's injury is serious. Looks like I get to make a WR pickup.

 

Especially in the secondary.

 

The only difference from last year in the secondary is Polamalu isn't making big plays. That shoulder must still be a problem, because he's lost a lot of his aggressiveness.

Take away Roethlisberger and Polamalu last year and that team would have been lucky to finish .500 and neither guy looks like himself right now.

As for the Roethlisberger bashing, I can understand it on here. Most of the people doing it didn't see every game last year. They didn't realize while he was lousy in the Super Bowl, he was also the offensive player most responsible for getting them there.

I don't think he is going to be anywhere close to that player this year. He's not right physically and lost pretty much the entire offseason in terms of preparation. Not to mention a crappy group of receivers with Hines Ward hurting and Cedric Wilson turning invisible more often than not.

The Steelers just don't look like a playoff team, especially not in that division.

 

Anyone who actually WATCHED the Dolphins-Patriots game could see that Harrington looked far better than Culpeppper this season, especially when you consider Harrington had a week worth of first-team snaps, and Culpepper had six weeks worth. If you just look at Harrington's numbers, sure, it wasn't great. But he was getting the ball out quickly and giving his team a chance to move the chains. If not for a foolish holding penalty, the Dolphins likely would have led at halftime because Harrington made a nice throw to Marty Booker down to the three yard line that was called back. Early in the game, Ronnie Brown fumbled and gave the Patriots their first touchdown, and Harrington's second interception went off the hands of Wes Walker and into Samuels arms.

There is a difference between actually watching games and sitting in your boxers at home and looking at fantasy stats. If Saban looks at the game film, he'll see that Harrington was actually reading the defense (something Culpepper rarely does anymore) and throwing to the right guy.

 

I sat in my boxers at home and forgot to even update my fantasy lineups, I guess that makes me even worse.

Seriously, though, I agree with your point wholeheartily.

Its that kind of mentality that drives me nuts about the national assessments of Brett Favre. He got off too easy last season when he was shite, he's taking too much heat this season when he's been decent, but not up to peak-Favre levels. The fumble against the Rams, for example, was because the right tackle (Mark Tauscher) got absolutely toasted by Leonard Little off the line, allowing Little to get so far past Favre's drop step, he could strip the ball from behind.